...birthday fun...

So, there is much to cram into this post. This past weekend I celebrated my birthday and there is much to tell. It really started on Thursday with a bike ride. This is what I found along the road...

These are wildflowers that our county planted when they finished some recent road construction. Not bad, huh?

My next agenda item was dinner with my high school girlfriends. We have been friend for over 30 years! We have been through marriages, divorces, births, deaths, laughter and tears. This is a very special group of women to me. We get together about every 3-4 weeks for dinner. Our last BIG event together was the wedding of Molly's (1st on right) daughter in VEGAS, baby. It was a blast. That's when we saw Beatles Love. Needless to say....we knew ALL of the words...

This was the view on my drive home from dinner that night.....

It was spectacular.
On Saturday, which was actually my birthday, I went to the Beaverton Farmer's Market again. I love this market, duh! But I especially love the food. And I found my new favorite thing.....Zest Crepes!

Can you see how much I love them?

That evening, we had a wonderful dinner at Mingo, which is one of my favorite restaurants. Again, with the eating thing..... anyway, two of the best things of the evening (besides great family and friends) a beautiful wine and rhubarb crisp for dessert.

On Sunday I spent some time in the yard. There are some pretty great things happening there.

Oh! And remember my birthday gift from last year?

Now it looks like this...

Pretty neat, huh!

It was a very full and really wonderful birthday. I am very lucky!

Saturday was a great day! It started here......

and went here...

via this....

...that's Carol and I riding our bikes back from the Beaverton Farmer's Market. See my basket on my bike? It's new and do I love it! It has a quick release so I can ride with it and then take it off at the market to fill it up! SWEET!

The basket isn't the only thing to get filled on Saturday. Check out the goodies!

This is my new buddy, Tripp, making me some fresh squeezed Raspberry Lemonade. It's the best lemonade I have ever had.

The rule of the day was "if it doesn't fit in the tummy or the basket, you can't buy it". Carol almost broke the rule when the first thing she bought was a beautiful fused glass plate. Luckily, she had a backpack that the plate "just" fit into. The only thing she had to worry about then was not falling down on the way home.

This is Bryan and Nolan of Heifer International Portland. If you don't know about Heifer International go here and read all about it. I'll wait........

It's a fantastic organization and if you can, please donate to them. They do some great things!

By the time I left the market I had purchased a loaf of Dave's Killer Bread (I can't leave the market without it), a beautiful beefsteak tomato, some lovely basil, a hunk of local fontina cheese, and something new, garlic tops.

I made myself a promise this year to try something new from the market each week. Boy am I glad I tried this. They have the texture of asparagus with a hint of garlic flavor. I sauteed them in olive oil and salt and pepper and WOW. Love them. Try them if you haven't.

The ride was wonderful as the weather was perfect. 80 degrees with a slight breeze. I'm lovin' this bike thing.....

..the long and winding road...

For Christmas this year my husband got me a new bike. I had been hinting at a bike for about 9 months, but who know he was actually listening? Anyway, I have been out for a couple of short rides since Christmas, (the weather here hasn't been very cooperative) but last Sunday the weather was perfect.

I live in a rural area, known as Scholls, that has beautiful fields, rolling hills and pretty amazing birds and animals. So I hopped on my bike and headed out to see some of this beauty from the seat of my 24 speed. And what beauty.....

crimson clover in bloom

that's my bike, isn't is great?

this is what we do out here....

that, my friends, is a wild turkey...pretty cool, huh?

...faces from the road...

the flowers are pretty amazing, too.

All in all, I rode for a little over 1 1/2 hours and if I hadn't run out of water I might still be on my bike. It was really the best thing I have done for myself in a very long time. So bear with me. The road out there is truly long and winding and I aim to see much more of it from the seat of my bike......