Belated: Happy Birthday to Me!

So, Dad got moved OUT of the ICU on my birthday! We're very happy about this, especially him.

Mom & I went and had our tea party at Sister's Tea Shop. It was tasty. I tried their Buckingham Palace Garden Party tea blend which turned out to be an Earl Grey with Jasmine. I loved it. The three-tiered nibbles assortment we ordered was also good. 2 of my favorites from that were the Black Pepper Biscuits with Ham Salad and the Caramelized Onion/Corn scone. They also brought me a giant chocolate cupcake with a pink rose frosting that was moist & delicious.

Went back to Mom's to open my presents. She & Dad bought me the Hollow Crown miniseries on DVD- Tom Hiddleston, yay! I won't list everything else, but Mom did her usual bang-up job of gifts and gift-wrapping.

Back to the hospital to spend some more time with the old coot, and then I went home and grilled myself a steak. Watched my new DVD's- ok, mostly just my favorite Tom scenes, but I'll watch the whole thing later.

File Under Things I Will Never Try Again

1. Mikesells Smoked Bacon flavored potato chips
They smell like bacon. They vaguely taste like bacon & fake mesquite. Then the salt from the first 5 you eat hits and you drink a gallon of water in 15 seconds.


2. Angry Orchard Hard Apple Cider
I'm not much of a drinker anyway, especially now with my assorted cocktail of medications. But I do like soft cider and have had one or two hard ciders that I thought were tasty. This was not one of them. Now I have 4 bottles left in my fridge and no clue what to do with them. The 6 pack was too expensive to just pour them down the drain. I may try adding some to homemade applesauce or something.


3. Knitting
I suck so badly at it that even one of the hand loom things can't help me.


4. Dating anyone more than 5 years younger than me. Unless it's Tom Hiddleston.
Nothing kills a mood faster than hearing a song you loved in high school on the radio and hearing your date say "I think I was 3 when that came out." (Not a recent experience, but I'm still traumatized by it)


5. Streaking
My ex-college roommate/partner in crime & I streaked around the bell tower at UNC our freshman year. Only the friends we were with saw us, thankfully, and it was an unique experience, but NOT one I will ever repeat. Especially with my 40-something body. Things jiggle a bit more.


6. Almond Oolong Tea
Got to pick a free sample with my last Teavana order. I like almonds, so I thought maybe it would be good. It wasn't. I'm guess I'm just not a flavored tea person.

Soulless- Gail Carriger

From Goodreads:
Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.

Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire -- and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.
With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?
SOULLESS is a comedy of manners set in Victorian London: full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.

My Opinion:

I can't believe I hadn't posted a review of this book before now! LOVED it. My friend Jessica had bought a copy and I spotted it on her table before dinner at her house one evening. I picked it up, read the blurb on the back, and knew I wanted to read it. Jess, showing what an awesome friend she is, offered to loan it to me before she'd even had a chance to read it herself, but I couldn't do that to her. So I went straight to the bookstore after dinner and bought my own copy. I devoured this book in one sitting- Alexia is my kind of girl, opinionated and not afraid to show it, with a fondness for tea and sweet treats. Fighting off an attacking vampire, she accidentally kills him and now has to deal with werewolf Lord Maccon who Queen Victoria sends to investigate the matter. Further interaction as Alexia insists on being a larger part of the investigation than Maccon is happy with, an education in the matter of vampire society, and a series of attacks make this a thumping good read. The sequels are fun too! The next book in the series is due soon, and while I'm sorry it's the last Alexia adventure, Gail Carriger is NOT abonding her entertaining world. There are two more series to come, with new characters, and I suspect a few familiar faces will appear.

Tea & Tea Drinking- Claire Masset

This is a small, slim volume that enterains and educates at the same time. Gail Carriger, one of my favorite authors, mentioned it as a potential stocking stuffer in a pre-Christmas blog post, so of course I had to go hunt it down and get a copy for myself. It gives the reader a basic overview of how tea became the premier drink in Britain, a brief account of how it's grown/harvested, and the way it became available to all classes, not just the rich.

Not only was it a quick and enjoyable read, I discovered that the Shire Library series has numerous other books that I think might be worth checking out. I bought the ones on Chocolate & Department Stores, as well as putting several other on request at my local library. Many thanks to Gail for leading me to these books, as well as for being an awesome writer herself!

Poetry Monday

I don't remember how I stumbled across this little gem, but I hope you'll like it!

Camomile Tea - Katherine Mansfield



Outside the sky is light with stars;


There's a hollow roaring from the sea.


And, alas! for the little almond flowers,


The wind is shaking the almond tree.






How little I thought, a year ago,


In the horrible cottage upon the Lee


That he and I should be sitting so


And sipping a cup of camomile tea.






Light as feathers the witches fly,


The horn of the moon is plain to see;


By a firefly under a jonquil flower


A goblin toasts a bumble-bee.






We might be fifty, we might be five,


So snug, so compact, so wise are we!


Under the kitchen-table leg


My knee is pressing against his knee.






Our shutters are shut, the fire is low,


The tap is dripping peacefully;


The saucepan shadows on the wall


Are black and round and plain to see.