Dec. 10 2009

Hi Lucy,

This is just a quick note to accompany these biscotti (and a tiny token Christmas present). If the biscotti don't fill a niche in your diet, just pass them on to Ivan or feed them to visitors along with a cup of tea.

Mom and Dad and I went to the aquarium the other day. I remember it as a bunch of tanks with solitary fish, but now each tank is a whole ecosystem, very beautiful and dramatic. We didn't make it to the show in the "4-D theater"; apparently it has not just the usual two dimensions of screen but other sensory 'dimensions' of smells and spray (there are tiny nozzles behind each seat!). And we didn't stick around for the beluga show either - instead we went off to the Prospect Point Cafe, high above the Lions Gate Bridge, for lunch.

The weather's been beautiful all week, but below freezing. I've been still riding my bike, because the roads are clear and dry (not icy), but they're forecasting a week of snow flurries and snow-mixed-with-rain, so I think I'll be back on the bus for a while.

Teresa called to complain that she'd spent $65 on new bulbs for her garden, but before she got around to planting them a rat found them in her garage and ate them all! It's quite unfair, as she had nagged me into finally buying new bulbs a couple of weeks ago (because mine are exposed in pots on my balcony they almost all died in last winter's long cold spell) and I planted them right away.

Mom doesn't have a date for her knee replacement yet, but she's getting into shape for it with her weekly physiotherapist visits. Mom refers to the physio as 'your friend Julie' even though I've never met her, and says she keeps giving her more exercises to do. I'm going to take her (Mom, not the physio) for a pedicure soon, on the premise that you want your feet to look their best when you're having knee surgery.

Lots of love,

Rosie

p.s. After 25 years of safely mixing food and computers, the other day I finally spilled some tea (with milk and sugar) into my computer keyboard. And now I know it's true - keyboards are washable! I took its batteries out (it's a wireless one) and rinsed it under the tap for ages, to get out not just the tea but the tiny cracker crumbs that the tea had congealed into invisible goo, and massaged the keys up and down for a while to dislodge the goo, and then dried it overnight in the 37°C incubator, and now it's as good as new.