01-APR-2011
Welcome to Violet's Saloon!
I had started thinking that daily life in Bearhampton (the peaceful and lovely little village of Bearshire, where I live) had become a little too monotonous and people tended to lose motivation in remaining active and fit.
So I decided to do something for the well-being of my community and I found an empty farmhouse near by which seemed to me very suitable for my project.
After some work of renovation the Violet’s Saloon was created!
Welcome to the opening night!
As some of you might remember, I have always liked dancing, all kind of dances are ideal to keep my elderly body active and dancing is the best gymnastic I know.
When I was young and I travelled, even though never as much as my beloved nephew Frimpong Bear, I had spent a certain time in USA and I had…hum…a loving friendship with a certain Bill, who claimed to be a great buffalo hunter, while in reality he was not able to catch anything at all and it was me the one who tried to teach him to shoot at least a little enough to be engaged later in a circus, but this is another story…
Anyhow, during my, hum, friendship with Bill I got familiar with a specific kind of saloon dance and I have decided to take good advantage of my past experience and to show all of you that, in spite of my age, I’m still slender enough to perform.
If you are by chance in Bearshire, you are welcome to visit my saloon, beer is free.
19-MAR-2011
Oops ! Have you at least a slight idea about the meaning of word « Privacy » ?
I feel a little embarrassed…
I didn’t expect that a few “paparazzi” could arrive here in this peaceful corner of Bearshire and surprise me in a very private moment….
I know my nephew is well known all over the world, but I’m simply an old lady….
You might wonder if taking a bath under a waterfall might be suitable for my arthritis…
Oh well, the spirit of nature and the energy of Spring is suitable for a better quality of life in every case.
15-MAR-2011
Thoughfulness is precious....
Here I am again. Did anyone miss me?
I’m afraid of the answer.
One should never ask similar questions, which imply possibly frustrating answers….
Anyway I’m home and my convalescence is going on smoothly.
Today I’d like thanking a dear Irish friend for the lovely card she sent me.
I think the value of little discrete gestures is enormous.
As you know I’m English and they say that between Englishmen and Irishmen there is more place for conflicts than for agreements.
I’m glad to be the exception which has not any intention to confirm the rule.
By the way some of the ancestors of Bear family were Irish warriors, as my nephew Frimpong has recently discovered.
But I’m wandering from the subject…It’s a feature of elderly people, I’m afraid.
I meant to thank Miss C. for the thoughtful card and to tell her that people who love good books are all part of a privilege universe, wherever they are from.
7-JAN-2011
New Year accident....
I’m sure you’ll forgive me if I could not manage to wish all of you a very Happy New Year…
The point is that I would have kept in mind that when a lady of my age decided to practise winter sports, she might run certain risks….
When my nephew, Frimpong Bear left for his new destination ( you might remember that his job is being a professional traveller) I started missing him enormously and to not remain at home on my own feeling lonely, I decided to react and to join some friend who had decided to spend New Years’ Eve on the Swiss Alps.
Well…you can guess the rest looking at me now.
I’ll have to stay quiet at my home for other months now…please don’t let Frimpong know about that, he would tell me off.
Ah, our children, when they grow adults, start treating us as if the roles had been completely inverted and maybe they are right….
Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age.
Sometimes age just shows up all by itself.
But as my old friend Maurice used to say,
Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternative….
Have a splendid New Year!
18-DEC-2010
Christmas card from the Bear family
My beloved nephew, Frimpong Bear and I, your humble truly Violet Gwendolyn Bear,
are glad to have this opportunity to brighten up your hectic Christmas week
with our musical talents.
Please, put your volume on.
Frimpong always manage to find the time to visit me at Christmas,
even though he can never stay for a long time,
as you know he’s a professional traveller
and he keeps on visiting different places all over the world.
But today he’s here and my old heart if filled with joy.
By the way, do you know how people who are afraid of Santa Claus are called?
Claustrophobic.
I think always over about Christmas every year and as Christmas is always the same also my thought are more or less always the same…
Christmas is a time when kids tell Santa what they want and adults pay for it.
Deficits are when adults tell the government what they want and their kids pay for it.
But this is, obviously another story.
Now, my dear readers of my diary let us sing for you and to wish you all the best.
03-NOV-2010
Classic ballet keeps me slender….
I have always had an artistic temperament, when I was younger I had a loving friendship ( I will not say anything more…) with a great ballet dancer, Rudolf, who managed to teach me a little classic dance and a little of Russian…
Ah, Rudolf, what a class, what a charm!
But I must admit I have never performed professionally on stage, even though I was told I had skills….
The picture you can see here shows me during an amateur festival ballet, held here in my beloved Bearshire, I think I have been a rather good Giselle, after all.
The only problem is that after the show my arthritis made me stay in bed for a couple of days.
It’s amazing, when I dance I feel like a butterfly, but when I’m back home I realize I’m an elderly lady bear.
09-OCT-2010
A solitary ride in the evening is a good way to stay fit!
Autumn might be occasionally gloomy here in Bearshire, but I like its wild and austere beauty.
I’m a little too old to jog, then I have found always a bit bizarre those people who jog all concentrated with the headphones on , quite isolated from the world they are in from a screen of heavy music.
I like listening to the sounds which surround me while I’m outdoors.
As I was telling you above, I’m definitely too old to jog, but not too old for riding!
My old friend Liz, who has a very important position here in UK, adores horses too and she still rides, when she has a chance, even though she’s not younger than me...
But this, of course, is another story.
8-OCT-2010
A nice, surprising find in my attic....
Hidden in a corner of my attic I found this old painting, under a heap of various stuff.
It reminded me immediately of a copy I had seen once in an Italian museum.
Of course I know mine is the original, even though the master had painted many version of it.
I found on the back of the painting, stuck into the golden frame, a letter written by Raffaello Sanzio, the painter, directed to one of my ancestors from the Italian branch of Bear family, Orsetta Luti, proving that she was the very first model for this masterpiece.
What a shame it was so dusty in a corner of my attic!
I should go there to clean a little more often...
People say I look very much like my ancestor Orsetta...what do you think?
4 - OCT - 2010
Would you like to give a virtual look at my attic?
I know I tend to neglect to climb up to my attic too often...
You see at my age there are days when you feel you would need a good dose of oil for your gears, since every movement produces worrying creaking and pangs.
But today I decided to come up here to try to tidy all this mess and also because there is always an unexpected find, when I rummage among all the stuff I have collected for years.
My nephew Frimpong Bear whom maybe you know, has invited me to get rid of all these old and dusty items once and for all and transform the attic into an astronomic observatory ( you know, I live in a very secluded part of Bearshire and there is not any light pollution here at night), but I cannot make up my mind.
So I’m trying to clean a little around here, and then, as soon as the attic will have a more presentable look, I’ll go to relax downstairs with a well deserved cup of tea.
My friend Stevie (one of my neighbours) had half promised to come to help me today, but then he decided instead to head off to the Lake District.
Ah..... men!
On the red carpet of the Film Festival of Venezia
I adore good cinema, and as a consequence of my long experience of life and show business, I have developed a certain knowledge of the “Seventh Art” and I have also met personally many important characters of the planet Cinema.
I have already explained to you that my absence was caused by different factors, trips and invitations.
Just to mention one of my recent engagements: I was invited to be a member of the Jury in the last cinema festival of Venezia.
Actually I had been asked to be the President of the Jury, but my good old friend Quentin Tarantino really wished to occupy that position so I was glad to leave the honour to him; as for me I was perfectly happy to be among the other members of the jury.
Definitely I voted for Sofia Coppola and I was happy her film won the Golden Lion!
Here you can see me on the famous red carpet, what a wonderful moment!
I was a bit worried because I had to climb the steps wearing high heeled shoes, so different from my familiar Bearshire-style slippers, but I managed to keep my balance.
How do you like my dress?
Quentin told me I looked divine!
29 - SEP - 2010
Mrs. Violet Bear is back
Did you really think you could get rid of me and my diary?
Time is an ephemeral barrier when the thoughts remain constant...
I’m not sure what it means, but it sounds nice.
Anyway here I am.
Even though I had become a sedentary lady for some years nothing obliged me to never change my mind.
I have spent some months travelling to visit old friends and to take care personally of my own properties and business.
It has been enjoyable, but a little tiring.
The feeling of tiredness reminds me always of my age, even when my mind tends to forget it. .
If some among you may be curious to know how I have spent the last few months, well, I think I’ll write some notes about that in the next pages of my diary.
For the time being, since I have just come back home, I need to rest and then to tidy up and to clean my cottage here, in my beloved Bearshire.
I visited some old dear friends too and the memories of the days spent in their company will brighten up my autumn days.
Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes.
20-APR-2010
I'm taking care of a very dear and unluckily ill friend...
I wonder of any of you have noticed my absence.
I have not updated my diary that often lately, but it doesn’t mean, obviously, that I have forgotten all of you...on the contrary I have deeply missed your virtual visits.
I think it’s time to explain the reason of my “French leave”,
I have dedicated most of my time to keep in touch with my nephew, Mr. Frimpong Bear,
who has had complicated vicissitudes during his professional trips and,
last but absolutely not least, to take care of a very dear ill friend.
I don’t know if I had already told you that I’m a professional nurse too,
I got my diploma many years ago and I practised in a war hospital in northern Italy,
where I had a romance with an American soldier,
Ernest, who a little later wrote a novel inspired to our love affair...but this another story.
Coming back to the main point, I decided to take the whole situation on my paws since my dear friend had been suffering for months with a painful disease, and to invite her to live temporarily with me in order to help her to recover with my special cares and cures.
As you probably know, Bearshire, where I live, is both real, since I’m a real lady bear, and imaginary, since it’s a fantasy place.
It means that my friend can be at the same time at her home, with her family and here at my home with me.
So my friend is enjoying this kind of ubiquity, which is created by the love we have all for her and it also means she is going to receive a double quantity of medical cures and loving cares, I can assure she’ll recover very quickly.
Now I must leave you, since she needs my help for her toilet, I have already tidied up her bed and now I’m going to help her with the shower.
I will serve her a light meal and then I’ll let her rest.
Too often nice people in perfect good faith don’t realize that their too long visits are only extremely tiring for ill dear ones.
What a person needs to recover is peace, calm, rest and quiet signs of affection.
Oh, I must really go...Try to not get ill, because at present my guest room is already occupied and I would not be in condition to take care of you and then I like imagining all of you perfectly healthy as your humble truly.