26-DEC-2008
Good Bye, Frimpong dear! Phone me every now and then...Have a nice trip!
“Your visit was the best Christmas present, Frimpong! Thank you for coming!
Take care of yourself, please!”
“Good Bye, Auntie Violet, the taxi is waiting for me.
Don’t stay out, it’s snowing and you can catch a cold...Good bye!”
“Don’t get sunburnt in South Africa, Frimpi!”
“Don’t worry, Auntie, you know I’m an experienced traveller.
I’ll go through Portugal soon as well.
I’ll send you postcards...I love you, Aunt Violet!”
26-DEC-2008
Good Morning, Frimpong, here is your coffee!
“Good Morning, Auntie Violet. Thank you so much!
I slept wonderfully well; it was so nice to sleep in my old room where I grew up...”
“I see your baggage is ready...”
“It’s time to go, Auntie; I have to catch a plane...”
“Do you want me to drive you to the airport?”
“Do you mean YOU, driving your small Smart at mad speed as usual????
Uhm, thank you. I’ll call a taxi!!”
“Oh, Frimpong...!”
25-DEC-2008
Oh, Frimpong, what a big bottle of Bearel n°5, my favourite perfume!
“I know, Auntie Violet, I know...It’s just a little present for you!”
“Thank you, my sweet nephew. I have been using this perfume for years...
When I was younger, only three drops of “Bearel N°5” behind my ears and I didn’t need any nightgown....”
“Oh, but it was long time ago, now I have to wear at least a flannel night gown, you see my arthritis...”
25-DEC-2008
"Oh, Frimpong, if only I had known you were coming, I would have cooked something more...."
“You took me by surprise, my dear nephew, so I can only share with you my own frugal meal.....”
“Don’t worry, Auntie, it’s just a snack, but it looks delicious. Any beer?”
“It’s nice to have you here, Frimpi. You are ALL my family...”
“Don’t get sentimental, Aunt Violet. Let’s taste the turkey before it gets cold. We're the members of the great Bear family and we never become too sentimental...”
“I love you too, Auntie, sigh...sigh...sigh...sob...sob...”
24-DEC-2008
Merry Christmas, Auntie Violet, here I am!!!!!
I cannot believe it!!!!
I was taking a nap, as it happens unluckily in the most casual moments to elderly ladies like me, when I was suddenly awakened by someone shouting into my ear!
Oh my, I could not believe my eyes...I thought I was dreaming....
Frimpong, my beloved nephew Frimpong is here!
“How many other nephews have you, Aunt Violet?”
“Frimpong, but you were supposed to be in South Africa. I got your postcard only yesterday and....”
“I was in South Africa, Auntie, but, you know there are flying machines called airplanes and...Well to make a long story shorter, I must confess to you, that I have had...uhm, a little flirt with a hostess and she could get a free flight ticket for me and...”
“How long are you going to stay, my little scoundrel?”
“Oh you know, Auntie, I’m a professional traveller and I have a very busy schedule. I can stay only one day with you, but it will be enough to taste your cooking.
What are we going to have for dinner???”
23-DEC-2008
Oh, look! I got the most important Christmas card!
My nephew Frimpong never forgets me!
He wrote:
"My beloved Auntie Violet,
I'm doing well here, so don't worry for me.
South Africa is a very interesting country.
Of course I miss you and you are always in my thoughts.
I bought a little present for you and I hope you'll receive it soon."
Oh, but in my mail box there was only the card...
I wonder how he managed to send me the present from South Africa.
Anyway I feel really in better mood now!
22-DEC-2008
Christmas Blues...
Probably it depends on my elderly age...
Maybe I got a bit too tired baking a huge quantity of cookies, cakes and biscuits.
The matter is that this evening I feel melancholy.
I cannot help looking at the path from my window, hoping to see suddenly my nephew Frimpong coming over.
Of course I know that Frimpong won’t come, he’s in South Africa now, doing his job of consistent traveller.
I’m glad he can have Christmas in a summer climate, just for a change and I know he’s well and happy.
Nevertheless I have to write a little gloomy page in my diary today.
I hope to see the photos of Frimpong really soon, it will be a little like having him with me.
20-DEC-2008
Now I'm ready for Santa Pong's arrival...And you?
Oh, at long last...All is ready the way it has to be.
Don’t you think that after all, this holiday period is a bit stressing, generally speaking?
Maybe it’s because I’m an elderly lady now and get tired more easily, or simply because I have always been a bit non-conformist...
I suppose you all know that the tradition of the Christmas tree decorated with lights was created by Martin Luther himself.
He liked trees very much and once he took a pine tree home and decorated it with candles.
Well the story was more or less like that. I was not there to see.
But maybe you might be interested in knowing that one of my ancestors, Katharina Von Beara, knew Martin Luther’s wife very well, They had similar names and were in a nunnery together, and both of them managed to run away.
But this is, of course, another story.
Let’s come back to the topic without wandering about!
All of you know Santa Pong, of course, the gentle bear who comes at night on the 24th of December.
I’m proud to confirm that he belongs to my family too.
Actually he always starts his night tour from my home and I prepare all kinds of cakes, biscuits and little gifts for him.
What are you thinking...that he’s the one supposed to bring gifts and not receive them???
But we are not speaking of the fat old guy with reindeer; we are speaking of Santa Pong!
By the way if you are around in Bearshire these days you can come along too!
19-DEC-2008
I went to present my season's greetings to a dear old friend...
You know that with age I have become very sedentary, so I leave my abode very rarely. But there are exceptions.
Once a year I always go to visit a dear old friend to her home.
For her it would be a little complicated to come to visit me, she cannot travel normally like you and me, so a lot of people are always involved.
It’s much easier for both of us to do this way, I go to have a dinner with her a few days before Christmas, we have a toast to our past and our future and then we exchange those little secretes which old ladies like sharing.
Don’t ask me to tell you more...our conversations are very confidential.
14-DEC-2008
May I show you the incredibly delicious pride of the desserts?
Here is Violet’s magic chocolate mousse Christmas log!!!!
I might sound too emphatic, but if you could taste just a bit of it, I’m sure you would become even more apologetic than me.
It’s a bit complicated to prepare this gorgeous dessert, so I make it only once a year.
Just to give you an idea, it’s composed of three different chocolate mousses, at three different levels of intensity, from white chocolate to dark bitter one.
The mousses are all composed in order to give you the effect of a cut log, when the cake is sliced and around them there is a thin and crispy layer of special dough, a kind of precious meringue biscuit with a smooth hazelnut crème...
The outside is not just a plain chocolate frosting; of course not...It’s something much more aerial, nearly liquid, soft, creamy...a half solid chocolate sauce.
I’m definitely proud of this peculiar recipe.
My nephew Frimpong will regret not spending Christmas with me...And you too!
07-DEC-2008
"The praise of Folly" is a very suitable book for this time of the year...
My dear friend Bertie, one of the finest gentlemen I have met in my life and also one of the most charming, has taught me many worthy things, even though he has never managed to make me become fond of mathematics.
He used to say that mathematics and philosophy were complementary disciplines, but I was more inclined to share his interest for the latter.
I remember with deep nostalgia all the conversations I had with Bertie, but maybe I’ll tell you more about that another time.
In a winter evening like this cold one the most enjoyable things to do in my opinion is sitting comfortably at home with a cup of hot tea and a suitable book to read.
I think Bertie would have approved of my choice.
Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam was helped to write this book by one of my ancestors, Beariderius Frimperasmus, a very cultivated gentlebear he had met in England. they were together an Cambridge in 1498.
It’s obvious that the witty spirit, typical of our Bear family, highly influenced the content of this book.
Do you think it might be a too heavy and boring reading?
A book is too heavy only if it falls on your head; this is what I think!
11-DEC-2008
On a winter evening nice memories are a welcome company.
I have had a quite interesting life.
I have been lucky enough to meet people of talent and to learn many things from them.
Of course I’m optimistic by nature and I trust I’ll meet special people also in future, but, on the other hand, some of my old dear friends were really unique.
No more melancholy thought!
Did you know that I’m a very good dancer?
Well I’m a bit out of exercise right now because of my arthritis, but once I was really remarkable, also because I had an excellent teacher.
Ah, I remember as if it was now the time when Fred and I danced together on stage, but unluckily one day a certain Ginger came over and she managed to mess around and...
Oh, but this is another story!
Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce myself to you.
