Dear friends,
The day dawned sunny and lovely. Ben and I had a liesurely breakfast together before he went to his office. We arranged that I would meet him for lunch so I dressed myself as prettily as possible, (I wore a long golden brown and embroidered dress, sandals, and a hat. With the best make-up job I could do, of course! I got a lot of admiring looks that day. Those are nice. Especially when you are a grandmother. ;->
Ben arrived in the elevator just as I was about to enter it to go up to find him. We discussed five places we like very much. One was Coyoutes, a restaurant on a balcony overlooking the lake. We love the view and the breezes as we sit under protective sun umbrellas outside. Another was Yamas. It has excellent Middle Eastern foods and very fine service. Then there was the El Dorado, an old heritage inn on the lakeshore. We sit there on a dock right beside the water and the ducks come to be fed. They have umbrellas, too. If it is rainy or cold they have a big, airy verandah that looks out on the gardens and lake. Next choice was a restored heritage house that used to belong to Lord and Lady Aberdeen at the end of the last century and is known as Guishigan House. It too has wonderful ambience and a big glassed in verandah, in this case overlooking the beautifully landscaped grounds and flowers. All the flowers names are marked. There is a laneway of ancient cedars where it is said that on nights of the full moon a ghostly carriage can be heard passing. Don't ask me if it's true. I haven't been there at night!
I forget at this moment which was the fifth place. But never mind, because I let Ben decide, and he chose Guishigan House for lunch and Coyotes for dinner! It was quite a surprise to go out twice in the same day for a fine meal. At lunch we ate roast pork sliced, on rice with gravy, with a side salad and a light dessert of chocolate and wild berries mousse, followed by coffee with cream.
For dinner I had a briochette of shrimp and scallops, sauted vegetables composed of cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, sweet green and red peppers, and rice with a delicately spiced sauce. I drank a lot of water since the day had been hot and I was very thirsty. We didn't order dessert, but went home where I had vanilla icecream with frozen blueberries.
Our son and his wife phoned from a cruise ship in the New York City harbour. They were enroute to the Carribean on a ten day restful cruise which they both needed very much after a lot of hard work. We told them to take the Holland America Line for a ship that looks like a ship and not a birthday cake, and that is beautifully made and finished, and filled with two millions worth of art. It was their first cruise and they were filled with happy and excited anticipation. They wished me a happy birthday, and later at about seven in the evening a big bouquet of mixed flowers and greens arrived. I put it into a tall, heavy vase. So I enjoyed it today, and as I didn't want to come home in a week and find them all dead and dried up I called Harry and Giselle, two of our good local friends to come to collect them. They came tonight and offered to come over to water our garden a couple of times while we're away.
Between lunch and dinner Ben bought me a new watch strap that looks better than the original on a pretty little watch I have. He arranged that a beautiful red jade piece I have on a cord could have a metal fastener added so I can remove it when I wear other jewellery. We went to an auction house we like to see if there was anything interesting. (There wasn't.) I had a phone call from Karen and a pleasant talk and greetings, of course. And another one from Jeannie, with the same. We arranged when we'll meet in a couple of days from now. I got a bottle of "Blue", a new fragrance (a year old) made under the name of Ralph Lauren. It is a pretty and romantic fragrance. I didn't have anything like it before, just "Escape" which is very fresh and a good one for business or day to day things, and one that is inexpensive, and made from all natural materials, and which has a lovely spicy fragrance. It's an old one called "Tabu". It brings back happy memories of our courtship when I used to wear a spicy fragrance much like it.
I went to a Japanese supermarket and bought a cup with a lid. It has cranes on it. I have one for Ben that has a different design, but matches mine now. I bought a few things in Fabricland, a very good store for cloth and everything to do with sewing. Anywhere I wanted to go, and everything I wanted to do Ben indulgedme in. Wasn't that splendid of him? A few days ago he gave me a special present of a beautiful piece of luggage. It is a carry-on bag to take on the plane. It is a hard case, called a "clamshell". Of course there is a handle and wheels so that it can be pulled behind you. The best thing of all about it is that he can sit on his, and I can sit on mine, the next time we get into an airport line-up. You know, now that security is so tight, expecially in U.S. airports, it is wonderful to be able to sit down!
Today I received a very surprising gift. It is a small Persian prayer rug. Hand knotted in Hamadan. It came from our youngest daughter and family. I can't have anything that can retain dust and start up my mite and dust allergies which I've had controlled by shots. They meant it for my bedroom, and were disappointed when she phoned and I had to tell her it couldn't be used there. Then she thought I should bring it back, but in the meantime we've found the ideal spot for it. On the facing wall in our stairwell going upstairs. There it is right under a light, and makes a nice transition of colours between the downstairs and the upstairs parts of the house. I'm sure they're going to be happy when I tell them where it is. I know there are two more gifts waiting for me. One in Vancouver, and the other in Victoria. So, it is almost like my birthday is going on all week.
That's the whole story. Of course, we daudled along the way in between doing all these things. While we ate lunch dramatic storm clouds gathered and there was a fine breeze for a while. Afterwards it was over so we walked in those wonderful gardens and especially admired a climbing creamy rose with big open petals around a pollen laden, round golden centre. It had a delicate fragrance.
It was a really wonderful day and I felt much love coming to me from many directions. Ben looked very handsome and distinguished.
So, that's the story of what we did on my birthday on the 17th.
Love to all, Mary
