Thanking Strangers from the Past for Pleasures of Today

I can take no credit for the gorgeous lilac tree that grows beside our home. It is two stories tall and right now there are thousands of blossoms on it. It is spectacular.

It would have been planted about 30 years ago and by the looks of things it was never pruned, so just kept right on growing. All I did when we moved in a decade ago was cut out the dead wood, and now I just trim the bits that hang down over our walking path every year.

Did you know that lilacs are trees and not bushes? I didn't know this before meeting this one. They are in the olive family and there are actually 20 to 25 different specimens of Lilac. Ours is one that doesn't smell very strongly and I'm actually happy about that because with so many blooms, it would have been overwhelming if they smelled as strongly as do the more common 'French' lilac. The flowers we get are more delicate and fragile looking and very lightly scented.

Out to a Show : Patrizia at The Mod Club

On Friday night we went to a cool show in which our friend and drummer, Niall Mellors, was playing with a singer called Patrizia. It was held at The Mod Club and was something very different and interesting.

Patrizia is an accomplished 4-octive soprano singer, whose mission it is to "make classical music more mainstream and rid it of its elitist status by mixing it with other genres and updating it to relate to everyday people." She sings beautifully and opera-like while being backed by a really rocking band, including our friend on drums.

Bits and Pieces : May 2013

Hello. Here are the shots that I've taken during the previous month that I liked but that didn't find a home within any other post.

Cat on the Stairs

Eddie often pauses on his way down this staircase, just to take a moment to sit and think.

Food Friday : First Try of Our New Pasta Machine

One day last week Nick walked to Kensington market to get some fruit and vegetables and came home with a new pasta maker!

After his first experiments making his own pasta sheets using a rolling pin and forming (delicious) ravioli with the dough, we have been tossing around the idea of purchasing a machine and getting more into homemade noodle making. So while I didn't expect him to come home with one on that particular shopping trip I wasn't all that surprised.

Something I particularly love about Nick is his eagerness to try new things. The proverb "A rolling stone gathers no moss" could have been written about him. He is always on the go, experimenting and expanding his knowledge. And since pasta might just be my favourite food, I am happy that his curiosity took him in the direction of making his own.

I admire this trait in him, as I am one who tends to go with the 'tried and true' and stick with the things I know. That's not to say that I am not open minded because I like to think that I am, but for something like embarking upon making our own pasta, my response was more on the 'but I don't mind the dried noodles we buy from the store' side, while worrying about where we would store a pasta machine.

Note: He doesn't have some weird new hair-do ... he is wearing a hairnet in these pictures, which he automatically always does when he's cooking. A holdover from days spent working in a restaurant kitchen.