Wow! I'm just getting out of my zombie state. Went to bed past midnight four nights in a row. We sure had an action packed weekend even though we didn't leave town. The fun started on Thursday evening when Premi, Sri, Daryl, and I packed a scrumptious picnic dinner and drove up to Solvang to see Les Miserable. PCPA is a consistently top notch theater company and they certainly didn't disappoint with this wonderful musical production. Excellent atmosphere under the stars, perfect temperature (only slightly chilly), and superb acting. I thought they did a terrific job of transporting the audience into 19th century Paris and into the lives of characters that tugged at your heartstrings. There are few better ways to start a holiday weekend - especially since Daryl and I worked so hard all week on our projects.
On Friday evening we had our friends Phil and Melinda over for dinner. They have just returned from Barcelona and the Costa Brava and wanted to shared their fun experiences with us. The evening got a little exciting when Phil criticized Obama for not being more vocal about the Iranian elections. Daryl, a passionate Obama supporter, popped a few buttons. In my skillful way I managed to steer the conversation back to the Spain trip. Premi and Sri were with us too and Phil and Melinda enjoyed getting to know them. For dinner we had a selection of salads. I made my favorite summer pesto salad. In a pesto sauce you toss steamed red potatoes, steamed french beans, ripe, juicy tomatoes, and olives. It is a guaranteed success. I also made an edamame salad and an orzo salad. Premi made a garbanzo bean salad which was delicious.
Saturday, 4th of July, the sun appeared early (the fog disappeared by 9:00) and the weather was stunning. We had a terrific dinner party in our garden. No traditional barbecue since most of us are vegetarian. Our dear friends Bruce Hale and his wife Janette, came over and made us champagne cocktails. Olivia brought exquisite vegan appetizers - spinach and tofu inside philo pastry. Premi made lentil samoosas. Janette provided the dessert - Thai sticky rice (white and purple) served with fresh mango. Sheer bliss for the tastebuds! That Janette is one awesome lady. We ate, drank, and talked and talked and laughed and shared our stories - funny, sad, neutral. We had fun.
Yesterday Premi and Sri decided to have a 'braai' - a South African tradition. So the meat eaters had lamb cooked over charcoal and the vegetarians had soya sausages. We had baked beans salad and potato egg salad with this. We finished off the evening with the movie 'Doubt' - a bluray disc which we saw on our plasma screen.
The movie was fascinating. Superb acting by Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour. It was one of those movies where everyone has his/her own interpretation. Was the priest a pedophile or not? Was the harsh, rigid principal right or was she way off the mark? There are no clear answers. And on that note of doubt the holiday weekend came to an end.
My goals for this week are to polish up my novel THE STARS ARE DIFFERENT IN DURBAN and to send it off to to three editors.
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