Date Day

Notice that I have two tickets for each of today's performances.  That's because Elizabeth can go to one of them with me and her friend Eli can go to the other.  As much as I enjoy talking to the strangers around me at shows, it will be a treat to chat with someone I know.

The Diary of Anne Frank was so well done with one of the most imaginative, creative sets I've ever seen.  The play opened with the actors lining up and saying who they would be playing and then telling of a connection they had to the war.  The ending was poignant and effective.

In the lobby, you could read part of the diary aloud and your reading would be added to a loop that plays before the show and during intermission.  The war is still everyone's story and this is another way of symbolizing this.

Last night I got to go backstage with Elizabeth and I enjoyed seeing this bunting in the office area:

I like to go to thrift stores when I can, so I stopped to see what the Goodwill had.  Here's a sampling:

Ha!  Ha!  I guess people in Bieber's hometown down revere him & these "treasures" get dusty at the thrift store.

Today Elizabeth and I drove over to the little town of Millbank to eat at Anna Mae's which was recently featured on You Gotta Eat Here.  The meal was worth the trip as was the Shoo Fly pie for dessert.  Shoe Fly pie got its name because flies were attracted to the sweetness of the molasses in it, so the baker had to shoo them away.  Ironically the town of Millbank has neither a mill nor a bank.

Just around the corner from where Elizabeth lives, there is this sizable home for retired actors,  Elizabeth told me that there are a number of these across Canada.  I wonder what their Seniors' Christmas shows are like!

As I've been walking up and down the beautiful streets of Stratford, I've been admiring gorgeous entrances.  Here are a few:

We don't have any quite as fancy on Staveley!

Peonies are almost finished blooming here, but I learned where are yellow and salmon ones.  I thought they only came in white, pink & burgundy.

It's time to head off to Pericles the second of the shows Elizabeth worked on.

Bring Down the House Lights

Today starts my theater binge with the first two of ten shows.

The Physicists is one of the two plays Elizabeth is working on ...

working on when she isn't reading books at the stage door.

She really wasn't sluffing off; she was waiting for me after her rehearsal.

The Sound of Music is at the Festival Theater where there is a sizable gift shop.  Both the show and the gift shop were teeming with student groups.  An elderly couple were holding hands and heading into the gift shop when the fellow saw the many, many students.  "You CAN'T make me go in there!" he stated and dropped her hand and headed out.

Walking to the show, I saw these dogs lolling in the window.  My poor Finn doesn't have such a place.

Today I spent time walking in the Shakespearean Garden and along the river.  The city gardeners are just putting in bedding plants now as the ground is very saturated.  The river is very high and muddy from excessive rains.

Here's a safety crossing guard.

I definitely liked some of the gift shop items.

Eliz & I had great appies for supper.  There's also a photo of me from yesterday's taco place.

Shakespearean Calamity

Let me tell about my day in chronological order which means we will get to the calamity a bit later on.

That dear Bob King got up at the ridiculously early hour of 3 a.m. to get me to the plane in Regina.  This is a very busy day for him as it is graduation day at the Comp, but he never complained once, nor did he put on a snarly face.  Thanks, Bob!

Can you spot me leg in this photo and can you see the two empty seats beside me?  That's not because this was taken before everyone found his seat; it's because most of us on the plane had three seats to ourselves.  This is the first time since about 1989 that I've been in a nearly empty plane.

Even in the early morning light, I could see that Saskatchewan is starting to turn green.

Elizabeth was waiting at arrivals at the Toronto Airport and she took me to IKEA so I could restock my ziplock bags supply and then we were off to this El Savadorian taco place in Koreatown.  The food was delicious including the pupusa which I had never tasted before.

We then stopped at Moon Bean Coffee in Kensington for iced London fogs to sip on the way to Stratford.  I spent longer than absolutely necessary in their washroom as I enjoyed reading all the graffiti, especially love is as easy as winter.  Who expects poetic lines in a washroom?

We stopped in the village of Shakespeare to buy supper and that's where calamity struck.

We bought these beyond-delicious goodies and headed out of the store.

I tripped on their crumbling curb and went flying ... well, flying two feet before gravity took over.  I landed partly on my hands but mostly on my face.  My glasses smushed to my face and a goose egg popped up on my forehead.  My knuckles are pulpy from where I tried to break my fall.

A quick trip to an optometrist in Stratford straightened my glasses and the only long lasting part of the fall is Elizabeth constantly saying "watch your step" or "CURB!"

If Shakespeare was alive, he would probably work this calamity into one of his plots.  He already has his title:  All's Well That Ends Well.

We did have time to visit my favorite shop in Stratford and only Leah and Barb will know what's in this bag.  The rest of you will want to stop at my place for tea or coffee this summer to see my treasures.

I had a very early night and slept through my alarm this morning (the 9th) so I'm ready for more adventures, albeit not the tripping kind.

I Know the Answer!

Last week Jeopardy had this question:

The American fellow didn't have a clue, and he basically blew every answer in the category "Canadian Cities".  I know this answer is Stratford, ON because I am heading there bright and early tomorrow morning.  I get to spent the week with the lovely and talented Liz King (always Elizabeth to me).

She's working at the Festival ...

and because of this was able to find me great deals on tickets.  Here's what I'll be seeing plus two more which aren't pictured here.

Live theater and hanging out with Elizabeth is about as good as it gets.

This weekend was also as good as it gets because Rob and his family were here and Riley was baptized at our church which was very special to us.  God bless our Riley!