Happy Friday!
I believe I have finally finished the retirement parties - thank goodness. You would think it is a great time to have people say nice things about you and give you presents. It was, in the beginning. But by last night, I sort of felt like I was staggering from the weight of it all and the many "so what the heck are you going to do with the rest of your life?" comments.
On the other hand, it was a chance to dress up, so I wore my red Ralph Lauren dress, which is freshly back from being altered and now fits like a glove. And I took a couple of pictures with my new funky glasses on to show you!
I am wearing the dress with an Elie Tahari blazer which is several years old and the Pliner tortoiseshell slingback wedges I showed you a few weeks ago.
And a close-up of the frames:
Hey I can see you now!
I forgot to take a picture with my new prescription Ray bans - will do that this weekend and post them up.
These have a slightly reddish hue to them and when my daughter and I picked them out she said "you can go funkier, you're unemployed." Oh from the mouths of babes...
In honour of this party, and I hope the last speech about me until I win some major literary award someday(!), I thought we might make up a batch of The Last Word cocktails. Rumour has it that Dani's porch is now fully functional for summer, so by all means, feel free to pick up some appetizers en route!
Of course, I had no clue what Chartreuse was (well I knew what the colour Chartreuse was, but you get the picture...). In case there are any folks out there like me, Wikipedia:
I believe I have finally finished the retirement parties - thank goodness. You would think it is a great time to have people say nice things about you and give you presents. It was, in the beginning. But by last night, I sort of felt like I was staggering from the weight of it all and the many "so what the heck are you going to do with the rest of your life?" comments.
On the other hand, it was a chance to dress up, so I wore my red Ralph Lauren dress, which is freshly back from being altered and now fits like a glove. And I took a couple of pictures with my new funky glasses on to show you!
I am wearing the dress with an Elie Tahari blazer which is several years old and the Pliner tortoiseshell slingback wedges I showed you a few weeks ago.
And a close-up of the frames:
Hey I can see you now!
I forgot to take a picture with my new prescription Ray bans - will do that this weekend and post them up.
These have a slightly reddish hue to them and when my daughter and I picked them out she said "you can go funkier, you're unemployed." Oh from the mouths of babes...
In honour of this party, and I hope the last speech about me until I win some major literary award someday(!), I thought we might make up a batch of The Last Word cocktails. Rumour has it that Dani's porch is now fully functional for summer, so by all means, feel free to pick up some appetizers en route!
 | |
| Type | Cocktail |
|---|---|
| Primary alcohol by volume | |
| Served | Straight up; without ice |
| Standard drinkware | .svg){kind=small} |
| Commonly used ingredients |
|
| Preparation | Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. |
Of course, I had no clue what Chartreuse was (well I knew what the colour Chartreuse was, but you get the picture...). In case there are any folks out there like me, Wikipedia:
Chartreuse is a French liqueur made by the Carthusian Monks since the 1740s. It is composed of distilled alcohol aged with 130 herbal extracts. The liqueur is named after the Monks' Grande Chartreuse monastery, located in the Chartreuse Mountains in the general region of Grenoble in France. The liqueur is produced in a factory in the nearby town of Voiron (Isère).
Chartreuse gives its name to the color chartreuse. It is one of the handful of liquors that continues to age and improve in the bottle.
Good Lord - so many things in life I do not know! The motto of the Carthusian monks is Stat crux dum volvitur orbis, Latin for "The Cross is steady while the world is turning."
And I read how remarkably my life is like theirs these days:
There are no Carthusian abbeys as they have no abbots, and each charterhouse is headed by a prior and is populated by choir monks, referred to ashermits, and lay brothers. Each hermit — that is, a monk who is or who will be a priest — has his own living space, called a cell, usually consisting of a small dwelling. Traditionally there is a one-room lower floor for the storage of wood for a stove, a workshop as all monks engage in some manual labour. A second floor consists of a small entryway with an image of the Virgin Mary as a place of prayer, and a larger room containing a bed, a table for eating meals, a desk for study, a choir stall and kneeler for prayer. Each cell has a high walled garden, wherein the monk may meditate as well as grow flowers for himself and/or vegetables for the common good of the community, as a form of physical exercise.
I am intrigued, though highly doubtful, that my local liquor store will have this elixir of the humble hermits. However I am all in, and if I can find it, well, I will gladly report back. In the meantime, you will find me in the high walled garden out back, as there is still a LOT of weeding and planting to do!
Have a fabulous Friday and stay safe out there!
