Really long catch-up
Jun. 4th, 2013 09:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rowanfI keep telling myself that I really need to write up Lj posts. I feel like I am losing my history (since my memory totally sucks. And it isn't that I haven't been doing interesting things. Bah.
April
In April we did the things we do - family dinner, hanging with friends. I saw Brigadoon on April 12th with the Piersol clan. This has actually had pretty long-lasting impact on me. Our friend Jeff was in the show, playing Harry Beaton's father. And I realize that I will never play Meg Brockie (nor any of the other roles on my bucket list) because outside of a production at an old folks home, who would cast me? The theatre part of my life has passed me by. Dang, when did that happen. And Jeff is a good bit younger than I am too. *wails*
Owl Moon was doing Beltaine again this year and we had a number of meetings and rehearsals - unwinding last year's maypole, getting ourselves ready to turn the wheel. I don't think we'll do it next year. On April 27th we did it; I had fun being the Hag of Winter. We are probably looking at a drought year, so letting go of winter was particularly hard and we made the Summer Court work for their maypole dancing. Russell and I came home and took a nap and then went out dancing to the Back Pages at Maltby's. After FK on Sunday, Russell headed off to Yosemite to take pictures.
May
In May I started talking to a tattoo artist about maybe doing the phoenix back piece I have wanted for years. I guess I can say that I paid her to do a design but as the talks have continued I realize that tatts are pretty much priced out of my reach these days. The flaming roses were about $800 and the phoenix to spring from them would be $3k-5k. Gah.
We celebrated Tracey's birthday by going dancing at the Poor House on May 4th. Daniel Castro was playing and we quite enjoyed the band.
May is the anniversary of several of my WoW guilds. Eighth for DotA and DotH and Third for AF. I got really involved in the Daughters of the Alliance Mystery Trip which was a photo contest where you had to figure out where a bunch of pictures had been taken and recreate them as best you could (with gear and poses). I did not do especially well but I got a $1,000 gold participation prize and used it (with an additional $3K) to buy Roszmairta faster flight. She had never really needed it since she is a skinner/leatherworker but she is a druid and this gives her a cooler looking flight form. I am enjoying that flight form!
I missed Daughters of the Horde's anniversary pretty much entirely due to scheduling issues (same day as Adocentyn work party). I did half the road trip across the Eastern Kingdoms with Alt Factory and had a blast. I am in such good guilds!
On May 16 Russell and I took the convertible up to Napa. I had made a spreadsheet of Napa wineries with interesting gardens and/or art galleries. Plus it was the opening Thursday of the Napa Chefs' Market.
On Thursday we go up in time for lunch in Yountville. It was sprinkling and the skies were amazing. We visited St. Supery, Peju, Napa Cellars and Domaine Chandon. Also the Oakville Grocery. The highlights were Peju where we enjoyed tasting quite a bit and Domaine Chandon which has a reserve Brut that is AMAZING. It is only available at the winery and I may need to go up to get some before my 60th birthday as it would be a perfect celebration. Just sayin. After tasting we had a jacuzzi (in our room), napped and then headed over to the Chefs' Market. It was really fun and all the opening bands were awesome. I got Dennis Johnson's slide guitar blues album. Definitely recommend the patio at Rocabella Bistro Lounge for listening to the first stage whilst having amazing food (if, like me, food booths are too carby).
Friday we went to Markham Vineyards where there was a really cool exhibit of Rolling Stone cover art with lots of celebrities from our youth. We'd've tasted there but they had a fire alarm just as we finished viewing the photos and so we moved on to the Castello di Amorosa. After wandering around, taking pictures and tasting at the Castello we had lunch at a BBQ place in Calistoga which was not very good. Then to the Japanese gardens of Chateau Montelena before heading down the Silverado Trail to Rombauer Vineyards where Russell enjoyed the oaky reds and we wandered their garden trails amongst a variety of sculptures. There are over 100 varieties of plants and flowers and nice of picnic spaces nestled on the hillside. We stopped at Duckhorn Vineyards but they close tasting at 4pm and we were just on 4. So on to Mumm Napa where I tasted their reserve Brut (Chandon is way better) and a still Pino Gris (available only at the winery). I bought a bottle of the latter. Then back to Napa for dinner and another jacuzzi.
Saturday we stopped at Chandon again so I could buy a couple of bottles of the reserve Brut and then on home for a nap before heading to Maltby's to hear The BackPages.
On Sunday May 19, Linnea had her retirement/mortgage burning and birthday party. She is working on a cookbook for cooking for large parties and made a truly fabulous and delicious feast. It was nice to see lots of friends.
On the 22nd I headed off to Reno with Brigid. We stayed at the Silver Legacy in a huge suite. Evidently she has stayed there enough over the years to be a casino VIP. We were sitting at slot machines when a host stopped by to greet her and offer us a free dinner at their seafood restaurant which was set to open in a few days and needed some test diners. We had a blast being test diners but were sorry they didn't ask us to fill out a questionnaire or anything. Definitely our waiter needed practice though and I am the picky eater to give it to him. LOL
We got to have lunch with my friend Jane, who teaches art history at UNR and after a lovely lunch she took us on a tour of the area. It was really fun to see her and I have been wanting her and Brigid to meet for years.
Friday we headed off to Incline so Brigid could go to her condo meeting Saturday morning. Brigid took me to one of the Incline private beaches and I was amused by the people in bathing suits enjoying Lake Tahoe. Everyone up there was in like shorts and tank tops -- I was freezing and had on two tops and a hoodie.
Saturday we headed home and I took a nap and then went to hear the Cruisetones at Maltby's with Kurt. They had some stand-ins rather than usual band members but it was still quite fun.
On Sunday there was supposed to be an NCLC CoG potluck and meet&greet at my house starting at 5pm. Or so I had been told. But it turned out to be a regular business meeting and they didn't even break for food until 7pm and then only for about 20 minutes. I would NOT have agreed to the meeting here if I'd known. Several of us made amazing food that was just not appreciated. And I am so over long, wrangley, ill-facilitated meetings. (It was the first officer's birthday weekend and she was quite properly off doing fun things.) Grump.
The only other thing of note in May was a memorial service for Margo Tenold, a Methodist minister that I knew through interfaith gatherings (and admired her work on marriage equality despite her denomination's condemnation). The memorial at Los Altos United Methodist was very moving, especially the eulogies written by her two children (in their late 20s, I'm guessing) and the slide show of her life. It makes me want to get pictures of my life in one place so people can do that for me. The last few memorials I have attended have had a multimedia component and it is a very cool thing.
April
In April we did the things we do - family dinner, hanging with friends. I saw Brigadoon on April 12th with the Piersol clan. This has actually had pretty long-lasting impact on me. Our friend Jeff was in the show, playing Harry Beaton's father. And I realize that I will never play Meg Brockie (nor any of the other roles on my bucket list) because outside of a production at an old folks home, who would cast me? The theatre part of my life has passed me by. Dang, when did that happen. And Jeff is a good bit younger than I am too. *wails*
Owl Moon was doing Beltaine again this year and we had a number of meetings and rehearsals - unwinding last year's maypole, getting ourselves ready to turn the wheel. I don't think we'll do it next year. On April 27th we did it; I had fun being the Hag of Winter. We are probably looking at a drought year, so letting go of winter was particularly hard and we made the Summer Court work for their maypole dancing. Russell and I came home and took a nap and then went out dancing to the Back Pages at Maltby's. After FK on Sunday, Russell headed off to Yosemite to take pictures.
May
In May I started talking to a tattoo artist about maybe doing the phoenix back piece I have wanted for years. I guess I can say that I paid her to do a design but as the talks have continued I realize that tatts are pretty much priced out of my reach these days. The flaming roses were about $800 and the phoenix to spring from them would be $3k-5k. Gah.
We celebrated Tracey's birthday by going dancing at the Poor House on May 4th. Daniel Castro was playing and we quite enjoyed the band.
May is the anniversary of several of my WoW guilds. Eighth for DotA and DotH and Third for AF. I got really involved in the Daughters of the Alliance Mystery Trip which was a photo contest where you had to figure out where a bunch of pictures had been taken and recreate them as best you could (with gear and poses). I did not do especially well but I got a $1,000 gold participation prize and used it (with an additional $3K) to buy Roszmairta faster flight. She had never really needed it since she is a skinner/leatherworker but she is a druid and this gives her a cooler looking flight form. I am enjoying that flight form!
I missed Daughters of the Horde's anniversary pretty much entirely due to scheduling issues (same day as Adocentyn work party). I did half the road trip across the Eastern Kingdoms with Alt Factory and had a blast. I am in such good guilds!
On May 16 Russell and I took the convertible up to Napa. I had made a spreadsheet of Napa wineries with interesting gardens and/or art galleries. Plus it was the opening Thursday of the Napa Chefs' Market.
On Thursday we go up in time for lunch in Yountville. It was sprinkling and the skies were amazing. We visited St. Supery, Peju, Napa Cellars and Domaine Chandon. Also the Oakville Grocery. The highlights were Peju where we enjoyed tasting quite a bit and Domaine Chandon which has a reserve Brut that is AMAZING. It is only available at the winery and I may need to go up to get some before my 60th birthday as it would be a perfect celebration. Just sayin. After tasting we had a jacuzzi (in our room), napped and then headed over to the Chefs' Market. It was really fun and all the opening bands were awesome. I got Dennis Johnson's slide guitar blues album. Definitely recommend the patio at Rocabella Bistro Lounge for listening to the first stage whilst having amazing food (if, like me, food booths are too carby).
Friday we went to Markham Vineyards where there was a really cool exhibit of Rolling Stone cover art with lots of celebrities from our youth. We'd've tasted there but they had a fire alarm just as we finished viewing the photos and so we moved on to the Castello di Amorosa. After wandering around, taking pictures and tasting at the Castello we had lunch at a BBQ place in Calistoga which was not very good. Then to the Japanese gardens of Chateau Montelena before heading down the Silverado Trail to Rombauer Vineyards where Russell enjoyed the oaky reds and we wandered their garden trails amongst a variety of sculptures. There are over 100 varieties of plants and flowers and nice of picnic spaces nestled on the hillside. We stopped at Duckhorn Vineyards but they close tasting at 4pm and we were just on 4. So on to Mumm Napa where I tasted their reserve Brut (Chandon is way better) and a still Pino Gris (available only at the winery). I bought a bottle of the latter. Then back to Napa for dinner and another jacuzzi.
Saturday we stopped at Chandon again so I could buy a couple of bottles of the reserve Brut and then on home for a nap before heading to Maltby's to hear The BackPages.
On Sunday May 19, Linnea had her retirement/mortgage burning and birthday party. She is working on a cookbook for cooking for large parties and made a truly fabulous and delicious feast. It was nice to see lots of friends.
On the 22nd I headed off to Reno with Brigid. We stayed at the Silver Legacy in a huge suite. Evidently she has stayed there enough over the years to be a casino VIP. We were sitting at slot machines when a host stopped by to greet her and offer us a free dinner at their seafood restaurant which was set to open in a few days and needed some test diners. We had a blast being test diners but were sorry they didn't ask us to fill out a questionnaire or anything. Definitely our waiter needed practice though and I am the picky eater to give it to him. LOL
We got to have lunch with my friend Jane, who teaches art history at UNR and after a lovely lunch she took us on a tour of the area. It was really fun to see her and I have been wanting her and Brigid to meet for years.
Friday we headed off to Incline so Brigid could go to her condo meeting Saturday morning. Brigid took me to one of the Incline private beaches and I was amused by the people in bathing suits enjoying Lake Tahoe. Everyone up there was in like shorts and tank tops -- I was freezing and had on two tops and a hoodie.
Saturday we headed home and I took a nap and then went to hear the Cruisetones at Maltby's with Kurt. They had some stand-ins rather than usual band members but it was still quite fun.
On Sunday there was supposed to be an NCLC CoG potluck and meet&greet at my house starting at 5pm. Or so I had been told. But it turned out to be a regular business meeting and they didn't even break for food until 7pm and then only for about 20 minutes. I would NOT have agreed to the meeting here if I'd known. Several of us made amazing food that was just not appreciated. And I am so over long, wrangley, ill-facilitated meetings. (It was the first officer's birthday weekend and she was quite properly off doing fun things.) Grump.
The only other thing of note in May was a memorial service for Margo Tenold, a Methodist minister that I knew through interfaith gatherings (and admired her work on marriage equality despite her denomination's condemnation). The memorial at Los Altos United Methodist was very moving, especially the eulogies written by her two children (in their late 20s, I'm guessing) and the slide show of her life. It makes me want to get pictures of my life in one place so people can do that for me. The last few memorials I have attended have had a multimedia component and it is a very cool thing.
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Date: 2013-06-05 03:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-06 04:54 pm (UTC)