Bad times and good times
Dec. 23rd, 2011 11:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
venetia_sassyOh, poor Christchurch! I hope all my dad's family are okay with no further damage to their houses ...
(I can't get in touch with them as I have only been asking brother for what phone numbers and addresses he has for ... over a year? Someday, he might remember.)
*
Flora dropped in today with her younger son (who used to garden for us) and his wife. They arrived earlier than we (or they) expected so I was in the shower when they turned up. Whoops. And while I wrapped vast numbers of chocolate caramels last night, and enough raspberry caramels for one gift today, the lavender shortbread was still too warm to be packaged. So I set some out for all of us and wrapped the remaining shortbread before they left. They all liked the shortbread very much, so that was good. Flora loved the pottery dish we'd found down south. And the couple were delighted with their wedding present - a metal sculpture of a frill-necked lizard. That's the third one we've given as a wedding gift and they have all been well-received (but we certainly wouldn't have given one to Flora's older son and his wife. Or brother and his wife. Not their style at all.)
I missed seeing what plant they'd given Mum so I asked after they left:
Mum: 'A crepuscule rose.'
Me: *pause* 'A ... twilight rose?'
Mum: 'That's right.'
I think that as interesting a word as crepuscule is, there are times when twilight is the more appealing option.
And my gift from Flora was so much fun! Japanese style socks in pink with red and black fish, a notebook with a bow-bedecked giraffe on the cover and a box of recipe cards with hilarious illustration on them (for lamb 'pops' - picture of sheep on sticks. *facepalm*)
I always enjoy seeing Flora. We were having a random discussion about the oddities of the human body and Flora said that now, being older, she can see the tendons in her hand and how they work much more clearly and really, it's quite fascinating and creepy to watch. She'd been almost mesmerised by it the other night ...
At which point I cracked up and asked if she'd been a Buffy fan. Certainly she had!
Spike: 'I was at Woodstock. I fed off a flower person and I spent six hours watching my hand move.'
Ooh, she remembered that! Spike was one of her favourite characters! And then Flora was telling us about her experiences with LSD back in the sixties. Heh. I imagine her older son would expire from shock at hearing that.
Wish they could have stayed longer. But we hope to see her again after Christmas. I miss the Christmas night gathering our families had for so many years.
*
Now I need to spread melted chocolate over the florentines (tedious) and make another batch of shortbread (easy), oh and wrap some more raspberry caramels. Possibly wrap some presents, too.
(I can't get in touch with them as I have only been asking brother for what phone numbers and addresses he has for ... over a year? Someday, he might remember.)
*
Flora dropped in today with her younger son (who used to garden for us) and his wife. They arrived earlier than we (or they) expected so I was in the shower when they turned up. Whoops. And while I wrapped vast numbers of chocolate caramels last night, and enough raspberry caramels for one gift today, the lavender shortbread was still too warm to be packaged. So I set some out for all of us and wrapped the remaining shortbread before they left. They all liked the shortbread very much, so that was good. Flora loved the pottery dish we'd found down south. And the couple were delighted with their wedding present - a metal sculpture of a frill-necked lizard. That's the third one we've given as a wedding gift and they have all been well-received (but we certainly wouldn't have given one to Flora's older son and his wife. Or brother and his wife. Not their style at all.)
I missed seeing what plant they'd given Mum so I asked after they left:
Mum: 'A crepuscule rose.'
Me: *pause* 'A ... twilight rose?'
Mum: 'That's right.'
I think that as interesting a word as crepuscule is, there are times when twilight is the more appealing option.
And my gift from Flora was so much fun! Japanese style socks in pink with red and black fish, a notebook with a bow-bedecked giraffe on the cover and a box of recipe cards with hilarious illustration on them (for lamb 'pops' - picture of sheep on sticks. *facepalm*)
I always enjoy seeing Flora. We were having a random discussion about the oddities of the human body and Flora said that now, being older, she can see the tendons in her hand and how they work much more clearly and really, it's quite fascinating and creepy to watch. She'd been almost mesmerised by it the other night ...
At which point I cracked up and asked if she'd been a Buffy fan. Certainly she had!
Spike: 'I was at Woodstock. I fed off a flower person and I spent six hours watching my hand move.'
Ooh, she remembered that! Spike was one of her favourite characters! And then Flora was telling us about her experiences with LSD back in the sixties. Heh. I imagine her older son would expire from shock at hearing that.
Wish they could have stayed longer. But we hope to see her again after Christmas. I miss the Christmas night gathering our families had for so many years.
*
Now I need to spread melted chocolate over the florentines (tedious) and make another batch of shortbread (easy), oh and wrap some more raspberry caramels. Possibly wrap some presents, too.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-12-23 03:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-12-23 03:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-12-23 04:26 pm (UTC)Those sound like great gifts, and I love the frill-necked lizard.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-12-23 09:16 pm (UTC)Flora sounds like a wonderful person. (Anyone who likes Spike must be okay in my book ;-) That lizard is so cool and your presents sound lots of fun.
Good luck with the candy making and the baking!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-02 09:12 pm (UTC)Flora sounds like she's a kicky lady. :)