A birthday . . .

[lavendertook]

Happy Birthday, zblaya!!! I hope you're having a great day! Here's some pics from our beloved lake:


This was autumn a couple of years ago--a brighter one than the last 2.




And here's those lady slippers along the trail in the woods from my building when they're blooming in May.


A flower for your birthday. *hugs*

Comments

[spiralsheep]

The rain downed all our autumn leaf colour this week and we've arrived at winter drear, so your caps are especially welcome.

[lavendertook]

We got a little color this year, but we had a lot of brown out due to the long summer drought. Most of our tree leaves are down now, but we still have some nice colors in the clinging undergrowth and the grass is very green due to this past month's rain.

The last 2 autumns haven't been the best color-wise, but I still have plenty of past autumn pics I haven't posted yet to share.

[zlabya]

Thank you!!! Your photos are always lovely, and I especially appreciate fall and spring (my favorite seasons) photos of our lake!
I've been enjoying a "birthday and anniversary week" with 2 dinners out, many good wishes, and lots of petting and cuddle time with Lord Ivan.

[lavendertook]

Sounds like a great celebration you deserve. What places did you eat out? I'm always looking for recommendations.

[zlabya]

Silver Diner: their crab cakes aren't crabby enough for me--I like lots of crab pieces and minimal filler. However, the triple chocolate cake is delicious--very chocolatey and not too sweet. And I love their Paradise French Toast (gluten-free coconut French toast with caramel topping and strawberries.)
Husband and I both love Jewel of India in Silver Spring (the plaza in White Oak just off the Beltway, which also has a huge double thrift store I love for clothes and household shopping). Much of their food is too spicy for me, but their vegetarian samosas, chicken masala and chicken tikka masala are not. They also make *the* best naan and other Indian bread I've ever had.
We went to a seafood place in Beltsville that was really a storefront with a couple of tables, but they make cheap, delicious, generous fried seafood of varying kinds. I had "stuffed shrimp" that were more like mini crabcakes with a large-size shrimp stuck in the middle of each one. I do prefer my seafood not fried though (except for the occasional friend clams or coconut shrimp). If you want the name of the place I can dig it up. It's on Route 1.

[lavendertook]

Silver Diner and Jewel of India are both favs of mine. (-:

If you like sushi, I recommend East Pearl in the tall building on the corner of Greenbelt & Hanover Rds--the presentation is always gorgeous. I ate there with a friend on Saturday and they put the sushi on top of a bowl of ice with led lights buried in it. The time before the plates were garnished with orchid blooms.

[zlabya]

East Pearl is another of our regular places! The first couple of things I had there weren't that great, but then I found some of their best items (at least to my taste). But now I know to order the Pretty in Pink roll if I'm in the mood for a sweet maki roll, amazing boneless BBQ pork, ginger shrimp, and their sashimi (I had some perfect salmon sashimi the last time we were there).

Haven't had orchid blooms or sushi with LED lights--I'll have to order sushi some time soon--but the vegetable "flowers" on our plates have been lovely.