Roses in February

The menu for Valentine's Day, February 14th included strawberries, drenched in champagne.

Did you know that nothing bad ever happens to you when you are drinking champagne? True.


Check out the two-dozen red roses that dear hubby brought me Wednesday evening. I was able to arrange two bouquets, one for the library table and one for our dinner table.

Anything tastes better when roses are on the table.














What was my contribution to romance that day?

Two, stunningly beautiful and near perfect Grand Mariner Souffles with just a dab of lemon curd added to the mix. After the Christmas Eve souffles turned out so well, this has become my 'celebration' dinner menu. I did steam asparagus on the side and the strawberries for afterwards but really the souffle WAS dinner.


Thursday was a heavy day for me. The "Rockettes" dance class at UNC begins at 10:45 a.m. and by leaving early I can just make it to the JRC for the OLLI Ballroom practice session from noon to 1:45 p.m.

Dear Hubby is able to come (before his 3:00 p.m.band practice), and we dance to my iPod dancelists of wonderful tunes. Last week was Cha Cha and Rumba but this week the class begins American style Waltz. Sing on Miss Patti Page, we will be playing the Tennessee Waltz over and over again.

Spring catalogs for OLLI at Duke's mini-semester will be out soon and I need to find the minimum five couples for the class. That plus I am looking for a public space to continue the practice sessions throughout the summer weeks. Gotta have dance at least ONCE a week!

Saturday was spent at the North Carolina Museum of Art where the curator of Northern European Art held an all-day seminar on "Dutch and Flemish paintings in America." No sooner did I sit down than I discovered my neightbors one row behind me.

Lunch was Dutch in flavor, "moules et frites," or mussels and French fries in English. Plus a buffet featuring Thai Chicken with Sate sauce, crudities and rice pudding for dessert. The after-lunch stroll through the galleries and the Kunstkammer was for me the highlight of the day.

Sunday morning (after the trumpet solo at the top of CBS' Sunday Morning), gets me to the gym in time for the weekly focus on weights. The quilt guild offered three workshops this weekend (Saturday, Sunday and Monday), but I skipped the work and went just to photograph the works in progress. My job description as Guild Photographer is to document and create a photo-memory book each year for the president including the events, programs and meetings held during the year. I must admit I like doing it and the challenge of Photoshop keeps me up to date.

The first day of Spring is thirty days from now.
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