We celebrated Sargie's birthday on Tuesday

December 14, 2016 - Wednesday

-2 degrees/clear/very windy

Pentoga Road

Mmm, you can't beat day-old birthday cake early in the morning. I look at it as kind of a pre-breakfast appetizer, something to whet the pallet in anticipation of enjoying another piece later in the day. 

Speaking of cake and birthdays, Sargie's has come and gone for another year. We had a wonderful day on Tuesday. Sargie slept in then enjoyed the morning talking on the phone to those who called with well wishes and good thoughts.

I busied myself making a cake. Only one problem... I thought I'd picked up a German chocolate cake mix off the shelves on Monday. Turned out, after the two layers were baked, that it was a chocolate mix.

Sargie was happy with chocolate, but hey, a girl's twenty-ninth birthday only comes once a year. I was going to drive back into town to get another cake mix when she suggested we look in the cabinet and see what might be in there. Sure enough, somewhere in the past, we'd purchased a German chocolate cake mix. The day was saved!

I needed the layers of the chocolate cake to cool so I could remove them from the pans. The solution? Surround each with snow on the back patio where the temperature was hovering around zero. 

Both layers of the chocolate cake were tightly wrapped and placed in the freezer. We'll enjoy those later in the holiday season after they are thawed and frosted. 

Sargie LOVES fried chicken strips, so there was nothing to do but drive to our local deli for an order, then navigate from there to McDonalds for a large order of sizzling French fries and Cokes. 

We enjoyed a goodly part of the afternoon sight seeing while munching chicken fingers and French fries. 

One of our frozen local lakes.
The waves of snow have been formed by the strong winds that have been howling for the past two days.

Sargie opened her presents during day. I gave her a Seiko revolving clock that plays songs on the hour, has four segmented parts that turn, doors that open, and little figurines that dance the hootchie coo. Okay, they don't really, but there is a lot that happens all at once.

I also got the birthday girl an adult coloring kit with pencils and all that goes with it. 

I'd made Sargie a plaque on the scroll saw of a mother holding her baby. Sargie has four sons and hopefully it will remind her of when each was an infant, of that special bond that can only happen between a mother and child.

After a supper of creamy potato/bacon/cheesy soup, we painted ornaments. 



I did some of the big painting, that that didn't have to be overly accurate, while Sargie painted the particulars and gave the ornaments personalities.

I was informed that today is cleaning day on Pentoga Road. Mom is due to arrive on the noon flight tomorrow and Sargie would like to have the house ready for her arrival. It won't take long. I'll do the floors and stairs, Sargie will do the dusting and put her touches here and there. We'll crank up the Christmas music and bee bop our way to domestic cleanliness. 

It's time to get this show on the road. We need a few more ornaments so I think I'll sneak out to the shop and turn on the heat, get that lathe to turning.

After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Hmmm, look who got caught with her hand in the cookie jar... 'er, her spatula in the frosting container.