Chinatown - Victoria - and Bubble Tea!

In downtown Victoria pass under the Gates of Harmonious Interest and find yourself in Canada's oldest Chinatown - Jasmin did just this and found herself at the entrance to Fan Tan Alley.

The alleyway's weather worn-bricks have remained unchanged since Chinatown's beginning. Fan Tan Alley is just five feet wide in places. Gambling and opium dens used to reside here, now there are many interesting little shops selling everything from dice and dominoes to vintage clothing.

Loved the colorful signs in the alley - wish I could have read the ones in beautiful Chinese writing.

Have you tried Bubble Tea? Granddaughter Jasmin was anxious to try this drink originating in Taiwan and now very popular in Asian communities in North America. The fruity and milky concoctions have chewy tapioca balls in the bottom which are drawn up through a wide diameter straw. The bubble tea cafes and bars are like coffee shops with dozens of flavors and additives possible - so popular with the younger people that we had to wait in long lines to be served.

Jasmin chose mango with the black tapioca balls - tasted quite good but I don't think it will take the place of my morning java - especially as they contain about 350 calories!! Would you believe...................here outside a Fan Tan Alley shop we found vintage "bubble tops"....................................just the thing to wear while slurping bubble tea!

Happy Canada Day to all you wonderful, friendly Canadians.

..........................coming soon, the Gulf Islands and Vancouver.

Victoria, British Columbia

The Royal BC Museum in Victoria is a wonderful place to visit, especially with children. Currently, one of three worldwide traveling exhibitions named TITANIC the Artifact Exhibition is being presented. This was well worth the visit - extremely moving but educational. On entering you are handed a Boarding Pass, mine is shown below, with the name and details of a passenger (hopefully this photo will enlarge for you - is there anyone out there who knows why some do and others don't?). I was actually another Mary - Mary Davis from London, traveling alone to visit a sister in NY. At the end of the exhibition the passenger lists are displayed on a wall and one is able to see if the person on your Boarding Pass survived the tragic event. Mary Davis did, as did my Granddaughter's person, however the Swedish gentleman who's pass my husband held did not! Of course the victims' list was mostly men as they had to relegate the lifeboats to the women and children. There are amazing actual relics from the Titanic in this exhibit along with photographs and depictions of the terrible accident that occured on that night to remember.

A visit to Craigdarroch Castle was interesting - those of us with small cottage style homes would be totally lost in a home like that! Afternoon tea at the Empress Hotel is now so overpriced, we had to pass. Instead we returned to this cute cottage tea room nearby.
In the evening we took Beach Road out of the city enjoying the fresh air and the view across Oak Bay toward the San Juan Islands and the mainland.

.........................next time - Victoria's colorful Chinatown and Bubble Tea!!

Good to be Home Again

Have you missed me? Ha! ha! I've been back a week but have been so busy with many family things to take care of - only just getting back to blog and update you on a great trip, along with the ups and downs of daily life. Have skimmed through your posts - wow, how I missed every one of you - and can see I must take time to catch up with everyone's news, especially dear Amy at foursistersinacottage as she starts her chemo (such a brave gal). Next week I will not keep my Granddaughter - she's off to camp - so hope to have a creative week of my own. This will include making some art cards, starting the Memory Book of the trip to the Northwest/Canada, blogging, and of course checking in and making time to leave each of you a note.

We started out by ferry from Seattle via Bainbridge Island to the spectacular Olympic Peninsula.

A stop in Port Gamble to enjoy the view from a quiet place - Jasmin took the pictures.

No time for a picnic, however an excellent dinner that evening at the Fountain Cafe in Port Townsend - one of our favorites from previous visits - new owner now but still great food!

Arriving early morning by ferry from Port Angeles, WA one is impressed by the scenery as you dock in Victoria B.C. If you've visited you will agree that it's a lovely city situated on the southern tip of spectacular Vancouver Island - very Canadian but still has an air of Britain wafting through the well kept public gardens and old Parliament buildings. Below is the famous ivy covered Empress Hotel - step inside and step back to a more elegant time. Didn't stay there - a little beyond our budget! Quite a few "Victorians" have chosen to make their homes on houseboats - extremely elegant ones too! It seems Victorian birds don't mind bathing in cool fountains

and.................strange Englishmen, wandering around Parliament, dress in historic costumes and speak with upper crust British accents! Lovely statue of the young Queen Victoria silhouetted against Parliament on a perfect sunny June afternoon.

.......................to be continued.

Lavender Fields Forever

Very early Tuesday morning I'll be on my way to Washington State and British Columbia ~ early Summer vacation in an area I truly love. See my post of last Wednesday for details. I love lavender - grew it in England as a child in the family garden - my brother's 200 year old village house in France has rows of it in his garden - I struggle to grow it here in humid North Carolina each Summer. Hope to visit the Jardin du Soleil Lavender Farm in Sequim, Washington - may be a little early to see the flowers in full bloom however it sounds like such a wonderful place at any time. They have mountains to the south, waters to the north and sunshine year round!
These lovely photos were not taken in Sequim but they do show the amazing differences in the lavender colors.
I've decided the laptop stays home! As much as I'll miss posting and reading your posts for a while, I want this to be a relaxing vacation for my DH and granddaughter as well as moi!! Lugging another heavy bag to bother with at airport security, border crossings etc., just isn't fun. I will have my camera and hope to spend time getting some great pictures to share with you later. Until then, take care ~~~~I'll catch up with you when I return.

CHEERIO!

Inspiration Friday - Southwest France June 2006

At the very top of the circulade village of Aigne (built in 1000 AD) in the Minervois area of SW France, there are pretty ivy clad houses such as this one - a couple have been turned into art galleries. A circulade is a "l'escargot" or snail shaped village - just one narrow cobbled street of ancient stone houses, turning round and round as it climbs the hill - a means of fortification during the time of the Cathar uprisings.

I can imagine a simple table set in these tiny village gardens..................

.......................and on the pink tablecloth glasses of double strawberry trifles........

.....................and little fresh strawberry cream puffs........afternoon tea, French village style.

As I continured circling around and around to get to the top, somewhat dizzy in the June heat, I noticed French kitties lounging on windowsills enjoying the afternoon siesta.

Returning to the bottom of the l'escargot we were welcomed to lunch at the Restaurant Lo Cagarol where we sat under the sunbrella on the terrasse ombragee - shaded terrace - and enjoyed cuisine gourmande - gourmet cuisine. My DH and granddaughter are sitting at the far left table with my brother and sister-in-law who now live near this idyllic medieval village.

Northwest Passage

Next Tuesday I leave North Carolina and fly to the spectacular Pacific Northwest and Canada.......................cooler weather and mountain vistas will be welcomed! We always take our "traveling Granddaughter" on a Summer adventure - this one will bring her number of countries visited to six. Not bad for a ten year old! She's a great traveler and we love to take her along. She keeps a journal on our trips - last year she did a great one while in France and Spain. I make a scrapbook of our trip when we get home so she will always have a special book of memories to keep. This trip will take us to Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Olympic Peninsula, Victoria B.C., through the San Juan Islands by ferry, Vancouver B.C., Bellingham and back to Seattle. I have done this trip several times with DH and every time has been memorable. Washington State is such a beautiful part of the USA and going to Canada is a little like going home to England for me. I really love Victoria, seeing the Empress Hotel as the ferry pulls into the harbor, and all those shops selling British goods! Vancouver is a great city - plenty to do and so beautiful.

I'm especially excited to be visiting Bellingham again as I now have a very special friend there and we are planning what I know will be a fun get together. We met by mail just a year ago, yes good old fashioned snail mail, after I ordered a beautiful handmade box containing Haiku poems she had written. We discovered we had similar interests and continued a pen pal type friendship, exchanging dozens of handmade cards and envelopes, small art projects, scrap items, rubber stamps, books on the written word - which we both adore, and surprise packages with little gifts (see my post from March 6, 2007 ~ The Waiting Game). Granddaughter and I will get to see her amazing studio and perhaps find time to work on some craft projects - the DH's can shoot the breeze, talk about their respective international travels, and right the wrongs of the world.

We girls just wanna have fun!!!!!

In the Garden After the Rain

Rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the earth; without rain there would be no life.

~~~~~~~~~~John Updike~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was so wonderful to have a full day and night of steady rain on Sunday....we had not seen a drop in 20 days and the plants, shrubs, grass, and trees were listless and dusty, saved only by helpful humans dragging hoses, hoisting watering cans, and moving sprinklers for hours on end. Soon water restrictions will be in effect. Summer in the South can be brutally hot and dry despite the high humidity.

The potting shed was washed down.

The lilies unfurled their pristine petals.

The dainty fireflies dried out on these seedlings.

The bees collected pollen from the Cabot Rose on the fence.
The thirsty Endless Summer Hydrangeas drank like parched travelers in the desert..........

....................changing their damp green dresses for dry lavender blue ones once their thirst was quenched. My wish is that you all are able to keep your gardens growing happily throughout this Summer. It's a hard job, an almost daily one, and perhaps you, like me, sometimes think you just can't go on and will have to let Mother Nature take over and do what she will. But then comes a day like today. You walk around in the sunshine, admiring the plants and seeing how they have responded to the rain. Peeking into the blossoms you spy the tiny insects at work.................then all the hard work, the love and care you have given is all worthwhile............and you just know you must stay with it for as long as you can.