What's going on in my world?

Mick mentioned a different place to go for Saturday breakfast in that after 2+ years of going to The Shanty Cafe it had grown stale and so we headed to Hudson's which sports a horseshoe bar, coffee parlor, and a Southern-inspired menu. Among the tasty dishes are deep-fried French toast, a pulled pork omelet, and shrimp and cheesy grits on the weekends. They open at 8AM and we were the second table. Within minutes there were multiple tables and people sitting at the bar. The pacing was great and everyone understood they were just getting going. Mick enjoyed the Chicken Fried Steak with country gravy and they also offer a sausage version for the biscuits. He also got a side of has browns and they were quite tasty as I got to enjoy a taste of both items this being my first visit. I opted to try the Shrimp and Cheesy Grits and opted for a biscuit on the side plus a side of bacon. Both good choices especially since the biscuits had just come out of the oven. I will be going back with good coffee and nice people, a winner.

We headed out rather quickly afterwards as Mick was headed north to see friends in Vancouver, BC and I decided to make a run for home and hide. It proved to be a day from hell as both the Mariners and Sounders played in town on the same day! Thankfully not at the same time as has happened before and likely will happen at least once this year, just watch. But it was just the right weather to kick back and have the windows open to air out the apartment and do some much anticipated reading which can be a wonderful nap inducer. It was!

My dear friend Michael lives on the Long Beach Peninsula and gets to enjoy daily walks with Hank, his dog. Now there are times that those walks take on a whole new meaning and that is when he gets do go claming. I love hearing the stories of his adventures and yesterday was no exception as was able to enjoy a treasure trove of bounty and scored not just one or two but a full dozen before calling it a day. The thing I love about Michael is that he is not one to rely on those new fangle things that do all the work and you get to have faux bragging rights. No, Michael has a good old fashion clam shovel that he get down there and have a game of who is going to be the winner? Him or the clam. Sometimes he is the winner and other times the clam will win. But it is a fair fight to the finish and may the best mman or clam win! The pictures shared here were posted by him on his facebook posting and I snagged them for those who might not know what a razor clam looks like. The first photo is a single clam. The picture on the right is of his clam shovel holding three of the prizes and finally the third picture is of the entire bounty presented in true prize formation. If I am not correct they are being displayed on the front porch but you know that soon enough they will be in the kitchen and cleaned ready for some wonrderful dish to enjoy.I have to share that Michael is an amazing cook. We have shared many of his wonderful dishes from Oyster Stew to a Boxing Day Dinner that had us transported to England spit spot! And oh if you could have been at one of our many Super Bowl parties where the food overtakes even the commercials of the game. What wonderful memories we do share. I look forward to seeing him over here in Seattle later this month for our Ya-Ya spring induction weekend. We had planned it for last month but it got postponed. Speaking of Ya-Ya's yesterday fellow Ya-Ya Jodie and her boyfriend Rob scored at a Garage Sale they went into with three other couple and cleared 90% sold the first day. They stopped by on the way home ands we celebrated by enjoying Peking Duck at Shanghai Garden. That will be the last time for a while for me as it is something to be reserved for special occasions and well there seems to have been 4 of them since last November. It can be just a bit too much after a while. We left very happy and full.

Today has been quite lovely with a lazy morning of coffee and reading - can you tell I like to read! Then a nap and at 1pm the group came together for Catan. It was a different version and one where I was just having a ball. For some reason I decided to count and poof, I had won. Who knew!?! It was a fast game that was done and done in just a little more than 3 hours. So the boys headed for home and I got the apartment back to order to allow for me to pause and bring you up to date on what the heck is going on in my world this day. Cheers for now!