"All but gone" and Chihuly

In 30 years, I have never seen this - my garden without a thick tangle of wires across the sky. Now - just birds and green.

So busy! So little time, so much to do with my best friend visiting from Provence. How the city has opened up to her. On Saturday, the market, a walk with Anne-Marie around Ashbridge's Bay in the hot sun,

then dinner here with old friends from university days.

On Sunday, a Pilates class at the Y and then the matinee of a Beckett play at Canadian Stage - "All but gone," a stunning production, beautifully directed, acted and sung. Lynn judged it "perfect." As soon as I got home, I sent an email reprimanding the Globe's theatre critic Kelly Nestruck, who gave the show a ferociously bad review simply because a bit of it had been mounted a few years before. The house was nearly empty, perhaps because of his review, when it's a very good show that should be seen. Don't miss it! As Lynn says, Beckett is so revered in France that if a production like this were mounted in Paris, it would be sold out.

In the afternoon, listening to Eleanor Wachtel interview Sir Christopher Ricks on his book about Bob Dylan, with excerpts from the songs. Bravo Bob! A hero. I think it's wonderful that the Nobel committee is embracing popular culture and music - albeit the music of a genius.

Last night, "The Hunt of the Wilderpeople" - a New Zealand film about a Maori boy and his foster father on the lam in the woods - very entertaining. Did we do enough for one day? Well, when we got home, I rushed to turn on "Poldark," but Madame Blin did not watch. A little too bodice-ripper for her. I love that show.

This morning - MORE. Off to Chihuly at the ROM with beloved friend Ken, whom I'm grateful to know through Lynn. A gorgeous exhibition of sculptured glass - and the artist's collection of First Nations artifacts.

And then smoked meat for lunch, which Lynn adores because you can't get it in France. She's a cheap date.

She is only here for two more days, and tonight and tomorrow I have to go off to teach, so our non-stop round of cultural activities will have to slow down. I will miss her very much. But luckily, Bruce is arriving a few hours after Lynn leaves, also to stay for a week. The Kaplan Hotel is in full swing, which makes the host very happy.