Tidy Tidbits: Latest Diversions

WISHING AND HOPING….

Like the song, I imagine many of us are wishing and hoping that Covid-19 goes away soon.  But we’re probably in for a longer haul and so, it’s more books, more screen time, more curbside takeout, perhaps more cooking and baking, and definitely more walking for exercise.

ON SCREEN

Happy Valley (Netflix)

Set in a small Yorkshire village, this is anything but a happy crime drama.  In fact, the town is gritty and grotty and the crimes gruesome.  That said, I did watch it all and the Chief Penguin is now totally absorbed!  Thanks to Bruce and Pat for the recommendation.  

Former detective and now police sergeant, Catherine Cawood, lives with her sister Clare, a recovering addict, and her young grandson Ryan.  Divorced and still mourning the suicide of her daughter, Catherine becomes obsessed with the whereabouts of convicted rapist Tommy Lee Royce when he’s released from prison.  In a subplot that comes to the fore and involves a caravan park, a young woman is kidnapped, whereabouts unknown.  

For those of us who were serious Sydney fans (as in Grantchester), it’s  shocking to see James Norton as a reprehensible bad guy.  Series 1 is six episodes and there is a second series, but it isn’t on Netflix yet.

The Night Manager (Amazon Prime)

This John LeCarre novel makes for suspenseful viewing!  Night hotel porter, Jonathan Pine, is recruited to get on the inside circle of international businessman, Richard Roper, who is involved in suspect arms deals.  The settings are numerous and some gorgeous, while the cast is superb.  Tom Hiddlestone as Pine, a man of many identities, is perfect and great to look at, while Hugh Laurie as Roper is effortlessly the main man, and Olivia Colman as Angela Burr of MI6 is like a terrier in her pursuit of Roper.  Great escapism!

RECENT READING

The Sacrament by Olaf Olafsson

Olafsson was born in Iceland and has an unusual background for a novelist.  A corporate executive for much of his career, he worked first for SONY and then later on for Time Warner in New York.  Nominally an investigation of an incident of child abuse at a school twenty years ago, it is also a story about a nun whose life has been shaped by her own closeted sexual desires and by the power of the Catholic clergy.  Based in France and enjoying tending her rose garden, Sister Johnna is called upon to return to Iceland and to meet with the young man who was the child victim.  But there was another death at that time.  

The novel brings together Sister Johanna’s reflections on her studies in Paris and her friendship with Halla, her reckoning with the role she played at the school, and her recognition of her own and others’ shortcomings.  Ranging back and forth in time and in Sister Johnna’s memory, the novel can be hard to follow and is sometimes so oblique as to be puzzling.  I liked it better the farther into I got, but I never felt I couldn’t put it down, even though the ending had a twist. (~JWFarrington)

CURBSIDE CUISINE

A few words about local restaurants and curbside pick-up.  The Chief Penguin and I have made it a goal to order takeout from smaller restaurants at least once, if not twice, a week.  Thus far, we have enjoyed dinners from Alice’s Ristorante Italiano (a mom and pop operation), Bonefish Grill, and Swordfish Grill in Cortez.  In all cases, the meals have been well packaged for transit, and, generally delivered right to the car and put in the backseat.  Mostly, you can both order and pay over the phone or online.  For Alice’s, you pay when you do the pickup.  We have found the portions generous and usually enough for the next day’s lunch.  

We also did a second curbside pick-up of an online order from Artisan Cheese in Sarasota.  Besides cheese, they have been offering soups, mac and cheese and wine by the bottle.  Sadly, they can no longer continue and so, after this week, they will close for the time being. Thank you, Cheese Louise! May it be a short closure.

Note: Header image of Hope is from 123rf.com