so what have I (we) been up to this week?

It's not all catching up on The Bachelor and American Idol these days, you know.  There's been some real stuff done.

I've mentioned previously that we sold the condo.  That sale closed last Thursday, the new owners took possession last Friday.  And prior to that, Conrad and Van had gone up to close up the condo, get rid of the things we no longer needed/wanted, and oversee the pick-up of things to be shipped to the United States.  On Tuesday, those things arrived.

No, there isn't a lot.  We didn't need the Vancouver furniture, nor did we want the expense of transporting it across the border to us to have to deal with.  We gave it all away (save for a few things we sold to the new owners).  But we did want a fine carpet that we'd had for a number of years.  And we did want all the artwork that we had on the walls before the staging of the condo.  And we did want the Russel Wright ware that I had been collecting and we had been using.  And lo!  Those things arrived with us on Tuesday afternoon.

I'd taken Tuesday off work to be available for the delivery, and then I unpacked the Russel Wright.  Happily, it all made it just fine (which wasn't the case for every piece the guys had packed back with them in their suitcases).  All of it now has a home on the shelving in the dining room, and I think it looks pretty good there. 

Over time, I may add a bit more.  We shall see.

The artwork still sits in the living room.  When Conrad gets home tomorrow, we'll shift it around, and I think it will make for an interesting weekend project if we swap out some of what we have and move it to storage, making room for the pieces from Vancouver that we haven't been able to enjoy for a handful of years.  The carpet will go for a cleaning, a badly needed cleaning.  And then I have plans for it to be unfurled and used in the bedroom.

Ah, but that's not all that happened on Tuesday.  I can only claim to have helped a small bit with the other big project underway.  Van came over to work on our potted plants.  And by work on them, I mean get rid of most of them.  It was badly needed.  Here's the truth:  Conrad and I are indifferent plant parents, and we have never properly cared for the collection of succulents that were getting more and more unruly (and probably potbound) over the years.  We've badly wanted to do something about it, and Van came to the rescue.  You see, he takes care of all the pots and planters on his deck, planning and changing things out as needed.  So there he was on Tuesday afternoon, ridding us of the fire stick that was once so nice and now was ragged.  And the jades that had become spindly.  And more.  He left one pot untouched. 

Once the several lawn trash bags were carted away, we had a barren-looking front and back to the condo.

We trust in him, though, and what he's thinking for sprucing the place up in the days ahead.

Busy times, then, and getting some things accomplished, which always feels good.  And that, friends, is in part what has been going on this past week.

I know I haven't done much of this lately, sorry

I have been cooking.  I cook most days, in fact.  But I haven't had much joy in the cooking lately.  It's dinner.  It's a meal.  It's perfunctory.

In recent days, I've been messaging friends on Facebook.  Folks I haven't kept up with in a mighty long time, folks I thought it might be nice to say hello to and catch up with.  One of them responded (yay!), and in the response said that they missed my cooking photos.  I realized that no, I hadn't been posting many.  So here we are.

Van (and Olive, not pictured - she's had a lot of attention on here lately!) came over late afternoon for dinner here.  I didn't photograph the dessert either, a mango brown butter tart.  Tasty enough!  Conrad will take some of the leftovers to NOLA tomorrow.

But I did take photos of the dinner.  Now that we have some of the Russell Wright dishes from Vancouver, I decided to serve the meal in them.  Tomatillo braised country style pork ribs with rice cooked in black bead liquor. 

Not a bad meal at all!  I was pleased with it for a change.  A little more salt, perhaps?  But it was good.

On a side note, and as you all probably know, we like our cocktails.  The Last Word is our favourite, a concoction that relies on green chartreuse.  That spirit is hard to find (though I shan't confess to our stockpile).  And some people suggest substituting Genepy.  I've had that before, and we do have some on hand, but Van had never tried it.  So I made a Last Word with the Genepy, and that led to me having Conrad

and Van

do a comparison of the chartreuse and the Genepy.  That was interesting.  Genepy is lower ABV and easier to drink, but the chartreuse makes a better cocktail, we agreed.

It wasn't all Last Words, though.  I also had a Preakness to cap the evening.

And now Conrad will be heading out of town.  Darn it.  Time with Van ahead (yay!), but it will be good to have Conrad home.

unexpected art

Wow, is it really almost 6 more hours until the next flight? This, after that 13 hour overnight flight from San Francisco to Sydney? What time is it? Where am I? Oooo, NZ white wine free for the pouring here in the lounge.

So while I have free wireless and time on my hands, I'll post some smaller entries about the joys and luxuries of the trip so far. And what better way to start than by a lovely little surprise in San Francisco.

O'Hare, in my opinion, is not at all a lovely airport. It's functions (barely at times), its amenities and services are laughable, especially for those who are not past security, and it lacks any noteworthy art. Compare it to a place like Vancouver with the remarkable installations of First Nations works in the airport there. As we switched planes yesterday in San Francisco, we came upon a wonderful exhibit en route over to the international terminal: Russel Wright.





In hindsight, we didn't explore it enough. You see, Conrad (and now I do, too) has collected Russel Wright stoneware in the past with able assistance from his sister. The collection languished in basement storage, however, taking a distant second to the vibrant Fiestaware that goes so well with the golden walls of our place. Ah, but the Vancouver condo - concrete and modern - that will suit the Russel Wright quite well. And so our interest has been re-awakened. We browsed among the cases, admiring pieces we have or want and some of the materials (glasses, aluminum) that we didn't know of. And yet, in all that time, we didn't look for anything to tell us the connection between Wright and San Francisco. Silly us.

It was a neat thing, and a delight, encountering that after the first phase of our trip. So far we've seen nothing comparable at Sydney airport, but no matter. The sunny view outside is lovely enough, too.