36 + 1 Birthday Weekend

On Saturday, I turned 36 + 1 (I'm thinking that if I always start by saying "36", it's like I'm actually more or less still 36...I'm pretty sure this will work), and Adrienne threw me the best birthday weekend ever!

It started with Saturday morning birthday pastries, coffee, and presents:

Wine from Rachel, pickles and Portuguese pepper paste (made & canned by Adrienne!), a poster, and a terrarium in a...um..chemistry thing!

Then, later, Amanda, Matt, Susie, & Robin came over for whiskey tasting fun:

And pickles:

Two types of cantaloupe by Adrienne, okra by Adrienne, eggs by me, and some amazingly fantastic kimchi that Susie brought for the festivities!

And delicious cheesy, saucy noodles:

A good time was had by all, and I, for one, learned something about the whiskeys we tried.

The birthday fun continued on Sunday morning, when Adrienne made me an ultra-special breakfast:

Poached eggs on grilled polenta, with parmesan sauce, bacon, & heirloom tomatoes!

Add a little fancy champagne, and some potent hot sauce Amanda gave me, and it was the perfect breakfast for easing on into yet another year:

Thank you Robin, Susie, Matt, Amanda, and Adrienne for making my birthday weekend so wonderful! And a special thank you to Jon, who handled finding the perfect birthday blueberry pie (there are no pictures, because unfortunately, it was so delicious it disappeared in an instant...oops)!!

Puttering Around

Took a break from studying to get some small projects done this weekend.


Project #1: Add a shelf to the Disaster Cabinet

We have one cabinet in the kitchen that has proven just impossible to keep organized:

The mess -- and the hassle and racket whenever we try to get anything out -- drives us both crazy. On Saturday, I made a shelf out of a leftover 2x4, along with a pair of stops to keep the baking sheets from sliding away from the wall:

Result:

Much better!



Project #2: Clear out the dying pumpkin vine in the front yard

The pumpkin vine in the front yard has grown very large, but the plant is succumbing to the dreaded powdery mildew, and the pumpkins are rotting on the vine. Its days are numbered. We have six or eight different succulent cuttings -- generous donations from Jennifer, Jon, & Susie -- just about ready to be planted in the yard, so I decided today to pull out the vine to make room for the replanting to begin.

Much to my surprise, after I had already hacked the vines apart, I found this under the giant leaves:

DAMMIT!

Project #3: Do something with the rosemary tree

We bought a hammock this week that fits perfectly in a semi-shady/semi-sunny corner of the yard, right next to a overgrown and mostly dead rosemary tree:

To make a little more room to get in and out of the hammock, and to reduce the number of spiders that could drop on an unsuspecting napper, I removed the left side of the tree. 

Meanwhile, there is a nice craggy part at the same level of the hammock that would make a perfect place to rest a drink, with just a little modification. A few taps on a chisel later:

Afternoon snoozing perfection:

It will be hard to be back at work this week, knowing that that hammock is out there, but I will be brave and do my best. I'm only working three days this week -- taking the two days off before my birthday! --- so I'm sure I will survive somehow.