Friends from grad school and their two kids swung by for an evening. I cooked them food of some kind but I don't recall what it was. Their son was a foodie already, and approved. They were only around for an evening and afternoon, but we managed to take a nice walk and catch up a bit. I'd last seen them when their daughter (the eldest of the two) was but a baby.
Well, then this is March 2023 I think. I joined my cousin, her husband and daughter in Panama City, Florida, breaking up the drive in Asheville. This is the husband and I Tootsie's for a quick beer before going to see the DnD movie.
We stayed in an apartment/condo right on the beach. It was a little chilly the first day or two, but we made it work.
Veuve Cliquot in the afternoon, as one does.
There is a bittersweet element to this long delayed write up, in as far as Birdie died suddenly and unexpectedly this past August and I haven't fully recovered from the sadness of losing her. But this was 2023, and I fully believed I'd have my terrier pal with me far longer. She never really warmed to the cats, but she suffered their presence without violence.
Still alternating between purple and red hair.
A snake in one of my bluebird boxes....if you look carefully you can see one of the babies. I saved them temporarily...but, well, the snake came back.
Tuna is just the most regal of all. The rooster is still in the land of the living, but the last of my 2020 chicks all died, mostly of predation though I think one had a mite infestation or other parasite problem.
The irises my father gifted me from his own TN patch keep coming back even though I don't take care of the patch all that well.
Peonies. Peonies. Peonies. The additional ones I planted continue to thrive, and the old school ones that came with the house also do well.
I also went to Philly in May 2023 and met up with LW at Pearl and Mary to live the dream of a deluxe seafood tower. All delightful, though in reality I don't actually enjoy raw clams.
Also on that Philly trip I met up with C. and enjoyed a very fancy multi-course omakase at Hiroki. This was one of the first dishes, a crispy little crab.
A uni, wagyu, caviar bite. All of it was great, and the most fun was of course just catching up with an old friend.
Post-meal. I was very pleased.
Then it was off to NYC, where I met up with A.S. one night for a meal at 4 Horsemen. There was some confusion about reservations...I'd reached out to a college friend who knows the LCD Soundsystem crew (one of whom co-owns the restaurant) about potentially hooking me up with a very hard to come by reservation. He assured me he would help and said it was done...but when we arrived for the meal, they said they didn't have any record of our reservation. I tried the name drop, but I wasn't sure it worked. And yet, we did manage to snag a table for two - though with clear hour and 20 minute limit. So I'm not sure if that table appeared because they did see some proof of the friend's attempt on my behalf, or if we were just lucky. I guess we were lucky either way because this was a VERY GOOD meal!
Later A.S. and I went down the street to a bar where an old neighborhood pal now works. We touched base with him for a bit, enjoying discounted negronis. I should really do a better job of making sure my lipstick isn't wearing off but, alas.
I was staying with L. and Fatty during the visit, and another night we left him and the kids at home while we enjoyed a meal at Bar Bete. Chicken liver pate, fancy French omelet, etc. all were great.
Then the next day Fatty and I tried to help one of their friends put together a kids Ikea bunk bed...I liked being part of a team but after about three hours....we were frustrated and disheartened and gave up.
The neighbor pal and me looking like a turtle. Which I guess is just how I look but I like to think otherwise.
Post-dinner giggles.
Peonies. Peonies.
Then in June I heard the tell-tale sound of a kitten mewing. I have video of me approaching this little fellow and realizing that there was a black snake only half a foot a way eyeing him hungrily. Of course I scooped him up and took him home....but of course I did not want another cat nor the anxiety of trying to find him a home in an area where no one wants another cat. Thankfully my cousin's daughter was visiting her in NC from Canada, and in perhaps not the most thought out decision said she could bring the kitten back with her because her friends were looking for a kitten....reader, in the end those friends flaked so now that kitten is living in a studio apartment with the cousin, her other cats and a snake. And maybe bunnies too. She is turning him into a support cat and takes him to libraries and other places, so he's living quite a metropolitan life for a country kitten.
Shadows on Lucky the horse. There is also sad news on the horse front. My neighbor who owned the horses, died early in January '24. I thought long and hard about buying one or two of the four that were on my pasture...but my father has had some health issues and friends suggested buying horses with no plan was like "buying expensive lawn ornaments" so I decided not to go forward with the purchase. I'll share more when dealing with 2024.
Foie gras lamb burgers two ways...I think this had feta in the burger itself and a cherry mint reduction sauce like thing. Brioche bun.
And this time with sauteed musthrooms, goat brie and spinach.
This rooster keeps keeping on.
I am often saving frogs from the cats.
Homemade peach vanilla ice cream.
I've failed to vegetable garden for at least two summers now, but I continued to plant flowers and enjoy them.
I so wish that my dogs would be the type to cuddle with cats. I think Birdie taught Hippo the importance of personal space so that isn't to be.
Night gladiolas.
Last year's dahlias really thrived...unfortunately my storage method failed and this year a lot did thrive...but I lost a lot of diversity in color.
I continued to paint poorly.
This is, I believe, a ham loaf sandwich.
Some kind of white fish, shrimp, baby broccoli/raab and other things in some kind of saffron forward sauce. Overcooked scallops for good measure.
This is literally the only time any of the cats have deigned to lounge in this soft cat bed. I have no idea why they hate it, but they do.
Boss horse, or Buck. He scared me at first but we came to a meeting of the minds. He was one of the horses I considered buying.
The social event of my season was probably Mr. Ass's wedding. I drove up the day before and was one of only a couple of non-family members at their rehearsal-esque dinner at an Indian restaurant. JB and I sat together drinking wine and reminiscing about our high school service trip to France, which was quite enjoyable (the reminiscing more than the trip really) but we probably should have mingled more. Oh well.
I live such a solitary country life most of the time. I've definitely entered a largely 'leggings and comfortable shirt' era of fashion when at home. But I did try to put myself together a bit for the wedding, including a hair cut that day and an attempt to put together a makeup look. Shrug.
Mr. Ass and his now-wife are a very well matched pair. While the wedding guests numbered over 200, the event itself was on their family's property. The wedding itself in an old barn that they now use to host art annual art shows, and the reception in an airplane hangar with extended tents for more coverage. It was an unfortunately rainy and chilly evening, but all the dancing to the live West Philly Orchestra kept things toasty.
Mr. Ass is a mensch of a guy and it was not suprising that they had so many people to include in their celebration, but I must admit I did find myself feeling like I had to reevaluate our friendship. Lol...I have a much smaller social circle, so each person in it perhaps has more weight/importance in my life than I do in their's. This was a humbling example of that, but not in a bitter bad way, just in a some other not bad way. The upside was that there were MANY MANY familiar faces from my high school days in attendance. Including E., who was in what amounted to the same homeroom for four years. Every morning for 15 minutes we would all hang out.
C. and M. were also in attendance. C. insisted my old iphone 6 wasn't good enough for photos, so took many of these on her more advanced iteration.
After the rehearsal dinner, I was walking back to my hotel when I came across a couple looking quizzically at a wall of a house. Somehow in my mind this had something to do with a lost dog, and I asked if they needed help finding it. They did not, as they weren't looking for a dog but rather just imagining what kind of mural would look good on the house. Was it their house? No. They lived in the carriage house behind it. I can't exactly tell you how it came to be, but I ended up hanging outside their house with them, drinking and smoking until the wee hours of the evening. I should, but won't, give a full account of this night. I will say that it was 100% a Raymond Carver story in real life. I found myself talking about grief and the universe, arguing about women's rights, and generally just strangely connecting with two strangers. I will probably never see them again, but it was a memorable evening.
Before the neighbor died, he gifted me three guinea keets, which definitely added some fun to my life. Unfortunately since getting them in the summer of 2023, two have been lost to predators. And only two nights ago the last one was attacked by a possum and isn't looking great. But this very day I ordered a new, solid coop to replace my more fallible and moveable coops, which should help with their nightly security.
A bird I found with something terribly wrong with it. I accidentally dropped it, and even with these growths on its feet, it managed to fly away.
A very old friend from my teenage years reached out at some point and asked about a visit. We hadn't seen each other in at least five or six years. We met when I was 13 and dating her younger brother. Our lives have been radically different in many, many, many ways and yet it was still easy to catch up and hang out. I do sometimes feel like I'm not who I once was...but I also feel like I'm exactly who I've always been. Seeing people who knew me long ago often assures me that I am a fairly stable, consistent person. And while I often think I come across as a Debbie Downer type, most say what they remember most about me was my sense of humor. I am very much on board for that being my legacy over being a downer. But I guess it all depends on who you ask.
I took her up to the lookout. She wanted to see some kind of minor eclipse, but he clouds weren't working for it.
No chill Hippo.
I don't know man, I just folded to the pressure of seeing my pets in funny hats. Not one of them enjoyed it and now the hats still lay around the house, untouched.
Dragonflies doing the nasty.
Mr. Mustachio was another horse I thought about buying.
I think this is what I made for my Thanksgiving meal. I came up with a new way to prepare a potato, which I'm fairly sure I could patent. And because of that, I will not explain what makes it special. Just know I would call this dish "Gravy Boat-a-toes"TM.
The first version of my holiday card.
Snow and guineas in flight.
Boss Horse and me, just chilling.
Sushi, probably during a Blacksburg run for fancier groceries.
The version of holiday card I sent out (the quote is not mine).
Homemade tofu with some kind of sauce and broccoli.
Salmon en croute for Christmas.
Bubbly, also for Christmas.
Cats may be harder to paint than horses.
My neighbor's house after a storm. Hurricane Helene had that water spilling right over that road and lapping up against his house, but that's a 2024 photo.
A library from my childhood.
I'm still pleased with the aesthetic of my living room.
Dear sweet perfect Birdie. I miss her a lot.
