Kew Gardens and Our First Dinner Party
Dec. 11th, 2000 12:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lillibetWe did get to Kew Gardens on Saturday. The weather reports had been full of
doom & gloom, but it was actually a lovely day and didn't rain at all while
we were outside. John & Mike are interested in building a greenhouse, so we
focused on those. The Palm House was simply astonishing...huge and ornate,
with lots of interesting New World plants and a Marine Display in the
basement that had some very interesting habitat exhibits, including a coral
reef. From there we wandered over to the Princess of Wales "glasshouse," as
they call them here. Named for Princess Augusta, the mother of George III,
it's actually a very modern building. There were nifty areas of carnivorous
plants and of gorgeous orchids and their aquaria/terraria section included a
large ant colony that was working on transporting the contents of a box of
Cheerios into the nest. That was fascinating. We wandered in the Secluded
Garden for a bit and then went over to The Orangery and had a lovely lunch
of soups and salads. I had a "flapjack" for dessert, which was a spiced
oatcake. Somewhat dry, but very yummy. We walked back, looking at the
sculpture garden and the magpies and a flock of some of the fattest geese
I've ever seen. Jason and I did a quick chorus of "Christmas is coming, the
goose is getting fat" and Mike got some close-up photos of these completely
unintimidated geese.
After a few minutes in the gift shop (where we ran into JR, we walked back
to the train station and took the tube back to The Ritz. Jason went on
home, but I went up to the suite to pick up some things we had left there.
Then I made my way to Oxford Circus in search of a copy shop, having
forgotten that it would be mobbed with Christmas shoppers. The sidewalks
were wall-to-wall people for about four blocks on either side. I found the
shop I was looking for, but it was closed. I was giving up in defeat when I
saw a little newsstand that advertised photocopies, so I went in and made
the 200 copies of our Christmas letter that I needed. Back at the flat, I
napped for a bit and then ordered enough Chinese food that we had plenty for
JR, when he arrived.
On Sunday, Jason and I did a big run to Sainsbury's and then I spent the
afternoon cooking and puttering around. John, Mike, Barbara, Leah and her
friend, Mark, all came to dinner. We had hors d'ouevres of various meats
and smoked mackerel and a pomegranate and duck pate with truffles. John &
Mike had done a run to Fortnum & Mason, down the block from The Ritz, and
brought us lovely cheese biscuits to go with the 18-month old cheddar, gouda
and double gloucester they brought in addition to some goat cheeses. Dinner
included two chickens--one corn-fed, the other not--as well as stuffing,
baked potatoes, sugar snap peas, salad (with a homemade creamy peppercorn
dressing that turned out quite well, I thought) and gravy. Leah had brought
Christmas crackers, so we all wore our crowns and read our little riddles
aloud and showed off the toys that came in them. After dinner we moved back
into the living room and enjoyed the fruit that John & Mike had also
brought, along with some delicious almond-topped mince pie cookies.
Jonathan and Jason each did a sinkload of dishes and Leah put away
leftovers--and took some, hurray--so that by the time everyone had left and
I had to face the kitchen, the mess was down to manageable proportions. I
pulled apart the carcasses and started them boiling for stock and that was
our first dinner party. It was so fun to have people over!
doom & gloom, but it was actually a lovely day and didn't rain at all while
we were outside. John & Mike are interested in building a greenhouse, so we
focused on those. The Palm House was simply astonishing...huge and ornate,
with lots of interesting New World plants and a Marine Display in the
basement that had some very interesting habitat exhibits, including a coral
reef. From there we wandered over to the Princess of Wales "glasshouse," as
they call them here. Named for Princess Augusta, the mother of George III,
it's actually a very modern building. There were nifty areas of carnivorous
plants and of gorgeous orchids and their aquaria/terraria section included a
large ant colony that was working on transporting the contents of a box of
Cheerios into the nest. That was fascinating. We wandered in the Secluded
Garden for a bit and then went over to The Orangery and had a lovely lunch
of soups and salads. I had a "flapjack" for dessert, which was a spiced
oatcake. Somewhat dry, but very yummy. We walked back, looking at the
sculpture garden and the magpies and a flock of some of the fattest geese
I've ever seen. Jason and I did a quick chorus of "Christmas is coming, the
goose is getting fat" and Mike got some close-up photos of these completely
unintimidated geese.
After a few minutes in the gift shop (where we ran into JR, we walked back
to the train station and took the tube back to The Ritz. Jason went on
home, but I went up to the suite to pick up some things we had left there.
Then I made my way to Oxford Circus in search of a copy shop, having
forgotten that it would be mobbed with Christmas shoppers. The sidewalks
were wall-to-wall people for about four blocks on either side. I found the
shop I was looking for, but it was closed. I was giving up in defeat when I
saw a little newsstand that advertised photocopies, so I went in and made
the 200 copies of our Christmas letter that I needed. Back at the flat, I
napped for a bit and then ordered enough Chinese food that we had plenty for
JR, when he arrived.
On Sunday, Jason and I did a big run to Sainsbury's and then I spent the
afternoon cooking and puttering around. John, Mike, Barbara, Leah and her
friend, Mark, all came to dinner. We had hors d'ouevres of various meats
and smoked mackerel and a pomegranate and duck pate with truffles. John &
Mike had done a run to Fortnum & Mason, down the block from The Ritz, and
brought us lovely cheese biscuits to go with the 18-month old cheddar, gouda
and double gloucester they brought in addition to some goat cheeses. Dinner
included two chickens--one corn-fed, the other not--as well as stuffing,
baked potatoes, sugar snap peas, salad (with a homemade creamy peppercorn
dressing that turned out quite well, I thought) and gravy. Leah had brought
Christmas crackers, so we all wore our crowns and read our little riddles
aloud and showed off the toys that came in them. After dinner we moved back
into the living room and enjoyed the fruit that John & Mike had also
brought, along with some delicious almond-topped mince pie cookies.
Jonathan and Jason each did a sinkload of dishes and Leah put away
leftovers--and took some, hurray--so that by the time everyone had left and
I had to face the kitchen, the mess was down to manageable proportions. I
pulled apart the carcasses and started them boiling for stock and that was
our first dinner party. It was so fun to have people over!
