30th Birthday Poster

The boy turned 30 on Tuesday!  So as a homage to him I created a very silly poster to put up on his Facebook page.  He has this obsession with pulling funny faces, especially showing his teeth (or 'teef' as we call it), so I just had to use this as ammo.  When I started out the project I was concerned that I wouldn't have enough photographs to use.  I mean, how many 'teef' photos can there actually be in the world??  A lot in fact!  The ones shown below are the the best, (ahem...most ridiculous looking) of the bunch. Enjoy...  

Of course our dogs had to feature somewhere.  So I took what is a well known photograph (amongst family and friends) of Mr Bubba and Mr Theo and made them into 'birthday celebration dogs'.  A little extra fun for the day.

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Oysters and the Mandrake

To keep up with our day of food, we headed to L&E Oyster Bar, a quirky little joint over in Silverlake.  I've had a quite a lot of oysters in my time, but I've never had so many to choose from in one sitting.  We started off with the days special, four of each of the following:

- Hollie Wood Zen from Denman Island, BC

- Hama Hama from Hood Canal, WA

- Chefs Creek from Deep Bay, Vancouver Island, BC

All from the West Coast Pacific.

Following that nifty dozen, we tried some from near Prince Edward Island in the northeast of Canada: 

- Beausoleil from Miramichi Bay, NB

We then had 2 more of the following:

- Peters Point from Buzzards Bay, MA

- Tomahawk from Southhampton, NY

All from the East Coast Atlantic.

We topped off our night by heading to a bar that we've discovered within a five minute walk from our house.  Mandrake Bar is a young and hip scene, much like the places you would see in either Brixton or the NQ in Manchester, so it was right up my alley.  They specialise in cocktails, but I stuck with my original choice of the evening: red wine (and my head very much paid for it the next day).  

The interior space is minimal in design with timber panelling wrapping up the wall and onto the ceiling over the bar.  The bar itself spans the length of the space in the main room and opposite is a long, fixed, black timber seating banquette.  In the second room is the DJ stand with a few raw timber bench seats and white walls.   Projected onto the far wall was old episodes of the Mad Men series.  Other walls in the room are used as a gallery for artists to display their work.  The current exhibition is by Dave Muller. The music, I thought, was really fun to dance to, but if you're looking for a quiet chat, you might want to find a spot closer to the bar.  There is a small outdoor space at the back which will be great in the summertime.  

Moi

Nerd

East Coast Oysters

East Coast Atlantic

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Robert Burn's Night

After our trip to Scotland in September, Patrick has been dying to eat some more haggis.  He searched for places in LA that have it on their menu and came across the Robert Burn's night celebration at the Tam O'Shanter.  Still feeling rough from the flu, we dragged ourselves out for some haggis, whiskey and hopefully a kilt or two.  Unfortunately, we were only to be disappointed by the lack of haggis.  When we were seated, they brought us some lovely bread to the table and what can only be described as gruel.  I'm not sure if it was a case of not being able to get hold of the real deal or if it was too outlandish for the American palate, but this was far from the traditional haggis I'm used to.  Dry, unseasoned mince is all I can say.  We weren't put off though, and when I saw yorkshire pudding on the menu I clapped hard  with excitement like a demented seal.  I opted for the "English cut" roast beef dinner.  The beef was thinly sliced, tender and absolutely delicious.  The mash potato was smooth and creamy and the yorkshire pudding was as you would find back home.  They brought us two options of horseradish: one which was a mild creamed version and the other, a much stronger 'hit you between the eyes and the crook of the nose' punch.  Coming from England, the sharper the better in my opinion (and watering eyes).     

The organisers went to a really great effort to celebrate the memory of the poet Robert Burns.  They had bagpipes, poem readings, the singing of Auld Lang Syne and a ceremony to address the (not so real) haggis. 

For a traditional roast beef dinner, an open fire and a decent pint, we'll definitely be going back!  

Robert Burn's Night Celebration

'English Cut' Roast Beef
 and Yorkshire Pudding!

A wee dram O' whiskey

I wonder if I should be worried?!? :)

Ode to the haggis

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Week 4_'Catch-Up' / Careful what you wish for...

This week, I thought it was about time I caught up on some emails that I've not had the chance to reply to.  I like to be able to sit down with a cuppa' and take the time to properly catch up with people.  So, that is my task for week 4.

And so it began . . .  

When I was in London, me and my good friend Little James Scott would always have conversations about how much we love the cold, miserable, English weather.  He always looks forward to the winter months arriving.  So much so I spent last winter (and summer) making a scarf for him to wear throughout the cold season.  I was emailing him yesterday and saying how much I'd loved being in the snow over Christmas.  And that it had made me really miss the grim cold back home.  I told him that since getting back to LA it has been sunshine and blue skies so far and that I needed a day of rain.  Well, the heavens could not have opened up much further today.  Sorry folks of LA, it seems that when the British girl wishes for snow in Connecticut, the girl gets snow and when she wishes for rain in LA, the girl gets rain!  Fortunately and unfortunately, I'm laid up with a cold and Patrick seems to be catching it too.  I only wish I had an Emmerdale or Coronation St. omnibus to catch up on and it would feel like a sick day off school.  Perhaps I should wish for sunny days in England for all my people back home.

Today will be spent crocheting in bed.  Inspired by my friend Riannon's granny square blankets, I've started my own in a red yarn.  It's going great so far.  However, I have been reading a blog by Folk Fibers and I'm inspired to start quilting, so I might rummage through my fabric supply to see what I have suitable.  Although I keep getting told off by Patrick for not staying in bed to fight off my sickness.  I guess it has been lingering since before Christmas.

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