Birthday Party!

Happy Birthday to me! Twenty-seven is oh-so-close to thirty, but I'm not thinking about that! All I can think about is what a good time I've been having lately; November has been a kick-ass month for me! Hockey games, plays, dinners out, a new job, Birthday Parties (Neil's and mine), a trip to Victoria B.C (stay tuned), and the gradual appearance of my family in Oregon is making this month one of the best I've ever had. Tonight, Adrienne and I are going to a lecture by Annie Leibovitz (I finally managed to get my hands on a pair of sold out tickets). We both love her work and are very excited to see her in person and listen to what she has to say. I wonder if she is going to be signing things after, I could take my books....Anyway, here are some pictures of the recent festivities at Mom's house!

Long before Mark was born, Mom bought this hideous wooden fruit with the idea that he would be able to play with it when up at her house. At the time, that situation was so far into the future that we all kind of laughed at her over-enthusiasm. Well, last weekend, she openly gloated while Mark and Cleo played with the fruit (at the same time, which makes sense, since they are the same age ;-P) Mark gummed the tamarind bean while Cleo batted a wooden apple around the floor....



Don, Emma, and Mark spent Friday and Saturday night up at the house with Mom, Beth and myself. Here is Mark's first introduction to Shadow...

Cleo decided to tuck herself away in one of our yarn cubbies while Beth and Mom hand-made stitch markers....


A busy morning of animals and wooden fruit, more than justifies a mid-day nap! I wish I could have joined little Mark, but I had plying to do!

Mark woke up ready to go again and I got a classic blackmail shot! Sporting only a pair of custom leg warmers (made by Emma), Mark powered around the front room, chasing a wooden banana...

Late night snacks included popcorn (Mom, Emma, and Mark's favorite) and Lavender Sugar Cookies (a mix I bought for her on my last trip to EZ Orchards). Emma took this picture of Mom. Apparently, she had been rolling out sugar cookes while eating popcorn with flour-covered hands....



Don was working on the Volvo most of the weekend...

Sunday Morning- day of the party! I was up early(ish), making ready for the guests! First order of business: bone out two lamb legs, rub them with garlic, S&P, rosemary, and olive oil, then get them in the oven!


Then make appetizers for those who come early. Adrienne and Paul showed up first and helped me get everything together...

Then start all the other side dishes. All told, we had: Two legs of lamb, mini popovers with lamb gravy, pigs in a blanket, antipasto platter, sliced fruit, salad with parmesan and proscuitto, roasted potatoes, and trifle, sugar cookies, and carrot bread for dessert. We had lots of left-overs...

Monday, the actual day of my birthday, I had to work (blech). However, Mom and I met Jan and Neil at Bugatti's in Lake Oswego. The four of us went there last year for my birthday, so it seemed appropriate. Of course, we had a great time and good food and all left happy.


Mom had been hanging out at my place until dinner since she planned to stay the night. I beat her home from the restaurant and was surprised to find these set up in my apartment:


And these I got as a birthday present to myself:

All in all, it's been a great birthday and it's not over yet! Tomorrow is my last day at BrucePac (yay!) and after lunch, I'm driving to St. Helens to meet up with Mom and Dad (who drove up from LA yesterday). Then, we will all pile into the Element and head out to Victoria B.C. for my birthday trip! I know, how much fun can a girl have, right? Well, I decided that I'm due and I'm going to enjoy every minute! I will also be taking pictures like a maniac, so tune in for those...

Spinners: I will do my best to get fiber to everyone before I leave. I'll be back on the 24th and will check my place for any boxes that may have been delivered between now and then. I will try my very best to send fiber out to everyone who needs it the two days before Thanksgiving. Please e-mail me if you have any special circustances (such as your traveling for Thanksgiving and won't be home to receive fiber anyway). In those cases, I will wait until after the holiday to send fiber. I would like to avoid boxes sitting unattended on someone's rainy front porch if I can help it. Thanks!
B

And Fun Was Had by All....

This weekend was good...really good. For reasons I can't quite share yet, I had one of the best weekends ever, enhaced by the fact that I spent much of my time with good friends and family. Saturday morning started bright and early; Joel and I drove up to Mom's house to do some work. Actually, I spent most of my time cooking breakfast for everyone so they could go work and didn't get as much plying done as I would have liked. Some, but never enough :-)
Joel was busy cleaning, taping, and primering the front door while I roasted chiles, cooked pumpkin waffles, and fryed bacon for the masses. Mom chopped ingredients for taco meat (she is taking enchiladas to Cynthia's surprise birthday party today) and supervised Diane as she dyed in the studio. Yes, the time has finally come for TFC to consider full-time employees, especially those who can dye fiber while Mom is off galivanting around the country. There is a certain look of satisfaction that comes over Mom when the house is bustling with people doing constructive things. I know she loves it when work is going on in every room, especially when it's getting done by capable people that she doesn't have to worry about. It gives her the freedom to concentrate on what she's doing and soon the taco meat was bubbling away on the stove, chocolate chip cookies were baking and she was flitting from room to room, answering questions and offering advice. I can only sit back and watch her in her element and remember what made her such a good Mom....
Here is Diane slaving away in the dye studio, getting lots of new colors ready to go out to spinners!

Multnomah Falls drying on the rack Dad built...

Hannah sifting through home-grown lavender and filling sachet bags...

After we got home, Joel left for work and I got ready to meet friends for a hockey game! I learned to appreciate hockey, thanks to Dave Coles, when I still lived in Cali and was excited to learn Bill also enjoyed it. After an incredible dinner at Wildwood, we went to the game and watched the Winterhawks get their butts whipped. Ah, well, we still had a great time...
From left to right, Wendy, Chris, and Bill.


Sunday was just as fantastic, but in a different way. I met my new friend Andrew, met through Don and Emma, in downtown and we had lunch and went to Powell's, Cupcake Jones, In Good Taste, and Sur La Table, before heading off the The Armory for Guys and Dolls. I had never seen this play, or the movie, and enjoyed myself very much. All the actors were great and it was the perfect way to spend a slightly drizzly Sunday. After the play, Andrew biked his way back to the Winery and I drove off to Sellwood to meet Mom, Jan, Neil, and Jeri for dinner at Gino's (who has the best clams ever!). I crawled into bed last night, completely blissed out and fell asleep with a smile on my face...

Dinner with Don and Em

Well, Mom has finally made it up to the Northwest and before I could chain her to the dying studio, we managed to have dinner with Don and Emma. Before we left, Cleo was caught red-pawed drinking out of the toilet...I shut the bathroom door before we left...

Baby Mark "helping" Mom with her knitting...He's not the only one that gets that excited over Columbia Gorgeous!


Ah, the piece de resistance: Emma's first Yorkshire Pudding, delish!

Halloween

All I can say is that my friend Adrienne is very persuasive...

Friday, after work, I drove down to Corvallis for a Halloween Drag Show courtesy of the Rainbow Continuum on campus. On my way there, I stopped at EZ Orchards and picked up some treats for breakfast the next morning and stuck around to take some pictures. They have a corn maze there and I could see confused people in the distance, climing up the lookouts to try and see their way out...

The petting zoo...hogs eating the superfluous pumpkins...

...and some of the most bored sheep I've ever seen...

Even though the skies were overcast, it was still a beautiful fall day. The bright orange pumpkins and trees with their autumn foliage stood out even more against the grey background.



With treats in hand, it was onward-ho to Corvallis!
I got to the Lulay residence before anyone else was home (well, Samson was there and was glad to be let out) and decided to sit on the back porch and appreciate the solitude. That was, until 21 wild turkeys decided to share it with me...

Adrienne finally arrived home and immediately recruited me to help assemble her costume. I was in charge of making felt-covered cardboard wings and managed to only barely scorch myself with the hot glue gun...
Halfway through the second wing, Mr. Lulay arrived home and started assembling his costume, then it was off to town!

We met up with everyone at Clodfelter's for Happy Hour and were happily socializing when we saw these two characters trotting past the window. Adrienne grabbed my camera and made them pose for a photo or two (anybody recognize them???). All of us were astonished at the pain-staking detail they had put into their roles..

Can the logger and spotted owl ever live in harmony??? I hope so :-)