Happy Thanksgiving to my dear friends across the seas...

Rosa General Gallieni - France 1899

Wishing all my

American and Candian friends

a very

"Happy Thanksgiving"

enjoy your celebrations!!!

Take care of one another

hugs

Shane ♥

The Oyster Inn

The huge cruise ship Celebrity Millenium was in 

Auckland harbour yesterday.
I took this photo as I waited for the ferry to 
Waiheke Island.

It was my friend Jennie's birthday last week and as her nephew
has just opened a new restaurant at Oneroa village on
Waiheke Island, she chose it for the venue to celebrate.
Eight of us caught the ferry, a leisurely trip
of about 40 minutes to the island.

The restaurant has had a complete re-fit 
and been re-named
"THE OYSTER INN".
In my opinion it is now
of world class standard.

The main dining area has a wonderful ambiance
of up-market island beach style.
 Inside it looks rather like a sail loft
with a high ceiling and lovely old roof beams.

A tête-à-tête for two maybe?

I ordered Pork Belly with a
Waldorf Slaw - delicious.
I'm sure you can see the crispy crackling
it was so yummy!

Creme caramel was on the dessert menu
it's my favourite and while I know
I should have just ordered coffee,
I didn't
 and yes I savoured every mouthful!!!
(I forgot to take a photo)

A welcoming bowl of fresh flowers

There's quite a nautical feel too with

the chart on the wall and old jars

resembling glass fishing buoys.

The Pearl Room is available for private functions.
If you visit my friend Carolyn's blog
Draffin Bears
you can see inside the room
where she attended a friends birthday dinner
just the night before I was there!!

We had a fabulous long lunch
spread out over several hours
with lots of lively chatter and a few glasses
of Waiheke Chardonnay!

I must tell you there are two of Jennie's
recipes on the menu!
One is a yummy New Zealand dessert called
Rolled Pavlova.
Pavlova is one of our national dishes
and I'll post the recipe for you all
tomorrow!

Her second recipe is for
Sponge Kisses
which they have on a blackboard.
This one came from her mother's cook book.
I'll post it too as I can see
it's a little hard to read.
I hope you've enjoyed my little
sojourn on the island!

I'm linking to
Mary at Mosaic Monday  and
Claudia at A Favorite Thing Saturday


WELCOME
to my new followers and thank you
you to everyone for popping in and
leaving such lovely  comments.

Take care and be kind to one another
hugs 
Shane ♥

A walk in the French Countryside

I had many lovely walks
in the beautiful countryside
while I was in France
with my family.

Each village, large and small
has a memorial
honouring  their soldiers
who died fighting for France.

The picturesque village
where my family live
is surrounded by cropping farms,
mainly wheat but also
many fields of
sunflowers too.

One farm I passed
had a flock of very  unfriendly ducks -
les canards...
They squawked furiously
until I was well out of sight,
especially when I had Roxy
the little Jack Russell with me!!!

Everywhere there were red poppies
 which always remind me of that
very moving poem
"In Flanders Fields"
written by the Canadian
physician Lieutenant Colonel
John McCrae.

Linking to 
Claudia at A favorite thing Saturday

Thank you dear friends for
visiting my blog and especially for
leaving me such lovely comments.

Take care and
be kind to one another
hugs
Shane ♥