Birthday season

So this week's birthday season was a big one. My baby sister turned 30 yesterday! I am so so so happy that she made it to 30 and is happy and healthy. I wish her many more good years to come. We had a birthday bash last weekend at her house. Friends came from far and wide to celebrate. Jenna requested a chocolate cherry jubilee cake, which I think she made up in her brilliant mind. I combined a black forest cake with a cherries jubilee idea with my mom's moist chocolate cake recipe with the need for cream cheese to be involved and threw in an extra splash or 2 of Kirsh (cherry liquor) and the result was a delicious moist and cherry filled cream cheesy delight that is destined to become part of my cake makind repertiore. The weather at the party was hot and windy, and we all hung out in the way back part of Jenna's yard, where no one ever hands out and so it felt like we were somewhere else when really we were at home... Julie made a Dirty 30 Word Find, which was a hit, and everyone tossed birthday wishes in the form of pennies into Jenna's pond. The whole thing was great.







The next day was my birthday and the weather was perfect. First Mom fixed me a giantoid breakfast of wild ramps and potatoes, wild ramps and eggs and chocolate chip pancakes. It was delicious and fortifying. Then her cat caught an unsuspecting pine siskin (bird) while it ate seeds from a bird feeder. I took it from the cat's mouth and it flew but then the cat caught it again. I took it from his mouth again and secured it in a box in a quiet safe place with some water and seeds. I thought it would recover and I decided I was a good wild animal rehabilitator. I went for a 6 hour hike which included a nap, a dip in a pool at the bottom of a waterfall, some wild food snacking and many many beautiful spring wildflowers.

gaywings! (polygala)


I came back from the hike tired and hungry and the bird was dead. I still think I am a good wild animal rehabilitator... In the evening, SM and I went to Longnecks for a weird dinner that included Sierra Mist (with whiskey snuck in from the flask) and some slaw that someone clearly spilled salt into. I hit the pillow hard and slept like a rock.
Last night was Jenna's real birthday. We all went to Salsa's, where we ate things like Jerk Tofu Empanadas, and strange overly garlicky concoctions. I spilled a very large mojito into my lap and before I even cleaned it up Dad had secured me another. We had a great time and then ended the evening with ice cream sundaes and brownies at the Hop. It was a lot of fun and Jenna was happy. Here's to my sis!