happy birthday to me.

yesterday was my birthday. lovely weather. my mom came down for a visit & to help me set up my newly acquired sewing machine. she gave me a cool retro learn-to-sew book from the late 60s that my grandmother had given her. mom gave me a quick lesson (i'm pretty impatient). and i'm proud to say that i now possess the skills to turn machine on and sew a semi-straight line. watch out! there's no stopping me!

just part of my new sewing room

mom & me

jason spoiled me with a magical gift all the way from india... an authentic Gandhi charkha spinning wheel. i remember seeing this many years ago when jason & i watched the movie "Gandhi" and thinking that it looked cool. it's portable, so you can take it anywhere. it folds up into an attache case that looks like a book. i foresee transcendental yarn in my near future.

charkha

and my day ended with band practice, Guinness, and del taco! in that order. followed with a coffee infused "allman brothers live at the filmore" car-ride home.

the 2nd rook farm birth.

guido was the first baby born here on the rook farm. he will be turning 6 months old in februrary! but today we celebrate the birth of the 2nd, and soon to be 3rd, 4th, 5th.... we have incubated a couple dozen eggs donated by the fine hens of my aunt-in-law, glenda. here is a pic of the first one to break out of her shell. (sorry so blurry, but she needs to stay inside the incubator for a while).

first chick born

the next in line...

just like the white winged dove....

sings a song, sounds like she's singing...

happy 17th, ambo!

porkchop's 6th birthday.

porkchop turned 6 yesterday. hard to believe a little orphaned pup with pre-cancer and heartworm would be living such a long and prosperous life. he's traveled across the country, swam in the ocean, vacationed in branson, hunted rabbits and the occasional deer, rode a tractor, gone canoeing, dined on filet mignon and lamb, developed a keen taste for clementines and coffee, and yesterday he ate a bountiful birthday dinner of devilled egg, ham skin, turkey, stuffing, bisquits and gravy. shine on you crazy hound dog!

birthdays, beagles and mexican-irish pirates.

sam, the mexican-irish pirate at his 25th birthday bash.

amber turns sweet sixteen.

john's day-glow cake.

beagle pups fittin' to roll.

even beagles like coffee.

this past week was full of celebration. thursday night our drummer sam turned 25. to commemorate the good the bad and the ugly of reaching this ripe old age, we gave him an authentic mexican poncho. it only seemed fitting.

amber turned 16 on monday. we celebrated this weekend at rita's with a big ol' barbeque. amber was crowned birthday girl and was showered with gifts, (including a car, a chunk of change, and tickets to see wolfmother in chicago). she's pretty lucky.

and my brother in law john turned ? (after 30 it doesn't really matter). a decadent and somehow radioactive cake was shared in his honor.

the rest of the weekend was spent observing the latest litter of my father-in-law's beagle pups. i can't think of a better way to spend the holiday. i love puppy breath.

choppy turns 5 and celebrates christmas.

porkchop celebrated his 5th birthday. he got a homemade cookie from his uncle john, he played santa, and gave his mom a card that made her cry. now he's curled up with his new pink puppy and baby rabbit. next year he starts kindygarten....