Time Together

I’m so grateful for all the fun times we had together on this visit to California.  As it was a business trip for him, my husband spent most of the time working, but we still managed some family time together.  This photograph was taken on a visit to Benihana, the Japanese restaurant where chefs prepare and cook the food at your table.  There are branches worldwide, but we most often visit their Cupertino location.

It was the night before my birthday and we had freshly prepared shrimp, filet mignon and some gorgeous side dishes all prepared by a very skilled (and witty) chef right in front of us.  It’s all really casual, you sit at long tables with other families, but we have always been lucky to be in great company.  In fact, the family we were with gave us some great advice as to where to go on my birthday - and it is because of them we did the delightful 17 Mile Drive. 

That was just one of the highlights on a really wonderful visit to one of my favourite places in the world - the beautiful state of California.  We are home now, but I’m already looking forward to our next visit!

WIldlife in the City

Our son flew home a couple days ahead of us so he could get back to college on time.  As one of the things we all really get a kick out of in San Francisco is the sea lions at Pier 39, before we took him to the airport, we headed to Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch.  Afterwards we visited the sea lions.  

There have not always been sea lions at Pier 39.  One arrived on K dock twenty years ago after the Loma Prieta earthquake and within a few weeks, there were hundreds of them.  In fact in May this year there was a celebration of their arrival on the pier -  including cupcakes and hats for the humans.  It was a celebration that nearly did not happen as last year after Thanksgiving they all disappeared.  Most summers they head south to mate, but return in the autumn when the herring season begins.  This time not one sea lion remained behind.  They have become so much a part of Pier 39, everyone was absolutely delighted to see them return. 

Standing looking out over the docks which were specially built for them, all you can hear is their loud barking.  The dominant males make a special effort to sit up with their heads proudly in the air, but other sea lions laze all over the docks, occasionally going for a dip in the Bay.  When one wants to climb back up he usually clambers over all the others, eliciting angry barks of protest and occasionally the odd nip.  Once in while one of them will arch their back and perform an almost perfect yoga cobra, stretching their heads almost backwards to sunbathe. 

Although I have seen sea lions in many other places, it is always staggering to see them at Pier 39 in what is effectively a very urban setting.  Right on the edge of a huge city, you have a large number of utterly wild animals who have, for the last 20 years, chosen to come here.  Crowds gather on the Pier, looking out over the docks, fascinated by these large animals who are so graceful in the water, and so awkward out of it. 

For me it is a great reminder of how much animals depend on us to maintain the environment, and allow them their space even in places we think of as urban.  It also makes me think of how close we really are to wild things even when we believe we are somehow separate and far off.   Most times when I stand there looking out at them, I notice several of them gazing just as intently back at me.  I can’t help but wonder who is watching who.....and hoping that whatever happens the sea lions keep returning to Pier 39.  It wouldn’t be the same without them! 

The Monterey Bay Aquarium

Nestled on the edge of Monterey Bay, the Monterey Bay Aquarium is a fantastic place to visit.  Not only do you get great views of the sea itself, but inside are exhibits that will take your breath away.

We have visited the aquarium before, but every time we go there seems to be something new.  This time it was the Hot Pink Flamingos exhibit which I just loved.  I was interested to find out that flamingos are not the only pink birds in the wildlife kingdom.  The Scarlet Ibis and the Roseate Spoonbill are gorgeous shades of pink as well.

The reflections in the glass mean these photographs do not do the birds justice - they were absolutely beautiful.

I always love the jellyfish and sea horses,

and the leafy sea dragon never ceases to amaze me.  They are the green things in the photo below that look like plants but are actually sea creatures.

There are penguins, otters and some very inquisitive sea turtles, all in huge tanks that you can stand right up close to.  There were definitely some "who is watching who" moments!

Everything at the aquarium is geared up towards conservation, and the interactive displays about sustainable fishing were particularly interesting.  Another thing I like is that they have something for every age group including some excellent interactive kid's activities.  The whole thing is really hands on, and the friendly and knowledgeable guides make the experience educational as well as great fun.

It's a wonderful place to spend the day, and I would go again in a heartbeat.  If you find yourself anywhere near Monterey Bay, I highly recommend a visit!

A Bit of Window Shopping

Okay, maybe not windows, but I love the way Macy’s do store displays.  They are so creative!  Most of the displays that caught my eye in their Union Square branch in San Francisco were on a wedding theme - not surprising as it is June - one of the most popular months for weddings!  I was fascinated by their china and flatware bride:-

and I loved their table settings.

I could not get over how they took some pretty dire plastic chairs and made them into something so pretty with a bit of tulle and a few silk flowers.  It would not cost much to put together either.

I’d love to spend a day with their window and shop dressers.  Of course many of their ideas are way to over the top for real life but I’m sure their hints and tips would be great inspiration!

The 17 Mile Drive

This is the longest I have gone without posting in a long time, but I had the opportunity to spend some time with my husband and son in beautiful surroundings and I wanted to take advantage of that.  Plus it was my birthday on Saturday, so I had a little break.

Anyway, our son has now gone home ahead of us so he can get back to college, and I plan to spend the last few days of this visit to California doing some more sightseeing and catching up on my writing and blogging.  I’ve already got a great big long list of things to write about! 

I had the most wonderful birthday, and it was all because of chance.  We had planned to drive down to Monterey and perhaps along the coast a bit further, but on Friday night we met some folks at dinner who told us that Pebble Beach was only a few miles on from there, and that there was a fantastic drive you could do through the area called “The 17 Mile Drive”.  I’m not a golfer, but my Dad was, and I always remember seeing Pebble Beach on the television when he watched the US Open and other golf tournaments.  It looked so beautiful, it became somewhere I always wanted to visit, and I’m so glad we did! 

You have to pay $9.50 to do the 17 Mile Drive, but it is worth every penny, and anyway, most of the restaurants on the drive will reimburse your gate fee if you spend over $25 (not hard when there are three of you)!   From the first vista point at Shepherd’s Knoll, there are lots of places where you can stop and admire the view, and also lots of restaurants and places to picnic. 

We stopped at Roy’s restaurant at The Inn at Spanish Bay for lunch .  The hostess gave us a table over looking the sea and we had a wonderful meal.  Afterwards we carried on along the drive.  There are a total of 21 stops on the drive in all.  “Point Joe” made us smile as it reminded us of my Dad (whose name was Joe), and Bird Rock was absolutely covered in marine birds, harbour seals and sea lions.  The Fanshell Overlook had only just reopened on 1st June as it is a beach where harbour seals return each spring to bear their young.  There were some very cute baby seals there.  The scenery at Pescadero Point was incredible.  As you drive between the stops, you see some wonderful homes nestled in the forest and hills - some of them totally the stuff of dreams.  Our last stop was The Lodge at Pebble Beach, home to the 2010 US Open.

We had a celebratory drink in their beautiful Terrace Lounge overlooking the storied 18th green of the Pebble Beach Golf Links.  I had my first Mint Julep ever (I’ve always wanted to try one) and we toasted my Dad, who used to dream of playing this course. 

There are lots of lovely little shops at the lodge and after we had enjoyed our drinks and the view and wandered down to the 18th green for a few minutes, we spent some time browsing and shopping in them.   There is even a village market where you can buy groceries, treats and picnic supplies. 

Sadly by then it was time to leave, but we still had our dinner that evening on Santana Row to look forward to.  It really was the most wonderful day!  If you ever find yourself nearby, do take The 17 Mile Drive around Pebble Beach.  I can’t wait to go back again! 

The Chelsea Flower Show

Every year the Royal Horticultural Society hosts The Chelsea Flower Show.  Attracting in excess of 157,000 visitors each year, it is one of the most famous gardening shows in the world and a big part of London’s summer social season.  Whether you are an avid gardener or not, you cannot help but be impressed by the beautiful show gardens and floral displays.  Garden designers and florists compete for the coveted Chelsea Flower Show awards, and corporations sponsor designers and gardens to create publicity.  Charities are also involved, and use their gardens as an opportunity for fund raising and to increase public awareness of their causes. 

I attended the show with my husband yesterday.  I am always inspired by the amazing gardens the designers manage to create.  Some of the gardens would require a rather generous budget and are more the stuff of dreams than reality, but I always come away from the show with new ideas.  There were so many beautiful gardens it is hard to choose a favourite, but here are some we particularly liked. 

Looking like an outdoor room even more than a garden, A Joy Forever designed by Kate Gould really impressed us both.

Designed for a young couple who want to use their garden year round (although I think they would struggle in snowy weather!), it features comfy sofas, chairs, a fantastic storage wall, a waterfall and even a fireplace.  We were particularly taken by the storage wall which has sections to store everything from wine to throws.  It’s a very modern garden with lots of concrete and steel, but this is offset by the planting - all white and green with subtle blue highlights.  It even has a permeable floor and rainwater harvesting facilities to reduce its environmental impact.  I was really taken with it, and my husband and I were not the only ones who were impressed - the RHS awarded this garden a Silver-Gilt medal. 

The Dyslexia Research Trust did a garden to highlight their work entitled “Dyslexia - A Barrier to Education?”  The garden was designed by Tim Fowler and is the winner of a Bronze Flora medal.

I liked how Tim had used a small space and incorporated words, letters and even giant books into the garden.  One side of the garden is white, the other blue and yellow, divided by a mosaic path with jumbled letters on one side and fully formed words on the other.  The iris were stunning.  It was a beautiful garden that also managed to highlight an important. 

There were so many beautiful things to see, it was nice to take a little break in one of The Stone Chef’s amazing chairs.  You wouldn’t think that stone would be comfortable to sit or lie on, but actually these individually made, bespoke creations were warm, smooth and really cosy!

If it were not for the four to five figure price tags, I would order a design similar to the one on the left without hesitation!

I’ve got tons more to share from Chelsea - including some amazing floral tea parties - plus I’ll be blogging about the changes we are making to our home over the next three days - including the new built in study, changes to the master bedroom some colourful new walls.  Watch this space!

My Kitchen Garden

Chelsea Flower Show it isn’t, but these two raised vegetable beds are giving me a great deal of pleasure.  It’s not like I’m going to be able to be able to feed the family exclusively on vegetables grown in here, but that was never the intention.  I just wanted to be able to  grow some of the things we eat, and be able to pop out from the kitchen for truly fresh ingredients.  Okay, we are not there quite yet, except for some of the herbs, but things are actually growing and I am disproportionately pleased.  

Admittedly the cauliflower and broccoli have not been a success, unless I was trying to feed the snails, who have somehow managed to eat all the top leaves off the plants.  All I have been left with is forlorn green stems.  When I asked about organic pest control for snails I was told the only thing I could do was “squish ‘em”.  As the very thought of that sends a shiver up my spine (and frankly it’s not terribly organic either!) I’m going to skip growing cauliflower and broccoli this year.  I’ve got some sweetcorn to put in instead.  More herbs are on their way as well.  And guess what I found when I went out with the watering can the other day?

Yep, that’s right, I’ve got little green strawberries coming on my strawberry plants!  I’ve never grown strawberries before and it seems they are actually going to provide me with fruit!  For someone who has never so much as pretended to have a green thumb but who loves gardening, well, it made my day! 

Are you growing any fruit or vegetables this year?

Decorating and Dreaming

We are working on our house this weekend, getting ready for some custom made furniture that is going to be installed in our study and master bedroom in a few weeks’ time.  This means moving all the furniture we now have in the study - which is beautiful, good quality stuff but which just does not fit the style of the room - up to our son’s study upstairs.  (As we only have one child and a big house, he is very lucky and has two rooms, a bedroom with en-suite and a study.)  We then need to move some of his furniture downstairs so we can give it a quick brush up and sell it on Ebay and also sort through what is left in the study downstairs.  Tomorrow we are hoping to start painting. 

Meanwhile, I keep casting my mind back to some of the amazing things I saw on a visit to Harrods last week.  They had some pretty amazing prices as well, so they really are the stuff of dreams at the moment, but they are gorgeous.  We definitely found the dining room suite that would be perfect for us - 

although as I have a perfectly good dining room suite with lots of beautiful memories attached to it - and just one chair from the suite above costs over £1000 - it will remain the stuff of dreams for the moment.  Mind you this dining room suite from Ralph Lauren is pretty gorgeous as well...

but a bit too small for what we would need (and a similar price to the first one!)  The thing I fell in love with the most was this amazing bedroom suite from Ralph Lauren.

Beautiful from every angle...  Definitely the stuff of dreams!

Enough dreaming though - I had better get back to the clearing up, painting and sorting before my husband and son notice I’ve slipped away...

What are you up to this weekend?  Whatever it is, I hope you are having a wonderful one!  

Catching up by the Thames on Friday

After being stranded in Greece by the flight restrictions imposed in northern European airspace after the volcanic eruptions in Iceland last week, my son and his group finally arrived home at 4am Friday morning. Over a two and a half day period they travelled by bus from Athens to Patmos, by boat from Patmos to Ancona in Italy and then onward by bus to Calais in France. They then got a ferry to Dover and a bus back home to Berkshire.

After he got some much needed rest, we went for a walk in the countryside and he told me about his trip. It was a gorgeous day, hot and sunny with a light breeze and it was beautiful down by the river.





It was one of those times I will remember forever. The older our children get, the less time we get to spend with them - and long walks in the countryside with them are few and far between! Not only that, but despite all my worries, it seems that the experience of being stranded was a really good one. Not only did he get to see a lot more than they had planned to, but he grew as a person. And although I would never have admitted it, I think it was a good experience for me too - I certainly learned an important lesson in patience!

There's No Place Like Home

I took the photograph above because I wanted to show the brilliant blue sky - even now just an hour or so before sunset - and say something along the lines of “see, you can’t see any volcanic ash here”. But then I really looked into the distance and saw it on the horizon. Just under the blue, between the roof of the house behind us and the trees, you can see a haze that isn’t normally there. It’s the fallout from the ash cloud that is causing all the chaos here.

Most of Northern Europe is pretty much a no fly zone and has been since Thursday morning. The timing isn’t good. Europe is just at the end of the Easter Holidays, prime travelling time for families, and this is the weekend most people return home in time for the schools re-opening on Monday. But most people are going nowhere fast. One of them is our son, stuck in Greece with a group from his college. He is one of thousands of people unable to travel home - some of whom are sleeping in airports with absolutely nowhere else to go. Thank God my son’s group have found accommodation in Athens, but the latest word is that they can’t expect to be home anytime before next Wednesday.

It’s a very weird feeling because there is absolutely nothing I can do to get him home any faster. We are the sort of folks who, when faced with a crisis, rush into action and get round the problem. For example, we were once stuck in Nice due to industrial action by our airline. We hired a car, drove all across France, got the ferry to England and a lift to our car which was waiting at the airport. But not only is it much more sensible for him to stay with his group, most trains and ferries are fully booked - so much so they are telling people without pre-booked tickets to stay away. To read the latest report from the BBC (at time of writing) click here. It gives you a better idea of what the effect of this seemingly innocuous event is really like.

So our son is having an extended holiday in Athens - not a completely bad thing, except in terms of having enough clean clothes and cash - but very worrying when you are a mum at home waiting for his return. And from our son’s point of view, even when it comes to holidays you can have too much of a good thing!

But while this cloud might not have a silver lining, it sure is giving us some amazing sunsets. We have not had anything quite this spectacular where I live, but check out the gorgeous photographs of the volcanic sunsets Europe is seeing on Flickr by clicking here.

A Very Busy Week

photograph © Alexander J J Harris

The title of this post says it all, and some of what we have done has been seriously fun. I’ve had so many things to blog about and so little time!

Meanwhile, our house sitters have arrived and my husband and I are just finishing packing our bags for our trip to Madrid tomorrow. Our son left for his college trip to Greece at 5am this morning. We had to get up at 3.45 am to get him to the bus that was taking the students to the airport. That was seriously early for someone who is Not A Morning Person!

I’m looking forward to blogging from Madrid over the next few days both here and on Recipes from the 21st Century Housewife’s Kitchen. Hopefully I will also be able to post some of the wonderful photos my son took of some of the people and places we visited over the Easter week. We even managed to get to Windsor, home of the amazing Windsor Castle - and we caught up with two old friends as well.

Please watch this space, and meanwhile I hope everything is going well in your corner of the world!

Happy Easter!

Wishing you a Wonderful Easter, filled with family, friends, fun and above all, the hope and promise that this day is all about.

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die."
-- John 11:25-26

"The great gift of Easter is hope - Christian hope which makes us have that confidence in God, in his ultimate triumph, and in his goodness and love, which nothing can shake."
-- Basil C. Hume

How Does Your Garden Grow?

March is going out like a lion here today, with blustery cold winds and grey skies. It feels more like autumn than spring. But despite the fact the birds are shivering outside on my bird feeder, my garden is reminding me that spring is definitely here and the good weather is coming. I noticed this morning that there are flowers forming on my tulips:-


and that before long my hyacinths will be in bloom.




Even the aquilegia are coming through beautiful bright green.



Soon they will be covered in delicately elegant blue flowers.

We have a four day weekend here in England to celebrate Easter and I’m hoping to get more done in the garden. The weather is not predicted to be nice until Sunday, but that won’t stop us going to the garden centre to choose some new flowers for when the sun finally does come out. Hopefully on Monday it might be warm and dry enough to plant them!

The 21st Century Housewife’s© Pasta with Chicken in White Wine Sauce

I’m linking this recipe up to Tasty Tuesday at Beauty and Bedlam, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace and Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff. Do go along and visit them for some great Easter ideas.

This recipe tastes really special, but it is so quick and easy it is as appropriate for a weeknight as a dinner party. It would make a quick and easy dinner for the Saturday of Easter weekend as well. It serves four adults as a main course or six as a starter. Kids like it too, and as most of the alcohol in the wine cooks off, it should not cause any issues. Do be sure to use a good wine (it doesn’t have to be expensive, it just has to taste good!) as you can’t make a tasty sauce without a tasty wine!

2 generous tablespoons butter
2 generous tablespoons flour
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine (a nice one, that you would enjoy drinking)
about 1/4 cup light (single) cream or half and half
2 to 3 cooked chicken breasts, cut in small chunks
8 to 10 ounces of penne pasta (roughly 3 generous cups)
fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped, to garnish (optional)

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water according to the package directions.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for a couple of minutes to make a roux. Add the wine and stir into the roux. Gradually add the chicken stock, a bit at a time, stirring and allowing to thicken after each addition. Stir in the cream.

The sauce should be just the right consistency at this point, but if it is a little thick at this point, you can add a bit more stock or cream, whichever you have on hand.

Drain the pasta and return to its pan. Add the chopped chicken breast and the sauce. Stir over very low heat to coat the pasta with sauce and warm the chicken through.

Serve in warmed bowls, garnished with parsley if you like it.

By the way, I’ve got a giveaway going in partnership with Ecover, makers of effective ecological cleaning products. If you have an address in the United Kingdom, click here for details of how to enter.

Happy Easter everyone!

Time In The Garden

Spring has definitely sprung here, and I could not be happier. There is something about the way the air smells and feels that just makes me feel so grateful to be alive. One of my favourite spring flowers are crocus, and I was thrilled to see these little guys popping up in my garden the other day.



Last week, my friend S came to stay for a couple of days. She is an amazing gardener. A few years ago she helped me landscape the garden in our previous home and I was so happy with it. I chose most of the plants for the meaning they had attached to them. For example I chose nasturtiums because my Mom used to talk about using them for pretend dishes when she and her sister played tea parties when they were little and trilliums because they are the provincial flower of Ontario, the Canadian province where I was born. I’m going to do that in this garden too. I like my plants to have meaning. There’s a lot of ground to cover though as this garden is nearly double the size of our last one, and our last one was pretty big!

All the gardening aside, it was great to spend a couple days with S just pottering around in the garden. It had been ages since we had a chance to catch up and now we live so far apart I really miss her! She brought me some very pretty bulbs in colours I love, including some gorgeous purple gladioli (which my Grandma used to grow) and six amazing tree lilies, some pink and some yellow. I admired the tree lilies in her garden last year so she brought me some of my own. I’m really excited for them to start coming through. They can grow to be ten feet high!

Since S’s visit, I’ve been working on gradually adding a few more plants including some evergreen clematis to grow up the trellis between the main garden and the kitchen garden. They will all have white flowers. I’ll grow some sweet peas between them. I love sweet peas. I’m also waiting for my Rocket Gardens - a veggie one and a herb one. They do baby plants you can just pop in the soil for an instant garden - perfect for my raised beds, tucked away in a tiny corner of the garden, which look very empty at the moment. There’s just one lonely rosemary plant in there at the moment.



Poor thing, I hope to get some company for it soon! I do have some seeds that I must get planted too. I’ve been waiting for the warmer weather but it seems to have arrived so I’d better get a move on.

In the meantime, I am going to enjoy watching my lovely flowers pop up (including my bleeding hearts which are just now slowly waking up - their little red shoots gradually curling their way out of the soil).

I love spring!