the tea party
this livejournal is so dead lately. here's a half-assed post, just to let you know i am still alive.
threw my mother a tea party for her birthday - it was a fabulous success. she is such a firecracker - in honor of our tea party, she came dressed as "Mrs. Gladys", who was my childhood concept of a "fancy lady". she was wearing a white faux fur coat (mine from another life), gloves, a red Hermes-esque scarf, a red hat, huge old-lady aurora borealis bead necklace and clip-on earrings, a wig that was my grandmother's in the 50's, and lipstick just like Mr. Humphreys when he is being Mrs. Humphreys. what a hoot!
i wanted to make sure her day was extra special - last year her father died the day before her birthday, and no one had the energy or inclination to celebrate, least of all her. Here's the menu:
Lemon Buttermilk Scones with Damson Plum Jam and Clotted Cream
Fresh Strawberries
Rosemary Ham and Triple Creme Brie w/ Dijon Finger Sandwiches
Mini BLT (with organic thick cut bacon - mostly defatted - and heirloom tomato) Finger Sandwiches
Tuna Salad Nicoise Finger Sandwiches (OMG they were so good - best Nicoise dressing recipe EVAR! having the rest for lunch today.)
Traditional English Cucumber Finger Sandwiches (cukes lightly pickled - marinated, really - in blueberry vinegar i got in Seattle, and compound butter with chives - they were absolutely fabulous and i will definitely be incorporating this recipe into my regular repertoire.)
Moonstruck chocolate butterflies
Tea, natch.
Everything was delicious - ok, the brie was super-salty, but it still tasted good. I made everything but the jam and the chocolates. she loved it, and talked about it all weekend.
it was a nice way to take our mind off the fact that yesterday was the one year anniversary of the death of my grandfather. i am ok with this, although it is both sad and kind of mind-boggling that i have already been without him for so long. he's been hanging around the house lately, mostly in the kitchen - i will walk through and just smell him so powerfully, that unmistakable combo of smoke and his aftershave and wool. i know he's there, and i am relieved he has not opted to manifest, which would be just too spooky. we went to the cemetery, to pay our respects and check out the headstone. i only managed to catch a quick look at the new fly fisherman engraved on his stone before the skies opened up in such a downpour that we had to run for the car. clearly he did not want us to linger there, and so sent us off to our Chinese dinner, which he always heartily preferred to cemeteries. thanks G-pa!
other than that - status quo. 125 hours of internship complete, 75 to go. done with classes. work is picking up with the start of the fall semester. dating is a scary nightmare sometimes, but i persevere. i miss G-pa, and the little G. also Sean and Ciara. there are lots of babies around, which is great. i want "lost" to come back on. my favorite cousin is getting married, looks like i will be maid-of-honoring, which is A-OK with me. the house is nice, but a lot of space, and it is overrun with spiders. i just can't dust fast enough to keep them at bay. i am inspired for a new creative project to deal with the weird wall in the living room. i came home to find a bat flying around my living room not so long ago - his was a cruel fate, alas. i hear coyotes in my backyard and birds tussling on my windowsills, and i have a family of bunnies in the back. i'm sick of television and want to get out more. the economy scares me, but does not prevent me from shopping. i recently acquired the coolest boots ever. i am finally getting the much needed ultra-sound and glucose tests - cross your fingers that both have good results.
that's all. loves to you.
threw my mother a tea party for her birthday - it was a fabulous success. she is such a firecracker - in honor of our tea party, she came dressed as "Mrs. Gladys", who was my childhood concept of a "fancy lady". she was wearing a white faux fur coat (mine from another life), gloves, a red Hermes-esque scarf, a red hat, huge old-lady aurora borealis bead necklace and clip-on earrings, a wig that was my grandmother's in the 50's, and lipstick just like Mr. Humphreys when he is being Mrs. Humphreys. what a hoot!
i wanted to make sure her day was extra special - last year her father died the day before her birthday, and no one had the energy or inclination to celebrate, least of all her. Here's the menu:
Lemon Buttermilk Scones with Damson Plum Jam and Clotted Cream
Fresh Strawberries
Rosemary Ham and Triple Creme Brie w/ Dijon Finger Sandwiches
Mini BLT (with organic thick cut bacon - mostly defatted - and heirloom tomato) Finger Sandwiches
Tuna Salad Nicoise Finger Sandwiches (OMG they were so good - best Nicoise dressing recipe EVAR! having the rest for lunch today.)
Traditional English Cucumber Finger Sandwiches (cukes lightly pickled - marinated, really - in blueberry vinegar i got in Seattle, and compound butter with chives - they were absolutely fabulous and i will definitely be incorporating this recipe into my regular repertoire.)
Moonstruck chocolate butterflies
Tea, natch.
Everything was delicious - ok, the brie was super-salty, but it still tasted good. I made everything but the jam and the chocolates. she loved it, and talked about it all weekend.
it was a nice way to take our mind off the fact that yesterday was the one year anniversary of the death of my grandfather. i am ok with this, although it is both sad and kind of mind-boggling that i have already been without him for so long. he's been hanging around the house lately, mostly in the kitchen - i will walk through and just smell him so powerfully, that unmistakable combo of smoke and his aftershave and wool. i know he's there, and i am relieved he has not opted to manifest, which would be just too spooky. we went to the cemetery, to pay our respects and check out the headstone. i only managed to catch a quick look at the new fly fisherman engraved on his stone before the skies opened up in such a downpour that we had to run for the car. clearly he did not want us to linger there, and so sent us off to our Chinese dinner, which he always heartily preferred to cemeteries. thanks G-pa!
other than that - status quo. 125 hours of internship complete, 75 to go. done with classes. work is picking up with the start of the fall semester. dating is a scary nightmare sometimes, but i persevere. i miss G-pa, and the little G. also Sean and Ciara. there are lots of babies around, which is great. i want "lost" to come back on. my favorite cousin is getting married, looks like i will be maid-of-honoring, which is A-OK with me. the house is nice, but a lot of space, and it is overrun with spiders. i just can't dust fast enough to keep them at bay. i am inspired for a new creative project to deal with the weird wall in the living room. i came home to find a bat flying around my living room not so long ago - his was a cruel fate, alas. i hear coyotes in my backyard and birds tussling on my windowsills, and i have a family of bunnies in the back. i'm sick of television and want to get out more. the economy scares me, but does not prevent me from shopping. i recently acquired the coolest boots ever. i am finally getting the much needed ultra-sound and glucose tests - cross your fingers that both have good results.
that's all. loves to you.