Category: Kentucky

Derby.

~ meh ~ 7 Comments

Because I turned 30 about 2 weeks ago, and because when I told people I was moving to Kentucky the first thing everybody said was, “OH MY GOD I’m coming out to visit you for the Kentucky Derby!” my sister (above) decided to throw a big derby party for me.  Because she is great.

People started arriving Wednesday night (Derby is on Saturday) and I dropped the last guest off at the airport Monday morning at 4:15am before I went to coach practice, and we basically didn’t stop at all in between.

First up: trip to the Woodford Reserve Bourbon Distillery:

It was here we learned that bourbon only has 5 ingredients, and that it does not, in fact, have to be made in Bourbon county (but it does have to be made in the US).

At the end of the tour we had a free tasting and got to hang out on the back porch of the farm.

That night we went to a favorite local hangout, and then out to another bar, where things got a little dicey.

The next morning, after getting home around 3am, I had to get up at 4:45 to coach practice.  Deciding to coach that Friday morning and not have someone cover for me may have been the worst idea I’ve ever had.  Ever.

The rest of the group was a little slow to get rolling.   Throughout the day more friends arrived, people got hats, and those that were already here went shopping for supplies and food…

…which they then cooked up into an AMAZING Friday night BBQ.  Best friends ever.

Saturday morning the big blue school bus arrived to take us to Louisville.

It was supposed to rain, hence the galoshes.

An hour and a half later we arrived…

…and walked under the tunnel…

…into the infield.

Everyone wore hats…

…and buttons…

…and drank mint juleps…

…and bet on the race…

view from the infield

…and lost (except for Molly, who wasn’t even sure which horse she bet on.)

The next day about half the group had to leave early, the other half took a trip out to Glencrest Farms (where Andrea lives)…

…to get a little tour and see the baby thoroughbreds…

…and then I slept 12 hours straight.

No tornados, no injuries or hospital visits.  Success!  SO great to see old friends, thank you to everyone who made the trip out here, to Molly and Andrea for organizing, to Paul’s parents for giving up their home for our visitors, to everyone who fronted money on food or tickets and may or may not have been fully refunded, and to my parents for financing our transportation.  It was a really wonderful weekend.

Update: I was wrong, Kristin also won $7.

Tornados, Tiaras, and Trifectas

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Just another April in Kentucky.

Tornados

I have spent the past two weeks peering out the window at 2am, looking at the trees bent in half from the wind, telling Paul that we should get in the crawl space under the house (we have no basement.)   Paul has spent the past two weeks mumbling to me half asleep at 2am that no, we should not get in the crawl space, and that I should go back to sleep.  Then last week a friend of mine posted this, taken out the window of his office:

I know this pictures is tiny, for a full version go here 

Next time I am taking Spike and getting in the crawl space.

Actually, I learned that if you don’t have a basement, the best place to go is an internal bathroom with no windows, bring a mattress with you to cover yourself, and either get in the tub or hug the toilet (I guess the plumbing is more likely not to get sucked up or something?)  I have also learned that if a tornado is coming, it sounds like a freight train, so it’s not going to catch you totally off guard (a fact which, strangely enough, has provided me some comfort on those windy nights.)

Tiaras

The royal wedding was great.

Trifectas

The tornadoes cleared up just in time for the last days of Keenland, one of the premiere racing tracks in the country and everyone’s favorite hangout in April and October.   It was my first time here, the weather was absolutely beautiful, and it was packed.

We walked in just before the 5th race with about 4 minutes to post.

I bet $2 on horse #5 to win it all, at 12:1 odds.  He won.  I promptly went and got myself a bourbon.

The next race I bet $3 on a horse with 31:1 odds to show (his name was Ndongo…I had to.)   He got 3rd.  I am amazing.

The last few races weren’t as successful, but you can’t really beat a beautiful day outside at the races with a free bourbon.  I also saw my first Dale Earnhardt tattoo.
Next up: Derby.

Cluck

~ meh ~ 9 Comments

This rainy afternoon a new book came in the mail for Paul.

What we have learned so far:

  • Chickens have muffs (tufts of feathers around their ears…ear muffs)
  • If you don’t have a rooster, one of the hens in the coop will take on the roll of protector of the group and stop laying eggs
  • Chickens that aren’t fed enough protein can become cannibalistic (ugh)
  • Chickens can lose their toes from frostbite
  • Chickens “don’t make good choices”, and…
  • (…speaking of good choices…)  Cats and large dogs are usually cool with them and won’t bother chickens.  Most problematic?  Small dogs.

Paul is convinced we can teach Spike that the chickens are “part of the family” and he’ll leave them alone.  I told him fine, but if there is an incident I am not cleaning up the mess.

Garden of woes

~ meh ~ 3 Comments

…or more accurately, empty garden box of woes.

the survivors, weathering some high winds on top of our rain barrel

Saturday morning I worked at a triathlon in Versailles (pronounced “vuhr-SAY-uhls”…and just FYI, for those of you who are local, if you are trying to use the voice command on your Andriod phone to get directions, Google Maps doesn’t recognize “vuhr-SAY-uhls”.  You have to pronounce it “vehr-SIGH”, like the rest of the world does).

The weather was completely awful (kudos to those who made it through the bike and the run, wet, in 40 degree wind and rain), and I was doing my best to sell arm warmers to those who came unprepared, when I received this text from Paul:

greenhouse flipped over again and spike ate most of the plants. taking the stupid thing back to my parents house and building a permanent one over break

Sure enough, I got home, the greenhouse was in pieces, all of our plants (except for the ones above, which are my flowers) were gone, and Spike looked stuffed.

I guess Paul put the greenhouse out when the sun started to peek through the clouds, went inside to take care of some business for like 3 minutes, while he was inside a gust of wind came…and you know the rest of the story.  Spike had a field day.

At what point do you just admit it…

via blackenedbutterfly

Tragedy strikes

~ meh ~ 4 Comments

Unrelated, but there are some awesome tulips blooming on our block.

A few weeks ago we noticed that our garden was wilting due to lack of sunlight in the kitchen.

So we started putting our plants outside on sunny days.

One weekend when I was out of town, Paul put the garden out on a windy day, and most of the plants died.  So we had to replant almost all of them.   That’s when Paul decided that, instead of waiting until it warmed up a little more, the answer to our problem was a greenhouse.  He found a row of lightweight shelves covered with a clear plastic cover in his parents garage.  Viola.  Our greenhouse.

We moved all the plants into the greenhouse and put it in the backyard.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, there have been quite a few tornado warnings the past week.  There may have been a few comments offered up regarding the possibility of the plastic acting like a big sail and the greenhouse blowing over…but nothing came of them.

Within 24 hours Paul was raving about the number of sprouts that had popped up.

Our greenhouse lasted two days.

There was one survivor.

We don’t even know what plant it is.

So we replanted everything…again…

…took it down two levels, and rigged it up to the backyard lounge chair with a bungee cord and duct tape.

Third time’s a charm.

Update: Paul says the surviving plant is “definitely a corn.”

Updated Update: Paul now says he thinks the surviving plant is just a piece of grass.

Final Update: It’s confirmed, the survivor was a piece of grass.  It’s been plucked.

Spring

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on my walk to work this morning

…is back!  Along with blossoms and tornado warnings, which terrify me.  Let’s hope it stays.

…but there is no joy in Jortsville

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Bad weekend for Kentucky.

I was actually in New York city for the game, but found the Kentucky bar in NYC (as you can see from the picture above.)  I came home to find the town in quiet despair…nobody even cared about watching the final game.

So tonight, instead of watching the game, Paul and I went to our favorite Cajun restaurant around the block.

Last week they were giving away free meals for anyone who came in and made their jeans into jorts.  Apparently, it wasn’t enough.  Sad, sad weekend.

Oh, and Spike ate our blueberry bush.

Color in Kentucky

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Color is coming to UK.

This location-based mobile app has been getting quite a bit of attention largely due to the $41 million the company raised pre-launch.  And this weekend, they will be in Lexington for the Final Four game.

So if you’re in town this weekend for the game (or even if you’re not), download the app and give it a try (for Andriod users, the app has been finicky, but the company is updating it today so it will hopefully ready to roll by this weekend.)

For a demo of how Color works, go here.

Update: I downloaded the app in NYC, but apparently no one else in the bar I was at did, so I got to look at…my own pictures.