Come Sail Away...Come Saily Away....Come Sail away with me...

Its officially.

I just put $$ down for another cruise.

This time, the MomUnit and Family friends who cruise with the ParentalUnits all the time and I are going to Eastern Canada and Quebec City.

Next October the MomUnit and I will be flying to NY and heading from there.  It's a 10 day round trip cruise that hits Halifax, Quebec City (for almost two days), Corner Brook and Sydney. 

I know nothing about these locations and can barely spell Halifax.  Thankfully I have a year to figure out what they are and what I'll want to do in each one - or just get off the boat and wonder around - which is always fun.

The MomUnit and I also booked our condo in San Diego for next year. Seattle SIL has decided to walk the San Diego 3day and so I figured I might as well go down and Stalk in SD. I've not been to SD for YEARS...so it'll be fun.

So in October next year, we'll be in Canada for 10 days. And the in November we'll be in San Diego for 7 days.  I'd better start saving for not working for a half of a month.

In the course of two days, the MomUnit has used my credit/debit card twice. I think she's enjoying spending my $$.  My how the roles have reversed.

Turkey day, Apply Cup and decorating

I know. I know. You've been waiting with baited turkey breath for me to post about my long 4 day weekend. I'm sorry it wasn't sooner, I just didn't feel the blogging mojo.  I'm shocked and stunned at a few folks I know who blog daily. And yet they find interesting things to talk about daily.  Some would argue I could go a year without anything interesting to discuss. But I digress...turkey day was interesting. Dammit!

I started my prep the night before and made the dressing and the broccoli casserole. I figured I might as well get a jump on the day.  I'm glad I did too, it left me unlimited amount of time on Turkey day morning to watch the Macy's parade.  I got bored quickly though and then started to work on the turkey.

Meet Turkey the Hun. This 20 pound bird has fought its last battle.  I only had 6 people eating, including myself, and 20 lbs was MORE than enough. I wanted to make sure the Pantry Goat had some leftovers. And oh boy did she.

I had decided to cook Turkey the Hun in a bag like I had done for several years in a row. It seemed like the right thing to do. I mean the bird turns out so darn good with little to no effort.  I made a mixture of butter, McCormick steak seasoning cayenne and sage for the outside.  I slathered that on Turkey the Hun and made sure to get some of it under the skin as well.  Taking a lesson from the MomUnit who had called earlier with a warning, I washed my hands before attempting to stuff a 20 lb bird into a bag all by yourself.

Let's just say, it was interesting. Turkey the Hun did not take a dive to the floor, or skitter across the counter. I had it firmly in my grip with one hand and maneuvered the bag underneath him with the other.  It seemed to work, but man it was messy. I think most the butter ended up on the bag and me instead of Turkey the Hun.

Into the oven he went.  It does look like he barely fit, but I assure you I did a trial run the night before to be sure he would fit. The MomUnit mentioned it to me earlier in the week when I told her the size of the bird I bought. Her first words were, "Will that fit in your oven?" Good question.  So we tested it.

I mentioned before several traditions the MomUnit and I have. When we actually cook the dinner together we spend an extraordinary large amount of time laughing at our stupidity and the crazy things that happen during the holidays.  Since we weren't with each other this year we called each other... often.  With each crazy thing we did we called and laughed and laughed. I love having that relationship with the MomUnit. 1700 miles away and it still felt like we were in the same kitchen.

The MomUnit's issue this holiday was a skunk who had found its way under their house. Naturally the smell made turkey day challenging, but they managed.  The DadUnit joked as he left to be taken back to the nursing facility that he as glad he didn't have to sleep there that night.  Still a sense of humor.

After Turkey the Hun was in the oven, I got to making the clam dip.  The MomUnit and I make it every holiday and usually "test" half of it before we serve it.  We're very mindful hosts who care that their guests get only the best.

My clam dip this year had a small difference to it. I added soy sauce as well as Worcestershire sauce.  It doesn't call for soy, but since my soy and W sauce are in the same looking squeeze bottles I grabbed the soy accidentally when adjusting the seasoning.  It turned out just fine, but it amused me - and so I called the MomUnit.

My guest started to arrive after 2pm and slowly but surely Turkey the Hun was ready.  I pulled him out and put the dressing, broccoli salad and rolls in the oven. 15 minutes later I was confused as to why the casseroles weren't heated.  I had forgotten I had turned off the oven. So we had to wait a bit more, which was fine since Turkey the Hun had to sit for 30 minutes or more.   

Finally we're ready.

In Chez Jenn tradition we took group photos.  Left to right: Seattle SIL, Puck, BigBro, Pantry Goat, Pantry Goat's Mom, T, and me. 

Serious discussion broke out about leftovers and all going to the Pantry Goat.  As you can see there were some unhappy people.  Okay, not really. We just took a goofy shot.

I saved the wish bone this year. I figured it was a rough year for a lot of people. Maybe I could make a wish and make it mostly get better.  The wish bone is still sitting on my window sill waiting for someone to break it with me. Until then I wish that you all had a perfect turkey day and were stuffed beyond belief.

Sticking with traditions, the following day I decorated.  I love decorating for Christmas.  The tree goes up, all the snow men come out, and the house feels warm and alive with the holiday spirit.  I had help this year. River the Newfy was staying the night and she "helped" decorate by tasting every single ornament that came out of the box.

She's so darn cute. How do you not just want to hug that face? You can tell she was practicing patience with me. But she was a good sport and a great house guest. Though admittedly Pookie didn't think so highly of River.

Anyhow, the tree got decorated. The LandLords came over to help and to enjoy turkey and noodles for dinner.

Saturday was the 104th Apply Cup. The WSU Cougars versus the UofW Huskies.  If the scoring of football was based on penalties, the Cougs would have won. Sadly it doesn't work that way and they lost. Though they didn't get slaughtered, which is good. The LandLords and Blueberry were in attendance to witness the painful defeat. I made nachos with cheese that refused to melt. Despite the name being "Melting cheese" it didn't melt...but that didn't stop us from eating the nachos and a few other yummy appetizers.

So back to work today. It wasn't too bad, in fact went quite fast for a Monday after a holiday.  I'm counting down to Christmas and another trip to Tucson.  That'll be #4 this year in case you're counting. I will have hit Tucson in every season. 

Giving Thanks is upon us

I could start almost every blog with "Holy Crap time is flying".  Because frankly, that's what I feel almost every day. There are a few rare days when things seem to slow down (mostly when I'm bored) but otherwise, time is flipping by like in the movies when the pages of a calendar fly by.

So here we are. The day before Turkey Day. I'm ready. Boy and I ready. I've got all the making of one fine turkey day feast.  Why am I so ready?, you ask.  Because I'm a project manager you see and because of that, I plan and I plan and I plan. Everything is thought through and organized. I even did a work break down structure for tomorrows event.  Sounds crazy maybe, but anyone who cooks does a work break down structure, they just don't call it that. 

Thanksgiving day cooking is not hard for me. I've been doing with the MomUnit for as long as I can remember.  Our Thanksgivings always ranged from 25+ people to just a few.  Seems like we cooked the same amount of food for both. WE are Wraspir's after all, and as such we MUST cook for small armies at all times.  It's in the bylaws. Look it up!

The MomUnit and I have a few traditions. I'll be taking photographs tomorrow of some of those.  In fact, I want to really photography tomorrow. One of my goals was to do a better job at photographing family events...well, its November, I'd better get on that goal.

So Tony the Turkey is thawed - mostly. I'll pull him out tonight to let him sit and thaw some more. I think his innards are still frozen. The ingredients for the other items tomorrow are all lined up and ready to be used.  Cheese Whiz is among them. OMG, there is nothing natural about Cheese Whiz.  In fact, I'm pretty sure it's from another planet. But it must be used in the broccoli casserole.  I'm just glad I could find it.  A couple of years ago I couldn't find it at all and there were going to be issues.  Alas, it was found and all was well.

I did a trial run in setting the table last night. I know, laugh if you must at my insanity.  It's okay. I'll wait until you're done.

Done yet?

So as I was saying, I did a trial run for setting the table. I'll have 6 eater tomorrow and I wanted to make sure there was enough room for all the trimmings, all the utensils, all the wine glasses, all the plates, all the everything on the table. Turns our there's not as much room as there should be. My plan is to bring a card table into the dining room and put the food on it instead of all of it on the table.  I was going to do a buffet and have people sit at the table, but figured this would work out better.

Also, I pulled out Grandma Miller's china last night. This china hasn't seen the light of day for a couple of years and I figured why not bring it out for a special occasion.

See ... its a beautiful pattern. Old pattern. I was curious many moons ago about replacing or adding to the set and looked up the pattern. Let's just say in this lifetime I won't be able to afford any of the additions to this set or even a dessert plate...ever.

I had a table cloth I was going to use, but it looked funny with the dishes. I decided I didn't need no stinkin' tablecloth.

See. Not enough room for all the dishes, and all the potential food dishes.  I put the serving platter and bowl on the table as a reference.  As I say this I realize I am a little neurotic, but in a good way.

We're all set. I'm ready to get up and get the process going tomorrow. The MomUnit and I will surely be on the phone a number of times laughing at something stupid that happened while we were preparing dinner.  Hope my dressing turns out okay ... the MomUnit and I usually eat half of it "tasting" it before dinner.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  Be thankful, give thanks, and receive thanks.

Holy Fast Moving Weekend Batman

Is it just me? OR are the weekends getting shorter?

I decided to take this weekend off and re-group a little.  I wanted to check my goals for 2011 and start really thinking about goals for 2012 - and more importantly putting together a plan to achieve them. See all too often I think people forget that part.  Its one thing to have a goal - like say lose weight - its another to actually figure out how you're going to get there, what you need to succeed and what are your little goals along the way. (Don't worry lose weight is a constant goal...one which I haven't figured out yet.)

So, looking at my goals for 2011 I did pretty well.  Some don't even apply anymore - like find a job after the 100 day break. When I wrote that goal I had no idea I'd be asked back to this job. Therefore I scratched that one off as completed.

Getting all caught up on scrapbooking. While this goal was achieved for 3.5 weeks, I think it's safe to say I need to be more specific in this goal.  For example, maybe my goal is to not let new photos sit longer than a month or two before having them scrapbooked. Or be caught up every quarter.  Of course it's a hard goal to keep when you don't know some of the constraints you may have like - how many trips/photos you may have or IF you'll have the time or the worse constraint every...creative block.

Out of debt! I'm proud to say I got out of debt (minus the car), stayed out of debt for a very good chuck of time. Then spilled tea into my camera and got back into debt briefly.  I'm happy to say, made my last payment to that and am now out of debt again (minus the car). My financial plan for the next year is to max out my 401K (because I have one now) and start purchasing some Roth IRAs or something of the sort. All the while, I plan on saving $$ to buy the place I'm in for my birthday next year - maybe. That last one is a bit scary to me.

Take lots of photos.  Admittedly not a good goal. It doesn't allow me anything to grow with. To just "take lots of photos" check. Done. But I think what I was thinking is "work on your photography skills." Which is a better goal, but still not quite the depth I think I need. This next year I'm going to focus (pardon the pun) on very specific parts of photography.  Fellow PhotoGod - The Yank - has mentioned flash work for some of our outtings. I have this great flash and no idea what it does or how to really use it. Why not learn it?  Composition ... that's another place I'd like to really work on and start to hone in my skills on thinking about how to compose a shot.

Reach out to those you've missed.  I have a list of friends I've been meaning to reach out to and get back in touch with on a regular basis. I didn't do so well with this one. There's only a couple off the list I actually succeed with. And when looking at why that was, I realized that I'm only half the equation. A good friend said to me recently, "The phone lines go both ways." So while I may have made an effort, I'm not going to feel like I failed at this one because those few others didn't get back to me. At a certain point, you've got to let go.

Great segway ... letting go.  This one is hard to quantify and even harder to talk about.  And someday it may be a blog in and of itself. But the idea with this one is to let go of all the little, insignificant things that bog you down.  Whether it be my own judgement of something, or drama in a relationship, or even something as large as letting go a grudge or two. If I've learn nothing in the past year it's that life it too short to let little things fester and eat away at you.  I see it every day in friends, family, people I know... they really let small things bog them down.  Trying to recognize the small things, and then let them be is often challenging. But once accomplished it's liberating.

So next year...next year I'm not 100% sure of my goals. I have a few ideas peculating, but nothing seems to be really determined.  Some of last years will carry over to this year...they always do, but I'll define them more.

I've been asked recently about how I do my goals. Each person is different. Some don't have to actually write them down. They're just driven to accomplish them. Some, like me, need a lot more help. Plus I'm a project manager so I have to document and plan. But I start with this concept and twist and turn it to make it work for me.

It is bad luck to fall out of a thirteenth story window on Friday. ~ American Proverb

So to review.  I'm going to follow a very wise blogger for today's blog...a list.  She won't mind that I'm borrowing her idea. I mean my list will be drastically different from her list. 

1. Its Friday. I've decided to take this weekend off from almost everything.  I need to regroup and start to think about this year's goals and what I want for next years. I know some people think that's odd that a person actually has to plan it, but for me, it works the best. I am, after all, a project manager at heart and so a plan, a schedule, and a revised plan is how my brain works.  It'll be interesting to review the 2011 goals and see if I even completed any of them. Especially considering at this very moment I can't even remember my 2011 goals. Maybe one of my 2012 goals is to work on my memory.

2. Turkey day is around the corner. This weekend sometime I need to do my grocery shopping. I LOVE, love LOVE to cook Thanksgiving dinner.  Its easy and its stocked full of traditions for me. The MomUnit and I will likely be on the phone all day checking in on each other to make sure we're on time. I'm going to try to take some good photos this year of the "process" and of course of the guests.  The Pantry Goat, Mom Pantry Goat, friend of the Pantry Goad, BigBro and Seattle SIL are all coming to dinner. Oh and maybe Millie the dog. 

3. Did my good Aunt thing this week. Hookcd my niece up with Meg-A-Roonie who's an HR rep to discuss interviewing, resumes, job hunting stuff.  It sounded like it went well as the niece seemed a bit more focused after chatting with Meg-A-Roonie.  Good deed for the week...check.

4. Renouncing diet coke. So I've drawn WAY back on the intake of diet coke or anything diet soda-esque.  The aspartame apparently was causing my feet to ache more than they usually do.  I've gone almost 6 weeks without my daily diet coke intake - usually 2 cans.  My feet feel good. They still have some ache to them, but not nearly as much as they did. AND my legs at night aren't nearly as restless as they used to be.  Much to Pookie's happiness.  

5. Dog sitting...I'm so excited...River the Newfy is coming for a sleep over Thanksgiving weekend.  She's the sweetest dog and I can't wait to spoil her rotten for a day and a night.  I can guarantee photos will be forth coming.

I think that's about all I've got right now.  Have a good weekend everyone! 

November Sunday Dinner

Wow. Just wow. Sunday dinners are getting more and more interesting. The converstaions that come up during these monthly meals are anything but dull.

This last Sunday the fam attended a funeral service for a dear family friend. It was stoic and beautiful.  It shocked me how easily I fell into step with the Lutheran rituals during a service.  It's like riding a bike I guess. Once you learn it, you learn it for life.

Jan Jeide will be dearly missed. We "lost" her several years ago when she lost her short term memory and was moved to an assisted living home.  She had no recollection of who many of her friends were at some point which is difficult on the living. 

Because of the funeral, the subject of death and dying came up at Sunday dinner. It was interesting to witness how couples perceive their death.  Each couple had an idea of what they thought was wanted by their spouse. Some have talked about it, others, clearly had not. Which made me laugh at some of the surprised faces of, "What? You want what?"  If nothing else, maybe this Sunday dinner started conversations.

Dying has long been something I fear.  Not because I'm afraid of the great beyond, but because I'm afraid I will not have accomplished everything in my life, or seen everything, or experienced everything.  And what if no one misses me? Hopefully I will die at  ripe old age...and by then most my family members close to me will be long gone (which I'll miss them dearly). The realization that I might actually die alone is troubling to me.

Anyhow, back to more interesting and uplifting discussion. What did we have at Sunday dinner?

Chili!

Or is it Chillie?

Or Chilli?

Or chile?

I can never figure out which chilli is chili.

ahem...

Let's start with dessert. It is something, I believe you should start with because you never know if you'll survive to the end of a meal. So why risk it.

New York Style Crumb Cake.  (insert trumpets and angels singing)
Despite my best efforts to utterly destroy this cake by forgetting a major ingredient (baking powder) it didn't turn out half bad. It was a bit floury tasting at times, and a bit more dense then I like my cakes.  But it was good enough to find it's way into the Jenn Favorites and the "Need to Make Again" list.

The recipe is here if you want to give it a try.

Mmmm Chili bar.  I've made Frito Lollies for previous Sunday dinners and I'd prefer to not duplicate meals if I can.  I mean I have 1500 recipes, I'm pretty sure I can find something new for Sunday dinner for a couple of years.

It had been a cold and blustery week and so recommendations for chili made their way to my Inbox. Which is good. I like chili. I especially like my chili.  My chili bar contained, fritos, crackers, onions, sour cream, cheese and hot sauce.  Along side of the chili we had Queen PopUps Famous Cornbread...OMG soo good, as well as a new twist on slaw.  I had enough chili left over to have one lunch, one service to Blueberry, and one serving to the Pantry Goat - who wasn't at all happy that I eat chili as a leftover.

I asked for a serious photo first and Seattle SIL took me way too - well - serious.  I used my external flash this time so we had better lighting to see all those lovely faces.

Left to Right: Mr. Queen PopUp, Queen PopUp, BigBro, Seattle SIL, The Pantry Goat, Puck, Blueberry, The Yank, PhotoGirl and Moi.

And of course the not so serious photo.  You'll not the BigBro and The Pantry Goat are hiding...they "said" they were glaring longingly into each other's eyes...which has become tradition.  We'll never know.

Next Sunday dinner will be smack dab in the middle of the holiday hoo-la-la.  I've decided to do a cookie exchange. So all you normal attendees to Sunday Dinner...get your holiday cookie  or sweets recipes out. 

Just who am I?

It’s curious to me that the older I get the more interested I am with just who I am.  I’m not talking family heritage – though that’s interesting – I’m talking about what makes me up.  What would people talk about at my funeral? What loves do I have right now? What do I enjoy and why? All these questions and so many more travel through my mind with army boots almost all the time.

Every vacation I’ve ever been on, I feel compelled to do everything I can in that location.  I’m not a beach layer. I can’t just sit on a beach for hours and do nothing. I have to be going, doing, seeing, photographing, documenting, etc.  This last trip to Victoria got me thinking about this too. Here’s what I figured out.

I don’t want to miss anything! Ever.  Sounds ridiculous I know. And I know I’ve missed things.  But while I am sitting on a beach sunning my pasty white self I’m constantly thinking about what else I could be seeing.  It’s not about being relaxed, because quite frankly, seeing all the sights is relaxing to me.

Then how do you remember all that you’ve done? For me it’s in my photos. I take a lot of photos.  I mean… A LOT. And my photos are of everything. Not just the tourist attractions, or the architecture, but of the food we eat, the places we stop for coffee, the train station I waited an hour for the wrong train in, the umbrella I had to buy because I forgot mine, the shoe string that broke and we laughed and laughed about it.  So many photos that mean something to mean.

Then I scrapbook them.

I started scrapbooking back in 1998.  My Aunt Jean is to blame 100% for this hobby of mine.  She brought a family scrapbook for us to see and I was blown away with how cool it was to see those photos.  To be able to tell the story about why you took that photo, to explain why the shoe lace was funny (even though it likely isn’t funny to anyone else).  I had an answer with how to document my life.  I was hooked.

I scrapbook for many reasons and these reasons have changed throughout the years. In the early years it was to document my life so that one day my children would look through my scrapbooks and be wow’d at the life their mom had before kids.  Or to show them their family heritage – who their grandparents were and details about them.  That need changed when I decided kids weren’t in the cards for me.

So then I struggled with why I scrapbook.  It can be an expensive hobby and really, why bother?

I go through phases of not caring anymore and thinking just putting the photos in an album would be just fine. Then I see some cool new paper that would fit a photo perfectly and the vicious circle starts all over again.

I’ve finally given myself permission to scrapbook just because it’s a creative outlet that I need.  Where will my scrapbooks end up when I’m dead? I really don’t care…I’ll be dead. Of course, they could bury them with me…. All 28 of them (current count).  I could leave them to some unsuspecting niece I suppose.  But at the end of the day, my scrapbooks are for me to enjoy now. 

I do occasionally pull them out to look through them. Or to try to remember what went on at a certain event.  I have a Sunday Dinner scrapbook that gets viewed at almost every Sunday dinner.  We all laugh and guffaw over whatever was funny that week.  Occasionally I’ll pull out a trip to show someone.  And of course, the 3Day scrapbooks go to every Getting Started Meeting to wow potential walkers into actually signing up.  (I know my scrapbooks help.)

So no one may care who I was when I’m dead, and no one may want to look through these years of scrapbooks I’ve done (BTW I’ve done all the way through my baby years to current…it’s frightening really).  But that’s okay, because I care.  I can look through them and smile at the life I’m living.  And lucky for you, my next project is to photograph ALL the pages.  You can bet your bottom dollar some will show up on this blog. 

The MomUnit Celebrates Another Birthday

You think I'd actually tell you it's her 63rd? DOH...dammit!

Well happy birthday Mom. You don't look a day over 29!

Back in 1947 a little baby girl came home from the hospital. The dog wasn't so sure about this new arrival.  But I have on a good authority that the dog came around eventually and the baby girl and the dog were inseparable.

Then sometime later a baby brother came around and the Baby Girl didn't seem that thrilled. She put on a good fake smile, but behind the gritted teeth she was thinking all the attention she well deserved was now lavished on this thing that cried and poo'd all the time.  Only later would she and this "thing" grow up to be best buds and recite the Three Stooges together. Even now as the Baby Girl reads this she's make motions with her hands saying, "WOOO OOO OO ".

Like I said, they eventually became friends, but you couldn't tell it from this photo.  "MOM, this thing weighs a ton."

The Baby Girl grew up. She had a couple of birthdays.

She learned to fish.

She learned to dance.

Which then turned into "showing off" ...

She was very stylish.

She became an adult. 

She eventually got married and had two baby girls of her own. One baby girl was sooo beautiful she had to wear shades.

After some challenges in the first marriage department, she eventually met and married a handsome prince - and she and her Baby Girl became a family with this handsome prince.

She traveled and saw the world with the handsome prince.

And sometimes she took her BEAUTIFUL baby girl with them.

It was frightening how close she and her Baby Girl looked alike.

Almost twins.

Eventually she and the handsome prince retired and traveled some more...

Then the day came when she turned another year older.  She's the best Daughter, Wife, Mother, Grandmother, GREAT Grandmother, Aunt, GREAT Aunt and BEST FRIEND that every existed.

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM - from one beautiful BABY GIRL to another!

Victoria Day 3 and Day 4

As our weekend wound down, the last two days we did less it seems.  The hotel guy asked us when we left if we did everything we wanted in Victoria and what we did, I thought,"Its probably quicker to tell what we didn't."

So day 3 was Sunday. The Highlight of the day was High Tea at the Empress Hotel.  The Empress, as you can undoubtedly see, is an impressive hotel. It's old. It's historic. And it's huge.  It was designed by Francis Rattenbury, who coincidentally, is the same guy who designed the Parliament building.  The hotel was built in 1904 originally, but has sense had misc wings added or renovated.  All shades of dignitaries and celebs stay at the Empress.  This dignitary couldn't afford a cupboard in the Empress.  Some day maybe...

Empress at night. Ignore the stupid signs on the fence to the left, they were having a field hockey tournament on the main street.

The sun shines brightly on the Empress.

The Empress is probably best known for its classic Victorian afternoon tea service. I wasn't a huge fan of the idea of "tea" and have shunned it many times in the past when Blueberry has recommended it.  But being that I'm more mature now, I figured I'd give it a try. And boy was I glad I did. 

When we entered the Tea Room you could almost feel the Miss Manners vibe.  If ever there was a time to pull out the world famous Wraspir Table Manners it was now.  The MomUnit had taught me well. 

Our first obstacle was to decide on a tea.  Each guest could pick a tea flavor from a list of about 10.  Us gals chose two tea types: The Empress Blend (supposedly the best) and one called Kai Lani or something like that - with hints of pineapple and orange.

The server, we'll call him Ray since that was his name. Was so polite and so exact with his manners, that I realized teasing with this guy, or my normal sarcasm would not be welcomed here.

They placed these white chocolate covered strawberries in front of us and almost immediately Seattle SIL asks, "Do we use our fork and knife with these?" I'm sure the right answer is Yes.  But our table decided it was okay to use your hands with these little viddles.  It'd be tricky to try to cut them with fork and knife.

Next the tea was served. Two pots of very HOT tea.  Ray offered each of us individually a lump of sugar and then followed with some milk.  We took it all.  He poured the tea and left us to ooohhh and ahhh over the tea.

It was so damn good!  Apparently the Empress Blend is a "second flush" I think he called it. When the tea leaves are first harvested those tea leave go to make ALL the tea. Then a second batch of leaves begin to grow and before they get very big they are harvested - thus a second flush.

Ray returned with the food.  To say there was enough food to feed a small army is an understatement. Queen PopUp had expressed to us earlier to not eat a big breakfast because the food at the tea would be fantastic and a lot of it.  I will never doubt her again.  

The food consisted of small sandwiches (bottom level: Pork Pate, chicken curry, cucumber/horseradish, egg salad and smoked salmon), then fresh made scones and sweet cream with preserves, and finally dessert (top level: chocolate shells with mousse in them, lemon meringue, shortbread, little cakes with marzipan, and raspberry cheesecake dipped in white chocolate). So, um yah, we ate well.

And as you can tell we did a pretty good job at finishing off the food.

We had to finish the day off with a photo in our crab hats. I mean, what's a high tea without the obligatory photo in crazy crab hats.

(Notice the folks behind us to the right. They'll be important later in the story.)

We finished our tea, hefted ourselves out of our chairs and proceeded to find something new and fun to do that would require some walking off of said food.  Seattle SIL and I headed to the Craigdarroch Castle, while Queen PopUp headed to miniature world. 

The Craigdarroch (pronounced craig derrick) was built in the 1890's by a wealthy Victoria man named Robert Dunsmier.  He died the year before it was completed so never got to live in the castle. His wife and 8 kids, however, did.

It was really hard to get good photos in the castle because it was dark and the flash just didn't do most of it justice. When you walk in you are immediate asked to Look UP. This is what you see.

87 stairs to the top of the castle.  Thankfully during the tour you do it floor by floor and work your way up. There was no way I could climb 87 stairs after the lunch we had.

I totally stole this photo from their website, but it really shows all the amazing wood work that was throughout the castle.

The wood throughout the house was spectacular.  All the wood panels and etc were shipped from Chicago and were the last items to be installed in the castle. 

Inside all the rooms had your standard Victorian stuff. Items of that era.  Most of the actual Dunsmier items had been auctioned off in the mid 1950's.  The staff that wanted to restore the castle started collecting items for several years to add to the collection.  Most, though, of what you see didn't belong to the family.

Still it was beautiful to see all the amazing artifacts. That piano there is a Steinway and was built in 1869.  Craigdarroch

The bathroom amused me.  There wouldn't be any long sits on that toilet that's for sure.

Craigdarroch, by the way, means "rocky oak place" - you never know when that'll be a Trivial Pursuit question.  

You may have seen some of the castle in a few movies too. It was host to Little Women and Cats & Dogs - the two notable ones to me anywho.

Post castle gawking, we met up again with Queen PopUp and then walked around through misc streets of Victoria.

We ate at the BEST ITALIAN RESTAURANT EVER! We stopped at a coffee shop after we met up to rest and get a cuppa Joe.  I asked the barista where he'd go to dinner. He asked what I was hungry for and I said Italian. I barely got the word out when he said, "Pagliacci's." Now, the Pagliacci's here in Seattle is a pizza joint, so after confirming it wasn't we were sold.

This little hole in the wall was packed when we finally got there around 7pm.  We were seated and were almost literally in the laps of the people around us.  I'm still not sure who the wait staff served food here. There wasn't much room to move. 

As we were looking through the menu, Queen PopUp leans to a young man to her left and says, "What are you eating?"  She and he started chitchatting about the food etc. Turns out these folks were the people who were sitting behind us during High Tea (remember I pointed them out earlier).  We started chatting with them and mentioned we were the women who put on the crab hats. They laughed and said they were JUST talking about us. Go figure.

After a very satisfying meal of tortellini and cream sauce, we couldn't not have dessert. Queen PopUp wanted tiramisu, but sadly they didn't have any. Instead the waitress suggested their checker board cake.  White and chocolate cake - the white cake dredged in Amaretto and the chocolate dredged in dark rum.  OMG...it was so good we just sat in silence taking it in. 

Monday we woke, packed our bags and checked out. We had all day before the Clipper ride home so we arranged to have a Victoria City Bus tour.  There wasn't anything overly fascinating on the tour, but it was worth it.We got to see a lot of the residential neighborhoods and some other places we hadn't seen.

By the end of the day, we were pooped. We had walked and walked and walked for three days straight.  It was time to come home.  We hopped on the Clipper and said goodbye to Victoria.  I'll be back though.  Victoria sent us off with a spectacular sunset.

James Bay - leaving Victoria looking out the back of the Clipper.

Leaving James Bay looking to the side of the Clipper!