The Reeves Library and Antique Pots de Creme

I think I have mentioned "The Reeves Library" to you before. I was given full control over our upstairs hall linen closet when we built our house and what began as a place to keep my Victoria and Martha Stewart Living magazines, quickly expanded to hold all of the issues of magazines that I love and want to keep.  I have all of the issues of the short-lived Blueprint magazine. Years of the outstanding publication American Homestyle and Garden and at least a decade of Country Home.  Every shelf is full. I am almost to the point where my library needs an expansion.

I tend to store my issues by brand and by month, rather than by year.  That way all of my February Victoria issues are together and I can pull out 8 and have all the inspiration I need for Valentines Day fun.  Most people that tout organizational philosophies or methods get rid of magazines first. But I am not most people and I certainly use what I keep. My library is active and I love it.

Here's proof.  I pulled out the Victoria magazine from Jan/Feb 2009 and look what is on the cover. A pot de creme that is very similar to the set of four that I found at the West Palm Beach Antique and Flea Market. I knew that I had to have them, but its also fun to see that they are cover-worthy. 

The article "Pots de Creme: A Taste of History at the Table" was written by Katie Brandon ans she says "These intricate creamy white cups are a reproduction of an 18th century design from the Pont Aux Choux factory..."

I have yet to bake in them yet. I want to make sure that these antique vessels can handle the heat of a water bath first. 

Have you ever bought anything that you then saw in a magazine? 

Victoria, B.C.: Visiting Butchart Gardens: An Experience Not To Be Missed

Have you ever planned to go somewhere for fun and ended up loving it so much you couldn't believe it wasn't the sole purpose of your trip?  That's how I feel about my visit to Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia.

For years I have heard about High Tea at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria.  It was featured in Victoria magazine once and I have been thinking about it ever since.  When I got this opportunity to visit Seattle with my husband, we both looked at the map and realized that Victoria, British Columbia was finally within reach.

Then when I started planning our Easter weekend getaway, several friends mentioned Butchart Gardens as a great addition to our trip.  Great, I thought to myself. Fresh air, a chance to walk around, maybe a few things will be in bloom.

I was not prepared for:

• the size of this garden, which felt as large as a grand estate in England and contains many gardens (bog, Japanese, Sunken)  
• the quality of the plantings, which included unusual varieties of bulbs (not the primary color swath that often happens in gardens for the public), gorgeous specimens of plants and blooms I'd never seen
• the quantity of the plantings, the planners have considered every inch. The open spaces, the smaller sweet gardens, the larger focal piece gardens. Everything felt beautiful and well-planned, not layered or phony like Disney World.

I actually need more time to think about my visit and expound a little more. I will write more in a day or so. For now, I will show you some of my favorite photos.

(near the rose garden)

(I loved these "floral dictionary" display where visitors could identify their favorite plants that were in bloom that day.)

(We sat on a bench and enjoyed this fountain display - the water pattern changed every once it a while and it was fun to hear the visitors react - "Oooh, look!")

Ferry: Port Angeles to Victoria, British Columbia

My first big car ferry trip and it was a gorgeous morning.  The sun was out; the water looked calm and I felt certain that the 90 minute crossing to Victoria, British Columbia would be easy and photogenic.  

I have a long history of motion sickness in cars, planes, boats, rafts.  These photographs on the dock were all that I took to commemorate the trip from Port Angeles to Victoria, British Columbia.  A ride that I will never go on again.

We learned later that the route we chose was the only one considered to be in "open water" and that the ferry was "smaller than the others" and therefore more likely to pitch and sway.  Terrific. I felt unwell and I wanted to get off the boat.  No such luck, I clung to the metal railing in the wind and the cold for an hour.

Yes, this blog promises a moment of delight (I did love my time in Victoria once I got there - more tomorrow) but it is also about everyday moments (like this City Series) and I want you to learn from my experience.

When the water finally calmed down near the harbor (above), I joked that they should come out and welcome their new citizen because I wasn't going to be able to get back to America.  We had made a new friend at the hotel breakfast that morning (he is a native of Vancouver Island and has lived there for 60 plus years) and he said I could get home another way if I took a larger ferry "through the islands" up to Vancouver.  Done.

My caveat is that everyone else on the boat was fine.  Reading books, eating, talking.  I was the only one incapacitated.  If you are sea-worthy, the Port Angeles to Victoria ferry should be fine.  But if you "don't like moving," consider another route.  You're welcome.