De-Nesting Diaries: Saturday, April 27th

He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it. -Confucius, philosopher and teacher (c. 551-478 BCE) 

Dear Corinne and Patrick,

Thanks for a great time and the photos to prove it.  Also for the loan of the four books - must get into my Kindle before my next holiday overseas so as to lighten my load.  I will await news of whether Joanne and Frank manage to get together - very clever strategy Corinne leaving the ball in her court.  Been back almost a week and recovered from jet-lag plus have been working hard.  Not managed to speak to Andre since I left him last Saturday - very frustrating since he does not pick up emails regularly and despite numerous calls to his various friends numbers I have yet to track him down - typical Andre!

Look forward to hopefully seeing you both over the summer and await news of your proposed dates once you have both finalised your plans.  In the meantime, keep having fun and enjoy the spring and early summer in Vancouver. Much love, Rosemary XXX

 Hello NaramtiaLand!

Trust you are both well. Has your weather improved? Flamin' and Cora Lee, (indolencias that they be), went to a film at 5th Avenue, The Sapphires, yesterday afternoon. I didn't know anything about it:

Inspired by a true story, THE SAPPHIRES follows four vivacious, young and talented Australian Aboriginal girls from a remote mission as they learn about love, friendship and war when their all girl group The Sapphires entertains the U.S. troops in Vietnam in 1968.

Saw a brief clip on the Net so will be curious to hear what The Sisterhood thought. Speaking of Oz, any word, of late, from Old Oak?

Let me know what you think about France and we'll plan accordingly. Of course, if not feasible after your more than expensive trip to New Orleans, don't be concerned! Just thought it might be of interest as the holiday you usually need after being away on holiday! Reasonably economical in spite of daily charges for nubile Swedish masseuses!!! Fondestos from Cora Lee to you both. Cheers, Patrizzio!
 
PS: Dram Come True , VWF fund raiser, on May 31st. If interested, let me know. You can stay, as well, but travel-strained budget won't allow for chocolates on pillows! Maybe a stale mint or two, recently found in pocket of jacket worn in NO! And chickory coffee. Sound like an offer you can't refuse?

Now Patrick, you must stop pretending you are training for the Tour de France and slow down! These youngsters can take the falls and recover easily. We oldies can't take the punishment! What a fall you had. Glad to know that you are recovering. I suppose it could have been a lot worse. Thank God you were wearing a helmet. Can't understand why people continue to cycle without them. Frustrating not to know exactly what happened although the swerving theory sounds plausible. Gayle enjoyed the pictures of partly clothed Patrick!

Weather here is a mixed bag. One minute you think that Spring has finally arrived and the next feels like we are back into winter! Last week we had some terrific weather with warm air arriving from Spain. This brought out the Spring flowers. The weather pattern has again changed and we are getting weather systems from the North Sea and Scandinavia. Although sunny it is cool and back into single digits again. We met Gudrun and Steve at Godrevey Point yesterday for lunch and a walk along the coast. They send their regards.

I think I mentioned to you that my brother, who lives in Toronto, and his son and daughter in law, who live in Virginia, were to visit us in May. He advised us last week that the trip has been cancelled since his son's wife, who suffered from asthma, had a very bad attack and tragically died. Very sad indeed. I doubt now that my brother Mike will ever visit England again since he has various health problems. So I think we will endeavor to arrange a trip back East in the not to distant future to see him and catch up with Gayle's brother and some old friends.

The place you are renting in Neffiès looks terrific and very good value by the sound of it. I imagine the cycling around there would be great. Our daughter, Marnie, spent some time at University in the Loire region of France when she was doing her degree in Linguistics. I found the countryside so refreshing from the UK because of its lack of traffic. It was a real pleasure. At least if you have cool weather when you are here you can be guaranteed of sunny and warm weather in the south of France! Thank you for your generous offer to join you on the canal cruise. Unfortunately we won't be back in England until October 5th. Then we have arranged to spend a few days in Southampton. What a shame! However, perhaps we can meet up somewhere in the future. It would be great fun! I'm not sure what's happening next year. Friends of ours who live in the Delta have asked us to join them either in Hawaii or renting a condo in California. They tend to go there every winter to get away from the Vancouver weather. We also wanted to do a cruise on the Queen Victoria to the Baltics next summer. Will have to see how far we can stretch the pennies!

While we are on the subject are you likely to be down here between July 30th and August 2nd? We have an open air theatre here on the coast near Lands End and I would like to get us tickets to see Wuthering Heights. It's a good evening where we can pack our dinner and a couple of bottles of wine to enjoy in our seats before the show. Let me know and I will arrange to get tickets since they sell out quite quickly. This new version of Wuthering Heights is being presented by a Yorkshire Company called Likely Playhouse.
 

From your email it sounds like you are bringing your bike with you. Am I wrong?! I will put the bike rack on the car and perhaps we can set out from here in the morning and meet the ladies at a pub somewhere for lunch then put the bikes on the rack and let them drive us home!

I haven't seen the films you mentioned. But you have whetted my appetite so will look out for them!

Am cooking Chermoula grilled salmon with salsa, creamed celeriac and baby broad beans for dinner so best get in the kitchen and start cooking while Gayle relaxes with her crossword and wine. What a life these women have!

Couple of pictures attached of recent walk to Trelissick garden and St Just in Roseland church. Consecrated in the 1200's but have had a religious building there since the 500's AD. Very pretty place right on the Fal estuary.

Take care on that bike! All good wishes to Cora Lee and Chloe. Tell her am looking forward to dinner at her new loft when we are there in August!! Derek 

Hi Rosemary!

Glad to learn you are home safely and already hard at work! Haven't heard from Andre either. Joanne is away in Kamloops this weekend so not sure what has happened with respect to Francesco! Friday afternoon Flamin' and Cora Lee, (los indolentes that they be), went to see The Sapphires. They both enjoyed it immensely, not only for music but also for the racial/social issues it deals with. Fondestos from Cora Lee to you. Cheers, Patrizzio!

 Hi again, Derek!

Wonderful, wonderful pictures! Thanks. Thanks, as well, for sympathy over my accident. Glad Gayle liked my risqué pose! On a much more sombre note, of course, was terribly saddened to learn of the terribly untimely death of your brother's daughter-in-law. What a shock! What a blow to everyone! Sincere condolences to you and the family.

Difficult to go on as if nothing has happened but I know one must. Thank you for the offer of open air theatre tickets. We'd love to go and had planned to arrive in Cornwall at the end of July/beginning of August anyway. If you let us know date best to come knocking on your door and evening you've managed to obtain tickets for we can tailor our journey to coincide.

Sorry you can't make Neffiès, particularly Cora Lee, as she was hoping to lock you in the kitchen, especially after hearing about latest salmon dish! She's just grumpy as Sarge and Josh brought up bookshelves just after noon and she has been dusting and cleaning and moving books since then, grizzling all the while that I should be doing the same, rather than drinking java and sending messages! We desperately needed the extra book shelf space so hope to have both bedrooms in some reasonable semblance of order by the time you land in Vancouver. Cora Lee is using this as an ominous threat with dire consequences should aforementioned task not be accomplished well in advance of your arrival! I leave it to your imagination to guess what she has in mind!!!

Glad Gudrun and Steve know many of the local hikes as they'll be able to steer us in right direction and/or join us. Best wishes to them as well.

I think we may well be off to Krissy's new restaurant on Sunday evening. Chloë asked if we wanted to go when she breezed through on way to GIB this morning. She'd like us to come over to Loft tomorrow to help put up some small fixtures, (knife rack, towel hooks, small set of shelves, etc.), so we could time it to do these things and then carry on over Second Narrows to restaurant.

I do hope to have a bike by the time we arrive in Cornwall so the idea of having The Sisterhood drive the support vehicle sounds like a fabulous idea. Just make sure that any route we choose is all downhill on way out and then it won't be quite as taxing coming back, uphill, in car!
Fondestos and Cheers from us to you two, Cora Lee and Patrizzio!

Samuel Pierpont Langley, pictured here, is not a household name, but, if history meandered a little differently, he'd be known by every schoolchild in America, if not the world. Langley, a pioneer in the field of aviation, spent over a decade in the late 1800s exploring manned flight. By 1898, his models had shown so much promise that both the War Department and the Smithsonian issued him grants, totalling $70,000 (nearly $2 million in today's money) to create what the Smithsonian would later describe as "the first powered, heavier-than-air machine to achieve controlled, sustained flight with a pilot aboard."

He failed, spectacularly -- twice. On October 7, 1903, and again on December 8 of the same year, Langley's plane, the Aerodome, attempted to take flight over the Potomac River in Maryland. Both times, the plane, after being catapulted into the sky (that's how it took off), immediately crashed down into the river. Its pilot, Charles Manly, was unhurt, but Langley and team probably could not say the same for their egos.  
 

RESCOLDO: BURY THEM IN EMBERS & ASHES

Burying food in hot embers and ashes as a method of cooking isn’t typical for most of us, though it’s a style of cooking perfected by the Ona Indians of the Patagonian south and Tierra del Fuego regions of Argentina. For anyone who’s ever thrown some potatoes into the campfire embers to cook them while the hot dogs are roasting, you’re already somewhat familiar with it.

This is Rescoldo, one of the seven cooking techniques highlighted by Francis Mallmann, in his inspired cookbook Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way,  The method, covering ingredients with hot embers and warm ashes is really quite simple, and can’t be beat for an even, gentle heat ideal for cooking all kinds of vegetables such as pumpkins, sweet potatoes, squash, bell peppers and corn in the husk, to name a few.

 Here at Francis Mallmann’s Siete Fuegos Asado at The Vines of Mendoza, the rescoldo method is used for all of the vegetables paired with each delicious serving of beef, goat and lamb.  The following recipe focuses on just bell peppers and onions, though the it’s essentially the same process for any vegetable you wish to bury in embers and ashes. Cooking times may vary and for some you may wish to grill or broil for a few minutes prior to serving.

RESCOLDO BELL PEPPERS & ONIONS, Ingredients:

- 4 red bell peppers (green and yellow peppers to preference)
- 4 medium white onions, unpeeled
- Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil

Prepare a bed of embers (see page 22 in Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way

Bury the whole peppers and onions in the embers, making sure they are completely and evenly covered. Let them roast for 10 minutes.  Spread the embers apart and using tongs, turn the vegetables. Replace the embers and cook for another 10 minutes, adjusting the coals and embers as necessary for even cooking.

Carefully dig out the peppers and onions, taking care not to break them. Clean off ashes with a cloth or paper towels. Remove the outside layers of the onions. Peel the peppers, then core them and remove the seeds and membranes. Tear the peppers into 2-inch-wide strips.  Split the onions in half.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and drizzle with a little olive oil.

Hi Patrick,

Good to hear your plans are being finalised for the summer.  The Languedoc property details were not attached and it would be nice to see them.  We might even pay you a visit!  Still no news from Andre - it is getting beyond a joke and rather upsetting for me.  Did speak to both Frank and Fran (friend with house on Salt Spring where he has been but already left) and neither know where he is!  Guess I just get on with my life and hope he turns up somewhere and his friends shame him into contacting me before too long. Take care on my bike and enjoy your renewed freedom. Cheers, Rosemary XXX