Sunday 15 February 2009

Hearts of the Home

I hope you have all had a splendid Valentine's Day, dear bloggy friends!

We spent the evening in rumbustious revelry at the Gleeful & Greedy Restaurant. There was singing, dancing, giraffe charades and of course, mountains of glorious food. Sometimes Maureen and I opt for a romantic candle-lit dinner a deux. This year we decided to warm our chilly environs with a whooping great hearty hullaballoo!

On the subject of hearts, the two images above are the cards Maureen and I exchanged. My heart always races when I open mine each year!

Dear friends, I would also like to share with you the heart of our home - our kitchen! My friend Poetikat recently let us wander round her kitchen and study, so I thought it was about time you all saw something of the interior of Necky Knoll House.

This picture was taken when we moved into our lovely home last spring. I apologize for the mess, but I suppose moving house is a reasonable excuse! Our utensils were unpacked, but we hadn't found places for them, and there was still the washing machine to plumb in, the cooker to test and all those never-ending new home jobs.

You'll notice some folk you haven't met before. I won't confuse you by introducing them all today. Neither will I burden you with a too-lengthy post.

But I will tease you with the beginning of a humorous little story from our first meal at Necky Knoll House ...

Parsneck Soup




A large sweaty face peers round the kitchen door ...




After nearly deafening us with his hollering, Girth bangs loudly on the dinner gong.




A peek round the door reveals chaos. Rolling pins and cutlery poke out of boxes and crates ... A large dining table is partially set with long handled knives and forks.



As we enter, my glamorous sister Nektareeni greets us with a glass of special wine.



"Necks up everybody! "

34 comments:

Tom Atkins said...

I do need to find my way to your town, such interesting characters! And I would not mind an evening at the restaurant either!

Barbara Martin said...

Wonderful treat, Raph, thank you! But I must inquire as to the plumber in the third photo: why is he wearing a metal neck brace and a helmet? I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation...

Raph G. Neckmann said...

Maybe there is a secret portal somewhere near you, Tom! You are most welcome here - I'll reserve a table at the restaurant.

Raph G. Neckmann said...

Ah, our plumber! He is a giraffe of many talents, and worthy of a post all to himself ... soon, Barbara.

Unknown said...

Hi Raph,

Glad you all had a good time at the weekend. It strikes me that you might be able to offer our friend Chris a few tips on how to settle in?

Can't wait for the neckst instalment!

marigirl said...

Happy Valentine's Day! Looks like a great dinner party :)

Raph G. Neckmann said...

Maybe I could, Derrick! We were lucky with our Interneck connecktion - I think Chris had to wait for his.

Neckst instalment coming soon!!

Raph G. Neckmann said...

Thank you Marigirl! I wish we could have a dinner party for all my bloggy friends too!

Tess Kincaid said...

Love those long stem glasses. Or do you call them long neck glasses? ;^)

Jinksy said...

You post is necktar from the gods...

The Weaver of Grass said...

What kind of presents do giraffes exchange on special days Raph? Scarves spring to mind - or neck ties, or cravats - or diamond necklaces?

Jeane Myers said...

such sweet valentines you exchanged - a glimpse into your world - very evocative - wouldn't mind getting a glass of wine down my neck!

Raph G. Neckmann said...

You guessed, Willow! We call them long neck glasses!

Raph G. Neckmann said...

Necktar from the gods, Jinksy! Thank you. I'll tell Necky Becky you said that neckst time she makes fun of my blog ...

Raph G. Neckmann said...

That depends on the recipient, Weaver. (And the pocket of the giver!) We have a jewellery shop in the village called 'Lots of Necklace'. I think the majority of their sales are in semi-precious stones. Nektareeni likes those, Maureen prefers scarves. My tie collection is nexceptional!

Raph G. Neckmann said...

You're very welcome to a glass of wine, Jeane! Hope your cold is getting better.

Jan said...

Oooooohhhhhhh I love a good yarn .
Looking forward to hearing more . Our V day meal was bolognese washed down with Guiness and finished with home made choc cip cookies !!!

Chris Hale said...

Hi Raph.

Your move looked like a very civilised affair compared to ours! After two and a half weeks we still have more than a few boxes to deal with. And I'm not sure what's in them! No doubt I'll get around to opening them eventually.

Raph G. Neckmann said...

Your meal sounds very nice, Jan, and I would love to try a tall glass of giraffe Guiness!

Raph G. Neckmann said...

Oh dear, Chris! So you didn't number your boxes with feltpen and have at least two copies of lists with all the numbers and contents?

Neither did we ... and we still haven't unpacked all the boxes!!

My good wishes to you for settling in comfortably.

sandy said...

Wonderful post!!! LOved seeing your environment...this is just so cool.

Raph G. Neckmann said...

Thank you Sandy! I'll be giving more guided tours of our environment.

Lauren said...

I love the long neck bottle of wine and long stems on the glasses! Fabulous :)

Looks like you guys had a nice Valentines Day!

Raph G. Neckmann said...

Thank you Lauren! The wine inside was fabulous too!

Lyn said...

I myself would opt for a Hullaballoo! I also will copy the color scheme of the new house...I'll toast to that!!
Lyn

Raph G. Neckmann said...

A Hullaballoo is always great fun! Glad you like our colour scheme, Lyn!

bindu said...

I'm looking forward to the reading the rest of this story! Great to get a peek into your kitchen too.

Raph G. Neckmann said...

Thank you Bindu! There will be more kitchen scenes coming up soon!

Heather said...

Thankyou for your good wishes Raph. You are right about ATCs - they are made to be exchanged with other artists, never sold. A nice idea and great for putting experiments to good use, rather than have them languishing in a box or chucked in the bin.

Raph G. Neckmann said...

Sounds great, Heather. Girth puts his culinary experiments to good use here!

All the best for tomorrow.

sribbler said...

wonderful post..well done

Raph G. Neckmann said...

Thank you Justin, I appreciate your compliment!

Rosemary said...

What a fun time your hullaballoo!
Do you invite us lowly humans to any of your dos? I would love to party with you.

Raph G. Neckmann said...

I would so like to invite all my bloggy friends to a 'do' at Necky Knoll House, Rosemary! If we could find a portal for you all to get here, we'd ask Girth and Nektareeni to prepare some delicious food and have a great hulaballoo!