For our fourth anniversary, we had the four-course prix fixe menu at Mucca. It was quite good.
Here we are with our desserts. I got the Tortino al Cioccolato and Matt got the Mousse di Pistaccio e Limone. Like all the things we chose, we traded halfway through.
They also gave us a little happy anniversary bonus, too.
I also really liked Cappellettie alla Norma, which was eggplant-filled cappellettie tossed in garlic butter, celery, and a red-wine gastrique roasted bell pepper tomato sauce
I missed being an athletic supporter for this race last year when it was called Mud, Sweat, and BBQ. It’s now Mud, Sweat and Blooms. Perhaps the BBQ was cutting into the fundraising.
Woodburn Rotary runs this race and it takes place at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm, which I’ve heard about every spring when the tulips are in bloom but have never visited.
They had some fun things for people not running, like these tables of farm-grown items. In the back you can also see a fun haybale structure that children climbed on. It was not, however a race where I could easily get to any of the obstacles, so my photos are limited.
The route was not long and Matt was done lickety-split.
Here he is muddy with all his spoils.
Another athletic supporter takes a picture.
I really like how these three oak trees have come together to create a large spreading canopy, as if they were all one.
Matt after he rinsed off.
That Edge Performance Fitness shirt has been to a lot of races.
This was a tough one, and I thought we had done very badly. But it turned out that we got our usual 120 points and were smack in the middle.
Fun names this round:
Garlic as Good as 10 Things I Hate About You
Bridget Jones’ Diary of a Mad Black Woman
The Rambo Connection
Edwoodington
Eddington in Peru
The OG Cast of Lady and the Tramp
We each had hand-lettered place cards, and got to take home a coaster. The cats on the coaster are smitten kittens, which is what Cheyenne’s daughter called Cheyenne and Renee.
As we went to our table Matt said, “Look, it’s that drawing thing you do!”
And it turns out that Cheyenne also Zentangles!
Cheyenne and Renee met at the Rosetown Ramblers square dancing club, and they invited Matt and me to their wedding. It was held at the Nordic House, which was a lovely venue.
The brides:
The Nordic House, of course is also the home of the Ole Bolle Troll, which Matt and I went to say hi to.
There was a delicious dinner, and then there was strawberry shortcake.
But also with a small cake for cake cutting.
Cheyenne and Renee invited 16 Ramblers, enough to fill two tables, and we had a grand time.
Jason and gerry
Jeff mugs for the camera.
Susan and John talk.
Jim, Eileen, and Matt made up the rest of our table.
As was befitting a couple who met while square dancing, there was a community square dance.
The whirling nature of the pictures had to do with the light (the sun had set) but also probably reflects the three glasses of wine I had drunk.
I had a really good time at this wedding.
While Stephanie North was painting my bedroom, I got to work adding hooks to the 2x4s Burt installed during our Unwrecking Crew session.
I placed each tool in a spot in hopes that everything would fit.
With some overlap, it did, all except for the tree pruner.
I had to add two more 2x4s bits to the very top to get the final things up.
Then I swept everything clean and things are looking quite tidy.
I’m very pleased with the project.
Matt attended another protest, with this new sign: If there’s money for raids, there’s money for Medicaid
He found out that using the dollar sign for money and the numeral four in succession caused confusion. People read it as four dollars rather than money for.
This sign was from a previous protest, but you don’t want to leave a blank side.
It’s been almost 15 years since Chris and I panted the walls blue. It wasn’t my favorite color, but it was my favorite color of the Metro Paint colors. Rereading that post, I was reminded that I once had an idea of installing shelving so the cats could hang out up top. I have no memory of that plan, though I do remember the plan to stencil Hungarian stars on the wall.
Anyhoo! I’ve grown very tired of this blue and am very excited for a new era. Here’s a corner by corner view.
To prepare for painting, I pushed my desk into the middle of the room, put my bedframe in the back yard, and my mattress in the front room.
To prep, I spackled over holes that I wouldn’t be using, and removed all of the extraneous things like switch plates and shelving.
In this picture, you can see that the second mirror on the wall was installed before the room got painted, and we didn’t bother to remove it when we painted it. It won’t be coming back, so I spackled and texturized those holes.
The big texture spot on this wall was where the folding desk was. That desk only lasted two years; I have other desk plans for the new room. The person on Buy Nothing who came to get it was thrilled. And also named Patricia. And was younger than me. Weird!
Both the postcard display and the drying racks on this wall will be coming back.
All the shelves are down from the desk area, but they will be back.
And here’s an interior of my very empty closet. The front room is stacked with all the many things I efficiently stored in my closet. It’s kind of a lot.
And here’s the view from the closet floor.
I’m excited for the changes.
What occupied this spot in my closet?
It’s my Ikea shoe holder. I took it out because the closet is being painted (and wallpapered) so I needed to strip down to basics.
Look what has been accumulating from my shoes over the last decade.
This wasn’t me being lazy; the shoe holder is affixed to the wall. So the only way to clean under it is to remove it.
Anyway, super gross, but it cleaned up fairly easily.
Friends Burt and Laurie have been getting together once-ish a month to do 90 minutes of some sort of project at one of our houses. It’s been pretty fun, and it’s also motiving. When there will be four people working, those backburner projects tend to come to the forefront.
This month, I had a variety of things ready. Laurie dug out our old worm bin while Burt drilled holes in a trash can that will become our new worm bin.
Burt put in two-by-fours that Matt and I cut to size. These will be used to hold hangers for all the yard tools.
Matt, Laurie, and I put together an object. The three of us assembled the wood that Matt and I cut into a box, and then Laurie and Matt added dowels while Burt and I measured the yard.
The final yard object. It’s main use is to keep me from tripping over the pole for the clothesline. It’s removable, and I can set it to the side while the cloths are drying.
A very fun day of work!
