A Surprise For Me

"I have a surprise for you on Saturday."
"What is it?"
"I can't tell you!!!"

I waited eagerly for Saturday to arrive, wondering what delightful event should await me. Do you know what it was? First, V. took me to watch the new Harry Potter movie! There was a package of popcorn chicken dumped into my popcorn bucket so, while I was eating, I'd occasionally come across a yummy piece of chicken. What fun! Then he took me for gelato at some magical 200 flavours place. You pay the man at the counter, he gives you a colourful token, and then you taste test to your heart's desire until you find the 2 flavours of your dreams. I chose granny smith apple sorbet, and V. chose plain ol' chocolate. :)

After that, I was taken shopping downtown where I found a cute little plaid skirt, and then it was off to the creme de la creme of the evening - a boat cruise to watch the fireworks up close! Wowee! But you know what was the most amazing part? Nature! During our boat cruise, I saw a sunset, a rainbow, and LIGHTNING! Talk about making fireworks secondary. It was so exciting to see lightning rip across the sky while we watched our sunset and waited for the fireworks to begin. I could hardly believe it.
I was quite terrified that we'd be hit since the lightning seemed to touch ground and water, but the captain assured us that we were grounded in the water and would be quite safe. Phewf!

Isn't V. a sweetie? He knew I was having a bad day (weeks), and he decided to do something to try and cheer me up! *beams*In other happy news, my braces are finally off! The coolest part is that my retainers are a dark blue with purple and greenish blue sparkles. I love them!

I hope you have a happy day!

The Girl and her Book

In a little boat
with waves all around
sits a small girl and a book.

The waves toss and turn
and the boat's mightily thrown
but she doesn't even blink an eye.

The book tells her stories
of princesses and fairies
fine princes and stallions white.

The boat throws her over
and she sinks into the sea
holding tight to the book
that keeps her safe.

She drowns
and the mermaids
carry her to a castle
and her body is laid
to rest.

-- Marie Tai

Sometimes life is so terrible that we must escape in order to cope. For instance, in Pan's Labryinth, the little girl's imaginary world runs parallel to the more bloody, dark, and violent reality of war and her mother's death. While her imaginary world could be equally dark and menacing, it gave meaning and explanation to many of the unimaginable terrors occurring in her real life.

The past few weeks, I have buried myself in books. I read all eight of the Sookie Stackhouse books, and burnt through Lisa See's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (which I totally recommend that you read). I found a safe place in these stories. Everything in them happened to somebody else, whether good or bad. I was just a spectator. At the same time, I identified with some of the characters and tried to make sense of my life through trying to understand these fictional people and circumstances. V. didn't think that doing this would be much good for me, and I can't explain how it helped me, but it did. I'm rather sad that I ran out of Sookie Stackhouse books to read. Perhaps it's like the end of a movie when your popcorn bucket is empty and you have to get up and return to real life.

Rosemary Propagation - Four Weeks Later

Compared to propagating impatiens, propagating rosemary takes a long time! I have been waiting for so long now. Every week or so, I check on their progress. In actual fact, it has only been 4 weeks, which is how long they take to develop roots, but I am impatient :)Every week, the leaves look wilted, but this week they started to look more sprightly. I was hopeful.
I noticed this cutting was also less droopy.
I gently eased them out of the soil with my "fake" dibber (a thin spoon handle) and plopped them into a bowl of water. I always transfer cuttings into a bowl of water. I like to keep them fresh while I work or examine them, and the water gives them a good drink.
After a quick rinse, I noticed something new sprouting from the bottom of the cuttings.
Yes, they were roots! They are still very little, but it was enough to give the leaves a more lively look. I hated seeing them looking droopy. I always worried that I didn't water them enough and that they would dry up. However, it looks like they are okay after all.
These two little cuttings have a new beginning as their very own plant. I am really delighted. I'm going to give them away to my friends since fresh rosemary is a lovely thing for cooking. These pictures were actually taken a week ago, so they have grown more roots since then and the bent over rosemary has straightened up more and is even more fresh looking now. Hurray!
New roots on cuttings make me happy. Once I have success with a new variety, I make lots of them. I think I'll make some more rosemary. They take an awful long time at 4 weeks compared with 2 or less for the impatiens, but they are perennials and can probably last the winter. They're also useful, and that's a plus! Perhaps my co-workers will like some.

Happy gardening!

High Tea At The Empress Hotel

On my recent trip to Victoria, I partook in the age-old British tradition of taking High Tea, a sumptious and delectable feast of miniature proportions. Everything was tiny except the pot of tea, but it was also very good.
Our first course was a refreshing bowl of strawberries and whipped cream, served prettily in glass bowls. The strawberries weren't particularly as sweet as the sun-ripe ones in my garden, but I guess I'm spoiled :)
A server came to serve our tea. He added milk to our tea cups first, then the sugar cubes, then the piping hot tea.
My tea was very good. It was fragrant and mild. I was pleased. Our High Tea delectables arrived on a 3 tier fine china plate tower.
At the bottom were fingerling sandwiches. All of them were very good. It was my first time eating a cucumber sandwich, and I quite liked it. There were carrot and ginger sandwiches, smoked salmon and cream cheese, and some kind of pate on crunchy toasted baguette.
In the middle were some of the yummiest scones I have ever eaten. They were really moist and rich, with fat yellow raisins in them. You cut them open and spread them with Empress Cream and strawberry jam. Yum!
On the top were tiny bite-sized desserts. Lemon tarts with strawberry, a chocolate cake draped in fudge, herbed short bread cookies, marble cake wrapped in marzipan, and indulgent chocolate truffles with a sour cherry in the middle.

I enjoyed the meal very much, and the server was kind enough to bring extras of whatever we liked best. I think it was the priciest lunch I have ever had, but I can't help but long for more of those delightful scones. They were really, really good!

Have a wonderful day!

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