Happy Birthday to ME

  Saturday was my birthday and it was a very good day.  The sun was out, there was that perfect cool breeze that tastes so good and makes one feel clean and refreshed  like those soap commercials.
 
  The best present was my pup Morton's good health prognosis.  He had been very ill from a severe internal traumatic injury.   He had had surgery and was having a tough time healing due to his blood not clotting propery.  With a diagnosis of hemophilia and a plasma transfusion he started to mend very quickly and he's pretty much back to being his old goofy self, although we are treading much more carefully.  (he's on a fly hunt right now.)  The emergency veterinary hospital and staff was fantastic.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone there!  I so recommend this place to anyone local who needs emergency care for their pets.
http://columbiarivervetspecialists.com/

Mort, one happy dude,  recovering in my studio.

   I wanted to share some of the fabulous presents I received and thank my friends Sam, Emily and Bruce for starting the fun off early by taking me out to eat Thursday and Friday.  Thursday we ate at Vindalho in Portland.  They have a fantastic modern space and fresh, innovative Indian food.  This place is really yummy.   Vindalho  .  Friday night Emily took me out to Lapellah in Vancouver.  They specialize in fresh, local cuisine.  The restaurant is fairly new and they did a really nice job with the construction and design.
  They have a brick oven, wood beams and very comfy booths.  Apparantly they are renowned for their burger.  I had the halibut with crab.  A bit indulgent, but hey it's my birthday.  http://lapellah.com/

 Here are some crummy photos, I really will have to work on improving my photography:

 Yummy homemade chocolate cupcake from Sherry.  It was so good I couldn't wait to start eating it before I took the photo.  Morty licked the frosting too.

Purple and red seemed to be the theme.  Hydrangea's from Sherry 

Lunch Skins from Kimmy.  Perfect for packing my dried fruit and nuts and saving those plastic bags.

Handwoven cloth woven by Beth Poirer a gift from Kim Morris and the lighter pink one is one of Kims.    Her work is incredible.  She dyes all her yarn with natural vegetable dies and then hand weaves them.  

  Morty loves lying on her wool rug in my kitchen.  Here's a link to Oregon Art Beat, they feature Kimmy:http://www.opb.org/programs/artbeat/episodes/view/843

"Icons of the Desert", Aboriginal art book, gift from Bruce.

Spice storage system, beautiful colorful spices, a knife and an Alice Waters cookbook from Sherry. I'm going to cook something today from it.  Thank you Sherry, you always get me the most perfect gifts.

And to myself a mega sugar high- Theo chocolate with Cherries and Almonds, buttered popcorn and coconut flavored jelly beans and a binge on Season 5 of Weeds.