NO RECIPE TODAY - SON'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

No new recipes made this week, just old standbys with lots of salads. That being the case, I thought I would share a little bit of our son's birthday celebration. We had a great time with him and our dear daughter-in-law. They are always fun to be with.

We went to the Longhorn Steakhouse. We all basically had steak of varying sizes, and salad. The appetizer and dessert were shared because by the time we finished the main meal, that was all we could manage. I didn't even try the dessert but they said it was delicious. The whole meal was first-class. That mushroom appetizer was the best, that I did try. Gregg and I said when we feel like coming here again, we would just order those white cheddar stuffed mushrooms - and a salad.  More than enough for the two of us. 

The photo above Gregg took while we were waiting for our daughter-in-law. (He is enjoying his black and white photos still.) Son arrived at our place a couple of hours earlier after his workday was finished, and our dear d-in-l arrived within minutes after that photo of the two of us was taken. We were inside by then, and we kept watch on the door to wave her over when she arrived soon after. I had my first cocktail in a long time. It was a Watermelon Margarita and was very good.  

The decor is southwestern as you can see. Not the best photo and I couldn't get a better one. The place was crowded, many of the tables were taken, and I took the photo higher up than usual. 

So, that's about it for our son's birthday celebration. We were very happy with the way the evening turned out. The young lady who took care of us, we could tell that she was very tired, but she couldn't have been nicer. All the dishes brought out were delicious and hot. We said goodnight to our son and d-in-law outside, after having a really enjoyable time together.

Thanks for visiting and have a great week.

A FEW RANDOM PHOTOS TAKEN THIS WEEK AND A BIRTHDAY

 

Early evening when the sun was going down on Monday, August 17th (yesterday), we had very interesting skis overhead. 

Bubbles is still dropping by too. We opened up the curtains one morning and three mourning doves flew off the edge of the birdbath.  No photos of them though. I am wondering why the camera didn’t catch that. You can see more clearly one of the copper objects I placed into the water to stop algae from growing. It is a dragonfly.  

I finished a jigsaw puzzle and thought it was very nice. Edible mushrooms I suppose? I really would not know and will continue to get mine from the store. 

A photo taken the last time we were at the garden, I found the flower along the path near the greenhouse. It is called Mohr’s Rosinweed, native to the Southeastern United States apparently, namely northern Alabama, southern Tennessee and extreme northwest Georgia. 

A quiet day but a pleasant one. I had a mad moment and made breakfast for dinner (yesterday this would be and it was a late lunch/early dinner). We had French Toast with a banana and the last of the raspberries. It has been a long time for French Toast and we much enjoyed the change. Later we snacked on a little ham and Campari Tomatoes.  

It is a special day today. Our son turns 47. 

Happy Birthday Son! 

We are going out with him and our dear daughter-in-law for his birthday meal later, after their work day. 

Take good care of yourselves 

and I wish you all a very happy day.

MY BIRTHDAY MEAL - HOW WE STARTED AND HOW WE ENDED UP

Where do I start? The three of us - husband, son and I - set off at 2.30 p.m. We would have dearly loved our daughter-in-law to join us, but their working hours are different and d-in-l's day was overflowing until late evening.

We wanted to get to the restaurant early and we arrived at opening time, 3.00 p.m. We were all looking forward to a steak and loaded potato meal, having decided on this restaurant a week ago and already had checked out the menu.

As soon as we walked in, we were shown a large glass case of different cuts of steak that we could order, and it seemed we were expected to choose there and then. However, we said we would like to sit down and look at the menu first.

It all went downhill from there. We were shown our table, a booth, that was about four inches off the ground and the boys reminded me to make sure that I didn't climb down before they got there to help me. Yes, I promised, no problem and I was happy with the table but…

firstly, let me say we are not fussy, picky, snippety, customers, far from it and we have not had any kind of a problem with meal or staff at any of the special occasion restaurants, until now. Well, there was that one time 30 years ago, which came flooding back like a laser beam, but I won't go there, yet.

We all ordered the steak from this young man who firstly ignored the usual nicety of saying, “Hello I'm -----, welcome to -----, can I get you....."  I was closest to him, and he crowded me out by shoving his hair and his elbow into my face and asking the boys what their order was. I immediately started feeling anxious and claustrophobic. No exaggeration, the boys' eyes said it all and I never would make a good poker player. My expression spoke volumes. Lips pursed, eyes narrowing...

I was being totally shoved into a corner as they gave him their orders. Ignored me, no eye contact, with any of us actually. He presented a surly persona. Finally, still not looking up, he said brusquely, "And you?" Seeing my surprised look, Gregg jumped in and ordered for me. Surly guy left and the three of us looked at each other and looked in our waiter's direction, wondering what the heck was going on with him. Maybe he was having a bad day, but this was opening time and we were one of the first customers. Maybe something more than a bad day and you do wonder. Okay, we went on chatting and tried to enjoy ourselves but it was a strange start. 

He came back and put my coffee down in front of me without ceremony and left. I took one sip and it was like it had just come out of an icebox. I said to son take a sip of my coffee. He said it's ice cold and no, this was meant to be a hot cup of coffee, the heavy mug gave it away. 

The meal came and let's just say the thickness of the steaks were considerably a lot thinner and smaller in size than what we were shown in the display case. I've cooked steak, I know it doesn't cook down that small in size or as thin from the sizes we saw. I had ordered a small one and thought this was starting out to be a strange birthday meal. 

The potato with all the fixings that was so highly praised online, was cold. Son’s Mac and cheese that was cold too, not even luke warm. How's your potato I said to hubby. It's cold he said. 

Earlier we were presented with a tray of several pots of small side dishes to taste, so that we would have a better idea when choosing our side dishes. A good idea but all of it looked abysmal and tasted overcooked and mushy. Son also told us that our waiter came out with his thumb stuck in hubby's salad, something he remembered much later but in all the kerfuffle he forgot to tell his dad. Cue roll of eyes looking sideways when I heard that. 

We didn't say anything because we were still trying to figure things out. Totally puzzled by the waiter's continued surly attitude. He was being downright rude. I could feel my blood pressure rising. And that's unusual for me as I consider myself a person who is rarely ruffled. There have been times in my life when I have felt totally disrespected and those ruffles start to rise. Let's get to the cocktails. The Margarita I get once a year on my birthday gave me brain freeze and I was only taking a sip at a time. Birthday meal was definitely heading in a bad direction. 

I asked him to take the coffee away as it was cold and it was wasted space. I didn't say that last part, but literally there was no room on the table for wasted space. Did I want another he asked, which surprised me. No, thank you I said. I wasn't feeling very chatty.

Our son was looking at me really sympathetically because I had said 'I wouldn't mind so much but this is my birthday meal, and I've been looking forward to this for ages'. The bad poker-player face was out there for all to see. The bar was right next to our table, and I think the lady who was serving drinks may have heard my complaint because the next thing the manager came over and asked if everything was satisfactory. Did we complain? Of course not! By that time, I do what I usually do when I am upset, I clammed up and the boys thought it would be better just to get out of there, not bothering with a dessert. 

We all felt the service was atrocious, that this young man had a long way to go in his interactions with customers. I was watching him truly puzzled and noticed that when he went into the kitchen, which we were close enough to see, he had a big smile for a girl in there and was chatting to her for a bit. How sweet and yes, I may be a bit snarky! 

What we did do was get out of there as fast as we could. From start to finish the three of us agreed the service and food were awful. My two darlings thought that the guy was having a really bad day, but I told them it certainly didn't stop him from switching on the charm for that young girl, which I could see going on and they couldn't because their backs were to the kitchen. 

The check came and much later, son told us he actually gave him a decent tip. He said maybe he will think about that one. The boys laughed at me when I slid out of the booth in a "Get me out of here" sliding motion down to floor level. I couldn't wait to get out of the place. The whole experience was horrible! I kept hoping our waiter would get better, but he just gave us a steady does of worse and I was extremely disappointed.

Our son suggested we go over to Chateau de Chantilly which wasn't too far away. Bless him for suggesting that as it allowed us to decompress over a lovely cup of coffee and dessert and where, even though we don't interact with the staff that much as it is cafe-style, we can guarantee we will get a lovely smile and way better treatment. I personally was sick of the surly. 

I won't name the restaurant. Maybe we should have said something, but when all's said and done, we didn't want to be the catalyst for this young man losing his job. On reflection it felt like he needed a second chance from someone. 

I also don't understand how unappetizing, cold food can be served up when the place had just opened its doors and there was barely anyone in there. Maybe everyone behind the scenes was having a bad day, maybe something had happened. I'm giving them all the benefit of the doubt. 

With all that being said we ended up having a great pick-me-up-ending at our favorite little cafe, and enjoyed a coffee and dessert. Thank you son for suggesting it.

The boys teased me about the expression I had on my face when I left the first restaurant. They hadn't seen that expression in a long time. When I left the Chateau de Chantilly Cafe, frown had turned upside down and I was smiling. Different as night and day.   

Now, I do remember one other waiter who talked down his nose at me after I tried to order something that was way too gauche to be on the menu, literally scoffed at me, about 30 years ago! This incident brought it right back like a laser. We never went back to that restaurant and we're certainly not going back to this one. I have a long memory for people talking down their nose to me, where I feel totally disrespected. I avoid those people like the plague, and I have a memory like an elephant.

I took a few photos but will only share the ones from our bright, cheerful and sunny Chateau de Chantilly and to everyone there, I say a big thank you for being consistently good, from the staff to their pastries, to their coffee. I owe an even bigger thank you to our son for suggesting it. 

Let me just say, this was an unusual experience. We have never, in all these years, had a bad meal and terrible service like this one.

I passed this over to Gregg for a read and his response said, yes, that just about covers everything that happened, and we both actually had a bit of a chuckle. 

Onward and upward!

Thanks for listening to my moaning Minnie personality who thankfully rarely makes an appearance. Because I have always been a diary/journal writer since I was young, I want to remember everything, and I feel better for writing it all down. What would I have done differently? Not go out in the first place? Ha! 

How would you have handled it? I am really curious! We all handle awkward situations differently.

Have a great day everyone! 

Photos from Chateau de Chantilly Cafe on Wednesday, July 8th, 2026

Feeling better!

I like your Mickey Mouse shirt guy!

Gregg with his choice of coca cola, special design for 250 year celebration.

Here is a closer look with his choice of dessert, a sticky bun.

Son's choice of dessert, can't remember what this was called but it tasted good he said.

My choice, a brownie-like base with a big marshmallow on top, plus a sliver of chocolate and a little icing.

I found a quote just recently and I thought why not put it on here. Author unknown.

“Life can sometimes be like a bowl of soup and I am just the fork.”

And that's it for today's epistle!

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TODAY - IN MY MIND I AM…

 In my mind I am 24, but my back is 55, my knee is 67 and my left hip turns 76 today.

A little humor for you on my birthday. 

Ostriches will often walk around and then forget where they are going. I have never related more to an animal in my life.

I am doing well with my prism prescription glasses and no longer see double (until I take them off).  This lady gave me a bit of a start when I did. It might take you a second or two, look at her hair above her face. For a minute I…

Thought this was a muppet.

An oldie but it still makes me laugh and I really am joking here, but my funny bone/quirky humor got a chuckle. 

The older I get, the more I understand why people live in the woods

and talk to squirrels.

I can be a bit naughty and that quirky humor can get me in trouble at times, but I do love squirrels.

“Hey, excuse me…but the Bird Feeder is empty.”

One of these does not care that I haven’t filled the bird feeder. Is he searching for his acorn? The other three aren’t telling and the one has forgotten he is supposed to put his hands over his ears, not up his nose! What's up with that then? Silly squirrel!

The fourth squirrel has arrived…he sees no one, hears no one and talks to everyone.”

And then there is this one.

“Happy Birthday lady, but can you now feed the squirrels, I mean birds.”

Okay, enough of squirrels, well almost enough.

Just look at her…the way she’s crawling to the coffee pot. Keep it up lady, you’re almost there.”

Ahhhh…

“Behold, the sacred brew has arrived.”

That’s enough of the squirrels for today. I am being taken out to lunch. I am not sure where yet, but I will tell you in a day or so.

Have a great Wednesday, 

thanks for dropping in and 

don’t forget to embrace 

your inner ostrich.

(Graphics from Pinterest)

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE DAILY JOURNAL SUNDAY - 3/15/26 TO SATURDAY 3-21-26

Weather forecast for this coming week, from 3/22 to 3/28 2026.

Sunday, March 15th, 2026: the day always starts off with our son’s visit early morning unless he is elsewhere, out-of-town sometimes. He drops our daughter-in-law off at work. He lets himself in at around 8.30 a.m. and I hear his voice announcing his arrival. I am often upstairs finishing getting ready. We sit around and chatted an hour before his dad started breakfast. Bacon and eggs with toast usually, sometimes British bangers if we have been to the shop in Vienna, sourdough toast as Gregg found out it is one of the breads he should eat health-wise. I had a banana with my cup of black coffee. 

The morning always goes fast and it was soon time for our traditional selfies before son left at 12.30 p.m. He didn't want to be late picking his sweetie up. 

Half-an-hour later the phone rang and it was son again, this time with our dear daughter-in-law. She wanted a quick chat and that’s always lovely when we get a chance to do that. They were on their way to Winchester for the afternoon. The four of us are going to get together for dinner as soon as soon as schedules align. We sometimes forget how busy they are and they do have different working hours.

Dinner: a late one of soup and sandwich at home. We wanted something simple so heated up a cream of mushroom which was delicious, with ham, thinly sliced cheese, alfalfa sprouts and lettuce on wheat bread. 

There are always dates and nuts and fruit to nibble on if we get hungry before bedtime.

I have had no sugary treats as such, and that seems to be going well. I am supposed to have a chat with my doctor soon and will have to set that up in the next couple of days. She is a busy lady and I don't rush into these things. It will be when it will be.

I will be looking at some recipes saves for this week to make, something we both like. The shopping list is being put together.

Monday, March 16th, 2026: the weather was an issue today. We had a tornado watch and 80 mile per hour winds expected. At 6.02 p.m. we have had a lot of rain but it's gone very quiet, not raining, not windy. We look out all day off and on. We would hear the wind pick up if something was coming I'm sure. We also have a basement to get down to if necessary and filled the bathtubs up with water. Yes, I wasn't in the Girl Scouts ten weeks for nothing. Camping? My sister regaled me with all the creepy crawlies inside her tent when she went. That was enough for me to resign from the Girl Scouts!

Gregg moved what he could into the garage, heavy pots are in a corner, outside chairs are tied to the rail and the bench table. Gregg thinks the worst of it has passed and we are keeping our fingers crossed.

Breakfast: a bagel with scrambled eggs and a teaspoon of chili crisp spread over the top, also banana a little later.

Lunch/Dinner: the same as yesterday. It's cold and I needed soup again. I'm drawn to it when I feel chilled. I dress like I am living at the North Pole.

Tuesday, March 17th, 2026: For those who were celebrating, I hope you had a great Saint Patrick’s Day. As for us it was another day spent quietly. 

On the weather front, the tornado watch and high winds we were told about, didn’t materialize. We were glad for the anti-climax. We had heavy rain and that was it. I showed Gregg a photo from our local neighborhood app. Someone had taken it on their way home from Washington DC. It showed very dark clouds and what suspiciously looked like a funnel cloud forming in the distance. It was enough to send him outside to make sure he had secured what he could with the deck furniture. However, no tornadoes touched down in our area. There are downed trees in places and not sure of flooding. Hopefully everyone is okay. We didn't lose our electricity. 

Wednesday, March 18th, 2026: a special day, it is my Love’s 79th birthday. He was very touched with all your greetings and thanks you very much, as do I. Here is another collage from the restaurant. He often tells me what a very nice group of people I know online. True!

We almost forgot our selfies. Son took a few on our way out.

The meal was great, we all said it was a 10 out of 10. No denying we had a feast and there is no need to eat again today. We had a nice young lady who took care of us. I complimented her on her polished nails, they were really something and beautiful! My nails remain short and buffed and that's as far as I go, but it doesn't stop me from admiring beautifully decorated nails. Anyhow, I need to check out these menus before we go. I find them a bit overwhelmed trying to decide what to choose, but this young lady was a big help. I have already shared photos in the collage but here are a few larger versions.

A mushroom appetizer was ordered that we all shared. It had a cheese sauce over it all and was very good. In the next photo below, the cowboy boots were over the door as we walked in. The old horseshoes are saying, "Welcome", which you can just about make out. Which ones would you pick to wear? I'm going for the pink ones but would probably sprinkle glitter all over them.

We all had steak. Gregg had polished off his Caesar salad before his arrived. Brad ordered Caesar also and I had a regular mixed salad. The Birthday Boy doesn’t drink anything alcoholic normally and enjoyed his coca-cola. Son ordered a Southern Comfort and I had a cocktail, a strawberry lemonade with what I am not sure, mostly a strawberry-lemonade concoction, I wanted to try something new. It didn’t taste like it had alcohol in it and was very refreshing and probably a little dangerous. One was enough for me, I was getting a bit too chatty the boys said and yes, they were joking, at least I think they were joking. You can see the drinks in the photo with mushrooms above.

I ordered a smaller steak than the boys as a lobster tail came with mine, along with the loaded baked potato. No one wanted a dessert after this meal but the cheesecake looked good. 

Over the weekend we will be doing it all over again with our dear daughter-in-law, but at a different restaurant, another favorite of our Birthday Boy. We always consider the whole week a special birthday week. 

It is 7:01 pm. and not now but we will be going to bed early!

Thursday March 19th, 2026: (57 °F. - 13.9 °C. - Sunny as of 1.09 p.m.) 

Just had breakfast at lunchtime. Oatmeal with apples and dried cranberries (these were originally homemade put into 3/4 cup pots and popped in the freezer for whenever I wanted one. The link to the recipe is here. It was made in the crockpot). I added a 1/4 cup probiotic yogurt, a tablespoon of pumpkin seeds and 1/2 ounce of chopped walnuts. One of my favorite breakfasts.

Gregg just gave this to me from one of our selfies. He had it turned into a painting. We both said the boys' likenesses are more accurate than mine. 

We went to Trader Joe’s. Another place that has been a long time between visits. I bought small boxes with chocolate Easter eggs, tiny ones six to a packet. I wanted to treat our darlings and give them a special treat but not over the top. I am thinking about the sugar thing for everyone, not just myself.

I had it in mind to buy a few greeting cards. You can get prettily designed ones for 99 cents. While we were in there, we bought a few food supplies as it was time to stock up and we love their pineapple juice for a change of pace. Things seem to sell out fast here. TJ’s is fun to walk around. 

Friday, March 20th, 2026: just finished another iPad jigsaw puzzle. I think you will guess what’s on my mind. 

No breakfast but lunch was a ready-made salad from Trader Joe’s; chickpea, kale and crispy red rice with avocado herb vinaigrette. There was enough for two so I had the rest for dinner. Gregg preferred his coleslaw and he won't mind my saying so, but his eyebrows rose at my kale. If it was fresh spinach or cabbage he would have no problem. It was all excellent and I will definitely look for it again next time we visit. Also had half of a roast potato. I had the other half for dinner also.

The day has flown by again. We were going for a walk, but it started raining. 

Saturday, March 21st, 2026: Happy First Day of Spring and what a gorgeous day it is today. A sunny 68°F. - 20°C.  Ah well now, we've tried to be good all week but today we went to McDonalds for lunch. We usually get a coffee and a doughnut today but didn't, so that's a step in the right direction, I guess. However, a step in the wrong direction took us to the coffee shop after our burger and fries. I gave Gregg my cheeseburger - another justification - and got a coffee and a brownie, no no, oh yes, yes. They picked up on the fact that the dear man had just had his birthday, and he got everything at half price. 

Here are a few photos we took around and about. These were taken when we stopped at traffic lights. Such a jolly fellow, he waved and waved and waved.

We have been watching this building go up over the last few months. The land used to have a private home, but it had been abandoned for years, and we slowly saw it collapse in on itself, always saying what a shame, someone's dream home once. It surprised us when the land was finally cleared, the old house was bull-dozed and we watched this much larger building being built floor by floor, starting with the elevator shaft. "I can see three people up there." "What are they doing?" "I can see sparks, looks like some welding is going on." And this is the riveting and scintillating conversation we have when stopped at the traffic light. We counted three people on sight today and yes we count people too.

Our son and daughter-in-law sent photos earlier. Our sweet d-in-l organized her yearly voice and piano recital for her students today. She is an amazing teacher and the love and care she shows her young charges is very heartwarming. Way to go to our daughter-in-law whom we love dearly. Congratulations on another successful recital. 

My new book that I ordered last week, two weeks ago(?) has arrived. I have Kay to thank for this. She is host of Georgia Girl With An English Heart. Thank you for recommending this lovely book in one of your blog posts Kay. I can't wait to read it. It is set in a different time but Gregg and I can relate, and I daresay I will be reading snippets to him as I read through the pages. We often read to each other snippets from books we both enjoy reading.

            

With this I am going to end my weekly journal.

Thanks so much for reading it with me

and I wish you a great week!