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Monday, March 3, 2008

of burning fires and mango goodness


first of all, it should be noted that today, i built my first fire all by myself. i split the wood for kindling, used my vast fire knowledge obtained in my brownrice fire 101 training and subsequent fire 102 from the prince, and built my fire.

whether or not it's still burning by the time jonathan gets home is another story.

last night was the first evening in several weeks that jonathan and i got to spend at home together...where there wasn't a backlog of work, meetings, or general house settling in to do. it was long overdue.

the weekend was a blast - spent saturday in portland, and then at classic winemakers in lacey with stella and vickie, celebrating stella's birthday. after taste testing a good number of wines, we found the perfect ssv blend to make. we'll unveil it in april - when it's ready.

brace yourselves - because you are about to view two - count 'em - two photos of stella smiling!


and stella, with her assortment of birthday cake slices. (thank you, celebrity cake studio) we loved the birthday cake - because she hates cake. surprisingly, she didn't say a word and pretended like she liked it. we had the back up birthday 'cake' of apple brown betty for her as well. it was my chance to celebrate her birthday - since i'll be on encounter this weekend and will miss the estrogen militia celebration.


viper, on a lazy sunday after she supervised rich and jonathan's installation of the new range hood and bosch dishwasher (thank you, rich!) and kept an eye on the house as we had the wood trim finished in the master bedroom. she's a good watch dog, until someone sees her. thank god maggie's got her back.


tomorrow, i meet baby avila, and baby avila meets my cameras.

mike, kristine, and avila are settled in at home now...check out the updates on their blog: the fire within.

10 comments:

Elizabeth Ann said...

Congrats!!!! on the wine, 2 photos of the smiling birthday girl Stella, but mostly the FIRE!!!

(can you tell I have missed your blogging????? I am the ultimate blog stalker!!!!)

foxmulder said...

Thanks for an awesome birthday celebration! I love you! But don't tell too many people I smile sometimes, it might catch on!

Unknown said...

So what's the "mango goodness" part?

Jonathan said...

I think you've got the Fire Starter down. Now I can't wait for you to enroll in Fire Keeper 101.

Sandy / Rich said...

I knew that first day in class (fire starting 101)that you where an achiever. i remember how you swung that ax splitting the kindling like a true woods woman. then you moved up to fire starting 102 with professor JS (the prince). under his wing you learned additional skills. i was so pleased to hear you graduated "summa cum laude". agreeing with professor JS your next challenge is fire keeper 101.

good luck

Professor Brownrice

Noreen said...

Congrats on your "accomplishments," Aunt Shelley! I am so excited for you. And, that photo of Viper is AWESOME! I love it!

Jonathan said...

Professor Brownrice,

I was wondering, have I passed dishwasher and range hood install 101??? I still have not received my report card for those courses.

Thank you for your help,

Asst. Professor JS

Anonymous said...

PLEASE pass on our congratulations! She is sooooo beautiful!!!

xo Helen, Vic, Gracie and Ellie in Canada

shelley said...

thanks, guys! :)

mango goodness = the type of wine we are making

kate, it's right up our sweet white wine alley!!

and i think i did pretty good with the fire keeping...today's a new day though! :)

Elizabeth Ann said...

I thought the mango goodness was in reference to the color of the fire. :)

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