Lola at the Coffee House

You guys take care of the cafe and Wassau today. I've got to go away for the week end. I'll be back on Sunday afternoon or evening. Behave

Hehehehehehe . . . .i wonder if he's figured out what that makes him.

He is a delight, isn't he, farmerman.

Lord Ellpus shopped at Comet and Somerfield's I'll have you know. And was slung off the site for conduct unbecoming. He was not fit to carry my small change and it didn't me long to get his dander popping out in the manner of an indignant broody hen.

I sincerely hope that Lola's hard-boiled eggs don't affect her as they do me.

I wondered what that funny smell was.

I thought mebbe you stepped on a duck...

“There was something sort of bleak about her tone, rather as if she had swallowed an east wind. This I took to be due to the fact that she probably hadn't breakfasted. It's only after a bit of breakfast that I'm able to regard the world with that sunny cheeriness which makes a fellow the universal favourite. I'm never much of a lad till I've engulfed an egg or two and a beaker of coffee.

"I suppose you haven't breakfasted?"

"I have not yet breakfasted."

"Won't you have an egg or something? Or a sausage or something? Or something?"

"No, thank you."

She spoke as if she belonged to an anti-sausage league or a league for the suppression of eggs. There was a bit of silence.”
― P.G. Wodehouse

Yes Ma'am.

Happy Easter to everyone at the Coffee House.

I envy you all your lovely silverware. But I don't think using stuff like that is ostentatious - no more than using handmade plates and stoneware bowls (which, incidentally, sound gorgeous!). No, it's just a matter of habit with me. I feel comfortable with old habits, and if people care to sneer at me - okay, I have broad shoulders. I go back to the same old thing I said earlier - it's what you feel comfortable with. Eat what you want to, with whichever utensils you want to - but enjoy!

one thing that spendi made sense on was this;
All these gymcrackies and single purpose tools need to be washed and polished. We use stainless for everything and its dishwasher safe and we dont have to hire "help" to polish it.

I never gave much of a thought t our multi sourced ceramic service but yoiu are probably right. It is our way to be a bit different.

Math was never one of his great accomplishments as I recall.

were yo talking about Lord E?. Yes he was

For Frankie especially, but everybody: a food video tour of Ravenna by Angela Schiavina, showing at the end how to prepare what is often an easter cake, a romangole ciambellone. Sigh. I think this is my favorite video ever. It goes for ten minutes, worth it probably, unless you are Spendius.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/video/2010/nov/25/italy-ravenna-food-tour?INTCMP=SRCH

edit to say there are some english subtitles

Seaglass' d-i-l in Colorado serves company dinners exactly the same way -- hand-decorated (by other family members) pottery and stoneware.

Thanks Osso.
I haven't forgotten about the cookie recipe...busy with move.

I hate to say that things, which are genuinely beautiful, and delicate, and even elegant, are either useless or ostentatious. Beauty of design adds something important to our visual world and our perceptions (it does to my world at least). It makes me notice and appreciate those objects which have artistic merit that sets them apart from the ordinary or mundane similar items, that generally go unnoticed, and serve a more purely utilitarian purpose. Interesting or beautiful things enhance my world, by pleasing my eye, and that includes ornately designed silver flatware or serving items. I love the gleam of really beautiful silver on a dining table--almost as much as I hate having to polish it. As long as it's in good taste, and just part of the background, I really don't see it as being ostentatious. I'm not using it as a display of wealth, I enjoy its visual appeal. The same way I like to get myself dolled up at times, because it makes me, and the occasion, feel more special, I sometimes like to doll up my dining table as well, for the same reasons.

I also love using items like the picture of the ornately embellished grape scissors that vonny posted. They add a touch of grace and elegance to the simple act of eating a bunch of grapes, something I could just as easily do with my hands alone, or regular kitchen shears. Using those special grape scissors isn't something I'd likely do every day, just in my own kitchen, but they are objects I would enjoy using even when relaxing with some friends in a casual get together, where we are sharing a bowl of fruit, simply because it adds a beautiful and lovely element to our surroundings.

Since the conversation has also turned to eggs, I have some beautiful china egg cups I also love to use on occasion when I want others to enjoy a special presentation of their soft-boiled eggs. And I really appreciate the fact that Wassau always serves my tea in varied antique porcelain cups, with marvelous designs and gilt ornamentation, and my cold beverages in crystal glasses and goblets, because I love how they feel in my hand and against my lips, beside the beauty of their appearance. There is enough of the ordinary all of the time, there have to be simple moments in our lives when we can be lifted out of the ordinary by something as simple as a teacup or a pair of ornate grape scissors.

Spendius also mentioned Prince Charles, and while I'm not familiar with the details of his interest in architecture, I think that Prince Charles and I might agree that the architecture which surrounds us, and comprises much of our external environment, in both urban and suburban areas, fails to add much in the way of visual appeal, let alone adding beauty or interest. Yesterday, in a news story about Amanda Knox, they showed the Italian courthouse where decisions about her case were made, and it was such a wonderful structure, replete with all sorts of sculptural detailing and elaborate ornamentation. How I would love to have that sort of building take the place of the plain, unadorned, nondescript boxes that serve as my local courthouses, simply because it would be so much more interesting to look at, and more of a treat for the eye.

I'm afraid I'm just rambling on and boring you all. Well, maybe I'm not boring ossobucco, because I know she's sensitive in her perceptions, and attuned to her visual environment, and the importance and impact of the way things appear. But I really do think we should aim to enhance our visual world with as much beauty, and wonderful design, as we possibly can, to heighten our awareness and enliven our senses. And, in that regard, I think Wassau has done a splendid job with this place. There are unexpected touches and intriguing objects everywhere--even the Ladies Room has exquisite hand-painted tiles and beautifully crafted mosaic panels and mirrors. Everything about this place is out of the ordinary, which is one reason I love it so much.

Far from it Firefly - when you said you encapsulated my feelings totally! Thank you for posting with such sensitivity!

What did I say about that fm? I have quite forgot.



That is probably the best thing to do I should think. Giving the subject much thought would give you the heebie-jeebies.



Have you not tried sporting a gynecologist's lamp and a bib?

I used to think that I was flat-ribbed, bottom-line, absolutely average normal until I came on A2K. Now I find I am unique. I think the normal person is slowly becoming extinct. One can't even shoot one's wife's lover these days without the parasite professions making an unholy, and expensive, fuss about it. The legal profession has paid to have declared illegal anything that anybody might sometimes wish to do on the basis that 300 million folks are a sufficient number to provide a constant source of lucrative employment.

It is pretty obvious that it wouldn't pay to have anything declared illegal that nobody would ever wish to do although publishers of Congress bills might be able to turn it to advantage.

If ever you wish to know what you might like to do under propitious circumstances you only need read the law through to find out that it has pre-empted your being tempted.

Thank you, so much, vonny, for letting me know you could connect with what I was expressing--or trying to express. I really had a somewhat difficult time trying to capture what I wanted to convey. And I'm so glad you could connect to it!

Of course I liked the grape scissors..

It's true I'm very interested visual space, and once I cottoned on to the world of visual arts - painting, photography, architecture, landscape in many natural and built forms, my life became fuller. I'm a materialist at large.... I like materials. It is probably similar for people who find themselves besotted by music, wildly curious about engineering bridges or rockets, solving immunological mysteries, or the many people on a2k who are drawn as swarming moths to philosophy questions: we have different brains and that's good. I don't want a world with a billion me's.