Happy Birthday Charlotte!

We celebrated Charlotte's birthday with brunch at our house: Potato hash nests w/ pesto and quail eggs (a special recipe from Gail!), toast and bacon w/ hollandaise sauce (B-day girl's favorite), and of course some fresh melon! Theodore helped blow out the candle.

Delicious nests!

I painted this table for Charlotte with an art deco stencil and a couple stencils I made myself, a moth and a beetle. We have kind of a symbolism around those two creatures that started with her gifting me a beetle pin and she has a moth pin of her own. Our kitchen has a theme of cherry-red accents to complement the teal and yellows we have going on... might sound weird, but it works I think! This table was made by Uncle Marven to fit right between the oven and the kitchen counter. I put a few layers of Polycrilic to protect the paint, I think it should work pretty well! And I gave it an updated woodblock on cork legs to set oil, salt, etc. on. We also took a little day trip out to a spa called Osmosis in the small town of Freestone, near Occidental in the land of ancient apple orchards. It was a beautiful day with much relaxation, appreciation of the meditation garden there and the beauty of nature all around. We were treated to the "Cedar enzyme bath" which is a 30 minute immersion in a big tub of actively fermenting cedar bark and rice hulls. It is a Japanese technique. It felt like being weighted down by a heavy wet, warm, blanket... and the most peculiar aroma! It was nice, really, despite it being a pretty warm day to begin with. I bet it will be even nicer when the weather cools down a bit. We got a membership and plan to return about once a month. The bath helped clear up Charlotte's exzema pretty good! (It has been flaring up since she's started immunotherapy, as exzema is an immune system response, and the immunotherapy kicks the immune system into high gear). We also got Sedish massages after our baths, which were great! Meanwhile. . .

The cat cafe is in full effect! Casual lounging for relaxation and contemplation (for cats). Our Very Important Patron here demonstrating.

This sky-writer was a fun surprise one recent evening!