Anniversary Weekend - 3-YEARS

Team Taylor

 Heather and I decided to get out of town and celebrate our 3rd year Anniversary at a Bed & Breakfast... nothing new, we do it each year.

We found one in Virginia, about an hour North of Charlottesville... on a FARM!

The Brightwood Farm is a working farm.  They have chickens, goats, donkeys and a dogs guarding them.

They also grow herbs, grapes, elderberries and Lord only knows what else.

5 years ago, they converted an old hippy A-frame into a beautiful cottage. It has a view directly down the hill into the Robinson River, and was very cozy and fun.  We made fires in the woodstove, read out on the covered deck, cooked breakfast each day in the full kitchen (with the items in a huge basket that they provided).  We could have opted to have them bring breakfast to us, but had way more fun cooking.

The woodstove made it so hot one night we had to open windows to cool off and get back to sleep!

A tiny mouse, also staying in the cottage, ate the rest of a muffin I left out on the countertop.. but we never saw the little critter.

We went for a hike along skyline drive down to a waterfall.  We even had a chance to hike on the Appalachian trail for a bit.

The hike was beautiful and according to Heather, was uphill both ways!!!  I hadn't noticed, but now that she mentions it.. it was!

=)

We drove the hour down to Charlottesville for a wonderful dinner at the BoatHouse restaurant and had some steak that melted in our mouths! 

The owners of the farm gave us a bottle of elderberry wine that they had bottled themselves.

All in all.. it was a wonderful Anniversary trip... and I am very grateful for Heather and our 3years!

Here are just a few shots of the trip.. if you want to view more.. follow this link:

http://gallery.me.com/mikerthebiker#100465

Our Cabin

80' Waterfall

Team Taylor by the Stream

View from our back Deck!!!

Easter Eggs for Breakfast

We all had some great times decorating Easter Eggs this year and them eating them for breakfast on Sunday.

These are a couple if my eggs.. They look nicer in the INSIDE than they did on the outside! The technique used to get this to happen is simply to crack the shell (don't remove it) of the boiled egg before you begin adding the colors to the shell.

Fun was had by all!

Max knows SALMON

The other day I was out in the cool of the evening, enjoying a beer and grilling some Salmon.  And who happened along to sit with me and give me advice???   It was our very own MAX.. the gourmet chef cat.

He had a couple pointers of how hot the grille should be, how long I should leave the filets on each side.. and one very good tidbit about oil and spices (which I wrote down).

He is a VERY good cat, a great conversationalist and nearly talked me into giving him Heather's filet.

Phonetic Alphabet

I was in the military... and the military has figured out a solution for times when you are speaking over a staticy radio line from an icy mountain cliff side of north Norway in the Arctic circle.. sometimes you have to SPELL things so people understand you clearly. 
 Been there, done that.


So they have a VERY specific set of words that align to each letter of the alphabet; ie. Alpha=A, Bravo=B, Charley=C, etc.


I think everyone should learn these. The words were picked specifically from our English language because there are no other words in our language that could confuse the listener.


Anyway.. i say all this to say.. the Lady that sits near me at our office is our travel coordinator. She books planes all the time for everyone here at the office and OFTEN (read: daily) needs to SPELL people's names when purchasing airline tickets. Can't screw up or you don't get on the plane.


She has her own Phonetic Language that she has developed over the years.. and it is totally random and cracks me up. It also never repeats. So I hear her all the time with conversations like this... "Yes sir, That is S as in Screwball, A as in Ardvaark, R as in Rash and A as in Amniotic Fluid."


We all look at each other and try not to laugh every time she is on the phone.. The last one was C as in catastrophy.


=)
U as in Unbelieve. C as in catch a clue lady.


Here they are if you are interested: 
Alpha Bravo Charley Delta Echo Foxtrot Golf Hotel India Juliet Kilo Lima Mike November Oscar Papa Quebec Romeo Sierra Tango Uniform Victor Whiskey X-ray Yankee Zulu

Hunters in the Trees

Connor and Jack were up on the back deck with their BBGuns this past weekend. They are crack shots and can hit even small cans (green chili peppers) at 50yards.

Can you tell I'm a proud father???

They can't wait for the hunting season to arrive. I've told them it's not 'til quite a bit later in the year, and they don't mind, more time to practice!

Noland the Lizard

We welcome a new member to the family.. Noland, the Anole. He's an American Chameleon.

He only cost us $5.  Unbelievably good price for a cute little critter.  We were going to simply use the old fishtank in the garage for his little home.. But after purchasing some choice plants, rock ledge, climbing stick, water dish/ swimming pool, basking light, crickets (Noland's food), cricket house, cricket food and some moss... We're out $150.

Oh the joys of having pets!!!