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Easter 2016, Birdeye

Friday, April 8, 2016

Buddy provided snacks and water during the baseball game

I cannot take it that Chloe and I are both in heels and she's nearly as tall as Jackie

Chloe and August set this photo up because it's like one from 3 years ago in the exact same spot on Easter morning.
I''ll have to dig it out and do a comparison...

I had the kids turn and look....Stella then Austin, Trevor, Whit with his back to us and Eli Boone

With the Huff's out of town we had 26 come for this year's Easter lunch.....

I got a photo of Harmon giving the blessing.....it's a tradition that goes back to Jackie's great grandfather Bex Shaver

Somehow I got this shot of Harmon and Jimmie Barham

This table had some laughs...I cannot believe I got 12 around my dining room table
(Jackie, me and Polly sat in the living room with the kids)

Oh the infamous Easter Baseball game...here's August batting...thank GOD for the net that catches the balls!
Julie and Matt brought the net, bases, bats, balls and gloves, thank you!!

My Russian Egg Roulette game was a hit again...we give a dozen eggs, partially raw and partially hard cooked....

Austin Boone

Right after this, August got in Chloe's bathtub to wash his hair....I guess he probably should have just not played the game lol!

Bob Hardin (Kara's dad), Tyler and Mick Raffety

Another view of the prayer

Lots of fun

Eli is a really good baseball player, Stella's pitching

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Chloe had Buddy, the poodle, cart around snacks and water during the game
Sunday, March 27, 2016

We had a great time at church on Easter Sunday and then for our traditional Easter lunch afterwards.  Great food, family time and games made the day so fun.  And the weather held which was nice as it was supposed to rain all day and it never did!  A shout out to Jeanie, my mother-in-law, who always brings the ham and knows that there's a quiet competition between Polly, Kara's mom, and me for the ham bone.  Four years ago, we were cleaning up the kitchen and I see Polly bagging up Jeanie's ham bone to take with her back to Russellville and I literally just stopped and watched her...she didn't know that I love a ham bone for my navy beans I make in the winter.  She realized how sad I was and let me have the bone, thankfully.  So this year Jeanie found out you can buy ham bones at the Honey Ham store and got both Polly and I one.  THANK YOU JEANIE!!

Sante Fe Cooking School

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Kara, Chef Alex Hadidi and me
Monday, March 21, 2016

I have to say that my sister-in-law is right about 99% of the time on 99% of the subjects and she made the RIGHT call on signing us up for a Taco class with Alexis Hadid at the Sante Fe Cooking School.  We had a blast learning how to make homemade corn and flour tortillas, hot and cold tomatillo salsa and the list goes on and on.  They also taught knife skills and the importance of keeping your kitchen picked up as you cook.  Chef Hadidi is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York and is a private chef in Sante Fe.  He also was on the last interview to appear on the Food Network's Chopped series.  We sure hope he gets on that show, we love it.  You'll love the Sante Fe Cooking School and its wonderful store.  Kara and I got pots like the black one on the stove in the picture.  They're similar to cast iron and I cannot wait to use mine.

March in Photos, Birdeye

Friday, March 11, 2016

Jackie and I at our 15th half marathon. Little Rock Half, Sunday,
March 6.  We survived even though we didn't do a lot of training.
His knee hurt and I'm just fat.  That is all.
(Our time was 2:25 which Jackie remarked was a turtle pace, lol but true)

Start line, dang blurry camera!

Those hand cyclists are amazing.

Buddy and I at agility class in Memphis.  Chloe's the reason I quit obedience 15 years ago but she's behind Buddy and I
taking classes.  And she's right, Buddy's so gifted, he really does need a job and he loved every.single.second
(notice Lynn in front of me, my trainer from 20 years ago and just ONE wall of ribbons, she's really awesome)
This Tulip Tree is outside Chloe's bedroom and barely bloomed last year, it's spectacular!

Chloe took this of August's millenium falcon toy that he flew into our tree...

Our crew of ladies got a crew to eat with every two months... not calling it a supper club but a whatever. The egg cartons
are out so I would be reminded to send my friends some eggs which they forgot. LOL

I've said it 200 times, I'm so lucky to have 15 or so different varieties of daffodils every spring because of Winnie Bob

I believe this is called a starlight magnolia....

Big Blue, he loves to come up to the fence when the dogs fence fight and bark at him.  He literally loves every second of it!
And he's one handsome man...

Chloe got Buddy a halter and I put it on him when I took him to work with me last week (dang blurry camera)....I had to
take it off because he thought he had to be with me every stinking second.  See how I've tied him up to the door.  Now if
he comes with me to work, it's on a heavy desk job day because when I have to leave my office, I have to shut the door
or he'll walk around the clinic...and that's not good.  So he's not going with me very often

Chloe got this one of Buddy in the creek

We used a GiGi's cupcake gift card and Chloe had Stella take this of her

This lady is living on a boat in Kennebunkport Maine.  Amazing that a dog tied to a tree in Trumann, Ark for two years
can go to Maine and live on a house boat....she's got it better than most humans I'd say....


Buddy isn't scared of jumping off cliffs...

Great shot of Bentley when we boarded him last week...hilarious!

It's time for weight watchers!
One of these days, he may just break a leg...

Kara hosted dinner Tuesday for Bettie, Heilbron and Cooper who've been here measuring the house for upgrades....
This is Cooper who was stalling by telling jokes so the kids could keep practicing their play.  They made up a play
that was really cute...I wish I had more photos of it....

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Thought photos would tell what we've been up to.  We did have a great dinner at Cache in Little Rock before the marathon.  I'll get to reviewing it asap!

Bakersfield Tacos, Nashville

Tuesday, February 16, 2016



Jackie's tacos (short rib and crispy fish) were very good

I had the waitress pick this Chicken Chorizo Tostada over tacos and she was right, it was excellent and very filling

Since it was Valentine's Day customers got a glass of champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries...the strawberries
were great, they had a drizzle of chipotle but the champagne, not so much.  I thought about my fabulous sister-in-law
Kara when I sipped what I believed to be Andre Extra Dry Champagne, yuck!! If they were going to serve sparkling
wine instead of real champagne, they should've at least served Cook's Grand Reserve, Kara and I figured that out
way back at our Christmas Party when we introduced champagne.  I think at this year's party we need to serve chocolate
dipped strawberries to take it up a notch.




The guy in the cowboy hat is Nestor Andress (not a typo).  He and his buddies were there passing out his new CD
and Hershey Kisses during lunch.  They were tying one on and one of his buddies asked that they play one of the
tracks from his CD that he released that day and they did and it was really good.  So when it was over, I clapped and he
came over and shook my hand, gave me a CD and the kiss.  Jackie and I listened to the CD on the way home and it
was really good.  I do think he should change his name tho.  You know, John Legend's real name is John Stephens.  
Dang blurry shot of Sheryl Crow with her band (and original guitarist Peter Stroud) on stage at the Nashville's
Schermerhorn Symphony Center.  One of my favorite Sheryl Crow concerts (and I've seen her 12 times).  You
can see the symphony behind her.  That place was really cool...

The place was packed.  I loved her set list, she played "The Difficult Kind" off her second album, I'd never heard it live
before.  She also sang "I Shall Believe",  "Am I getting through" and "Hard to make a stand" all of
which I'd never heard live.  I was surprised last May when we heard her in Little Rock and she played "Sweet Rosalyn" and others I'd never heard live.  

Dang blurry camera 

That place was amazing and had such great sound


I saw this on Chloe's camera roll of Buddy and I had to add it


Chloe's talented

This was Christmas morning of Biscuit

Oh Buddy.....

I don't think he's happy here....

Monday, February 15, 2016

Sheryl Crow performed with the Nashville Symphony on Valentine's and Jackie and I were sure to be there, of course.  I'm so glad she still tours and sings her hits from her rock albums.  Her song list was impressive as she sang several from her first two albums and I was thrilled to hear Perfect Lie (which she did say she felt like Taylor Swift when she wrote it about her breakup with Lance Armstrong), Run, Baby, Run, Always on your Side and It's the Best of Times, some of my favorites!  We only heard one country song which I found crazy since we were in Nashville but I was thrilled with the songs she sung.  It was one of my top 3 concerts in the 12 we've seen.

We had a late lunch at Bakersfield Tacos, just two blocks from our hotel on a rainy and cold Sunday.  Bakersfield is a cool, taco and whiskey chain that has locations in Pittsburg, Charlotte, Cincinnati and Columbus.  The menu was great featuring salsas, tostadas, tacos, sandwiches and salads.  They also had a long list of tequila and whiskey, none like I'd ever seen anywhere.  Of course, we don't drink whiskey or tequila so Jackie and a local beer Yazoo's Dos Perros and I picked Sonoma Curter Chardonnay.  I did crave an unsweet tea but much to my disappointment they only serve sweet tea.  (I know Kara's gagging) So I had a diet coke for my caffeine craving.

Our waitress helped me pick between a tostada and the chicken tacos.  She said the Chicken Chipotle Tostada was her favorite and it was fantastic.  It is served in a little cast iron dish with salad underneath it.  It was a huge portion that I couldn't finish.  Jackie and two versions of short rib tacos and the crispy mahi taco.  All were delicious.  We rarely get appetizers but we got the chips and queso with their house pickled jalapenos that were marked (HOT).  We got them and they were not.  Pretty disappointing.  I was planning on getting knocked over with the all caps HOT next to them.  My homemade pickled jalapenos are the gut busting bomb of (HOT).  Theirs were pretty wimpy.

The waitress offered us a glass of champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries for Valentine's Day.  That was a neat gesture but would've been cooler if the champagne wasn't rough.  I seriously think it was Andre Extra Dry, one of the cheapest California Sparkling Wines on the planet.  The only reason I know this is that Kara and I had a California Sparkling Wine tasting a few years back to pick a reasonable one for our annual Christmas Party.  We eventually went with Alexis' recommendation of Cook's Grand Reserve and now Kara's moved on to another one she gets at Buster's in Memphis.  I'll have to share that brand when we serve it up this December.  The strawberries were great and had a chipotle caramel drizzle over them.

We stuck around and table watched what eventually we found out was a young, and talented, country singer named Nestor Andress and is entourage next to us.  They were loud, putting back some beer and margaritas.  Their crowd grew over the two hours we were there.  One guy showed up with a box of CD's and Hershey Kisses.  When I went to the ladies room (and it was a damned good one too by the way), I over heard a girl hand his CD to the bartender and ask him to play track #3.  It was a great song called "Drunk at a Bar" which was what they were.  When the song was over, I clapped and he came over, shook my hand and handed me a kiss and the CD.  While we were there, I googled him and he released those tracks that day.  We listened to it on the way home and they were really good. I wish him well with his CD.  I do think he should change his name though.  Like Bruno Mars is really Peter Gene Hernandez, Jay Z is really Shawn Corey Carter, Jamie Foxx is Eric Marlon Bishop and the list goes on.  You never know who you'll run into or see in Nashville.  Jackie's cousin Blaine took yoga with Nicole Kidman when she was at Vanderbilt.

When you're in Nashville, be sure to check out Bakersfield Tacos.  Or I guess at any of their locations.  Bakersfield Tacos, 201 3rd Ave, Nashville, TN 37201 (615) 522-0970.
http://www.bakersfieldtacos.com