Beautiful Cards

lundi, le 19 octobre 2009

(The story in the photograph: My Witty Friend’s incredibly talented 17 year old daughter made me the most beautiful card.)

A Room with a View

Winter Wonderland

Taking a break

jeudi, le 15 octobre 2009

It was a wet, rainy day. The sun came through late afternoon. My Witty Friend, The Princess and I grabbed the opportunity for a walk in the mountains. It was the most heavenly thing I had done in a long time.

(The story in the photograph: The Princess was as elated on her walk today as she was when she was just a little pup.)

Happy Trip

mercredi, le 14 octobre 2009

OK I admit, this post is purely for NaBloWriMo browny points. It was a 13½ hour drive, it was exhausting, I’m exhausted BUT the best thing I could have done!

New Shoes

mardi, le 13 octobre 2009

It’s just one of those things. New shoes always remind me of Leo in Twin Peaks. That’s just the way things are.

Today my car got two new front shoes for our trip tomorrow. This time she has French shoes. I have a good feeling about that.

The Princess has her bags packed. She’s in bed already. She promised that she’ll drive the long, boring parts of our journey!

Best I go and join The Princess in bed. Tomorrow is going to be a very, very long day.

(The story in the photograph: The last time The Princess went on a road trip, I burst both the front tires on my car. On a Sunday, with nowhere to buy new tires. Needless to say, when the second tire burst and with the spare already replacing the first burst tire, we had to be towed to our final destination on a flatbed truck.)

In a nutshell

lundi, le 12 octobre 2009

… that is more or less the kind of day I had!

(The story in the photograph: The picture tells it all.)

Trip planning

dimanche, le 11 octobre 2009

My Witty Friend’s husband is really not doing well. She’s asked me to come and spend some time with her. For moral support, to help with the household chores, to do taxi runs for the kids and to have someone to sip a glass of wine with in the evenings.

The Princess’ hearing abilities never cease to amuse me. When she’s asked to bring her ball in the park, she’s as deaf as a door post. But mention ‘The Princess’ and a trip to anywhere in one sentence, and her ears perk up immediately. Her immediate concern is whether this means that she is being saddled with the arduous task of cat-sitting or whether it means that she can kiss her furry friends goodbye and go on an adventure. She established very quickly today that she’s going on a trip to where she’s never been before.

My Witty friend lives in the town where I went to varsity. It’s about a two hour flight from the city I live in, driving there takes about twelve hours, if not more. Flying down means I need to find a house- and Princess-sitter, which is easier said than done, especially at short notice and especially if I don’t know for how long. Driving down means the Princess gets to go on the longest road trip she’s ever been and My Bountiful Friend will do daily cat-calls to make sure that food and water bowls are filled to the brim.

I miss L’homme every single day of my life, but more so on days when I have to plan for unexpected trips and there’s a home and animals to take care of. If he had been the man of his word he wanted me to believe he was, I could’ve caught the first flight out and spent as much time with My Witty Friend as she needed. Secure in the knowledge that my home was being lived in, that The Princess was being cared for as she is accustomed to.

Alas, L’homme turned out to be as fake as he didn’t want anybody to believe he was. So now I have to make difficult decisions and sacrifices on my own. This time round the flying-driving decision was not an easy one. I’m still not sure that the driving decision is the best one, but it’s the best decision I could make today.

Tomorrow is going to be a hectic day with work in the way, the obligatory long distance car checks and a myriad of arrangements to get in place. Oh and some sleep somewhere along the way would come in handy! On Wednesday The Princess and I hit the long, long road.

(The story in the photograph: When I took The Princess out earlier this evening, I was just overwhelmed by the delightful Jasmine fragrance that filled the air.)

A Breather

samedi, le 10 octobre 2009

It was pure bliss to wake up this morning to the sound of birds happily chatting away in the trees. For most of this week the shrill screeching of electronic devises has woken me to tell me it is time to get out of my feathered nest and get my nose to the grind stone.

This morning I could stretch out, turn around, cuddle behind The Princess’ back and wonder what the birds were discussing. The Princess gave a big, lazy yawn and thought they were probably discussing where the juiciest worms were to be found. I reckoned they were discussing flight paths of the day.

I had a long, pampering bath and was sipping some soothing tea when My Bountiful Friend called. I hadn’t seen her in about three weeks either. This whole work thing really has this strange ability to get in the way of life!

The Fairy was having playmates over and My Bountiful Friend was dying for some adult conversation. I was simply dying for conversation. We chatted like great friends do who haven’t seen each other in a while. We were both talking at the same time. At any given point we each had at least four stories going. I don’t think we successfully managed to finish one of them. We did get around to discussing matters of life, of death, of the heart.

My Bountiful Friend made us the most wonderful Oeuf Cocotte for lunch. With a tummy tingling with delight and heart full of soul food, I headed back late afternoon for The Princess’ walk.

This evening I have been keeping one eye on the Internet and one eye on the TV. I’m tracking The Athlete’s performance in the Ironman World Championships. I have huge admiration for her single-minded determination and discipline. Not only does she have a very demanding corporate job, but she still finds the time participate in very demanding endurance sporting events and often wins her category. Truly inspirational stuff! Her swimming time has been on par with two years ago, but she’s burning up the track with her bicycle!! Way to go, my super human friend!!

Watching The Presidents Cup without L’homme is not quite the same. But it’s just one of many ‘without L’homme’ things that I’m getting used to. Watching it on my own is at least better than not watching it at all!

To all NaBloWriMo participants: One third of the way done! Two thirds to go!

(The story in the photograph: The Story Teller is delighted that it’s weekend. That means she gets to curl up on her favourite bed and explain to humans how work should be approached!)

Comforting Casseroles

vendredi, le 08 octobre 2009

My current favourite casserole: lamb and yoghourt! I made it for The Artist’s birthday some time ago and it was such a hit, that I thought it would be a great dinner for The Lawyer and family.

The Lawyer’s wife came out of hospital yesterday, but the young Scotsman still needs to grow and gain some weight. I saw photographs of him tonight. I didn’t think it was possible that a baby could be so tiny! But he came off the ventilator today and is doing just fine.

I decided it was necessary to take some time out of my hectic schedule and play in the kitchen. The problem with me and cooking is that I never stick to a recipe. I believe recipes are meant to be the inspiration and from there you make a dish your own. Today I decided to make the casserole more of a meal in one and added some rice noodles.

I love the richness of the lamb and the slight sourness of the yoghourt. For freshness, I added liberal amounts of chopped mint and dill. It made a wonderful supper with a crisp, leafy salad.

(The story in the photograph: The lamb and yoghourt casserole and I made it home just in time to post this before the day is over.)