Things to See, Places to Go

1. Standing next to the behemoth Saturn V Rockets from Apollo 17, I crane my neck to take in their size. I lean in close and notice the welds. There are little globs of melted metal, welded by man to form row upon row, thousands of times over, that piece together the shell of each rocket. I am in awe of what puny man is capable of.
1.a. In the span of one life, man went from airplanes made of canvas stretched over wooden frames, seemingly held together with spit and glue, to manned rockets landing on the moon?! Those welds on the rockets make me think of spit and glue. Tess commented that in the future, we will think these rockets to be pretty crude as well.
2. The Freer Gallery of Asian Art was refreshingly cool and quiet, even meditative. Every room held beautiful, ancient works of art. Large, narrative scrolls depicting life in China over 1000 years ago were laid out under glass. Drawings from 500AD were so minute in detail that the faces of the men depicted  showed the softness of their facial hair. Simply amazing.
3. A few blocks along, we stopped for a cold drink and to rest our feet. We happened upon Happy Hour : ) We added flash fried artichoke hearts and brushetta tapas to our order and stayed a while.
4. It's a beautifully warm evening. We stroll the blocks of downtown Washington D.C. and admire the old architecture.We are spending this first evening of summer not with fireflies and crickets near the fields of home, but on warm city sidewalks with food joints bursting at the seams with people. Store front windows are bright with apparel from all the nicest companies and people mill about everywhere. We will be back to our country home soon enough and for now this is a really fun change of pace.
4.a. Our pizza was another magnificent work of art. It was a deep dish crust filled with portabella mushrooms, onions, peppers, kalamata olives, mozzarella and sauce.

Good-bye Spring, Easy and Satisfying Dinner, It Looks Like a Star

1. Another day of open windows and no need for air conditioning. Thank you spring, for being true to your name and not trying to be winter or summer. I have enjoyed every raindrop and cool breeze.
2. For dinner, we had my favorite salad of mixed spring greens topped with mandarin oranges, avocado slices, and toasted sunflower seeds.* The apricot Dijon dressing really makes this salad. A crusty, multigrain artisan bread and slices of Havarti and Asiago on the side rounded out this delicious meal.
3.We sat on the porch under Steve's homemade fan blades and admired the rush of air. We sampled each setting and experimented with the fan operating in reverse. We're funny beings when I think back on this. Stand up, make an adjustment, sit down, assess. Stand up, make and adjustment, sit down, assess, and so on until every setting was tried. Once that was settled, we sat back and discussed our weekend plans.

* The salad is easily changed by using other greens such as Bibb lettuce, grapefruit slices and other toasted nuts as you like. For the dressing, mix 1 Tbl. grated shallot, 2 tea. apricot preserves, 1 tea. Dijon mustard, 1 Tbl. orange or lemon juice, 2 Tbl. white wine vinegar. Whisk in 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper. I usually double the amount of dressing and save any leftover in the fridge.

Tis the Season, Summer Is...Eating Ice Cream Outside, Winding Down

1. The eat-them-over-the-sink-because-the-juice-drips-down-your-chin kind of peaches. Local peaches are in at Saunders Brothers and W. has brought us our first bag.
2. A large group of our young folks showed up this evening to help weed and mulch the church property. Several adults also pitched in and the job was done in no time. The kids made play out of the work, laughing and joking as they shoveled and raked. Afterwards, we stood around in the cool evening air and ate bowls of ice cream. I chose vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberries. Oh summertime!
3. A warm shower and then a good book to read before bedtime.

Out in the Rain with Good Music, Trumpet Vine, Batter-Dipped Zucchini

1. We darted through rain showers on our errands in Roanoke this morning. Three things made this trip fun: Daughter #4 was with me, she chose the music for the drive*, and we bought wonderful blueberries and raspberries from Fresh Market. *Daughter #2 saw this group perform in Denver last week and we love their music!



2. By late afternoon the rain stopped and I went out the check the garden. The back steps were strewn with flowers from the trumpet vine. Stepping out, I felt like a queen walking on a flower strewn court.
These vines are very invasive, but you get a lot of "bang for your buck" out of them. I paid a mere $14 for a little slip of vine eight years ago and now it looks like this. About four years ago, Daughter #2 gave it "accidental", very aggressive haircut and it still flourished. Birds love to nest in it and they provide a regular airshow with hummingbirds.

Trumpet Vine flowers holding raindrops.

The vine at the back door. (which I am to paint this summer)

A shady arbor.

 3. It's the season for small, tender zucchini. Tonight we had them sliced then dipped in batter and fried in olive oil. No written recipe, just a family favorite from my mother and grandmother.

For batter- Beat 2 eggs with 2-3 tablespoons water; add enough flour to make a thick batter. Season the batter with salt, pepper and basil. Dip zucchini slices into batter and fry in olive oil until golden and tender. Season with more salt to taste. This makes enough for 2-3 very small zucchini...or maybe one large one come July.

Last Wisps of the Weekend

Jack and Pop take turns sticking their tongues out at each other.

Jack falls asleep in my arms.

A few last photos that Claire shared from the weekend. The first one cracks me up because Steve and Jack look like twins, same belly, similar clothing, sticking tongues out at each other : ) This is a classic Pop activity with all the babies. That and winking.
The second photo is a classic Nonni, in my apron, rocking and singing babies to sleep. 

Sitting Quietly, Sheep Herding, A Boy and a Dog

1. Mari sits on my lap in church. She molds my hands this way and that in order for them to hold her toy turtle.

Wearing Nonni's hat.

 

A pocketful of grass and clover.

 

"Goats"

Tobasco has her turn. She did a splendid job- very cool and purposeful.

 
2. Neighbor W. invites us over to watch the sheep herding. His dog, Tobasco and two others are having their lessons today. Daniel explains to Mari that the dogs are herding the sheep. She asks if the sheep are crying. He explains the difference between herding and hurting.
2.a. The dog trainer says watching sheep herding is like watching paint dry.

Happy Birthday, Claire!

3. Jack didn't care for Henri on Friday; he cried at every glimpse of the animal. By Sunday they were becoming fast friends and Henri could make Jack smile.

Farmer's Zen Garden, Color Run, Special Occasion

 1. Light plays on the rows of mowed grass like geometric lines of a Zen garden. However, this garden will be harvested and these beautiful lines have purpose. They turn something as basic as grass into feed for animals.

Before the race.

At the finish line.

After the color explosion. H.'s mom took this great photo.

Photo courtesy of H.'s mom

2. Daughters #1 and #4, along with some friends, ran in the Color Run 5K this morning. Son-in-law, grandchildren and I went to cheer them on. It was a loud, pumped up event and everyone had a great time.
2.a.Baby Jack didn't like the loud noise. He preferred to grab at the leaves of the shade tree we stood under. He also kept busy by blowing raspberries on my arm. This was probably my favorite part of the day. : )
 3. #1 Daughter, Claire turns twenty-eight tomorrow! I spent the afternoon happily cooking and baking her requested foods; meatballs and sauce and these Lemon-Limoncello Cupcakes.

Photo courtesy of browneyedbaker.com