The little pot of chives (Schnittlauch) on the balcony surprisingly, charmingly, burst into bloom (above) a few weeks ago. Never knew chives sprouted flowers, did you?
Can anyone help me identify these flowers (above) I saw outside the Notre Dame in Paris? Yes, I know I need "Horticulture for Dummies".
The picture below was taken in the back garden of a bed & breakfast my friends and I stayed at in L'Hayes des Roses, at the edge of Paris. It was such a charming little place. The landlady, a young one named Sophie, made her own orange marmalade and it was so delicious we ate great lengths of the baguette just so we could eat more of the jam.
When I'm 'retired' I'd like to own and run a nice B&B somewhere by the sea. Where do you think I should have it? East coast of the Malaysian peninsula (I wouldn't paint it pink like the one in the photo though. ^_^ ) or some island off Thailand?
20 comments:
wow..i really din noe chives hav flowers. Thanks for posting the picture up, Argus..;o)
Argus, if ever u open a B&B, i'll make sure i drop by often enuff until u have to shoo me away to give way for other guests. Hahah.. ;o)
Such pretty flowers the chives do sprout. Sorry can't help you there. Local Malaysian flowers maybe I can help you out with, but the European variety, sori la. Someone just wrote a letter to Star today about how we should open up B&B in Msia - was that you?
Dear Argus,
Sorry, don't know the name of the clusters of white flowers.
I wanted to buy a cottage by the sea and manage my own B&B once. I have given up on that dream. The thought of cleaning guests bathrooms and washing linens turned me off.
p/s I would not color the exterior pink either.
Grace, yorvelkum. Well, if you visit my B&B so often, I'd never go out of business leh... wunderbar!
Lydia, no lah, it wasn't me. There are B&Bs in M'sia but not many are of international standard. The B&Bs I've been to in Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Italy and France are mostly very well appointed (the dearer ones feature top-notch bathroom fixtures and Egyptian-cotton bed linen) and squeaky clean. A lot of travellers want something charming, unique and local flavoured, not the standard or tacky business/tourist hotel.
MrsHBT, I don't mind doing laundry with a machine, and we can always hire someone to do the cleaning, ya?
What colour would you paint the exterior? I'd like unpainted wood kampung-style chalets with big verandahs to relax in.
My partner threatens to cook German food for the guests, can ah? ^_^
You can always try. If your guest don't come back, you know it is the German food that drove them away....
I would color my cottage brown. But, I like the natural look as well. Just not sure if it will withstand the harsh weather, especially if the cottage is near a beach.
I'll help you with the customer service, cleaning...in return for free lodging & food, how's tht sound? Hehhe...*kiasu me..*
German food, Malaysian food and ur breads & desserts! Sure to attract more customers. ;o)
MrsHBT, my partner will be outraged if he heard that! ;-)
We'll have to build the cottages from dark hard wood, I guess. Apparently, it's ten times more expensive to build on an island than on the mainland due to transport of materials, etc.
Spiffy, you're most welcome to be a working resident -- but I will check your cleaning credentials by running a white-gloved finger across corners and around the sink, heh heh.
Can you do massages and pedicure/manicure as well? ;D
errmm....then u should probably just put me on the front desk. I can be as helpful, bubbly, kind, cheerful and sweet to gain my free food and lodging. lolzz..
aiyor..ermm...kenot la. manicure/pedicure sure fail one.. massage i've never really try. Heheh...;o)
Reception, can! But if no one arrives, you sit there and read books? No, I make you come to kitchen to peel onions and prawns, ha ha.
Should take up massage or pedicure course -- can be helpful and lucrative, I promise. ^_^
You read my mind! Heheh... Help in the kitchen, cann...no problemo!
hmm...massage and pedicure ah? i'll put them into consideration. Hehhe...;o)
Oops, I hope your business partner does not read your blog, if not, please remove my comments.
It's OK, MrsHBT. My 'partner' is my hubby -- and we're often joking about his German cuisine (not many friends or relatives rave about it but it's quite similar to Chinese food, we found: emphasis on pork, such as crispy-skin roast pork and stews).
The only German food that I know is Bratwurst and "beer".
Lee Ping, yes, beer is a 'food group' by itself in Germany. I love my partner's Koenigsberger Klopse -- meatballs containing bits of anchovy with a whitish sauce of capers and a bit of white wine vinegar. It's eaten with boiled potato chunks.
Another fav is German Potato Soup.
Now that we're living in Switzerland, I've discovered a few yumsome Swiss dishes. Will blog about it one day...
We have German restaurant here but not a Swiss restaurant. I look forward to read about Swiss food.
Do you remember The Chalet at the old Equatorial Hotel in Kuala Lumpur? That was probably a Swiss restaurant.
Eating out in Switzerland is terribly expensive. Just a simple meal for two including 2 or 3 drinks costs anything from CHF70 (US$55 or RM210) upwards.
Argus,
I recognised the leaves and the filaments, and thought that it belongs to the hydrangea family. I checked it out in the Japanese site for hydrangea and found that it is either hydrangea hirta or hydrangea quercifolia.
I am a flower lover,
But no flower grower,
Even my cactii commit suicide,
My poor care they cannot abide.
Ooo, thanks, Wonda. You're a true Wonder Woman. I too love flowers and sometimes go to a flower farm nearby to cut flowers from the field and then pay by dropping coins into the metal box. The farmer also considerately hangs a few knives and scissors above the box for customers to use. So far I've cut dark red, peach and pink lilies, sunflowers and multi-coloured gladioli.
Hydrangeas come in lilac and pink too, ya? Ha ha, your poem is amusing. ;-)
The hygrangeas are in full bloom now over here. There are blue and cream white onestoo. My favorite is Hydrangea macrophylla forma normalis. In some species, the color of the petals depend on the pH of the soil. My sister told me that if I water it with tea, it would change color.
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