No pictures of the birthday boy. I meant to, but everything moved at a fast pace today. I got up early to make a French toast breakfast.
Gifts: Green coffee beans from ::Equator::, and a "roaster." {Hot air popcorn maker} At Equator, I asked for four varieties of beans. They store super well unroasted, and this way we can sample and see which are our favourites. In the small machine we can only roast a handful of beans at a time. It is a fifteen to twenty minute process that must be supervised. And the machine blows out chaff from the cracked beans. Best for Aidan to do it all day in his office. {Anthony's idea.} All worth it when we tasted our first cup. Mmmmm. There are undertones that are lost when the beans are old. I think we are going to love this new hobby.
This afternoon, the plan was to go out for lunch at ::Our Place::, then picnic by the water, but Aidan had to work. Frustratingly, it turned out he was free to join us just as I was heading home. So I went with the kids and grabbed sandwiches to go.
I took my still spotty-faced kids down to the park, hoping to give them space to run around without coming into contact with other kids. Nice idea. Bad ending. We set up under a willow and soon had big ugly bugs dropping on us from above. Gulls were everywhere! In no time at all, Norah got poop all over her cute dress, and lunch. I thought a rinse in the fountain might do, but the stench of mold and pee(?) changed my mind. . .
Back home, we ate a delicious meal from "Apples for Jam" by Tessa Kiros: Prawn & Tomato Penne. I tweaked it a bit. Then I messed with my ::Rustic Apple Tart:: to produce a ::Strawberry Tart:: instead. 'Tis the season.
A tasty birthday, if not a perfectly executed one. Happy birthday, babe.
