Tuesday and Wednesday Dinners

TUESDAY

With dining being restricted to 2 in a party - and only vaccinated persons indoors - we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves cos we ate at another restaurant in the business district. It's a great option when one is looking for a place with more empty tables than filled. 

There was no one else there when we got in for dinner. I don't mind having the whole restaurant to myself! LOL. 

 

Stuffed chicken with ricotta and sundried tomatoes, served with roasted veggies and butter rice. This was what was left of our plate by the time I whipped my camera out. Oopsie.

This was a bunch of baked mushrooms (what? weird right?) that we chucked into our spinach/asparagus salad. 

It didn't turn out too bad. I rather enjoyed it. 

WEDNESDAY

We had planned to go to the pokebowl place but I got delayed by a whole bunch of phone calls from the hospital so BIKSS travelled nearer to me and we ate at a mostly-filled-with-eateries mall nearby. 

Not crowded, social distanced, empty tables between diners. It was safe enough.

Grilled salmon on a hotplate.

Chicken wings and sauteed broccoli and mushrooms. 

They do a mean spicy broccoli, this place. 

We have this every single time we're here. 

Mozaarella cheese balls not photographed cos we popped them the minute they got to our table. Here's a picture from the web - 

After dinner we walked home, and then got into bed. BIKSS usually 'parks' Roger downwards, so I was surprised when I reached into his boxer shorts and found him pointing up! 

"You've got Roger facing upwards... how come?"

"Cos I adjusted him so you'd have easy access!"

"Well, why'd you do that then?"

"Cos Daddy wants a blowjob!"

I suppose he didn't need to change positions but hey, it made me ask didn't it? 

I also got a spanking! A bit of a thuddy one cos he uses two fingers when he needs to keep it relatively quiet but oh they are whacky spanks! Mmmm, yummy. Things were flowing rather quite readily down below. 

I suppose I needed the de-stressing. While cuddling after I told him I missed feeling small. In my world I'm the largest person (with the strongest personality) - my boss is a tiny man, and my colleague is skinny. And at home, well, mum is 4'11" if that. And her caregiver shorter still. I'm 5'5". 

He held my head under his chin and wrapped me up in his big strong arms!. And for a moment all was right with the world. 

In mum news - they have got a spot for her in the rehab hospital so she'll be moved there tomorrow morning. It's the same one dad was in a couple of years ago, and mum got to know a couple of the aides there during that time. So I reached out to one of them earlier this evening and asked if he would please check in on mum once she's transferred just to make sure that someone's feeding her and she's being taken care of. I found out (much to my dismay and pissiness) that the ward she's in currently didn't make arrangements to have someone feed her, despite my telling them a zillion times. 

When she was in recovery after surgery I know they fed her, and she was eating well. But for some reason after she was transferred to the general ward someone let the ball drop. In any case they agreed during that phone call when I discovered feeding her wasn't part of her care plan to let my caregiver in to see to her needs. So she was with mum today, and we got more than a couple of video calls / normal calls in. 

It was good for mum, and it was good for me. But once she's in the rehab hospital we won't be able to wrangle any special passes for her caregiver. They've made that abundantly clear. Oh well. Still, she really does need to get her rehab done, so there's nothing much I can do about anything else. 

The hospital team did inform the rehab team that she is showing some signs of delirium, likely acute, as a result of the stress of surgery and being in unfamiliar surroundings, so they'll be working out an expedited rehab program for her to try and get her back home as quickly as possible. 

So far she's exceeding the doctor's expectations in terms of how far she's walking, so he's hopeful that she'll make a full recovery, and in a shorter time than he originally imagined. This is all good news. I'm glad. 

My mood pic today ~ 

Positive Signs

That the purple heart is blooming AGAIN only 5 days after the last one is giving me hope that all will be well. It's lifting my spirits at least. I've got it into it's permanent pot now. And spotted the flower this afternoon as I was moving my pinstripe to a less sunny spot.

My cousin wanted to send mum flowers but I told her since we wouldn't be allowed to visit, there would be no way for me to take them home at any point, and there were already 2 baskets by her bed so I was afraid the nurses would chuck them out. I said she might consider sending a tiny succulent instead as they would survive the long hospital stay, AND not take up too much space. She decided that logistics might prove challenging if mum ended up with too many gift baskets, so she sent it straight to my house, and I saved the box and get-well-soon card that came with it so I can show it to mum when she comes home.

It's such a pretty little tiny thing. I've set it atop my succulent pot. I mean, literally. It's a pot. The sister took one of my old saucepans (I was gonna throw it out) and repurposed it. 

In mum news - I managed to speak with her on the fone for 5 minutes today to let her know that we love her and miss her but can't come to the hospital because of the damned restrictions. I also explained that she will be moving to the rehab centre for about 2 weeks and she seemed ok with that, thankfully. She didn't grumble or resist the idea. I've reassured her that I will call again this evening after dinner, or when my hospital-insider is there to visit with her so that there'll be someone around to help her with the fone. (That's how I managed to speak to her this morning.... she helped mum get the fone up to her ear.)

She didn't seem distressed or upset, which was my main worry. Just a bit grumbly but hey, I'll take it. 

Meanwhile, I'm just growing more plants and eating more dinners with BIKSS. 

My mood pic today ~ 

Parallel Universe

Thank you for all your lovely comments and well-wishes. Mum managed a smile on video call this afternoon - a friend who works at the hospital snuck into her ward and rang me from her bedside. She was sitting up in a chair and grumbled that I should be there cos 'THEY' have no idea what to do and only I know all the right things to do, she says. 

I'll pop down to the hosp to pass said friend mum's fone to bring up to her. I'll have to let her know to tell the nurses to sort out the charger and cable for her. 

She doesn't know how to use the video call thing but I can send her messages and pics so that should make her feel better. I hope. 

Meanwhile, since no one can go to her, we're all just living in a somewhat parallel universe that looks a lot like how life was 2 years ago... BIKSS dropped in for a cuddle and some unromantically-elicited sex. Me : I think I wanna have sex, you wanna have sex? 

LOL. 

We also had lunch together yesterday afternoon, at a deserted mall with deserted restaurants. 

Some lovely green foliage to perk me up :)

10-dollar fish and chips. Not half bad. Lovely flaky battered fish!

Looked like too much food but we managed - I WAS HUNGRY!

So mum is fit to transfer to a rehab facility and they'll move her as soon as there is a spot available. Things are moving along well and I'm so glad that she's not in pain. They asked if her leg / hip / side hurt and she said "Leg not pain. Hip not pain. BUT STOMACH pain." 

I think she was annoyed that her breakfast and meds were late. I guess if she's complaining and grumbling that's a good sign, all things considered. 

I was kinda sad when she told me they did an operation but hadn't warned her beforehand. I had to remind her that that was the reason we were in hospital in the first place, remember? But it's all good now, you're all good, and your leg's been fixed up fine and you're doing well. She seemed ok with that. 

I'm having dinner with BIKSS at a nice quiet place we've been to a few times. It's almost strange, making actual dinner plans at *actual* dinner time instead of working around MUM'S dinner time. 

My mood pic today ~

My zz cuttings are rooting. If a plant can learn to live again, then so can we!

My Heart and the Purple Heart

It was sitting in its 'eco' (temporary pet bottle makeshift container lol) pot overnight and Saturday morning there was a flower. Beautiful. And now it's gone. 

My heart has been heavy and now it's light again. Mum tumbled off her bed on Sat morning. We took her to the emergency room. They scheduled an 'emergency' surgery to fix a broken hip. To wait for a regular scheduled OT would have taken too long hence the emergency surgery as there is an OT working round the clock on the weekends. It's a queue system but they were hopeful she'd get a slot today. The bones were well aligned so they wanted to get in there and fix it as soon as possible. She was wheeled down to the theatre this morning and I had the longest day waiting for a phone call. She's out of surgery now and in a high dependency unit. Her BP was low during the procedure but is stable again now. Hopefully she'll make a quick recovery. Thank you for the lovely messages on FB those of you who saw my post. 

I'm bummed that with the new Covid measures no one is allowed to visit, altho we managed to get special permission for my caregiver to be with her when she's in the general ward.  For the time being no one is getting in or out to see her so I'm just hoping that she remains calm and/or sedated - the last thing she needs is panic right now. 

I'll take all the prayers and positive vibes I can get! She's going to need it to get through rehab. 

That is all for today. 

Friday Round Up - Pots, Plants and a Posh Bistro

I know. It's been a whole week! I've been busy, and the week has been long! Doctor visit for mum, bank visit for me, bread rescue (and sorting), care package delivery for my bestie, chicken and waffle lunch treat for the mum (she had a whole quarter of a waffle and a wingstick), received some guests, spider plant rescue, coffee with Betty, and dinner with BIKSS at a French bistro that we absolutely love! And a foot massage for mum and a back massage for me this afternoon! Plus the usual lessons, of course.

Wouldn't you say that was a colourful week? 

Right. First, mum's labs came back not-so-good, I thought. But my boss and the renal guy both don't seem terribly worried. The main thing - keep up her quality of life as best we can for as long as possible. OK. I'm on it. 

She's been watching Gene Kelly and Elvis movies, I've stuck on a ton of musicals like West Side Story and Sound of Music (she enjoys musicals, I guess we know who I got *that* from... ), and I'm showing her all the plant-y developments - new shoots, new cuttings, new plants that find their way to my home...

Like these spider plants that were getting chucked. A friend from the rescue group noticed that her neighbour had thrown these out and she rescued them from ending up in the bin. They're so well rooted it would be easy enough to give them a home. It's not like I have to wait for roots (I'm looking at you, fittonia...).

 

Many well-rooted spider plants

I took 3 home with me and stuck 'em all in one pink pot. Because I didn't have enough soil for more than one pot. The plan was to have them in 2 pots. Oh well. I've since remedied that. I've also crushed eggshells and mixed it in with the new soil so I'm now prepared for the next re-homing emergency! LOL. 

As for the pink pot? Wait till you see what I found online. Bio-degradable pots in pretty colours that won't break the bank. I paid a little over USD$2 for this pack of 5 pots! (12cm / 4.75 inch). 

The plant-mama friend saw them on my FB and mentioned that she thinks they're really pretty. So I got another pack as a surprise gift for her. (With rebates, the second pack was even cheaper than the first!) BIKSS is driving me round tonight to pick up a purple heart cutting - perfect timing! 

I would have gone over sooner, but I was waiting for the pots to arrive ;)

Now in order to be a decent plant parent, I've been reading websites and watching Youtube videos. And one site had a "plants to match your horoscope" article. Apparently I should have a hawthornia zebra cos they can take neglect, don't need fussing over, and will sit quietly and look magnificent in a corner. 

I don't usually like succulents, but these DO look rather exciting! If I see one, I'm getting it!

OK ON TO DINNER

We found a French place. In the business district - this basically means crowds at lunchtime and empty tables at dinner. Which is perfect in these Covid times. 

It wasn't cheap, but it was very satisfying! 

Farther in there's a section with a skylight - which is where we were seated. 

Crab and mayo tartine - I'm not a fan of sourdough so thankfully tartine bread tends to be less tangy than traditional sourdough. This was SOOOO good.

Melted raclette cheese tartine with air-dried beef. I liked the cheese. But the beef was toooooo hard for me. And I'm totally going to come back for the raclette fondue buffet next year to celebrate my birthday, if the situation allows. Sigh. We're tightening restrictions again starting Monday. 

That yellow thing on the left is GUINEA FOWL! This is what I wanted to try when I suggested we come here for dinner. I'd never eaten guinea fowl before, and neither had BIKSS, so we thought we'd be adventurous! Not too bad, a bit like turkey I thought. Even tho it's meant to be "Guinea Fowl with porcini mushroom sauce and butter rice" we managed to get the rice changed to a green salad, which came with a perfectly balanced vinaigrette! Even BIKSS noticed that it was dressed just right.

And of course since we were already there, we decided to just splurge (calorie wise) and have a dessert. I present the "Thin apple tart and vanilla ice cream". So if it's vanilla ice cream in a French restaurant, is it French vanilla? LOL.  

And here's a bonus. While trying to get my camera app on I noticed the sparkling lights reflected from the coloured bulbs above. At first we didn't know where the colours were coming from, but BIKSS noticed them after a couple of minutes. 

I had so much fun playing with the camera that BIKSS had to tell me to hurry up and take a picture of the apple tart before the ice cream melted. Teehee. Oops. (Can you see the coloured bits on the plate?)

Will we go back there again? Yes.  Aaaand tartines are 1-for-1 on Tuesdays!!

There are two more I'd like to try - smoked pork belly with Reblochon cheese (that's one I've not tried before) and smoked salmon with scrambled egg and herbs. Cos, well, salmon and egg! 

And maybe we'll try the classic chicken stew with white wine sauce. 

Dammit! If I've already decided what to eat on my NEXT visit then you KNOW I like the place. 

This Tuesday maybe? 

My mood pic today -

I've had 5 monstera shoots this week! I think all the cuttings have finally settled into their new home.

We Knew It Would Happen

Went to see the geriatrician. She adjusted mum's anti-anxiety dose. 

She's sleeping better and less stressed in the day time. I'm quite glad about that. She is also eating a little better, so hopefully she won't continue to lose too much weight. 

Her labs didn't look good tho, but we knew it would happen at some point. Her kidneys have been the pits for years, but it looks like it's getting markedly worse. If she were a candidate for dialysis she'd be on it with the way things are looking now. But she isn't, so it's conservative management for us. 

Yesterday was my live-in caregiver's day off. I spent the whole afternoon and the better part of the night with mum, entertaining her, keeping her company, just letting her ramble while I nodded along, or oh or ah-ed at the stuff she's telling me. 

We video-called my aunt in Germany and had a nice chat. This morning another aunt rang and we had another nice chat. 

I took a personal day today too, and wanted to sleep in. But there was some renovation work going on in the apartment directly above me and I got woken up at 9 sharp.

Anyway, managed to potter about and sort out some of the stuff in the house, put away things, packed other things, made a couple of layer cakes (for sale, not for gifting!) and spent more time with the mama. 

She's happier when I'm around to entertain her, and she was in such good spirits today she got up and danced along to a video of Andy Williams singing a duet with Julie Andrews. 

It was heartening to see her wiggle and clap along to the music! 

I've also been thinking maybe my newfound plant obsession is just a manifestation of my need to DO something that helps mum, but since there isn't a whole lot I can fix where she's concerned, I turned to fixing up her plants. 

Who knows. 

I *DO* know that when I decided to take an interest in them it was with the intention that she could continue to be surrounded by them, since she always loved tending to her corridor garden, even tho she isn't able to physically care for them anymore now. 

She loves plants. And if she can't care for them, then the least I could do is keep them alive so she can still HAVE them around. 

Right. So I've done NO research for my teaching notes in the last couple of days and I will have tons of catching up this weekend. 

I was planning on doing some research tonight but it's almost time to go for a walk with BIKSS so I'm just going to abandon that idea and get changed to go.

My mood pic today ~

Teaching Notes - Tuesday Things - The Music Edition

It's been a week of music research for me. And there's still a little bit more to go... 

I'm compiling (and creating) some teaching notes / activity sheets / listening maps for a set of pieces that I've downloaded from a site called Making Music Fun.  

They have free resources for teachers and parents and music learners in the easy / beginner stage. But a bunch of music with no info / background is kinda useless imo. It makes learning to play the piano very one dimensional - all you do is play a piece, with no context, no history, no NOTHING! 

Anyway, while it's really tiring (and time consuming) I do enjoy scouring the web for a bunch of different sites before I pull what I think are interesting bits of information and stick them on a page for the kids. Sometimes it's just biographies, other times it's a word search or pictures or fill-in-the-blanks... I mix things up. 

Here are some interesting things I've come across this last week. I hope you enjoy reading a little bit about some of the history, background and strange tales that surround some of the more popular pieces that we hear today.

Let's go! If you like you can click on the videos to listen to the pieces while you read :)

(The title hyperlinks under the video thumbnails will take you to Youtube.)

1. "Tarantella, tarantula: one’s a lively folk dance and the other’s a fuzzy arachnid, but they are linked by a bizarre common history. Once upon a time, the lightning-fast footwork of the Italian pizzica tarantella was the symptom of a terrifying malady, supposedly caused by a spider bite. Read on to discover the dancing plague and musical cure of medieval southern Italy."

From Southern Italy’s centuries-long dancing mania

(Click the link to see all the slides.)

Tarantella in A Minor - Albert Pieczonka

2. The Pavane - and old (very very slow imo)  dance from the Renaissance. Wiki says it is "a sedate and dignified couple dance".  Yaaaawn.

Watch this and you'll agree. This is a dance I could do even with a busted knee.

Renaissance Dance Pavane

3. Arabesque - Adjective and Noun : French, from Italian arabesco Arabian in fashion, from arabo Arab, from Latin Arabus (Merriam-Webster)

In art, from Wiki

"The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foliate ornament, used in the Islamic world, typically using leaves, derived from stylised half-palmettes, which were combined with spiralling stems"."

From The Clark

"In music, the term “arabesque” refers to a highly ornamental melody whose free unfolding expresses a slowing of time within the composition. Unlike the straight line, which is the most direct path from A to B, the curving movement of the arabesque creates an effect of circular phrases that conjure perpetual melodies." 

Debussy - Arabesque No. 1

Of course you can't think of Arabesque without thinking of Debussy! (At least I can't.)

And if dancing is more your thing, have a look at Arabesques and Art: Histories of a Position.

Can't be arsed? Ok, just look at this picture so the next time someone talks about an Arabesque in ballet, you'll know what they're talking about. 

There. Got it? Let's move on!

4. Theme songs on telly.

I'm going to just breeze thru these two - first, Masterpiece Theatre. Remember that? The theme you heard was Mouret's Rondeau from Première Suite de Symphonies. 

I love this Fanfare. It's so, um, fanfare-ish. There are a few versions, but I enjoy this organ / trumpet one the most. 

Jean-Joseph Mouret: Rondeau from "Sinfonie de Fanfares"

And the second TV theme is from Alfred Hitchcock Presents - yep. This one came from Gounod. Check it out -

GOUNOD "FUNERAL MARCH OF A MARIONETTE" 

WITH ANIMATION BY TOM SCOTT

From Wikipedia - 

"Gounod started to write a suite for piano called Suite burlesque. After completing this piece, Gounod abandoned the rest of the suite."

(This man had a plan! The best time to quit is while you're ahead, I say! LOL)

The storyline is given along with the piece - 

The following storyline underlies the "Funeral March of a Marionette":

• The Marionette has died in a duel.
• The funeral procession commences (D minor).
• A central section (D major) depicts the mourners taking refreshments before returning to the funeral march (D minor).

Additionally, inscriptions are found throughout the score as follows:

• La Marionnette est cassée!!! (The marionette is broken!!!)
• Murmure de regrets de la troupe (Murmurs of regret from the troupe)
• Le Cortège (The procession)
• Ici plusieurs des principaux personnages de la troupe s'arrêtent pour se rafraîchir (Here many of the principal personages stop for refreshments)
• Retour à la maison (Return to the house)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aight, that's it from me. I hope you enjoyed some of that! I sure have learnt a whole lot this week. 

If you had a favourite, let me know in the comments! 

My mood pic today ~ 

Friday and No Where to Go

We went to the nursery. Two! 

BIKSS had an early finish so he came to get me at 4. We dropped off a box of home made granola bars at the plant-mama's house, then he asked if I needed to do / buy / sort out anything else. 

Nope, said I. Nothing. 

Where shall we go? Is there anything you'd like to do?

Hm. Nope.

It was too early for dinner. 

Hm. 

The problem with living in these Covid times is that everything is closed, or attendance at places has to be pre-booked, or cafe / restaurant visits are capped at 60 mins. We also do NOT want to just pop into crowded malls / shops if we don't have to, cos what's the point of extra risk right? 

So I said let's go see some plants. 

Which we did. There's a well known area with a stretch of nurseries, and I mean a LONG stretch - some of them have been around for decades, like since before I was born even, about 12km from my house. We drove over there and spent about an hour and a bit walking around. We managed to visit two of them, and then I got hungry so we went to dinner. 

I didn't take any pictures, but we intend to go back and visit the others... so I'll probably take pics then. 

Dinner was at a place we hadn't been to before even tho we've both seen it in our discount app... so we decided to give it a go. 

It was simple, no frills, tasted good, and I couldn't complain. 

Fried Chicken (Karaage) - crispy, hot, yummy.

Mushroom salad - warm mushroom, cool veggies, the type of lettuce I like. 

Crispy salmon with salad and fries. That's what the menu said, and that's what we got!

Red velvet waffle with a scoop of ice cream. I was hesitant to eat it. The waffle looked weird and out of shape. It didn't have the typical buttermilk waffle scent. I doubted its ability to satisfy. 

But I was wrong. 

It was different. Interesting. Had a flavour but I don't know what of. The texture in the middle was a bit soggy but not like a soggy waffle, more like a bread pudding. 

BIKSS tried some and had the same reaction. 

I probably won't go back for another, but this one didn't exactly upset me either, despite how it looked.

On the way home we walked past a bakery that sold a very very old, hardly-seen-anymore glutinous flour cakey-biscuit thing that's usually eaten during the mooncake festival. It's called a moonlight biscuit (月光餅) - and this is how it's made - 

PLAIN AND SIMPLE MOONLIGHT BISCUIT

There's another version here but this one has Chinese text and it's different in that she steams the biscuits at the end. The ingredients are listed in English in the info box below the video if you're curious. 

The one I got has a sprinkling of sugared cinnamon powder in the centre of the biscuit.

And in plant news - there's fruit on the orange jasmine! 

My mood pic today ~ 

 

Friends

English is supposed to be the first language in schools here. Sadly a lot of people don't speak it properly. Recently a student of mine grumbled that her teacher says "Corright?" (instead of 'correct'), and I overheard a conversation BIKSS was having with his colleague (he was on speaker cos BIKSS was driving) and at one point the guy said "I don't know whether did he tell him or not." 

I couldn't take it. I almost died. BIKSS is immune to bad sentence structure. I. Am. Not. My brain short circuited and I proceeded to make up sentence after sentence in that funny incorrect way. 

Do you know whether did I have breakfast today? 

Have you asked whether did they go there? 

Ugh. I had a bit of fun. But not REAL fun. Like, roll-eyeball fun. Go on, I'll wait. You try a sentence or two. It's so painful it gets your synapses firing for sure! 

Anyway recently I've been chatting with a few more people from the food-rescue group and two in particular have been really nice and I suspect we've become friends! FRIENDS! Imagine that. LOL. 

I was pretty pleased with myself when I announced it to BIKSS last night. "I think I made two new friends!" 

He was glad for me. I mean, genuinely glad. Cos I'm so damned finicky about friend-making. 

BIKSS - Well, it's about time. I'm glad for you!

Me - It's not MY fault. It's really hard finding people who can actually speak proper English. (Insert eye roll here.)

BIKSS - This is true. I'm glad you found some new people! 

Me - At least I *think* we're friends. One of them shared an intimate story about her and her husband and you know, stuff. The other one, just today, sent me a random text about how a brick fell on her and she hurt herself. I guess if she didn't think I was a friend she wouldn't tell me right? 

BIKSS - Yup. I should think that counts as being friends. 

Me - HURRAY! I made friends! 

~~~~~~~~~~~

And on the topic of friendships, blessings and everything related, a girlfriend transferred some money into my bank account today cos she felt prompted. I understand what she means. This is how I felt when I agreed to take on two new students at month's end - halfway across town. It would take me over an hour to travel there, but for some reason I felt called to do it. So I made the arrangements and it's all set! 

Oh, back to the friend. So she asked a few days ago if I needed any (financial) help and I said no, I have it covered, cos even tho I lost a student last month (she graduated...  she didn't die or anything like that, knock on wood!) I would be picking up two new ones soon so I'm going to be ok. 

And still she dropped the cash. I told her I appreciated it and it would help with the current situation but once I'm able to I'm going to drop it back into her account and in the meantime I cleared some bills with it. 

Look at me, growing. Learning to be grateful and accept blessings graciously. 

My colleague also had her son drop off a banana loaf for me today cos her sister baked some. And an ex-colleague called round with three bags of mooncakes for me and my boss and my colleague.  They come in a fancy big ass tin complete with a two-tier serving tray inside!

I've just been swamped with gifts and I'm so so grateful for these friendships. I really needed the feel-good vibes today!

My mood pic today ~ 

I'm Not The Only One

A few days ago on the way to work I saw this lonely pot sitting out on a patch of grass. 

I guess I'm not the only person trying to sun my plants. I did say it's been terribly dark and gloomy the last month. Thankfully we're getting sunshine again now, with pockets of rain, so the plants are doing much better now. 

 

And on the topic of plants, I went to IKEA to pick up a wire basket to match one that I already have. When what should I hear but a little teeny Fittonia calling my name. I'd been wanting one for a week or so, so when I saw this White Anne I caved. It's sitting in the bathroom where it's warm and humid and gets sexy streams of sunlight in the evenings. 

A friend of mine who is a plant-mama and spends a lot of time in her garden has also gifted me with two varieties of Sansevieria (snake plant) from her own big pots. She got pretty excited when she heard about my new-found interest and has been offering me this that and the other on an almost daily basis. 

Would you like a Monstera? How about a Queen of the Night? I have three. You could have one. Too big? Ok, I'll give you a leaf? You can wait for that to grow! No? I have crown of thorns too... those are pretty small right? You want some? I have something that LOOKS like a nerve plant, maybe a polka dot plant, I'm not sure, too small now to tell, would you be interested? It's over there, by the crown, under the queen, yes that's it...  well? 

I've said no to everything. Flowers don't do so well in my house. I did say I was interested in a Sansevieria as they're so hardy and can take low light as well as bright light... and now, ta da!

This one arrived first and had already been in a pot for some time so I just put it straight up on the rack.

This one was given to me on the same day it got transplanted so I'm letting it rest beside my ZZ for a couple of weeks. No harsh light here. It actually looks quite cosy. The plant-mama agrees that it looks like a good spot. 

And now I sit tight and wait for the babehs to grow, for my other cuttings to root, and for the new plants to acclimatise. 

Perhaps I'll talk / sing to them in the meantime.

My mood pic today ~ 

(I don't know what this Pokemon is called, but it's SOOOO CUTE!)

Teacher's Day Dinner

Not really, more like our usual Friday night dinner, it just happened to be the day that our schools celebrate Teacher's Day here. 

I had a lousy week so BIKSS gave me the option of selecting our dinner venue, or we could drive around and / or try a new restaurant if I wanted to, he said. But what I really wanted was some place nice, not noisy, and reliable, so that's how we ended up at the same place we had our Christmas dinner last year. We haven't been back there since. So I thought it would be a nice treat, even though it's a little bit pricier than the places we usually go and I don't particularly like spending too much money on dinners for no reason. 

I'm glad it didn't disappoint. 

It was a very cauliflowery affair - 

Butter-Roasted Cauliflower with Parmesan and Hazelnut Pesto

So good. SO SO Good. 

Cauliflower ‘Wings’ with BBQ Sriracha Dip

(I had him ask for ketchup cos I'm not a BBQ sauce fan)

Even gooder than the first cauliflower dish. They really know their cauliflower, is all I can say.

I also wanted a Sautéed Tuscan Kale with Baby Spinach & Garlic cos I thought it sounded yummy...

I took a mouthful and proclaimed it "not nice". He laughed and replied "Guess I'll be having lots of kale tonight!"

It needed some flavour. I dumped some ketchup over a portion that I dragged to my plate and it was kinda edible after that. 

 Our main was Roasted Barramundi with Potato Galette & Seaweed Butter

Which is the same thing we had the last time we were here! They do good barramundi :) 

The best part of dinner? I could be little. Adulting has been hard this week, and there was SO MUCH adulting to do. 

At one point he said don't play with your cutlery and I whined Oh leave me be, I've been adulting all week! I did change back to using my knife and fork the proper way tho. 

I also attempted to pour more water into my glass and he reached over and took over the bottle, doing it for me instead. "Why? I can pour!" His reply - Enough adulting for one week. 

Hokay, if you insist! I'm not going to argue with that! 

I realise our dynamic is always still there, in varying amounts depending on the situation, but it's always there. And I like that it's become part of us, all the time, instead of something that we have to think about or call attention to, or make special effort to employ. 

After that we did some deliveries (I passed some spare boxes of disposable masks to a friend who is part of an outreach group helping migrant worker communities, then dropped off a vase at a friend's place) and then BIKSS bought me some yummy donuts and we headed home. 

~~~

While we were kissing I stopped and asked him what was in his brain at that very moment. And he replied, "Nothing, just kiss her, and well, TONGUE!!!" 

I laughed. Cos what was in my brain was I wonder what's in his brain, or in a guy's brain, when they're kissing and stuff, cos Roger's hard and he's clearly turned on, and I'm taking a while to get there, but then, if I'm thinking all sorts of nonsense like I am now then of COURSE I'm not gonna be able to get where I wanna get.

He got down to serious turning-on business after that and my brain wasn't thinking about nonsense no more. There was definitely something going on between my legs... and his fingers didn't take long to figure that out. 

I would even say he proceeded to show me he meant business when he slipped his finger(s) in and manipulated my pussy with a vengeance!

That'll teach me to go off and think when I'm supposed to be engaging in foreplay LOL. 

My mood pic today ~ 

(Yep, this is how I was wielding my cutlery! LOL)