It's Green .. but it's Not Tea.

Hi Eve .. Sean at work in the Laboratory.
Setting up a: 532nm (Green) Diode-Pumped Solid State Q-Switched Laser.

Back in the Loire Valley

Tuesday morning it was; LAX to Boston (BOS) to Paris (CDG) given it was a long day it passed quickly with nothing to write home about.
I settled in quickly, as I was just here 4 weeks ago, afternoon tea on the terrace of No.11In my handy-dandy tea kit, I substituted a; Tea Pot and a Pouring Jug. As I need some flexibility during this three week stay.Evening dinner out in Natures best, with a very nice TGY ..
As Roger is still on holiday, I will camp in his office ....
Shopping at a "SUPER U" I acquired this kettle (Bouilloire) plastic, but functional with some unique features .. 27.30 Euros

Tea on the Road - First Class

Last couple of weeks have been filled with travels ... Robbie has made three trips to Catalina, she now has a "Frequent Traveller Card" for the Express ferry and has made friends with the Dive Boat Captains and crews in Avalon.
I've bounced back and forth between: Irvine - San Jose and Denver.
Next week I'm off for a month on the road. Three weeks in France, a week in Boston.
This fantastic Travel Tea Kit is a road warriors best friend
Designed and Manufactured in Taiwan by: Bamboola Taiwan; http://www.bamboola.com.tw/
Model Number: TP-H01 (Red) Serial # 1531
All you need, sans hot H2O, in a well crafted and pleasing set.

Dawn in Paris

Dawn in Paris .. now home in Taipei she has posted her trip pictures ...


Link to Paris pictures: Taiwan site, failry easy to navigate ... enjoy
http://www.wretch.cc/album/album.php?id=page22042892&book=2

As others see us -- Paris

My Taiwanese friend (Taiwan native /also speaks English) Is studying French in Taipei. This summer she visited Paris for approx 6 weeks, and just returned to Taipei... her short, unedited comment, on Paris.

"Paris is a wonderful city . I think that their english is not good. I always heard that they told me " my english is very BAD" But there are many nice people. They are willing to help other people like me. Some frenchs when they look at me I feel uncomfortable......... It is like a cat looking at me......"

Back from the Beach - Tea Time

After a morning at the beach, we set up for tea in the backyard ...
I pickup this Tea Tray (Cha Ji 茶几) March 1st. when spending the day in WanJiang. Thinking the soft form might work for outdoor use .. so far so good.....
View from the Tea Deck ... (Cha Guan Xain Tai 茶 觀象臺)
After about an hour, even in the shade .. its a wee bit hot ...
Link to Saturday in WanJiang town ...
http://chawu.blogspot.com/2008/03/saturday-part-b-wanjiang-town.html

Sunday Compendium

Artists set up on Sunday morning facing Divers Cove in Laguna beach.

Looking down on Rock Beach with Main Beach to the south.

Robbie with Divers Cove in back
Dana Point Marina
Robbie waiting for her SCUBA gear to be off-loaded.

The Sewing room gets a window .. finished soon ....
Trevor and Sean, finish up the Turf in the back yard

Planting bed ready for plants, almost

星期一,早上好 Zao Shang Hao Good Morning

Monday morning, back to "Old Clothes and Porridge"; working in So. Cal for a couple of weeks ..
One of my favorite 12 year old Cooked (Shu) Pu-Erh on deck and a fresh Taiwan Oolong for Robbie.

Last trip's travel book .. an interesting read if Hammet is your cup of tea. I re-read his first published short story with tea before setting out this am.Short Story
From one, Dashil Hammit, 1922: 'TheParthian shot'… this short story appears on page 68
Part Two: 1922, New Writer
First published in the Smart Set, 1922

When THE BOY WAS six months old Paulette Key acknowledged that her hopes and efforts had been futile, that the baby was indubitably and irremediably a replica of its father. She could have endured the physical resemblance, but the duplication of Harold Key’s stupid obstinacy-unmistakable in the fixity of the child’s inarticulate demands for its food, its toys-was too much for Paulette. She knew she could not go on living with two such natures! A year and a half of Harold’s domination had not subdued her entirely. She took the little boy to church, had him christened Don, sent him home by his nurse, and boarded a train for the West.

PARTING SHOT - "'You wound, like Parthian, while you fly, And kill with a retreating eye.' Samuel Butler, Hudibras (1678). A final insult hurled as one is leaving, or the last word in an argument. Most writers believe that this expression is a distortion of 'Parthian shot,' although there is no firm evidence to support this etymology. It alludes to a practice of the ancient Parthians, who lived southeast of the Caspian Sea and whose empire at one time (first century B.C.) stretched from the Euphrates River eastward to the Indus River and from Oxus to the Indian Ocean. Mentioned in the Bible (Acts 1:9), they were renowned archers and horsemen and were known for their practice of turning in flight (either real or pretended to lure followers) to discharge their arrows at the pursuing enemy." From "Fighting Words: From War, Rebellion, and other Combative Capers" by Christine Ammer (NTC Publishing Group, Chicago, Ill., 1989, 1999).