Birthday Sushi!

Aunt Pat and Uncle Bear took us out to Kabuki for my birthday! We got lots of sushi, they got tempura, and Abi got a great big strawberry...

Green Tea birthday scoop :)

Cavalia Returns

Cavalia's new show is called OdysseO. In true Cirque du Soliel style, they have ground and aerial acrobatics, combined with horses and 80,000 gallons of water! They had a much bigger performing arena this time with a bigger tent also. One of the best parts was the African brothers acrobatics and drum team. The horses, as ever, were spectacular!

Santa Barbara Orchid Show 2013

 It was a gorgeous day to drive up the coast. We stopped in Oxnard at Andrea's for lunch first, then headed into Santa Barbara to see the Orchid show.

Abi enjoyed drawing the orchids in the displays...

Eli's favorite display: The waterfall!

After the show, we took a hike at the Ellwood Butterfly Preserve. The glen was pretty, and so was the view from the bluffs, but we only saw 2 butterflies, unfortunately.

 The drive back was equally beautiful - a perfect SoCal day!

Garden Starts

It's already February - seeds have been ordered, and now it's time to hit Green Arrow for some veggie starts for the garden! I love gardening in California :) At least, in February!

We also got some new flowers for Abi's shade garden - fresias, stock, lambs ear, lupine, and pansies. If you are wondering what's in the bags, it's our Foothill blend of semi-composted natural ovine fertilizer (sheep poop!!) for amending the beds.

Talon Crescent Festival

We set off early in the morning and dropped Abi off with Aunt Marion for a the weekend, then made our way up I-15 toward Vegas. It was a gorgeous day, with topaz-blue skies and 60 degree sunshine. The Kingdoms (Caid and Artemesia) were set up with pavillions facing into the park, where they had expansive greens and even a couple of mini-lakes.

Aunt Pat and Uncle Bear set up our little day-camping 'court' while I hurried off to the war council meeting. I saw a few friends at the event I hadn't talked to in ages, which was nice, and got a chance to just stroll around and relax, which was even nicer!

My German-Ren gown - finally [95%] finished!! 

Eventually Bjo talked me into coming down to the scriptorium, and Shaun armored up for some 1:1 rounds. Uncle Bear also got to participate in the spear class!

Cast Iron Chef 2013

We arrived just in time at the park in Lyondemere (Long Beach) to draw straws for order of presentation. Then we set up our kitchen and got our basket of ingredients. Uncle Bear kept our fires burning at a great moderate temperature all day while we put together our dinner dishes.

We got pork, bacon, lard, flour, butter, turnips, radishes, cabbage, onion, garlic, parsley and some spices in our starting basket. So for our dinner menu we put together: Malopolska Sweet-and-Sour Plum Soup with rolls, 'Hunter Style' Pork Stew (Goulash) with Safron Millet Kasha, Celeriac and Pear Salad (Slaw) with Whole Trout braised in a vegetable stock, 'Armored' Turnips with Smoked Gouda and Cabbage, and Baked Pear Pudding.

And Carlean made sure none of us skipped lunch!

 Double-checking the table settings before the judges' arrival...

At the end of the day, we got *lots* of compliments and requests for recipes, and a close second place finish. It was a great learning experience - we're already thinking about next year!