A Birthday

This morning we overslept.  The sun was already creeping up in the day, and my husband and I were disapointed that we have over slept.  We had planned to get up early and tromp to the back of our property.

I was going deer hunting for my birthday. 

The view over the back hill is beautiful.

Didn't make it completely to our spot, when an 8 point buck jumped up and bolted.   Three shots fired, three shots missed, but I was still thrilled to have seen him!   I did get some other "shots" though.

 This was the carpet under my feet this morning.  It's crunch was terribly delightful.  Sadly, a layer of snow would have been more ideal for silent waltzing up on deer.

This was a small pine that has been scraped up by a buck. Possibly the one that got away this morning, as the scraping was fresh and sap was oozing from this little white pine.

A hoof imprint in the soft soil.  Hard to see in the pic, but there all the same.

I am not even sure what is up with this tree.  My husband calls it the "butt" tree.  Um, okay...

 

The kids helped me with the usual farm chores and we did a little extra cleaning and laundry.  Then I got all gussied up, because my husband was taking me out to dinner! 

 

We didn't go far from home, but he had made reservations at a local bar/grill called Ja-Lins. Formerly known as "The Opera House".   We had never been there to eat before, and have lived in the area for years and had never even been inside the Opera House.  Until the Annual Craftshow on small business Saturday. 

 

Everyone was super nice, and I think every employee there must have come by our table and wished me a happy birthday!  There are two things that I feel made it even more enjoyable:

 

1.  They were not crowded.

2.  Close enough to home that we weren't out until an ungodly hour.

 

We started out with drinks, and I had a pina colada while E tried a frozen strawberry margarita. Two sips in, and he traded out the margarita for a rum and coke.

 

We both decided on their grilled pork chop dinner. He opted for fries, and I opted for onion rings.  They started us with our salads, and brought our appetizers shortly after.

The owner was nice enough to take our picture for us. :) 

 

 

Our main course! :)  Usually the meal comes with 2 pork chops, but they only had 3 chops left, so E got 2 and I got one. They discounted my meal as a result. Lucky me! :)

 

My main course..



 

E's main course. (notice his rum and coke in the top right? lol)

 

 The portions were large for the price, and we ended up with a box of leftovers to bring home.  On our way out I snagged a few pics of the interior.  The chandeliers are absolutely what caught my attention.  They were fabulous, and just really dress the place up!

They had a beautiful Christmas tree with a fireplace beyond it, and all of "their stockings were hung by the chimney with care...."

 

Of course no birthday is complete without cake, so after dinner it was back to home for a triple chocolate decadant cake (from a box mix) with the kids.  And yes, I'm not two, but I wasn't too keen on risking a cake engulfed in flames by putting "enough" candles on the cake LOL.

 

After cake, I took a nice soak with some calgon and the current book I'm reading. (or is that re-reading?)

 

Over all it was a fantabulous birthday! I couldn't have asked for a better day.  Ok, there is one thing that could have made it better, but we'll remedy that in a few weeks!