10-DEC-2008
Sharing my delicious Panettone with my friend Isabel...
Ah, it smells so delicious that I could eat all at once!
This is definitely my favourite Christmas cake.
It’s an excellent kind of typical Italian Panettone, enriched with chocolate pieces and candied pears
Proper Panettone is a light, airy, melt-in-the-mouth affair, designed to dissolve on contact with hot coffee.
There are many legends about the origin of this wonderful cake, the name of which might be translated as “Big Bread”;
the one I prefer is the legend of 15th century which credits the invention to the nobleman of Milan falconer Ughetto Atellani, who fell in love with Adalgisa, the daughter of a poor baker named Toni.
To win her over, the nobleman disguised himself as a baker and invented a rich bread to which he added flour and yeast, butter, eggs, dried raisins and candied lemon and orange peel.
The duke of Milan, Ludovico il Moro Sforza (1452-1508), agreed to the marriage, which was held in the presence of Leonardo da Vinci, and encouraged the launch of the new cake-like bread: Pan de Toni (or Toni's bread).
08-DEC-2008
A wonderful night at the Opera Theatre.
I have just come back home after spending an enchanting time at the Opera.
As you can notice I'm still wearing my evening dress.
Of course it’s not suitable for a lady of my age to go unaccompanied to the theatre and – even worse - to come back home on her own.
I’m very grateful to a few kind young gentlemen, old friends’ relatives, or my nephew Frimpong’s mates, who graciously offer to take care of me in my nowadays limited evenings out.
I have always had a liking for Opera, maybe because when I was much younger I counted a few composers among my closest friends.
But this is obviously another story....
The performance I was lucky enough to attend this evening was fully enjoyable.
“Carmen” is one of my favourite operas. Actually, it was inspired by my grandmother, Lucinda Consuelo Bear, who had Spanish ancestors and was a very close friend of Monsieur Mérimée.
Of course Lucinda Consuelo Bear knew Monsieur Bizet very well - "a deep romantic soul indeed", as she used to tell me, speaking of him...
I’m a bit tired now; I’m not young enough to stay up late at night, but I have the tradition of drinking glass of Champagne before going to sleep after a night at the Opera.
You’ll forgive me if I leave you now, but I’ll drink a toast to all of you.
Cheerio!
07-DEC-2008
Seasonal tasks...
I apologize for turning my back to you, but I’m working, as you may notice.
This year the time for decorating my Christmas tree has arrived.
I like doing this in the evening so I can immediately see the effect of the little shining lights.
The custom of decorating a Christmas tree probably had its origins in 16th century in Germany, though there isn't any specific person who can be identified as the sole originator of the tradition.
There are, of course as it always happens, various legends about the origin of the Christmas tree, so we can simply believe in the most appealing one for us or invent a new one...
Did you know that in England, the first Christmas tree decorated with candles, fruits and gingerbread, was sighted at Windsor castle in 1841?
Oh, I’m sorry , but I have to finish my tree decoration since as you can notice by looking at the table, I’m waiting for a guest, so all must be in perfect order before his arrival...
Would you like to know who my guest is?
Hum, I’m afraid this is another story...
04-DEC-2008
“Ach so, du bist ein Genie, Violet!”
Well in reality my dear old friend Albert exaggerated a little, because if there was a genius between us, it was he!
Nevertheless I must admit that once he was a little lost in finding the right equation...
I had gone to visit him in Bern, Switzerland, where he lived at that time and I was keeping him company while he was frantically trying to find something missing in his reasoning
I remember the moment as if it was now. Albert was a bit nervous, so I made him a cup of tea – when you feel lost and you don’t know how to manage, stop for a while and have a cup of tea...it’s a golden rule -, when I came back with the tray I gave a look at the blackboard and suddenly I told him:
“Albert, why don’t you try with a”2” at the place of that “3”?”
I don’t know why,it simply came to my mind...
Albert jumped from his chair, turned off the tea cup and changed the equation on the blackboard.
Then he hugged me and shouted
“Ach so, du bist ein Genie, Violet!”
Dear Albert....I miss him so much, but it was long time ago and this is, of course, another story...
01-DEC-2008
I have just finished this novel. I'd like to share it with you...
A friend, who is so kind to regularly follow my diary on these pages, suggested I read this book.
It’s the only novel the author, who died in February 2008, wrote.
Mary Ann Shaffer, an American, became interested in Guernsey while visiting London in 1976.
Guernsey is one of the so called “Channel Islands”; although it’s geographically much closer to France than the UK, it is loyal to the British crown. This loyalty can be traced back to Norman times when the Channel Islands first became part of the English realm and forms the basis of the island’s constitution.
Many years later she wrote this delightful little epistolary novel.
The plot is set in January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject.
She will find it in a letter from a man she's never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb.
As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends, a wonderfully eccentric world.
Born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island, the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.
I liked this humorous and moving book and I hope you’ll enjoy it as well.
Many thanks to Katherine, who gave me this pleasant literary suggestion.
1-DEC-2008
I'm back!
I’m back to my erratic diary and I enjoy the subtle pleasure of communicating with invisible presences...
I’m not speaking of ghosts and I haven't become a medium in the meanwhile. I’m still the old, rational and a little sarcastic Violet Bear, luckily!
What I intended to say is that you know who I am, but I don’t know who you are. I don’t know if you read these words either. I can only imagine that someone by chance, every now and then, lands at my pages' shores and maybe takes a minute to share pieces of reality and imagination with me.
Nevertheless, your invisible presence is company and an inspiration for me.
I know I've been absent for a while and maybe I’ll tell you why and where I was, but I don't feel any urge to do so at this moment.
I’m here now and I wonder if one or two of you have missed me a little.
When someone misses us, we can have the impression to be existent and, in all cases, it’s gratifying.
As you can see I have taken a little tour through a library, because when winter approaches there is nothing better than spending time with a hot cup of tea and good book as perfect companions.
I’m looking for something interesting, but not necessarily too heavy, in all senses.
Maybe we could exchange the titles of the books we have enjoyed lately.
Sharing what we like make the pleasure even more enriching.
I have to leave you now; I must find two or three books before going back home.
See you soon, always here.
24-OCT-2008
Just a matter of class...
I know that I can be considered totally old-fashioned, but I do think that a real lady, mostly when she is not very young anymore, should always wear a hat when she goes out.
It makes me think of the meaning of fashion, in my opinion we should not follow any fashion, but create our own.
Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street; fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.
Elegance is a question of personality, more than one's clothing.
Once again I cannot help to quote my great mentor, Oscar Bearwilde, he had his unique way to make all clear:
“A fashion is merely a form of ugliness so unbearable that we are compelled to alter it every six months.”
So I have decided to stay out from what people consider fashionable in general and to remain consistent to what I consider fashionable for myself.
I reveal you one of my little secret; I make my hats by myself.
I cannot be satisfied with any standard model I might find in shops.
05-OCT-2008
It's always interesting to visit our National Gallery....
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like visiting enormous art museums, in a compulsory way all at once.
When I have the possibility I prefer to go rather often and to dedicate my time to only a few paintings at a time.
Today I paid a visit to one of my favourite pictures.
You see I’m partial, because it shows a double portrait, and one of the characters is my ancestor Violet Boleyn, but besides my personal involvement, I do objectively consider it a real masterpiece!
Violet Boleyn was a very clever and charming young lady and a very, very important character of that time fell madly in love with her.
He was ready to do everything to gain her love, but Violet Boleyn was very wise and realized that the gentleman was not very reliable and a bit too quick-tempered.
So she refused all his proposals, but one. She agreed to pose with him for this portrait, to leave something of her to remember her by.
Then she refused to meet him again.
History tells us that later he fell in love again, and again, and again and among his beloved ones was also a distant relative of Violet Boleyn, who unluckily was not as wise as my ancestor and the poor girl had a very tragic destiny....
But this is, obviously, is another story....
Now I’ll have a break at the art gallery cafeteria...
You can meet me there!
2-OCT-2008
It's hard to stay fit....
The five S's of sports training are: stamina, speed, strength, skill, and spirit; the greatest of these is spirit.
But the most important, after all that is adding the consequent and fundamental "S"...
SLEEP!
29-SEP-2008
The original version of the famous movie...
Yesterday I mentioned one of my old friends, Alfred...
Later I received a message asking me if my friend Alfred was really THAT Alfred one might think of, considering the fact I had also told you about his activity as director.
Well, I went up to the attic and knew if I looked carefully enough I would find an old movie poster I had put in a trunk.
Just to tell you all the truth, you will never see this movie, even though it’s the original version of a film remade a little later.
Alfred didn’t want to direct it again in the second version, but was obliged by the producers...They wanted to add a commercial scene in a shower, which I had refused to play...
Oh, it’s not the case to judge now, probably you know the second version of the movie with the shower scene, but believe me, the original version was good too and I played my role with a lot of empathy!
Alfred had also another idea for a thriller. He was obsessed by thrillers and wanted to make a movie called “Bees”, where he imagined a lot of bees which suddenly became wild, attacking a peaceful community of bears. He had asked me to play the starring role, of course...
Unluckily things didn’t work out well, but Alfred kept the idea, which he developed later with birds in the place of bees.
He was not very happy. I remember he told me:
“Violet, without you the movie cannot be that good...”
But this is another story....
28-SEP-2008
Looking for old book and thinking of old friends....
My grandmother, Eglantine Aspasia Bear, a lady of deep intelligence and wit, used to tell me that if I were not sure to get an answer which would please me, it would have been much wiser to not ask any rhetorical question.
So I won’t ask you if you've missed me, since I haven't added any new pages to my diary for a few days.
My grandmother often said that flea markets are those places where people can buy all the useless things that other people have managed to get rid of and, as a consequence, the next step will be for them to try hard to get rid of the same useless things when they realize they don't need them either.
I slightly disagree, because I often visit flea markets hoping to find the hidden little treasure which could make my day.
Nevertheless, I have to admit that it hasn't happened yet...so maybe after all Eglantine Aspasia was not wrong.
She rarely was wrong and it was the only flawz of her I could not stand.
Anyway, I have found many old books in flea market stalls, and books are the only items I find hard to get rid of.
But we should all pay attention to nuances and differences alsos in our way ofs expressing love for books. There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and the tired man who wants a book to read...
Well, let me see if I can find anything worthwhile here...
then I’ll let you know about the last books I've enjoyed.
By the way, the sarcastic attitude that one of my good acquaintances had towards books comes to mind.
Alfred was a genial film director, but not a sophisticated reader.
Once he told me. “Violet, this paperback is very interesting, but I find it will never replace a hardcover book - it makes a very poor doorstop.”
Ah, good, old Alfred...A very peculiar character...I have given him many suggestions for the plots of his movies and I also appeared in one of them, but that is another story....
14-SEP-2008
An old photo of one my casting tests....
One of my kind readers noticed an Academy Award on another mantel in my home.
Since I never starred in any movie, it was easy to deduce that I had not received it for my acting talent, but it was a gift from a friend.
Well, it seems I have to reveal to you another page of my life....
Many years ago, a dear friend suggested that I take a casting test for a movie, since he thought I would have been perfect for the role.
Actually, I was chosen because the director was extremely pleased with my performance.
The character was supposed to be American and I’m English, but it was no problem since my accent was judged excellent.
Unfortunately, when the moment to sign the contract came, the producers changed their mind and thought the world was not ready yet for a lady bear as a movie star....
The role was given to another actress, much less gifted than I, and my friend who had to play with her, was bitterly disappointed. I was told they didn’t get on well at all on the set.
My dear friend Clarkie had won the Academy Award for Best Actor five years before and offered it to me to cheer me up with these words:
“Violet, if they had allowed you to play with me in this movie, I would have won my second Academy Award and you would have won yours as well, so this one really belongs to you. Keep it as a remembrance.”
Clarkie was a gentleman... but the rest is another story....
Ah, by the way, can you hear the song?
Believe or not it's really Clarkie singing!