Tags
cards, celebration, desserts, Love, postaday2013, presents, Valentine's Day
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! My hubby spoiled me this Valentine’s Day with not one, but three cards, a bounty of ice cream and a truly beautiful orchid. What amazed me was just how strong my hubby’s ESP actually is; I never think, when I am out and about running errands, that I would like an indoor plant or flowers, yet yesterday, I was in a store and I saw a display of orchids and I thought to myself “I would really like one” and I kept that to myself and went about my day. My hubby comes home not only with ice cream and cards but with an orchid.
I hope that I do better with this one than the other one that I had several years ago; I couldn’t get it to ever bloom again. My cousin Francoise is a gifted orchid care giver and this past summer, she gave me some tips; leave the orchid alone and DO NOT OVERWATER, otherwise enjoy its beauty.
On my end, I prepared a few of my hubby’s favorites; a tomato, roasted red pepper, fresh mozzarella and basil salad, cream puffs filled with vanilla pastry cream and a big bowl of creme Chantilly. I also found a card that expressed exactly what I wanted to say which is fairly rare; I usually go for the humorous card because the other ones are too sweet, this year I found the perfect card.
I was thinking of writing a love letter so I googled the origins of Saint Valentine and what I found took the wind out of my inspiration. The origins are murky but all in all there is the martyrdom of Saint Valentine, killed by the Romans for defying their edicts and the timing of mid February revolves around the Pagan festival of fertility where a goat was sacrificed and its hide was cut up into strips, dipped in its blood and the women of the village were hit with the bloody strips thereby helping their fertility. I prefer the commercialization of today focused on card exchanging, candy and flowers; less blood and guts.
laurieanichols 
Lucky you. St Valentine doesn’t stop at this house! The best orchid tip I had from an orchid grower who could bring the defunct back to life, is that they must be in a transparent pot. If you put them into a ceramic cache pot, they die slowly. Oh, and no direct sunlight. Someone gave me a plain glass vase with a narrow neck and a wide base. I put a little rainwater in the base, and stick the orchid pot in the narrow neck, suspended above but not touching the water in the bottom. It seems to work. creating a micro-climate which suits the plant.
Thanks for the wonderful tips, Viv! I’ll be sure to follow them. 🙂
I am terrible with plants but did have an orchid that thrived through neglect for years!
For Valentines we just had nicer food than usual 🙂
It was good: thai fishcakes, steak and mediterranean veg and a soufflé (bought, not made!)
All good.
So far that is the general consensus, forget about the orchid and it will be fine. Your menu sounds delicious! I love Thai food and a souffle is the ultimate romantic dessert. I’m glad that you had a lovely Valentine’s. 🙂
What a sweet husband.
I can’t get over the fuss Americans make about VD, though 🙂 It really is a big deal, isn’t it?
If I had my way, I wouldn’t do anything because we are married after all but my hubby wouldn’t be happy. It is insane here; parents give Valentine’s to their kids and their pets. My babies and Jack got nothing; I am a bad American.;)