Last Full Night in Seattle

A walk through the Olympic Sculpture Park
followed by dinner at an oyster house.

"Keep off the Grass" -- Seattle Style

Take that, Ann Arbor!

Valdosta was named ESPN's Title Town this week.  We won over Ann Arbor, Knoxville, and even Green Bay (now maybe Favre can have something else to complain about).  Read all about it in the local paper.  Or watch the videos from ESPN.

Last full day in Seattle

We started the morning on the feast of St. James at the Cathedral of St. James.  Lots of people go to church at 8 a.m. in this town.  Then we wandered down to the market to meet my friend from ND, Jenny Mashek.
At our brother-in-law's good suggestion, we headed down to the locks and saw (1) art that looked like waves (2) working locks (3) salmon swimming upriver (or, actually, up a fish ladder) and (4) a model of the Army Corps castle logo -- where I forced Ned to take a photo.

Lastly, we caught up with our friends, formerly of Vicksburg, Ken and Allison -- and their two boys, Finn (on Allison's back at the time of this photo), and Ronin (photographed here running by the fish).  It was great to visit a city we've never seen before, but know that we have friends here for the days when we return and need a guest room.  Thanks, guys, for meeting us!

Wanderings, cont'd

We enjoyed the community gardens and Union Station, near the International District. We also (probably illegally) picked some wonderful blackberries from a park near there. The weather's perfect -- highs in the 70s, lows in the 50s.

The water here is beautiful.

And those are mountains in the background.

Seattle Postcard Shop

In Seattle, we found an antique postcard shop. And Mary Beth bought Valdosta postcards. How cool is that?

Seattle Wanderings

So far, so good.  Great fun in Seattle.  We'll have to share the photos along and along, but here are a few glimpses at our adventure.  MB at the art museum, with the Elvis Warhol (we were asked not to take photographs, but only AFTER we snapped this photo).  And this is us at Salumi for lunch today.  A wonderful menu of salted cured meats.  Need I say more?

Our zinnias are prettier...

and we give them away FREE to friends who water our garden while we're out of town.  Any takers, Vicksburg?

Seattle Bound

At 1:30 today (3:30 MS time), I'll be in this town.  My friend, Leslie, is picking me up and giving me the grand food tour.  Ned will arrive a few hours later, and I'll offer him Seattle's "greatest hits" tour tomorrow.

One year ago today...

One year ago today, my family was in Hammond, Louisiana, for a family reunion. Ned and I were passing out cookbooks, thankful they'd been shipped by the reunion deadline. And, on the way back from the all-you-can-drink reunion, Dad and Ned rode by the Windsor Ruins while Mom and I met my godmother at a Days Inn (at least, I think it was a Days Inn) for a final dress fitting. My Aunt Ellie was calm as the zipper got stuck and we had to cut my way out of it, and I enjoyed trying the dress on three different times as varying aunts visited the hotel room. Here's a photo from the afternoon--a headshot, of course, because we're holding the back of the dress together.

Sunday at the movies

We saw Batman today. It was the first movie that the two of us have gone to see together in years. I think the last movie we went to see on a date was Meet the Fockers (which partially explains the long hiatus in our movie going). Batman did not disappoint; it was full of action, adventure, dark shadows, and the requisite excessive violence. In short: glad we saw it, but we probably won't see it twice. And I fear that, at our movie-going rate, our next film outing will either involve animated talking dogs or necessitate a baby sitter.

Ned will be home tomorrow!

I've been a single girl this week, while Ned camps.  Really, the arrangement is best for both of us.  He's a kid at heart, as you'll see from the photo above.  But I'm not a camper.  I'm hot and grouchy right now, and the AC is set on 78.  Looking forward to his return tomorrow!  I'll turn the AC way low so he can appreciate his return to the cool.

She's My...

I can't quit singing that stupid song by Poison when I see this photo. Thankfully, I don't know any words but the chorus. I'd link to the lyrics here, but I'm too scandalized now that I know what they mean. CORRECTION: Thanks to Lauchlin, I can now sing this song incessantly and know that Warrant, not Poison, is responsible.

Fun in Louisville with Pableaux

Late night with family friend Pableaux Johnson.  He says "'Hi' to the folks."

It's East Nashville Tomato Fest Time

It's time for our favorite festival: the East Nashville Tomato Art Fest. And it's time for our favorite recipe contest. This year, we're searching for good stuffed tomatoes. Our garden is high, and we need good suggestions for how we should use our abundance of summer fruits. We're sure you have a few ideas. Won't you share them with us? Click here for contest rules and the like. And let's have a good showing. Perhaps the Replaced Southerner can offer some cooking advice to her home state? Or my Italian brother-in-law can tell us a thing or two about tomatoes?

*image credit to Tomato Casual, a very cool site.

Really, you can't pay to valet this car?

Seen across the street from the Seelbach Hilton in Louisville.  And, yes, it's a Lamborghini.

The Bardstown Road Farmers Market

Went here on Saturday in Louisville.  Fun, but not as much fun as the VFM.

I do love my job...

Dinosaur cookie strawberry pie for breakfast
Heirloom tomatoes for lunch

Cheers!

Happy birthday, Jessica!

All Wool & Yard Wide

I joined last night.  $10 and my membership's good for a year.  I also spearheaded their most successful half-hour membership drive -- see my recruitment class in the top photo.  They will check the voter rolls, so there's a good  chance some of my friends aren't really registered Democrats (and thus will be disallowed), but nobody was willing to fess up last night in the midst of the membership frenzy.  Not pictured, opposite wall: portrait of JFK beside FDR.  They only celebrate three-letter presidents here.

A report from Muth's

I spent yesterday at Muth's Candy Store in Louisville, KY.  They make modjeskas there -- caramel covered marshmallows that are so, so good.

Headed to Louisville

I'm headed to Louisville this week, for the SFA field trip.  (Tonight I'll begin the journey with a head start to Oxford.)  Last time we were in Louisville, I enjoyed the Louisville Slugger museum with Ned, Daddy, and Patrick.  This time, I think I'll probably see more food than baseball.

Shout Outs

FROM US

For a good laugh, check out "spot the fake" on my brother's blog -- it's listed as Patrick's Blog on the right hand list of blogs.

TO US

I'm looking forward to visiting my friend, Leslie, when I travel to Seattle in two weeks.  She's got quite the tour planned for me--click here to see her article in the Seattle PI.

The Windshield Trouble

I was driving the new car to Oxford on Monday of last week (it was exactly 8 days old), when a landscape truck lost a tarp and gravel popped up and cracked the windshield.  Great drama ensued.  I pulled over the driver, got his insurance info, and hastily made plans for repair as I finished my drive to Oxford.  I thought telling Ned the story of how the car was damaged would be easier of plans for repair were already in place.  See the nick on the windshield in this photo.  Do not confuse the nick with the feather-like shadow in the upper right hand corner.  That's a problem with the camera (and a compelling reason to buy a new one).  Also, please note the great skill of the photographer, who snapped this photo while driving at 58 mph.

Maybe these neighbors should talk

This find in today's Vicksburg Post calls for a special double posting day.

The Illinois Monument

We took Brian, my brother-in-law from Illinois, to see his state monument at the National Military Park.  This is the largest monument in the park (take that, Texas!), and the designers made sure it contained no symbols of military or war significance.  It's supposed to be a reconciliation monument.

Advice from Felder

We had the chance to talk to Felder at Saturday's farmers' market.  He had no answer about our flower-less Black Eyed Susan Vine.  But he did share his truck garden with us...

The Great Blog Drought

Apologies to our loyal readers.  It's been busy around here.  On Friday, the Lasseters (minus Daniel) landed in Vicksburg.  On the days leading up to their visit, Ned and I cleaned like mad folks...

Patrick was none-too-thrilled to find our Internet password protected.
Mary Beth's friend, Holland, showed up to the fireworks in Vicksburg.  Angela, his girlfriend, is a native Vicksburger.
Daddy and Sarah shelled peas from the market.
At the Mississippi River overlook --

Sarah almost tossed the boys over the edge...

Yeah, we grew this.

A Cute Baby

She's not ours, but she's adorable.  This is our little cousin/niece, Madeleine.

A crazy eggplant from the Farmers' Market

and a picture perfect tomato from our garden.