it's starting ...

the first of the Sungolds...

finger sangria...

I made these delicious sangria jello squares for the party last weekend. They turned out even better than I had hoped for. The recipe came from the food blog bigredkitchen.com. I was a little shy on the limeade, so I improvised with a little lemonade. I highly recommend for your next party.

remembering 1985...

My friend Maureen and I went to see Howard Jones at the Triple Door last night. It was a fun time. He started by playing a 30 minute acoustic set - then followed with an hour of 80's electronica, playing both old and new songs. He interacted with the crowd a great deal and only looked a bit older than I remember him from 1985.

a party for Dan and Nels...

We had a small party yesterday to celebrate both Dan and our friend Nels' birthdays. It was a perfect afternoon to be outside.

Happy 41st Birthday Dan !

And a very Happy Birthday to my brother too !!

I know they're family...

...but my niece and nephew are the cutest kids I know. My sister-in-law sent some new photos today. I can't wait to see them - and everyone else - in August when we go back east.

Last night's escapades...

It was a spectacular show - with great back-up singers and non-stop dancing stage performers. A mix of new and old songs, all perfectly performed. Thanks Kosan !

Happy Summer Solstice

I've been visiting my family in Illinois for the past 10 days - while I was away the blog broke 10,000 hits. Thanks for the visits ! Regular updates back to normal soon....

And a Happy Father's Day to all ! Wishing my Dad was still here...

kites !

We went to Ocean Shores today for a kite festival. According to our waiter at breakfast, there were more kites up yesterday than today. But we still enjoyed what we saw.

RIP Koko

Chicago lost one of the quintessential members of its Blues community yesterday. Koko Taylor died at the age of 80, in her hometown.

from her website:

Koko Taylor was one of very few women who found success in the male-dominated blues world. She took her music from the tiny clubs of Chicago’s South Side to concert halls and major festivals all over the world. She shared stages with every major blues star, including Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, B.B. King, Junior Wells and Buddy Guy as well as rock icons Robert Plant and Jimmy Page.

Taylor’s final performance was on May 7, 2009 in Memphis at the Blues Music Awards, where she sang “Wang Dang Doodle” after receiving her award for Traditional Blues Female Artist Of The Year.

A nice photo tribute from the Chicago Tribune here.

Way to go, ladies !

Congratulations to the UW Women's Softball Team for winning the NCAA softball championship yesterday !

Dan and I were in Portland this past weekend visiting friends. I love that town. And all my friends ! They are a FUN group. We had a fantastic time and the weather was beyond perfect - it wad a lovely combination.

our upside-down garden...

My nephew got me the first Topsy Turvy. We were so intrigued, we bought two more. Since the basketball hoop is sitting idle, we hung them from the rim and backboard. We can easily lower it for watering - and they are up high enough to get good sunshine most of the day. We planted a husky cherry tomato, a mini yellow bell pepper and pickling cucumbers. I'm anxious to see how they do, compared to our conventional planting.


Anyone else using these this summer ?

for the love of polaroids...

My collection is getting larger. The latest addition is the SX-70 Land camera in the lower left corner. Thanks Daniel.

just for fun...

29 years ago today...

It's hard to believe that it has been 29 years since the eruption of Mount St. Helens. Here are a few summaries of the 1980 eruption from Volcano World FAQ:

Time: The climatic eruption began at 08:32 PDT on May 18, 1980.

Deaths: 57 people were killed directly by the eruption. There was also a plane crash, a traffic accident, and shoveling ash which killed a total of 7 more.

Height of Mount St. Helens: The summit elevation was 9,760 feet (2,975 m) before the eruption. After the eruption the elevation of the new summit was about 8,525 feet (2,600 m).

Volume: About 0.25 cubic kilometers of new volcanic rock was erupted on May 18, 1980. This would make a cube about 600 meters (~2000 ft) on a side! But much more material was moved by the eruption: the entire northern side of the volcano collapsed and flowed down hill. The volume of this collapse was about 2.5 cubic kilometers - ten times bigger than the new lava.

Ash: The eruption began at 8:45 a.m. At noon, the ash plume (in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere) had reached Moscow, Idaho. By about 3 p.m. it was near Missoula, Montana and starting to spread south. By 6 pm it was eas! of Pocatello, Idaho. At the end of the day, about 16 hours after the eruption started, the ash plume was near central Colorado.

A huge volume of ash was created by the various 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens. Every community affected had its own ways of dealing with the ash. Tons of ash was probably washed down storm drains and into sewer systems as people cleaned roofs and sidewalks. Local landfills received ash. Many tons of ash came down rivers and streams into the Columbia River. The river had to be dredged to allow shipping to pass, and the sand dredged from the bottom was deposited in large dikes along the Columbia. These dikes are now covered in grass and trees, but if a person was to dig down a few feet they would find the ash.

Here's how she looked this morning:

fun in the sun...

Dan and I ventured east yesterday to see The Dead/Allman Brothers/Doobie Brothers at the Gorge Amphitheater. It was a beautiful sunny day - perfect for a show.

Derek Trucks played with the Allmans. He is such an AWESOME, understated guitar player.

Bob forgot a whole verse of Dire Wolf, but he's getting old. And hairy. It was a great afternoon/evening.

Setlist for The Dead, for those who care:

I: The Music Never Stopped, Loose Lucy, Crazy Fingers > Dark Star > Dire Wolf, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues, Into the Mystic, Women are Smarter
II: Passenger > Hell in a Bucket, Althea, Eyes of the World > Drums > Space > Days Between > Dark Star > One More Saturday Night
E: Box of Rain

Happy Mother's Day...

...to both our Moms. And to all moms in general. You deserve more than just one day to be recognized. :)

Garage Salepalooza

Today was the annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day. I, along with a group of very fun peeps ventured out early this morning in quest of a number of goodies. (the mainfestation list ROCKED) Everyone scored something good. The weather was perfect too.

Our fearless driver, Dave and Obi Wan.

Dave's rugs = huge score. Thank god for the uber sun roof.

Jello and the gorilla costume

Lunch at Sunfish. A perfect way to end the shopping day.

Happy 100th Birthday Edwin Land

I recently posted about my new obsession with Polaroid cameras. Today would have been the 100th birthday of Edwin Land, the inventor of polaroid photography. The first polaroid camera was sold to the public in 1948. Land was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award given to a U.S. citizen, in 1963 for his work in optics. He passed away in 1991 at the age of 81.