Slow Saturday

It always feels like a wasted day when I don't manage to get any sewing done, and so Saturday was kind of like that. It was not a wasted day, however, because I got quite a bit of housework done. Also, the birds are fed again for a day or two, and I've checked the water levels in the greenhouse. We left fairly early yesterday afternoon to attend a celebration of life, and so it wasn't the kind of day I wanted to use to start something new.

On my way out to the greenhouse yesterday morning, I noticed another of the rhododendrons had started to show some color.

And there are more flowers on the one from the other day, but still no open blossoms.

This one has opened, however. It's my favorite of our rhodies. Its spotted throat makes it look like an orchid.

It's the only open flower on the plant, but more are coming.

As we were driving away yesterday I noticed another one of the rhodies had an open flower on it, so I'll get out a little later and snap its picture.

The lettuce is starting to get its true leaves. This one is the red leaf.

The next two are a green leaf and a butter lettuce, but I'm not sure which is which yet.

Also, the daphne is trying again to bloom. It always gets knocked back by the winter cold. At least this year if has managed to hang onto its foliage. Maybe it can use some of the conserved energy to produce some blossoms.

The lilac is looking very pretty now. When I whined about the blossoms all being at the top the other day, I hadn't noticed that it has quite a few toward the bottom too. It's making more flowers this year than it has since we planted it, so that's a good sign.

A few have asked about our friend who passed away. When we moved to Oregon in 1978, she was the first person to cut Mike's hair, and she's been cutting it ever since...nearly 40 years, and so I'm guessing it was one of the longest hairdresser relationships in history. She did my hair for a while too. Mainly, though, we had a friendship and shared season tickets to the Trailblazer games for a number of years. She was a woman with a heart of gold and a ton of friends. Her celebration of life was well attended, and she will be sorely missed by her many friends, clients, and colleagues. Rest in peace, Marsha.

We didn't know anyone at the gathering, and we couldn't find her husband. We didn't stay long and went early to the restaurant where we had reservations for dinner. We had the place to ourselves for a good part of the evening. This is the Hall Street Grill in Beaverton. When it first opened, it was a different restaurant with the unlikely name of Klinkerdagger, Bickerstaff, & Petts. Yeah, don't ask me. It wasn't there long, and Hall Street took over decades ago. It's one of our favorites.

We had a seat next to the window and we could see the chef's garden out back. It doesn't look as if it's been planted yet this year...still a little early in this part of the world.

We don't ordinarily order an appetizer, but I saw this roasted beet bruschetta on the menu and that appealed to our beet-loving selves. We are a family of beet lovers. So we ordered that. It was nice and light and delicious.

Since we live in the heart of wine country and are members of several wineries, we've taken to bringing out own bottle of wine to dinner with us. They charge us $15 to uncork it, but that's a far cry from the $70-100 or more one can spend for a bottle of wine in a restaurant. Last night's selection:

Domaine Drouhin is a relative newcomer to the Dundee Hills of Oregon, although they've been with us for quite some time. They are a French family and have vineyards in France. We met them once at a large dinner they hosted, and they were a delightful family with beautiful French accents. 

For our main courses, Mike ordered the top sirloin. Risotto seemed to be the menu item of the day. His had a farro risotto of some kind. If you've never had farro, it is the most delicious grain. It has a wonderful texture. I make it at home sometimes. His dinner also had crispy caramelized onions and a blackberry sauce.

I ordered the jumbo sea scallops over a cauliflower risotto with Brussels sprouts. Brussels sprouts are another misunderstood vegetable that I happen to love.

This is Mike's date for the evening.

We still had blueberry-rhubarb pie at the house and so we skipped dessert and came home. 

This morning has been no more lively than yesterday. Even Smitty went outside for only about 30 seconds, and then came inside. He got hold of my camera this morning and started snapping selfies.

His kitty pink nose is still among his best features, not to mention his wealth of whiskers and gorgeous green eyes.

I took the first stitch on the 11th quilted snowlady this morning. By the time I stopped all of the words were stitched and I had a good start on the quilt.

And this being Sunday, I'm going to link up to:

It's time to get a move on the day. Today I really am going to get started with the last two of the Irish doors today. And a very Happy Birthday to my dear friend, Marei!!!