Palabras Como Rosas

Last night, I came home from dinner at the Fox and Hounds, and found that John Hayes of Robert Frost's Banjo had bestowed another award on me, the Palabras Como Rosas. I am very flattered. Here's what John had to say:

Amazing Voyages of the Turtle: When I awarded Sandra Leigh the One Lovely Blog Award, I was kind of shocked that someone who’s been blogging for quite some time & at such a consistently high level had only been picked for one of these. So to remedy that, here’s the Palabra Como Rosas, which richly fits the excellent writing at Amazing Voyages of the Turtle. Sandra also was the creator of Original Poetry Sunday, a grand idea that I believe will attract more folks as time goes by. In addition to my contribution, please check out Sandra’s poem here & René Wing’s poem here; René’s blog Yes is Red is also very much worth repeated visits.

I want to join John in recommending René's beautiful blog, Yes Is Red. I am honoured to be numbered in such company. René posted two poems yesterday for the inaugural edition of Original Poetry Sunday, and their beauty left me nearly speechless.

I am particularly grateful for the award because it came at a time when I was feeling very insecure about my writing. I needed a boost, and I got it. Isn't it great when that happens? I've given Palabras Como Rosas a place of honour on the sidebar. If this keeps up, I'm going to have to hire someone to come in and dust my trophies (because I know I'll never get around to it!)

While that was happening, I had a lovely dinner (spinach/feta quiche, Caesar salad - how quintessentially British!) at the pub. I'm hoping that you can click on this image (with the Union Jack) to enlarge it and read it. Just in case you can't, though, this is my favourite line:

"All food is cooked to order, so please be patient if we are busy - Our chef is getting on a bit and his wife nags him enough as it is! Our son works weekday lunches and some nights, so service may be a bit quicker then! If you are in a hurry, please let us know...We'll do our best."

It's a delightfully friendly place to eat, and the food is good. As a non-drinker, I miss out on some of the pubbishness, but they do have a few non-alcoholic drinks for the likes of me, and everybody else gets to choose from a wide variety of beers and ales, both British and local.

So this is the skinny - If you're ever in Nanaimo, The Fox and Hounds is one place you shouldn't miss. (It's hard to miss, actually. It's the place with the British phone booth out front.)