It’s another short work week for us, made even shorter for me by the fact that I’m leaving tomorrow at the end of the working day for the UK, an overnight trip to visit a big security tradeshow that our company is participating with 2 huge booths at. It’s the first time at this job, in over 7 years, that I’ve had a chance to go to one of our tradeshows and I’m thrilled that I will be able to go as a guest, so that I can see firsthand how all the materials that I/we create are put to use. I fly right back in the late afternoon tomorrow, so there won’t be any time for sightseeing or even shopping (no all-English bookstores, boo hoo), but it’s exciting to be traveling, even for just one day!
It’s been a lovely sunny weekend and today Martin and I went for a walk in the sunshine. When we weren’t in shadow, which was most of the itme, it was so warm that I ended up taking my light jacket off and tying it around my waist. Martin and Karin have both been taking and uploading photos to Instagram, so we kept having to stop so Martin could take shots of cherry tree blossom clouds, lily of the valley, a tiny-leaved vine-caulked stone wall, a spirea tsunami, a blood-red beech from below. Everywhere we looked, there were beautiful things to take pictures of.
I was entranced with the dandelions. I don’t care if they’re a weed. Their ubiquitious cheerfulness always makes me smile; tiny suns polka-dotting the whole world. They look so bright and so yellow, until you catch a glimpse of a rapeseed field beyond them, and suddenly you know what YELLOW really is.
Wednesday is a half-day and we have Thursday and Friday off, so apart from the day in the UK, I’ll only be working a day and a half this week. On Wednesday, most of the Wonders are coming over for dinner. It was the only date we could find for all of us some months ago, but now Emily won’t be able to join us as she’ll be with her family in Berlin. I’m hoping we can all get together again in the early summer, since it’s been AGES since we last met. I’m dithering over the menu and am not sure what I want to serve. I can’t decide between oven-baked salmon with artichoke bottoms & asparagus tips in a lemon sauce with rice, OR lemon-pepper crusted pork filets with au gratin potatoes and blanched asparagus.
I had already decided on the dessert: a meringue cake with whipped cream & chopped Daim filling and fresh strawberries on top, but then today Anders made strawberry ice cream in his new ice cream machine and it was so good I’m considering asking him to make something for us…I’ve already put in future orders for peach amaretto and chocolate caramel. NOM!
*Title from a quote describing dandelions by Henry Ward Beecher
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all my favorite moms out there, but most especially to MINE!
Yellow Sunshiney Birthday Wishes to redpirk!