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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Good Birthday

Good Birthday

by John Cole|  June 22, 20198:51 pm| 57 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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The birthday dinner:

Crabcakes, broccoli from the garden, and tomatoes with mozz. and basil. Gonna have some raspberries later.

It was a perfect day again- 80 and sunny with a breeze and no humidity. Washed the car, went and got a pedicure, painted the pipes for the shelves, did a little bit of weeding and powerwashed part of the front porch before quitting and saying it can wait until tomorrow and I went and cooked dinner.

I just love this time of year.

*** Update ***

Currently wedged underneath a vicious attack dog:

Send help.

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Reader Interactions

57Comments

  1. 1.

    Mary G

    June 22, 2019 at 8:56 pm

    Many happy.returns.

  2. 2.

    NotMax

    June 22, 2019 at 8:57 pm

    Much better fit here than in the thread below.

    Happy wishes for you, Señor C.

    No cake? Not even a sliver?

  3. 3.

    Another Scott

    June 22, 2019 at 9:00 pm

    Excellent picture, looks yummy.

    Happy birthday!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  4. 4.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 22, 2019 at 9:04 pm

    That dinner looks wonderful! Hope you have had, are having, and will continue to have, a splendid birthday.

    Thank you again for the miracle you have wrought with this Balloon Juice thing. It’s really an amazing, magical community. I feel vastly privileged to be part of it.

  5. 5.

    Eljai

    June 22, 2019 at 9:06 pm

    What? No photo of your pedicure?

    The food looks good on your Fiestaware.

  6. 6.

    Steeplejack

    June 22, 2019 at 9:09 pm

    Happy birthday, Cole!

  7. 7.

    debbie

    June 22, 2019 at 9:10 pm

    This time of year, I subsist almost exclusively on farmers’ market tomatoes with basil leaves on toasted sourdough bread. The roof of my mouth is already sore from the toast.

  8. 8.

    NotMax

    June 22, 2019 at 9:14 pm

    @debbie

    Bagels and bialys to the rescue!

  9. 9.

    Kristine

    June 22, 2019 at 9:15 pm

    Puppy!

    Happy birthday, John. Many more.

  10. 10.

    NotMax

    June 22, 2019 at 9:18 pm

    Currently wedged underneath a vicious attack dog

    Playing the role of the ottoman umpire.

  11. 11.

    TomatoQueen

    June 22, 2019 at 9:22 pm

    Happy Summer Birthday to you

  12. 12.

    Barbara

    June 22, 2019 at 9:25 pm

    @debbie: I love tomato sandwiches! We spent four hours not far from WV canoeing in the mild whitewater of the Shenandoah. It was just about perfect.

    ETA: WV has the best whitewater in the East.

  13. 13.

    dmsilev

    June 22, 2019 at 9:26 pm

    Happy birthday!

    Made a run to the farmers market this morning, so my dinner tonight was actually not too different. Chicken instead of crab cake, but a salad made with fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, and fresh mozzarella (which, granted, came from the regular grocery store…). Also about 2 pounds of strawberries and a very nice chocolate raspberry scone. And so on.

  14. 14.

    Raven Onthill

    June 22, 2019 at 9:27 pm

    Well, happy birthday.

  15. 15.

    Steppy

    June 22, 2019 at 9:28 pm

    Best wishes. I am mostly a lurker that surfaces occasionally. This community is so important to me and that’s because of your stewardship. Thanks and Happy Birthday!

  16. 16.

    Steppy

    June 22, 2019 at 9:31 pm

    @debbie: that time of year has not quite arrived. Once our slicing tomatoes come in, it’s tomato sandwiches with salt, pepper and mayonnaise nearly every day.

  17. 17.

    John

    June 22, 2019 at 9:34 pm

    Happy Birthda!ly! Also my sons bday, turned 13 today.

  18. 18.

    chris

    June 22, 2019 at 9:35 pm

    Happy birthday, JGC. And thanks for all you do.

  19. 19.

    chris

    June 22, 2019 at 9:38 pm

    @Steppy: If you can stand the extra work, make French toast with tomato, mayo and salt and pepper. To die for

  20. 20.

    HRA

    June 22, 2019 at 9:44 pm

    Happy Birthday, John!
    I am still very impressed with the broccoli from your garden. The rest of your dinner looks very good, too.
    Enjoy your evening!

  21. 21.

    Ohio Mom

    June 22, 2019 at 9:49 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Seconded.

  22. 22.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 22, 2019 at 9:50 pm

    Happy Birthday JGC
    जन्मदिवसाच्या शुभेच्छा

  23. 23.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    June 22, 2019 at 9:53 pm

    Happy birthday! Many happy returns.

  24. 24.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    June 22, 2019 at 9:54 pm

    Happy birthday, Meester Cole! May you have many more and without any mopping/mustard incidents. Same with four-wheeling your rig into a field. ;)

  25. 25.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 22, 2019 at 9:55 pm

    @John:

    Today, he is a man.

    A very happy 13th to your son. May he make it through his teens with a minimum of surliness.

  26. 26.

    Miss Bianca

    June 22, 2019 at 9:58 pm

    Happy birthday, JC! And many happy returns!

  27. 27.

    geg6

    June 22, 2019 at 10:00 pm

    @Barbara:

    Agreed. The Cheat is an awesome run. Though PA’s Youghiagheny and the ‘96 Olympic run in the Ocoee in TN are also pretty good runs. I love white water rafting.

    ETA: Happy, happy birthday, Cole! Dinner looks delicious!

  28. 28.

    Immanentize

    June 22, 2019 at 10:01 pm

    Another successful trip around our friend, the sun. Happy Birthday, John. ?

  29. 29.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    June 22, 2019 at 10:02 pm

    Happy Birthday Cole. Wishing you many more, even better ones.

  30. 30.

    raven

    June 22, 2019 at 10:03 pm

    @geg6: Section 4 of the Chatooga is awesome.

    “Each mode of travel comes with our expert instruction, as each kind of craft is unique and rides differently in the water and over rapids. We’ll take you along section IV of the Chattooga, where you’re going to confront the steepest dives of any commercially rafted river in the South. Through a quarter mile flume the river descends over 75 feet into the Five Falls. Each is named to give you an idea of what you’re getting into:

    Entrance
    Corkscrew
    Crack In The Rock
    Jawbone
    Sock Em Dog”

    https://nowhabersham.com/shoot-the-rapids-on-the-chattooga-river/

  31. 31.

    CaseyL

    June 22, 2019 at 10:04 pm

    Happy Birthday!

    And thank you, again, for creating this community. It’s been a sanity saver.

    My deck garden is going gangbusters!

    The tomato plants have about 7 ‘maters growing, all still green and, according to The Google, not likely to ripen for about another 6 weeks.

    The strawberries have lost their minds and are almost more blossom than leaf. One berry is already turning red; there are a bunch of others forming.

    Having never eaten anything I’ve grown myself, I am more excited than is probably good for me :)

    One strawberry plant has put out a long frond with a leaf at the end – is that a runner? Should I do something with it? They’re all in pots, so if it is a runner there’s no place for it to run to. Should I move that one plant to a planter with more room so the runner(s) can take root?

  32. 32.

    Mai Naem mobile

    June 22, 2019 at 10:06 pm

    Happy Birthday John. Many happy returns.

  33. 33.

    Raven

    June 22, 2019 at 10:07 pm

    Happy birthday babysan. . .

  34. 34.

    geg6

    June 22, 2019 at 10:10 pm

    @raven:

    Five Falls!!!!!!!!!

    And the banjos played a jaunty tune.

  35. 35.

    debbie

    June 22, 2019 at 10:15 pm

    @Steppy:

    When the store-bought basil leaves are past their prime, it’s Hellmans and pepper for me!

  36. 36.

    Ruckus

    June 22, 2019 at 10:17 pm

    @Raven:
    That earned a laugh.

  37. 37.

    J R in WV

    June 22, 2019 at 10:17 pm

    @Barbara:

    ETA: WV has the best whitewater in the East.

    Quoted for truth!!

    Sweet Greenbrier River, Big New River… you can canoe the upper New, you had best kayak or raft the lower New. The Gauley is great, but should be done with experienced people, it is really rough, Class V all the way… I won’t do it, I’m too old.

  38. 38.

    SWMBO

    June 22, 2019 at 10:18 pm

    Happy Birthday!
    And I love the tongue sticking out. (The dog not you). Dinner looks tasty. Did you invite the parents over for dinner? How is your dad doing? How is Rosie? Much healing and happiness to all.

  39. 39.

    geg6

    June 22, 2019 at 10:19 pm

    @geg6:

    And having run all these waters, I still had the most heart rending run in the Yough inhigh water and guiding a bunch of amateurs in an eight man raft. We more experienced rafters were all in four man rafts and had to keep rescuing these idiots. I regretted not using one of the kayaks. Two couples in the big raft thought it was the thing to do to celebrate every rapid by making out instead of paddling or trying to steer. Ugh.

  40. 40.

    Jackie

    June 22, 2019 at 10:24 pm

    @Steppy: with a slice of Walla Walla sweet onion!

  41. 41.

    rikyrah

    June 22, 2019 at 10:26 pm

    Happy Birthday, Cole????????????
    Dinner looks delicious ??

  42. 42.

    Jackie

    June 22, 2019 at 10:28 pm

    Happiest birthday ever, John!

  43. 43.

    dww44

    June 22, 2019 at 10:31 pm

    @SWMBO: I second the Happy Birthday as well as eveything else you mentioned.

  44. 44.

    J R in WV

    June 22, 2019 at 10:37 pm

    Happy Birthday, John Cole!!

    Sorry I forgot to say that up front. Cute dog, also too.

    When the tomatoes come in at the Farmer’s Market, we start going through the bacon, for the BLTs. Ummm, good. They’re good with cheese and basil too, but nothin’ beats BLTs… nothing!

  45. 45.

    Jay

    June 22, 2019 at 10:38 pm

    Thank you John, Birthy Hapday, and many more.

  46. 46.

    TaMara (HFG)

    June 22, 2019 at 10:42 pm

    Happy birthday. And hush on that perfect day, rain, hail, snow in CO yesterday and today.

    But we do have another big dinosaur find: https://denver.cbslocal.com/video/4109335-dinosaur-fossils-revealed-to-be-triceratops

    I’ve been living on jicama slaw waiting for the tomatoes and peppers.

  47. 47.

    Ben Cisco

    June 22, 2019 at 10:51 pm

    Happy Birthday Cole. I hope you are enjoying it.

  48. 48.

    Amir Khalid

    June 22, 2019 at 11:25 pm

    Happy birthday O mighty Blog Lord, and may no plane ever crash on your anniversary.

  49. 49.

    Gemina13

    June 22, 2019 at 11:39 pm

    Happy Birthday, Cole!

    Crab cakes sound marvelous. It’s warming up here in WA, and I’m beginning to think about cold shrimp soup, crab salad, and Connecticut-style lobster rolls, myself. Oh, and grilled salmon, because I’ve got a shitload yet in my freezer, and my darling will need the room for his 50-lb bonus in September. So . . . anyone want wild-caught Alaskan salmon, from the Bering Sea?

  50. 50.

    NotMax

    June 22, 2019 at 11:40 pm

    @Amir Khalid

    First glance necessitated a double take.

    ;)

  51. 51.

    mkd

    June 23, 2019 at 12:14 am

    @geg6: great try on spelling Youghiogheny! The spelling is very singular, so anything goes!

  52. 52.

    gammyjill

    June 23, 2019 at 1:58 am

    Happy Birthday, Cole. Where’s the cat?

  53. 53.

    sempronia

    June 23, 2019 at 4:27 am

    @CaseyL:

    Plant it into the ground at the angle in the runner where the leaves are coming out to get a new plant, and once it takes, I think you can cut the runner away from the original plant. If you don’t want more plants, cut off the runners bc they’re taking energy away from growing fruit. mmm, strawberries… my plants fruited, and the second wave is in flowers now. Expecting a harvest in a couple weeks!

  54. 54.

    Rivers

    June 23, 2019 at 5:42 am

    Happy birthday! I’m another occasionally surfacing lurker who appreciates Balloon Juice and the story of your life more than you can imagine. Thanks and many happy returns!

  55. 55.

    Laura Too

    June 23, 2019 at 8:18 am

    Late to the party as usual. Happy Birthday John, Much love for all you do!

  56. 56.

    Rileys Enabler

    June 23, 2019 at 8:44 am

    Happy birthday! Thank you for creating this small corner of sanity in an otherwise overwhelmingly horrible world.

    BJ is an island of humanity. Thank you.

  57. 57.

    Gregory

    June 23, 2019 at 9:25 am

    Happy birthday! And many more.

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