Chinese Meal

As part of a series of “spoilies” before my operation, we went out last night for a Chinese meal in a posh Chinese restaurant in town. After my surgery, I will not be able to eat Chinese food again for a long time, and maybe forever, because Chinese vegetables are supposed not to be stoma-friendly, so last night felt a bit like the last meal of the condemned man!

My hubby asked our local Chinese takeaway owner where he would go if he was going out for a Chinese meal, and he recommended this place – that’s a pretty good recommendation! The building itself is an old-fashioned villa-style house with high ceilings and an air of Victorian elegance about it, but the interior had been designed in the Chinese style, but not too flamboyantly – in place of the usual red and gold dragons and lanterns, it is understated and elegant, but distinctly Oriental. Here are some pictures, starting with the entrance lobby.

There are two dining areas, and we were in the first one. It is decorated with a very subtle pale green wallpaper with a slight sheen to it, and delicate lines reminiscent of bamboo leaves. The photos don’t do it justice, as usual with shimmery surfaces.

There is a broad arch leading into the second dining area which was illuminated with soft coloured lights, and trims created from thick half bamboo canes.

Back in the first dining area, beside the doorway into the bar is an arched window.

From this picture you can see what an elegant room this is, with the high ceilings and plaster mouldings.

The bar is decorated with a Chinese-style roof.

In the bar are several large fish tanks.

I loved this beautiful peacock wall-sconce in the bar.

In the arched window into the bar is a traditional Chinese plant made from pieces of glass or semi-precious stones. I remember my grandmother had a bonsai tree made like this. It looks so real!

Arriving at our table beside the arch into the second dining area, I noticed the very pretty floral arrangement. The gold-lined glass candle holder shed a soft glow.

We started with crispy duck and pancakes – my absolute favourite! We shared a quarter duck between us, much as I would have liked more and could have coped with a half, we wouldn’t have had room for anything else!

Constructing the pancake roll with the crispy duck, thinly sliced vegetables and hoi-sin sauce. Rolled up and eaten in your fingers, there’s a gorgeous combination of flavours and textures, and I always seem to manage to have the sauce dribble down my chin!

Our main course. Firstly, chicken and cashew nuts and egg fried rice.

Then Peking-style beef and sweet and sour pork.

The sweet and sour pork and chicken and cashew nuts are my two favourite dishes, and my hubby despairs of me because I always want these dishes! This time he didn’t make too much of a fuss because after all, it was my last Chinese meal!

Tucking in to my bowl.

There was far too much food for the two of us – enough for three or four! They kindly made us up a doggy bag to take home, and we had it for lunch today. If possible, it was even more delicious second time round.

Before we left, one of the waitresses took a photo of the two of us.

What a lovely evening out! It’s a gorgeous place, and very different from anywhere we’ve been before. On the table next to us was a sweet couple with their absolutely charming Down’s daughter, who delighted us both with a big hug when they left!

We were not the only ones to have spoilies today. When we got back, my hubby gave the kitties some of the treats they had for Christmas – we have to give them very sparingly because Beatrice (on the left) is sick if she has too much of anything, with her delicate little stomach. She is very keen, though, as you can see from the attitude of those back legs and her whole body straining forwards! Phoebe is a bit of a butter-fingers and always drops hers, and if my hubby doesn’t rescue them, Beatrice zooms in and wolfs them down!

In the background you can see some of the many lovely cards I’ve had from friends and family, wishing me well for my operation.

I am still feeling very tired after all the recent stress, and very glad of this fortnight’s respite before I go into hospital, and I’m determined to continue resting and relaxing and trying not to worry about what lies ahead. Not sure what spoilies remain to be enjoyed before that time!

Lunch Out in a Fabulous Place, and a Stressful Afternoon

Yesterday we met some friends for lunch at Churston Manor, a local restaurant. The house has a chequered history going back to Tudor times, and it is a fascinating place, built before the invention of perpendiculars! It is filled with artefacts from many periods and from around the world, so there is plenty to look at. Mum doesn’t like going there because it’s so dark and her old eyes can’t see what she is eating! We love it, though, as it’s so full of atmosphere and character – and the food is first class, too.

Here is the main dining room, where we had our lunch.

I love the bowed wall, as if some mediaeval knight has leant on it for too long!

The fireplace at the far end of the room:

In the small dining room, there are some oriental artefacts, including this beautiful carved piece from S.E. Asia – possibly from Burma or Thailand. It is resting on an Indian toran, or doorway textile (I have one of these over my ARTHaven door).

Throughout the house there are many portraits and mirrors, and also tapestries. I love the warm glow of these red walls.

The small dining room is dominated by this massive open fireplace.

There are several intriguing little doorways, and the funny little grille, behind which is a tiny room accessed from another small doorway to the right.

A small alcove dining room. Note another toran.

A suit of armour in the passageway.

Looking back along this passageway towards the hall, you can see the bowed wall of the main dining room.

Beautiful oak panelling and portraits in the hall at the bottom of the staircase.

Across the hall from the main dining room is the bar, with a heavily beamed ceiling. Note the carving over the doorway, and the pistol!

The staircase, complete with another suit of armour.

Finally, a view back into the main dining room, with a view of the beautiful red and gold ceiling.

We had such a lovely time together, and it seemed like a perfect day until we got home to discover that the scaffolding men were there, taking down the scaffolding that had been up for the installation of the solar panels. I had phoned a couple of days ago requesting that they phone us before coming, so that we could be prepared, and shut the cats in to keep them safe. We always keep the garden gates closed, top and bottom, to prevent them getting out onto the road, and so far they have never been beyond the confines of the garden. Coming home, we found the gate open at the bottom, and the scaffolding being carried out. We scooped Beatrice up and shut her in straight away, but there was absolutely no sign of Phoebe.

The scaffolding man said he’s never got the message about phoning us first, so I telephoned the solar panels office and told them what had happened, and expressed my annoyance, and extreme concern about Phoebe. Almost immediately they phoned the scaffolding man, who then admitted that he had actually received the message but had forgotten all about it. When I took him to task about this he said he couldn’t be expected to remember everything as he was so busy, etc. etc. His attitude was very offhand and he was obviously not prepared to take responsibility, and both my hubby and I went round the block calling Phoebe, but there was no sign of her. By the time the scaffolding men left she still hadn’t appeared, and I was very upset, and the man still refused to take responsibility, and simply walked away from me and drove off.

Eventually, to my extreme relief, Phoebe miraculously appeared, and I’ve never been so relieved! I phoned the office straight away to let them know, and left a message as it was after office hours, and soon afterwards I had a return call, which I thought was good – they were just packing up when my message was received. I told them how unimpressed I was with the scaffolding man’s attitude.

There’s nothing to be done about it, of course, because they’ve now gone, and are on another job, and as far as they are concerned it doesn’t matter a bit. The whole thing has left a nasty taste and caused me a huge amount of stress, which has resulted in me having a bad day with my health today, and unable to do anything much but lie on the recliner and try and survive the heat.

I’m just glad we’ve got Phoebe back safe and sound. I was imagining the worst.

I think one of the worst features of our modern age is that people no longer take responsibility for their actions and always try to put the blame on somebody else. It appears that to apologise is looked upon as a sign of weakness, and they won’t apologise because it means admitting liability. I have always believed that to face up to one’s mistakes and admit them honestly, and apologise, is actually a sign of maturity and strength. People don’t seem to give a damn these days, as long as they themselves are comfortable and secure, and they seem to have no consideration for the feelings of others. Maybe I’m old-fashioned but I think this way of carrying on is unacceptable, and especially so when dealing with customers.

Rant over.

Art Deco Dining Room

In preparation for our upcoming house move, we are selling our dining room furniture, as there is no dining room in the new house. We have had to accept a ridiculously small amount for this good quality modern beech suite, but as my hubby says, it’s swings and roundabouts, and we’ve done very well with other aspects of the move, and we haven’t got the time or energy to try and sell the suite privately, and even if we had, we might not do much better, given the current economic climate. A local firm is collecting the furniture today. I am sad to see it go, but you can’t keep everything! It hasn’t had that much use, especially in recent years when I haven’t been well enough to do much entertaining.

It struck me that I’d never really photographed the dining room before. In readiness for the collection to take place, I’ve more or less cleared the room, and everything we want to keep is now packed up, so you can see the decor a bit better now. I wasn’t prepared to remove the stack of packed banana boxes for the photo shoot so please ignore them!

Here are some general views of the room.

I managed to find the glass pendant light fitting in the lighting department of a large store in Plymouth when I was first decorating the room, and thoroughly embarrassed my hubby by insisting they get it down from the display – they said it was the last one in the shop and couldn’t sell it as it was a display model. They also made a fuss because it was ten minutes before closing time. I pointed out that they were still open and should therefore still sell things when customers asked for them, and also that they shouldn’t display things that weren’t in stock, and demanded to see the manager! He instructed them to get it down for me, and then they said it didn’t have a box. I asked for a discount, because it was at risk of being broken without proper protection. By this time my hubby was crawling with embarrassment but I got my lamp, and my discount, AND an apology from the manager!! I told my hubby that the customer is always right, and nothing I had demanded was in any way out of order!!! Actually, one of my pet hates is petty officialdom trying to pull a fast one and trying to get away with things, banking on the assumption that their victims won’t make a fuss. Warning: Shoshi always makes a fuss. Lol!

On the cabinet in the corner of the room I used to have my beautiful reproduction Art Deco lamp (now packed) – I can’t find a photo of it in situ so I can’t show you now, but I shall photograph it again one day. It is a heavy black lamp in the shape of a woman holding a white globe. I also have a genuine 1930s electric mantelpiece clock given to me by my dad, which used to sit on the sideboard (unfortunately it doesn’t go, despite his most valiant efforts!) – I have debated over the years whether to put a modern quartz movement in it but I would have to dispense with the gorgeous Westminster chimes.

It was the blue flowers in the lamp that gave me the idea for blue as the accent colour in the room. I always had blue candles (sometimes gold for Christmas) and made blue table decorations.

Now some detail shots of the art deco panels.

I created the uplighters from plain white ceramic wall-mounted uplighters which I painted. I attached some black plastic pipe and ran the cable up through this, via a small white push-button switch. The other end of the cable runs along the skirting board to the wall socket in each case. These were hidden by the furniture.

Double corner detail.

I made a scale drawing of the room and furniture in advance of its delivery, and plotted out the panels. The lines were created with the aid of two whole rolls of masking tape and a lot of patience.

I am hoping to take some photos of the decorative paintwork in the sitting room, too, once most of the stuff has gone – as soon as I painted the panels in there, they got covered up with furniture!