2017-09-02 - Saturday - Mom

This month (September) my mom turns 80, and mom and dad will be celebrating their 60th anniversary. To celebrate, she wanted to get the whole family together for dinner. Unfortunately Meredith couldn't get time off work, but the rest of us were there.

Stephanie, Brett, Karen, David, me, dad, and mom.

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2014-12-26 - Friday - Christmas with David

On Friday we went to my parent's house to exchange presents with my brother David.  Afterwards David and I went to his favorite Thai restaurant, Bangkok Thai Cuisine where they draw little pictures on your plate in sauce. We both had the crispy eggplant and it was very good.

Later we went to his friend Mike's house where they have a jam session on Friday nights.

Like I said, it was a happy Christmas.

My plate.

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2014-12-22 - Monday - Casa del Toro

Monday I went with my brother to see the last Hobbit movie. The movie was very good but it left me feeling a bit sad as it was the end of the saga. David and I have been seeing the middle earth movies together since the first Lord of the Rings release in 2001. In years without a middle earth release we have seen other movies like the magical Hugo in 2011, but there was always another Tolkien movie on the horizon. Not anymore.

[sigh]

Time to move on to other things, but definitely the end of an era.

After the movie we went to Casa del Toro for a nice meal and one of our favorite appetizers: the deep-fried avocado. You can get it stuffed with veggies or ground beef and it has lots of cheese. If you like avocados, you really need to try it.

Fried avocado (from their website).

The poblano peppers in the Chile del Mar were pretty spicy that night so I ordered the tres leches cake to put out the fire. It was amazing and I had to take a photo of it as it was so festive.

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2014-01-31 - Friday - Josh DeWeese

Friday afternoon we set up the room at CPCC for the Josh DeWeese workshop.  After setup Josh arrived and we took him to Midwood Smokehouse for supper.  A good time for everyone.  I couldn't wait to see Josh work at the wheel as I really like his work.

Me, Gary, Josh, and David.

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2014-01-24 Major Catch-up Again

Here's a huge catch up since work has been hectic and everything else is crazy too.

Take a deep breath and hang on...

Binkley gets his Christmas present.
Christmas Day.

 Saturday after Christmas we went to PA to see the relatives.

Audrey's boyfriend, Ryan, Stephanie, and Meredith having breakfast in PA.
December 29, 2013

We had great meals as usual at Scott and Rich's house.

Scott and Rich set a great table.
December 29, 2013

The kids love to spend time together.

Justin, Ryan, Stephanie, and Meredith
clowning around.
December 29, 2013

REALLY clowning around.
December 29, 2013

 My brother David and I went to see The Hobbit:  The Desolation of Smaug in Imax 3D.  Amazing.


We dropped Meredith off at college.

Dropping Meredith off at college after the Christmas Break.
(Karen, Stephanie, Eva, Meredith)
1/2/2014

We had a fairly big snowfall.  The weather was so cold the snowflakes were like a mist and the snow never really melted, it just squeaked when you walked on it.  It reminded me of being on a mountain at a ski resort.

Big snow, really cold.
1/3/2014

That night.
1/3/2014

Blown snow patterns.
1/4/2014

The next night --REALLY cold.
1/4/2014

Zoom zoom, back home again.  Back to making pots.

Back in town, making pots.
1/8/2014

First batch of Empty Bowls.
1/11/2014

More Empty Bowls.
1/14/2014

Yup, you guessed it...
1/15/2014

Glazing first batch of Empty Bowls
1/16/2014

Redsky gallery is closing and the last opening Kellie had was Peter Rubino and Greg Scott's work.  I am sorry to see the gallery close because it really is a magical place.

Peter Rubino at Redsky gallery.
1/17/2014

Rob and Peter.
1/17/2014

Greg at Redsky.
1/17/2014

Peter and Greg.
1/17/2014

There.  Phew!  Now back to our regularly scheduled blog.


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June 26 - Family fun

Tuesday Karen's aunt and uncle came over with two of her cousins.  It's always good to see Uncle Anthony and Aunt Camille and it's surely a bonus when Janet and Julie come along too.  I've said many times that I am blessed to have married into such a great family.

My brother also arrived for a couple of days.  I really like to spend time with him and we always have a lot of fun.

Early morning.

Stephanie, Ryan, and Justin clowning around.

Karen, Julie, and Janet.

John and Anthony.

A family meeting on the beach.

Atlantic City in the distance.

While waiting for my brother to arrive
I found a nice cloud at the end of the street.

Later, the moon caught me.

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2010-06-05 Saturday - Greg and Adrienne's Sale

Greg and Adrienne had a sale and invited Ju-Ian to participate.  Quite an honor, but she's quite the artist.

The sale was wonderful and I wish I could have purchased several pieces.  The whole deck and yard were full of tables which were in turn full of pots.  As you can imagine the range of the work was amazing and I went through it all at least three times.  While some of the displays were under tents, many were not.  The sun was so hot they put pot holders on the tables in the sun.  I thought that was a practical and yet whimsical touch.

I also drooled while looking at their garden.  Their tomatoes are huge and they have a WALL (fence, actually) of raspberries.  We picked a couple of handfuls and they were delicious.

David and Lisa visiting with Greg.

Some of Greg's work.

Some of Adrienne's work.

More Greg.

Ju-Ian's work.

More Ju-Ian.

More Greg.

Festive sale goers (Ju-Ian is on the right).

The raspberries!

(NOT the Eric Carmen ones...)

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2010-05-08 Saturday - Part 1: Renfro Hardware and Matthews Farmers Market

While I spent most of Saturday at the Barn Sale, I went to the Matthews Farmers Market and Renfrow Hardware for the first time with my friend David.  He is a regular there so he showed me around.  He also showed me a lot of plants and gave me a lot of info about them.  It was a great time and I was very impressed with Renfrow Hardware.  You can get everything from a galvanized bucket to baby chicks.

David standing next to a fine sycamore.

From the back door, towards the front.

Baby chicks and ducklings.

A wall 'o tools.

Yard implements.

Gold pans.

Plumbing.

Everything you'd ever need.

The obligatory dog sleeping under the desk.

Electric oven elements.

The front of the building.

Sharpening Service is now available.

Everything!

Young plants.

Rhubarb.

David buying some organic vegetable plants.