The past several days have been very nice and have run into a bit of a blur. Let's see....Saturday DH and I traveled up to the Farm to clear some brush near the deer blinds with my mom and my cousin, Kim. Here's my view of DM and DC as we made our way from DH's blind to my blind.
It was a rainy/misty day but really not too bad. However, not especially camera-friendly. The dogs had a great time (Lita and Merlin, Kim's lab) while we cut and cleared. We spent about four hours outside then went inside to change into dry clothes and enjoy a nice dinner of shrimp de jonghe, peas, mandarin oranges, garlic bread, and grasshopper pie. My father's youngest brother, David, and his wife, Lynnette, joined us to make the evening especially fun. This dinner, with only minor variations (e.g., oreo vs graham cracker pie crust), has been my birthday dinner for just about 40 years minus the years I lived in Texas. It is still delicious and always a special treat. Thanks, Mom!
Sunday, DH and I enjoyed a breakfast out at the Two Brothers restaurant in Oshkosh and drove home to a fairly lazy day since the washing machine wasn't working. I remember that I knit on Williamsro's second sleeve...I knit several rows over and over because I wanted to really learn the pattern. Well, not really, but I am learning to read my knitting a bit better. Monday was full of errands, chores, and a nice lunch date with DH at our favorite Indian restaurant in Madison.
I raced home to be there in time for the washer repair guy, Vern*. While Vern was dealing with a computer chip or whatever in the washing machine, I opened a lovely surprise that arrived in the day's mail from Cookie! Beautiful Misti Alpaca hand paint lace yarn and maybe some delicious treats but I'm not sharing. Thank you, Cookie. Hmmmm, what should I make with laceweight yarn that is so soft I'm still petting it?
Since Vern was successful, I did laundry and moved a few more things into my office and studio in the basement.There has also been a lot of sitting and enjoying the woodstove this long weekend, including this evening. Tomorrow, I'm back to work. We should all have five-day weekends.
*Vern and his wife own the appliance store in nearby Lodi. I think it is rather nice to know the name of the repair guy and it isn't because he's been here alot. It is just a small town thing....I purchased the machine from Vern's wife (I'll remember her name in a sec...) and he fixes them.
ETA links.
Sounds like a good time was had by all, and grasshopper pie sounds yummy! Lovely yarn :)
Posted by: Joy | Tuesday, November 11, 2008 at 09:59 PM
Yay! The five day weekend is definitely good for what ails us. Pretty yarn! xo
Posted by: Nora | Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 05:53 AM
Shrimp used to be my birthday dinner as well (Happy belated!) until I moved away and realized how different fresh Gulf shrimp are from the Thai ones that seem to be ubiquitous up here. *sigh* I suppose I could still maybe oysters Bienville and oysters Rockefeller.
The alpaca laceweight is yummy, any plans for it yet?
Posted by: Julie | Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 06:06 AM
Sounds like a lovely birthday weekend indeed! Plus the bonus of falling on a holiday weekend? Double cool.
That Cookie Monster is seriously sneaky and nice. :D But don't tell her I was over her Squishing. Mmmkay?
Posted by: Stacey | Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 06:11 AM
Sounds like a nice time, for sure. Is that card what you looked like whilst eating the goodies that allegedly came in the package? ;-)
Posted by: Carrie | Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 07:11 AM
Sounds like you had a wonderful birthday weekend! So tell me, when you sit in your deer blind, are you actually waiting to shoot a deer or are you just keeping hubby company in the woods while he is in his blind? I'm trying to picture you with a rifle and your knitting needles. :-D
Posted by: Deborah | Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 10:37 AM
Shrimp de jonghe! Yum! Next time I am in Chicago I'm going to try it out. Who knew it is one of the oldest dishes from Chicago! Is Vern his real name or is that just his repairman name. How I wish I had a Vern of my own! Lucky!
Posted by: Kim | Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 11:58 AM
Washing machines now have computer chips?!
/stunned
I'm so glad you had a lovely long weekend, Angie, and I'm very glad to have been a tiny part of it. Are there any of those goodies left? *L*
xo
Posted by: Cookie | Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 04:30 PM
Happy belated Birthday. That yarn is Gorgeous! I love Misty Alpaca. I have some in stash still because I haven't found a pattern worthy of it.
Posted by: Barbara from Nova Scotia | Friday, November 14, 2008 at 08:47 AM