Mom Heaven

An unexpected visit from my son has me doing the happy dance.

I haven't seen him since Christmas and when his trip to Italy went awry they decided to head out here to explore.  Note to self and everyone else, don't try to fly on stand-by in mid May, not gonna happen.

Tough cookies, swimming in the Yuba river in May. Normally the run-off would be tremendously cold and dangerous but this year it was just cold. The Yuba river is a soul restoring place, one that I visit far less than I should but for some reason I head there after almost any flying, it just calms the jitters.

Riverwoman Design is getting very popular lately and so I'm working hard to keep the new stuff coming out and the older tried and trues in stock. I'm happy as can be with the spinner rings and I'm working on version two and three of cabochon set rings. I've learned that only repetition makes me good at those processes.

Last night I enjoyed my new hot tub under the stars for the first time and rejoiced at how wonderful it felt. This has been a dream since I bought this house and now the last big project is finished. I know there will be many nights of star gazing ahead.

And now to get busy, big family dinner tonight to say farewell to the travelers...

Always.

Glorious May Day

It's actually food porn v.2, another completely fabulous Polly's Paladar dinner, this one round 2 from the Fine and Rare duo from San Francisco.

The food was amazing, the company heartfelt and funny and comfortable.

We aren't really that messy, but there was wine involved, lots of it, so things got a bit silly. I painted the menu with bits from each course, starting with the butter/olive oil/anchovy/garlic dip for the bread and ending with some strawberry/rhubarb.

I'm a huge sushi fan but have been avoiding Sea Urchin since that first taste 40 years ago overwhelmed me. Well, now I'm loving it, the combination of urchin on avocado was sensual and quite tasty, both the same texture but the urchin bursting with ocean flavor. Yum!

I could not resist taking a pic of this delicious crab cake course, for it's beauty.

A fitting capstone to an incredible year.

Always.