No matter what anyone tells you..........................It is still Valentine's Day! (Shh, play along. )

        
 💕My heart is, and always shall be, Yours.💕
                                                                Jane Austen

We were not going to post a Valentine's day post this year because when we went away, we did not take any laptops, phones, or cameras (we had the boat's radio in case of emergency) and I thought that a post without pictures is a kind of blasphemy (although my skills as a photographer are pretty blasphemous,  especially next to a certain professional). I have a sneaking suspicion that some of our visitors may only come here to look at the pictures, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that! (I do the same thing at a lot of the places I visit) but after we were home again, I was sitting at my dressing table one morning and My Mr.Cham's beautiful gift seemed to be saying to me, "  I think others would like to see me too". I agreed and took some webcam photos because my phone is currently out of commission and Mr.Cham was gone for the day. 
I do not believe that holidays should be relegated to only one specific day. After all, most stores now sell holiday decorations year round, If we had been home for Christmas, the tree would still be up (alright, it IS up but it is an Easter/Springtime tree now) and I still have my Christmas music playlist on my media player and I click on it whenever I feel the need for a little holiday cheer. Why not? Who made these rules anyway? No one that I know of. (By the way, the Easter post will be next! I am playing catch up like crazy. Personally, I hope that our life will be "normal" again for awhile but I am not a gambler, so I would not bet on it).

So, here is our Valentine's Day post. Five weeks late. Better late than never. I hope you will agree.

This year marks the third Valentine's Day that my Mr. Cham and I have been "a couple". After having worked for him for seven years, we had a misunderstanding during the holidays that year and I gave him my notice and packed my bags. I went to stay with my mother to decide what I was going to do next. It was a sad month and a half for both of us and the day before Valentine's Day I sent him a message. Three words actually. I Miss You. He did not answer and that night I went to bed certain that I would not hear from him. After trying to sleep for several hours and failing, I got up to make a cup of tea and when I opened my door I heard my mother on the telephone. Then I heard the front door open and close. I called to her and she said that I had a delivery. A delivery? Who delivers at midnight? Especially on a holiday. She said to come and see, and so I did. On the dining room table there was a bouquet of white daisies wrapped in cellophane and a box of cherry cordials tied with pink ribbons.

I asked who they were from and she shook her head. "No card? But who brought them? "I did." I did not need to turn around to know who was there. My Mr.Cham has a voice like no other. I turned around and there he sat looking like a lost little boy, very tired, having drunk too much coffee and most likely hungry. He apologized for the daisies and cherries. He said there was nothing else left in the airport shops and he could nit come empty-handed. I said it was the thought that counted. (He could have brought a bunch of weeds and a pack of chewing gum and I would have been as glad to see him!) I asked if he had eaten a proper dinner? (Of course not.) So we went into the kitchen and I made dinner for him and then I made tea and put some of the cupcakes I had baked for Valentine's Day on the tray and we went back into the living room and talked for hours.

I asked how he had come to my mother's, which at the time was not easy to get to. I assumed that he must have rented a car at the airport. He said no. He had been waiting for a taxi, out in the cold, wishing he had arranged transportation before getting on the plane, when a group of Japanese businessmen noticed him and asked if they could offer him a ride. He thanked them, but said he did not want to take them out of their way. They consulted their driver and came back, saying that they were staying only a few miles away. Not wanting to wait any longer, and grateful for the offer, My Mr.Cham graciously accepted and they brought him straight to our door, safe and sound. I am always pleasantly surprised to find that there are still good people in a world where you sometimes doubt it.

He stayed with us for a couple of days and needless to say, the misunderstanding between us no longer existed. He asked me to come home with him but I had promised to help my mother get settled in her new house, but that I would think about it. (Not playing "hard to get", but wanting to be certain.) When he left for the airport, he kissed me on the cheek and I gave him a "Scully" (a sisterly kiss on the forehead)

while he was still leaning down. We smiled at each other and then something happened and he kissed me, (not like a sister!), and everything changed between us in that moment. For the better. We wrote letters (real letters, not emails) to each other and six weeks and two days later I took the train home and he met me at the station and we shared our second kiss. 

That was three Valentine's Days ago. A lot has happened since then. Some of it wonderful ,some of it terrible, but life is not a fairytale and what does not kill you, does indeed make you stronger. So, this year for Valentine's Day after an especially busy and exhausting year, we both needed to get away for awhile. 

My father had a boat that he loved very much and when he died, he left it to his best friend (who also loved the boat) because he knew that he would take good care of her. I love her too, and in the bequest he gave me the opportunity to use her for several weeks each year. So as a surprise, I made arrangements to have the boat on the week before and after Valentine's Day. My father's best friend lives on her year round, so a few weeks on land every year gives him a nice break. Before we arrived with groceries, the battery operated music player, TCC's pilot case and fishing poles, my two steamer trunks (kidding), he had cleaned her from stem to stern (he keeps her pristine), fueled her up, packed his suitcase, and was waiting on the dock to give us the keys. Apparently, he had a date for Valentine's Day and did not want to keep his lady waiting!

My mother's favorite color is purple and my father had it redecorated for her after he bought the boat. The will did not stipulate that his best friend could not change the decor, but he never did.(I think he was afraid of offending my mother, even though she rarely visits). The first time My Mr. Cham saw the boat, he asked my mother what time the floor show started and if she could do that belly dancing trick where you roll a quarter over on your tummy. My mother was not amused. (I could not help but laugh. He always seems to get her goat, without even trying.) I had it redone in the present teal blue a year ago and everyone (well, almost everyone) is much happier.

Once aboard,we got underway and took turns at the wheel and dropped anchor in a little cove and stayed there. We swam, he fished, I cooked, he cooked, we danced and slept like babies (We always do on the boat. It rocks you to sleep). When asked what I wanted for Valentine's Day (before I surprised him with the trip), I said that I wanted him to make something for me. He looked stricken. "You can do it!" I told him. "Give me something from your heart." And he did. It is so beautiful. I think it puts the store bought ones to shame. I put it on my dressing table where I can gaze at it while I get ready for the day and while getting ready for bed.

                                                      My picture does not do it justice.

We had seen these Forever Roses in London, and while very beautiful, they were also very expensive.
He asked me which one I would choose, I pointed to the pink one and he motioned to the salesman. "Don't you dare!" I said. He looked hurt. "Why not?" "Because, I could not possibly enjoy it knowing how much it had cost." He shook his head at me and told me I was crazy. Not for the first time. He is convinced that I am from another planet. Louisiana IS in this solar system, I keep telling him, but I do not think he is entirely convinced.

We have both been collecting these shells, from beaches all over the world, for years. He asked if he could borrow my glue gun one afternoon before we left. "Will I ever see it again?" He laughed like an old time melodrama villain (think Snidely Whiplash) and was in his office for most of the day. (Apparently, he also borrowed my bead box)  so, what did he make .......?  Well, he covered my wooden boar bristle hair brush and sandalwood combs,

dressing table bottles, my powder boxes,

and two chopsticks for my hair  (not very visible).

Was I upset with him? No. One of his nicknames for me is "His Little Mermaid" (because I swim almost every day and take long baths), and I suppose this is what a mermaid's dressing table would look like. He brought this little mermaid

home from one of his solo excursions one day because he knows that I like little things.( He apologized that there were not any ginger ones.) 

Actually, I thought what he did was very sweet and at least he restrained himself from covering my reading glasses with shells, although that may only be because he had used up all of my glue sticks before he got to them. Bless his heart.💗


His card to me:

And mine to him: 

My big present for him was secretly taking belly dancing lessons, and although I never learned to roll the quarter on my tummy, he was still very pleased, and that is all that matters.

   Breakfast -(top left) Heart-shaped French Toast with strawberry and pomegranate relish and raspberry all fruit spread and a little powdered sugar. Cafe au lait (bottom right) with my attempt at a heart.

Lunch-(bottom left) His favorite three cheese rotini and a spinach and salmon salad(middle left) with sugar snap peas and heart-shaped red beets and a lemon, olive oil and poppy seed dressing.                                                                                                                         

My Mr.Cham's Valentine's Day tradition is to take over my kitchen ( or galley in this case) at dinner time and make his "famous" fondue. (top right)

This year was no exception and we shared it under the stars.

(The recipe is on the Valentine's Day post from last year.)

Dessert- Brownies with coffee, brandy, and walnuts.(lightly frosted) Vanilla bean frozen yogurt and brownie heart snaps.(middle right)

My mother and father traveled a great deal and they collected hundreds of the little liquor bottles that they give you on planes. I keep them in my pantry at home and some of them on the boat to cook with. I used most of one in the brownies and when I served my Mr. Cham his coffee, I asked if he would like a "little" cognac with it. He said he would, and I placed the bottle before him.

  He laughed heartily and so did I and we both felt much better. Laughter, (and love) really are the best medicines.

When it was time to return to the real world, we both felt much better and even though we came back to all of the things that had made us need to get away, we felt better able to face them...together.💕


                                                                                                                     🌷 Tess