Decorah Eagles, in Real Time via Ustream

I learned about the Decorah Eagles a few weeks ago and am enamored!  The 3 eagles were born in April and are getting ready to fledge, to fly away.   The nest is 2 years old -- one can see the eagles being fed by monogamous mama and papa.    Am also part of a chat room and am learning much from eagle aficionados.  You may have to subscribe to Ustream to get the pictures to stream but it is worth it.  Also, it takes a little time for the page to load. I keep it minimized at the bottom of the screen so I can check to see what is going on. 
 

Riding with Private Malone, Memorial Day 2014

My twin brother Jan who is known fondly as Uncle Bumpkin resides in Brooklyn Heights.   He created and continues to develop the largest world-wide website of vintage Corvettes, the Registry of Corvette Race Cars.   He sent me this link today Riding with Private Malone which brought tears to my eyes.

Manhattan Tower

Manhattan Tower was one of my favorite albums when I was in college -- just gorgeous and truly a girl's thing.  Not only is it a story about loving New York City but it is also a love story between a man and a woman, Julie and Stephen.   Daad just told me his sister Dodie adored this album and that he remembers her playing it nonstop when she was in high school and it drove everyone in the Hines family nuts!  Just like me! I wish I would have known this when Dodie was alive. 

I have no idea why this came to my mind but was thrilled I was able to upload it from Itunes and so my Ipod holds this musical treasure of the 1950s.   The arrangements of Gordon Jenkins are filled with lush strings.

Replacing Fence around Patio Garden

Roger Graham and helper Ben.  Roger did the original landscaping
at the house in 2000.  He planted the ginkgo tree!!!

Asparagus -- almost too many!

Keep covered with grass
clippings for albino asparagus!

We like to give some away. We stir fry over very hot heat in a little olive oil for about 3 minutes.  Adding chopped fresh mint  -- fabulous!

The patch is about 8 years old and remains productive because we remove all weeds and grass that grows between the plants.  We worked the soil in August and planted the
crowns the following Spring.

There are this many still needing to be harvested.
 Using a knife, you cut the stalk under the soil.

All from one plant

Ramps = Wild Leeks

Janine Toth brought us Ramp Pesto the year we served on Search Committee One which was unsuccessful in bringing a full-time senior minister to UU.   The flavor of this beautiful Kermit-the Frog true green pesto was strong and garlic-like and I remember wanting more.  As I learned, the pesto was made from wild leeks or ramps as they are more frequently called.   They grow in moist woodlands and are only available for about 3 or 4 weeks and they do not appear in the same location annually.  They are illusive!   
At the Memorial Garden Cleanup last Sunday April 27^th,  Debby Funk, one of the Memorial Garden Stewards, told us about huge patches of ramps growing across from the paint gun place on the way to Funks Grove.  As an aside, Debby and Mike make Maple Sirup down there tapping thousands of trees ! 

Yesterday I went down to Funks Grove, parked in the paint gun parking lot and went across the street to enter the woods filled with wildflowers.  From Debby's description of the ramps resembling tulip leaves, I found them.  I felt as though I found a million dollars!  I made several cups of ramp pesto all wrapped tightly and placed in the freezer.   Salmon topped with ramp pesto was delicious and made a lovely lunch served cold the next day.   I surprised Janine this morning and presented her a container of ramp pesto. 

Divine Chocolate -- Fair Trade

Crossroads, the Fair Trade shop where I volunteer sells chocolate.  One of our chocolate vendors is Divine Chocolate from Ghana.  Our UU Church also sells Fair Trade coffee and chocolate one Sunday a month, many of the same products as found at Crossroads.  Last Sunday I purchased 3 large chocolate bars, put them in the freezer and told myself they are off limits.  No will power here!  Two are already gone.  I am trying to control my appetite but am having troubles. 

Arrrgggguuuuuuhhhhh!!

Couldn't use the scanner on my Cannon Pixma 520, at least the part of the scanner using the platen to merely scan.  I googled a Cannon address for printer support, was connected right away with someone who had a Indian accent and happened to be in India.  He accessed my computer remotely and was sure he could fix the problem.  No success.  I finally terminated the call and found the US number for Cannon on the control panel located under the icon for the MP 520.

Two Very Different Kinds of Music

Gary Gletty, our UU Choir Director sends us cool YouTubes.  This one features an incredibly talented quartette from Germany, Salut Salon.  Here they are also very funny. 

And this one, We Are the World was produced in 1985 as a benefit for Africa.  The singers have earphones so they hear the orchestra accompaniment. 

Official Picture of We Are the World Singers

We remember it well.  Featured are all the popular singers of the era.   Lionel Ritchie, Kenny Rogers, Tina Turner, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springstein, Al Jurreau,  Ray Charles, Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder, both  blind, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Kenny Loggins, Michael Jackson and other Jackson's, Harry Bellefonte only a short clip of his head.  Daad thinks Quincy Jones is directing.  WE LOVE THIS!!!!! 

Blood Moon

We saw it!  I saw it at  1:15 am and Daad
around 3:00 am.  We think the 1:15 view
was a bit more red than the later one.
Beautiful! 

I grabbed this photo from the internet.
What we saw was not as bright or as
large as this with the reddish orange visible only
around the moon's bottom edge.  It was fun
using the binoculars.   The moon was quite small as compared to a harvest moon.