Dinner at Samantha's

All week I've been meaning to blog about last weeks dinner!

So last week we were invited to Samantha and Ians to help celebrate Ians 40th birthday! It was a lovely evening. I wasn't feeling very good so we didn't stay too late, but we did have such a great time!

Two other couples joined us - Lori and Chris (we've met them a few times before and Lori is coming to work for Lloyd) and another couple from the UK, Colin and Tracy.

Samantha (with her Son Josh's help) had prepared a Chinese meal.....We started with Sake......and then we had a crab soup to start and then Colin helped Samantha to prepare a sauce for the beef and noodle dish (my favourite of the courses). After that we had chicken in a peanut satay sauce with rice.

Lori and Chris had brought some Sushi, so it was a little Asian-Fusion......

Tracy and Colin had brought fruit chocolate fondue. Lloyd and I had popped over to T & T grocery store and bought a selection of very weird Chinese desserts made with mango and black bean and 'stuff'......the mango cakes looked so nice but everyone tried them and agreed that they TASTE the way Playdoh SMELLS...if you can imagine that ;)

The little pink and white cakey things we bought were sooooo soft to hold - they felt like the softest pilllowy-est little things ever - I just wanted to hold them and squeeze them - everyone just wanted to squeeze them like stress balls - but they tastest YUCKY lol!

It was a fun evening!

Leaving Samanthas house is never easy - we can talk for Britain when we get together.....I got my shoes on and was almost out the door when Samantha wanted to show me her new bedroom furniture - so off came my boots and upstairs I went to see her new bedroom!

Her new bedroom is GORGEOUS!!!! I am soooo jealous! But I have to say the HIGHLIGHT of my night - in fact the highlight of 2008 so far HAS to have been looking in her knicker drawers - and YES I say knicker DRAWERS PLURAL!!!!!! OMG I swear I have never known anyone own so many pairs of colour organized, perfectly arranged underwear EVER.....

I had to go back and look again.....twice!!! Just to check I really saw what I thought I saw!!!

I will forever be in awe of Samantha and her knickers ;)

Her secret is out ;)

Thank you for a lovely evening Samantha! And Happy Birthday Ian - you old fart!

A little light bedtime reading......

Beekeeping 101.....last night I was focusing on over-wintering bees. Many beekeepers in AB don't both to over winter their bees - they just kill them off with cyanide. I really don't want to keep cyanide on my property - there are enough dangers on an acreage without having cyanide around - it is VERY dangerous to humans too.....

I'm not sure I actually agree with killing off bee colonies anyway - bees are having a hard enough time surviving as it is - so many diseases killing them off. Before you could order them online each year people just over-wintered their bees because they had to. I'm certainly going to try.

I don't think its any cheaper to over winter....but I think it will be far more satisfying as a beekeeper.

Strawberry Shortcake...

Another of my dolls from when I was little....Strawberry Shortcake.....her hair doesn't smell any more though. And I don't know where her hat is! She still has her socks and shoes though......

Parachutes.......

Parachutes.....

Growing salt crystals

Day one........

Finished hand print....

Flying saucers...

Aren't these just lovely Eastery colours? I'm not sure who my Mom sent them over for...but since the children got home, there aren't many left....Christopher seems to have vacuumed quite a few up!!!! The tissue sheets I bought today for Easter crafts are all the same colours :)

My Susie doll...

This is Susie. Susie was my doll when I was a toddler....My Mom and dad can probably correct the story but as far as I can remember from what they have told me, I would be pushed around Woolworths in Yeovil and always reach out for this doll. I wasn't interested in any white dolls at all - I just wanted this one black dolly. No idea why. Santa got her for me for Christmas :) I named her Susie.

Today I mentioned to Jennifer that I had only been able to name ONE of my children - my husbands (OMG doesn't that sound awful lol husbands plural lol) named my other children. I named Susannah! And I call her Susie.....she's also my darkest skinned child lol....so the closest to my doll lol.....hhhmmm I wonder if that was some kind of subconscious thang on my part......

The Susannah part of Susie's name came from a Soap Opera...yes I AM THAT tacky!!!! There was this posh lady called Susannah on a soap called Brookside that showed in the UK and I thought that Susannah was a classy name :) lol - so I chose that for Susie :) So there you go - I'm as tacky as hell when I want to be :)

A lovely surprise on Tuesday!

On Tuesday I had a lovely (yet naughty) surprise in the mailbox! Jennifer had sent me a copy of the 'Gardeners Bible' - Lois Holes book about growing vegetables! Inside was a lovely letter too :) - On beautiful stationery may I add ;)

Thank you so much Jennifer - I was so touched! Lloyd and I are going to take a drive to Holes garden centre nex week while he is off - we've never been there before! I like that Lois has added little recipes and notes about the vegetables as well as the growing tips :) and the book as me excited about my asparagus beds for NEXT year....even though the asparagus hasn't even popped up yet in the trays....

Everytime this book gets used...year after year, I will think of you :) Thank you!