Mother Nature.
Port Deposit, Maryland
Pentax K100D
11 June 2008
I went up to Mom’s house to pick cherries- but they weren’t totally ripe yet. We picked fresh lettuce and I took pictures of the garden. (more coming)
I agree.
Fell’s Point, Baltimore Maryland
Pentax K100D
08 June 2008
We took mom out for special tea on Saturday afternoon…. except the reservations got screwed up and so we didn’t get tea at Bertha’s. I walked over to the Petticoat Tearoom- but apparently they only take reservations for 15 or more people and if they don’t have that- they don’t open up. I called and called and called Teavolve to see if they could fit us in for a last minute reservation- but they don’t answer their phones.
So we ended up with mussels at Bertha’s for Mom and James, and then over to Slainte for a pint (or 5) and planned out our dream farm we want to collectively buy and move to in a few years- where we will grow vegetables, sheep, goats, babies, chickens, turkeys, llamas, alpacas, more babies and some asparagus, of course.
Mom wasn’t interested in going to the museum with us- so she headed home to garden and we went to the Baltimore Museum of Art’s second to last day of a photography exhibit before it closed. I went a few weeks ago and loved it- but I wanted to bring James back to see it, too. Afterwards- we had to run errands- and in the span of about 3 hours we took both of the following photos. We were headed down to and kinda underneath the Francis Scott Key Bridge when I took this photo of Baltimore from a distance- you can see the port/marina on the right and I thought that was Fort Carroll on the left- but maybe it is just a ship?
On the right, behind the giraffe looking things but in front of the city is where Fort McHenry is located and about 100 meters from where I took this photo is a buoy marking the spot where the HMS Tonnant was supposed to be anchored when Francis Scott Key, a then 35-year-old amateur poet wrote “Defence of Fort McHenry”, later named The Star Spangled Banner, after seeing the bombardment of Fort McHenry at Baltimore, Maryland, by Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the War of 1812.
Later, we went to get our growlers filled up at the local brew pub and came across this beautiful lightning storm. I’ve never attempted lightning photography- and since it wasn’t raining and we weren’t in any rush- we spent probably a half an hour trying to get a decent shot of the amazing light show. This is the best we did- I had no idea it was so difficult to capture lightning.
Oh Hai. I’m back.
We got off the ship this morning and just flew back from Houston. James has to go into to work in the morning (mandatory overtime) so I’ll be doing laundry, dealing with photos, planting the garden, loving the beagles, and hopefully a bit of sun worship to round out my vacation before I go back to work on Tuesday.
More photos to come in the next few days- but here are a few:
My baby sister on her wedding day…
with her new husband and his son…
our family…
Cozumel
and me and mamacita
Happy Mother’s Day to You- the best mom I ever had!
And even though I still hold you responsible for this:
Fortunately, you are also responsible for this…
and this…
and this… (except for Shane, you didn’t make him, did you?)
and of course, you are responsible for these special monsters…
the last of which will be getting married THIS WEEKEND!!!
(hopefully this will be our last wedding for a while?)
I love this photo- you couldn’t have been much older than 26 here? Which means you Gail is actually probably somewhere hidden in your uterus in this photo or was she already born and we were just ignoring her? I was 16 months old when Gail was born- how old do I look in this photo?
I don’t know how you did it- but I’m glad you did. Thanks!
(I would also like to point out that all these bitches screwed me in this photo by making me stand all the way on the right- I am taller than all of them and yet I look the shortest! Gail is the shortest and she is standing on a hill here- I’ve been robbed!!)
The Turkey popped! Cash was born on Monday Night.
Pictures to come!
This turkey is currently three days over due- so what do you do when you are waiting to give birth in Florida? You go to the beach.
March 1: Due day plus one day.
Mom and Aunt Patricia spent the day walking this overdue turkey up and down the beach trying to get the magic to happen. Apparently, reinforcements (more Aunts) arrived today and the walking continues. As of Saturday afternoon, my nephew hasn’t budged.
I’ve got my money on a little nephew, but Mom apparently is convinced she’s having a little girl. I guess we will find out soon enough. I asked for photos and this is what Aunt Patricia sent me. I think this is one of the coolest photos I’ve ever seen- even before I played with the effects. This photo just screams to be up on a billboard somewhere!
I like to call this one: OMG There’s a baby in there!
Do we look as tired as we feel? And when did I get Paris Hilton’s wonky eye?
Making Stollen, my Mom’s special Christmas bread. This is the first time I’ve ever made it. Well- this photo is actually my second attempt. Here is my first attempt:
That one we started first thing in the morning- set the yeast to rise- and then forgot to add the majority of the flour. There was this line in the recipe something like ‘add enough flour to make a soft dough’ but I didn’t realize it was like 4 or 5 cups. Anyway- I took the photo and sent it to mom to ask what was wrong with it while we went running at the dog park. When we came back we started the second attempt.
I think I called mom about 4 times for instructions. She promises next year to give us a lesson in making stollen- though I suspect Gail doesn’t need it.
James was super excited about this part of the recipe “punch dough”. You can see it on the recipe, except he added “donkey punch dough”
I suspect he may have punched it a few too many times. He really enjoyed it.
No rolling pin- so we patted it flat.
We did a couple small braided loafs and a few in a cupcake pan.
More photos tomorrow when it comes out of the oven
James opened his Christmas present last night, a joint effort from me and his parents.
Lookit at the scruffy!
My sister is adorable. And she and Thomas sent me rum for Christmas. What else could you want in a Christmas present?
Ambular
