Jeff, Mike, and Martha enjoy our back porch. It’s clean for a change. Photo by: Suna

Debbie gave us a set of mugs promoting her new CD. Photo by: Suna

We had more company today than we usually have in a … well, ever. Jeff and Debbie came out and brought us mugs that promote her new CD: Suite Journey. Mike and Martha came out just to visit.

It was great having company. We talked. We hiked. We talked. We drank. We talked….

 

JT and the Quartertones

Suna dances and says, “Let’s go listen to some music!” in her new nearly-completed sweater.

Tonight is the midpoint between Suna’s birthday and mine. To celebrate, we went to see Jeff’s new band play at cafe segovia. I guess they spell it in all lower case in a misguided attempt to be trendy.

To me there is nothing trendy about good food, and the food there is superlative. It is Spanish rather than Mexican or TexMex. Suna and Parker had a beef stew seasoned with a hint of cinnamon. I had a suckling pig that was cooked to succulent moistness if a little under seasoned. I guess the chef wanted to let the natural flavor of the little piggy carry the day, and it was almost up to the task. Beccano had a rib eye, which he consumed in it’s entirety.

But the culinary star of the evening was the vegetables. They were fresh and crisp. They were also seasoned to perfection. I have never eaten veggies before that I preferred to a tasty entré. Mmmmmmmmm.

I said culinary star because Suna chose the restaurant because of the entertainment. Jeff’s new band had their debut performance. I’ve heard Jeff play around the house, so I knew he is a hot picker. I’ve heard him at a couple of singer songwriter gigs, including our wedding, so I knew he could fulfill both halves of that category. But this was the first time I’ve heard him rock.

The band did a mix of classic covers and originals. My favorite of the first set was a long medley based on “Pretty Woman.&rquo; Parker on Beccano both enjoyed “Sultans of Swing.” And I liked the originals, too.

We didn’t get to stay for the second set because we had to get the kids home. That was disappointing, but it was also a good excuse to drag this tired old butt to bed.

Go see JT and the Quartertones play at a venue near you if you get the chance.

Celebrating Our Birthdays

Suna looks at a birthday card from TubaBoy while he is busy texting his friends. The card features a large biker-type wearing hotpants he doesn’t have the butt for.

The Prince came with us to church. After a rough night (my sinuses closed completely down after dinner), I finally took half a Benadryl at about 6:00. I slept through most of Rev. K’s sermon.

We spent the afternoon working on the house. The Prince and Suna pulled up vines and other weeds in the back flower beds. They have them looking very good. I finally got around to cutting a couple of fence boards that a tree had grown into. They no longer make that annoying creaking in a wind. The only other thing I got accomplished was to trim a shelf so that it fits in the cabinet with the new brackets. One shattered the other day, and we realized that another had been missing for a while. I had wanted to make a tennoning jig, but I realized that the piece of scrap I wanted to use was too badly warped. Looks like I’ll have to buy a little MDF. It’s more stable and will last longer, anyway.

The Prince treated us to dinner at Artz Rib House, where we enjoyed the music of Danny Santos and Eddie Collins, who asked me if I would be interested in playing bass with him, assuming his current bass player actually quits. The boys ate a lot of meat. The Prince seemed to enjoy the meal and the music. Jeff Tveraas also showed up and played part of the break set, the 20 minutes between sets.

When we came home, we celebrated our respective birthdays. Mine is on Tuesday. Suna’s was last Wednesday. The Prince’s was in February. TubaBoy got me a 4G USB key. Suna got me a collector’s edition of The Long Way Home, a collection of the first “episode” of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8. The Prince and Princess gave Suna a bracelet. It had been a gift from The Prince to The Princess that they had planned to bequeath to Suna. But they decided to give it to her when they could enjoy her reaction.