2.02.2014

weekending


I had to wake her
Saturday morning ballet
papa and I snuck in our
20 minute coffee date as she spun and skipped

a birthday cake was made
it's carrot cake every year
sweetened this year with honey and maple syrup
every year I bake it, and he frosts it




we took the cake, flowers, and some balloons down the road to
a little 'Asian-fusion' restaurant




celebrating a four year old's birthday at a restaurant
was an experiment

I think it went well
there was a lot of lomein and fried rice




at one point the very friendly waitress turned on the large television over the bar
and put on the disney channel
in no time the kids were belly up to the bar watching a fairly innocent looking show
we (the parents) all thought about it, wondered what to do
none of us are real big on screen time with the kids but that sudden hush that
allowed us to all sit together, eat, talk.....
well that was nice



so we went with it for about ten minutes and then
I went and found the remote and declared

cake!


and so they weren't too disappointed that I ransacked their fun


home again and I started rearranging
guess it's that time of year
Claire has started peeking in the trash bin as I go around organizing,
making sure I'm not throwing out her treasures and such
probably not a bad idea, kiddo


today blew in balmy and sunshiny
it was warmer outside than in for sure
first day in a long while with no fire blazing in the wood stove


I spent some time adding more names and addresses to the swap list
(I'll be closing the blogger swap in a day or two to get it rolling, so sign up now if you want in!)
Mike laughed at me sitting there, scribbling on pages of a legal pad
he wondered why I didn't just type it all directly into the computer
because this way is easier for me, I said
because I like it more, I said
sometimes you just have to put pen to paper, yes?


Claire and I rode the bike over to check the sap status and were
pleasantly surprised to find full buckets


a dear friend came visiting from PA
in town to promote her book (a field guide to the edible and medicinal plants
along NC's Mountains-to-Sea trail, due out late this spring)
and I'm so glad we were a stop on her trip

after the visiting we drove around town, white plastic buckets full of
sugar maple sap sloshing around in the back of my car
23.5 gallons today(!)
so maybe the season hasn't been too mucked up after all
and there will be syrup to sell


take that, polar vortex

looks like we'll be boiling tomorrow






16 comments:

  1. Sounds wonderful.
    I had the laugh at the TV time. We only do dvd's here and mostly documentaries at that... Restaurants were their first exposure to commercials and regular programming. Their reactions were priceless,
    Yay for the exchange!
    Yay for sap!
    And I saw your lovely birthday post, so sweet... a very belated Happy 4th to your girl!

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    Replies
    1. yeah that TV is a mighty powerful thing~ in the end we embraced it as a babysitter for a bit and everyone got a little out of it ;)
      hooray! closing it up tonight...
      hooray! boiling right now....
      thank you much~

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  2. pen and paper is always better. I still keep track of what bills to pay on paper even though I do paperless billing and online bill pay. Crazy. Looks like your birthday celebration was a success!!

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  3. My kid's all joke with me because I put everything to pen and paper, old habits die hard.The birthday party looks like it was a lot of fun! Enjoy the sapping.

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    Replies
    1. I definitely type more than I write these days, but I love the act of writing, pen to paper, so I'm mindful to do it.
      thanks! we're boiling right now!

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  4. Its nice to know that pen and paper still have a place, my family torment me about my lack of computer skills. I thought the simple flower arrangements were lovely.

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    Replies
    1. thank you- and now I have a half dozen little blue jars of flowers around the house :)

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  5. Happy Birthday to your sweet girl! Looks like you had a lovely time!

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  6. Happy belated birthday to Clare. The party looks great.

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  7. Happy birthday, big girl!!! Loved the table-flowers. And yes, where would we be without our pen and paper (and, ok, computer, too, I guess)

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  8. happy birthday sweet claire!

    and we have the same cabinets & kitchen counter. i dream of an upgrade. maybe one day.

    also, pen to paper is a must especially if i'm really trying to work something out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks, amanda.

      oh the kitchen. big dreams, but at the same time it has grown on me over the years. thinking new hardware and countertops would get us a long way. maybe some sort of sanding and then whitewashing of the cabinet fronts? a needed backsplash, repainting the horrid pale mint green walls......

      I like being able to touch and see a list, and bring it with me where ever I want to.

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thanks for taking the time to read and comment~