My 70th Birthday
My gift to myself (ordered back in April) decided to be fashionably late and missed the birthday party. It’s still en route I understand. No worries — the celebration itself was a total hit on July 19. My 3 sons, the daughter‑in‑laws, the grandchildren, my sister (bringing her trademark sparkle) and brother‑in‑law all converged at our cottage for a joyful family get together. So yes, my present is fashionably late, but the party arrived right on time — and honestly, that’s the best kind of gift.
Brennan and Pam had planned on cooking a brisket for my birthday meal. Anyone who knows about brisket knows it needs a long slow cook. There has been a fire ban in the area so we were worried that it couldn’t be smoked for the first few hours on the Cochrane Cooker over the coals on the firepit but the rain gods shone down on all day Saturday and the area was nice and wet. Brennan set up a hammock near the fire pit and woke up at 3 am on Sunday morning and started the fire.
Hammock set up near the fire pit with a bug net over it. He hoped to catch a few zzzz’s while the brisket was smoking. It wasn’t to be.
Getting the fire going at 3 am Sunday morning. A pot was put over the brisket to keep the smoke in.
At 6 am the fire was still smoking the brisket and it was getting nice and caramelized. Brennan then wrapped it in tinfoil and transferred it to the woodstove in the cottage for another 8 hours of slow cooking. Brennan had had no sleep that night. He had kept watch over the meat at the firepit all night long.
Two hours before the meal was to be served, the brisket was taken out of the woodstove to rest. Almost 14 hours after starting the brisket on the fire then into the woodstove it was ready.
It was tender and smoky and PERFECT. I was totally moved by the thoughtfulness of my sons for putting on the perfect birthday celebration for me.
There was cake (from Stu, Karolina and Adam from Simply Biscotti) and sangria and wine (from Graeme).
After the meal it was picture time. Each year when everyone was gathered we do a photo on the cottage porch. First a smiley one.
And a crazy faced one. Forest and John’s crazy faces are not so crazy if you ask me!!!
(On a side note, when John’s mother was dying in October of 2019, her final words were “picture”. She wanted to see a picture of our family on the porch…the one we had taken in July of that year in this same location at the cottage.)
On July 20, the date of my birthday, I had a uterine biopsy . It didn’t depress me to have a biopsy on my birthday. In fact I welcomed it. We can say a lot about our health care system but we are very fortunate to have the health care system we do. And I am SO glad I live in Deep River. The North Renfrew Family Health Team that operates out of the Deep River and District Hospital are so wonderful. Shout out to the nurse practitioners Lauren and Heather as I puffed away on a pain medication while the procedure was taking place.
I celebrated my 70th year with my girl friends at Lise’s. My friends put on quite the spread for me. Salad and lasagna and cake and wine.
There was laughter and tears and music and dancing. I felt so special surrounded by love.
I had 2 days of the BEST birthday celebrations ever. My family and friends went out of their way to celebrate my arrival into my 70th year. I know how precious each day is and hopefully I will continue on this adventure for many more years.
And stay tuned for my July gift to myself. I have been reassured it is coming soon.
