The Acorns and Yet Another Yesterday's Sky

Yesterday was a day of great clouds and show at dusk. I always find the sky inspiring. I like this photo because the moon is actually in focus for a change. This photo was fun to fiddle around enhancing.





The leaves in Madison had not quite started to turn during my trip. It was still trying to hang on to summer. My sister gifted me the lovely acorn basket and we found a great necklace and also a tatted table scarf in an antique mall in Madison. I'm very fond of acorns and tatting. There are no acorns in Hawaii.

I enjoyed visiting this squash hut. This day did feel like Fall.

Some of the Sights

A is Penn Cove in Coupeville, looking for the alleged Mt. Baker. On clear day one can see the snow cap, but not this trip:)
B is looking across the Straits at Vancouver, Canada off to the left in the distance.

Various Flora and Fauna, and Yesterdays Sky

The Pets

Daisy and Ted are brother and sister and they were "found" after being thrown away by someone. They have become the treasures of my sister, especially Ted. Daisy is a very friendly cat and would love to snuggle up in my bed, but aaachooo! I'm allergic :(

Buddy belongs to my niece and her husband and is a very big cat. He eats yarn and shoelaces, whatever he can find and thankfully everyone was on top of this and I didn't loose any laces or yarn either. He once ate part of a scarf I knit her. But he is a very loveable cat and is forgiven.

Ted did not feel like posing much. He is always on the prowl, looking for ways to run out of the house. If he ever got lost, his owner would be heartbroken.

Ebony is just a love sponge. She has aged and has white hairs, although she is only 7 in people years. She patiently waits after dinner for the sounds of scraping plates, then she "fetches" mostly socks and tries to trade them for scraps. Being the new guy on the block she picked on me a lot, but never got any of my socks.

Gastronomical Delights

One of the great things about traveling is not having to eat my own cooking, which has suffered a decline of late. This trip I visited my sister in Wisconsin who is a great cook and also my friends in Washington, who are also a great cooks. I ate out at some great places.

Starting with breakfast, had wonderful pancakes cute and small with blueberries and syrup and waffles. I also had the wonderful oatmeal muffins...for some reason mine didn't come out as yummy. I was also treated great barbecued chicken and steak, and salmon, teriyaki black cod and lamb. The fresh fruits and vegies were plentiful and so beautiful. Both the market in Madison and The University District Farmer's Market were alive with color and treats, including chanterelles and morel mushrooms and the best apples I ever ate! The fresh huckleberries were so sweet.

I had some great eating out experiences at Devotay in Iowa City, specializing in local harvast and pottery made by owner, the satisfying and hot Squash Curry at Sukho Thai and Pho at Saigon Noodle House in Madison, as well a dinner on the Lake at Sardines (next to the bike shop). In Seattle there was Lola's with it's unique and tasty small plates, and Bouchee's with it's assemble your own crepes and French Press coffee.

I attended a benefit for the Camano Whidbey Land Trust and experienced the breaking in of the paella for 200 pan, provided by David and the Bay Leaf , also in honor of David the paella maker man's 50th birthday.


While I missed the ribs at Smokey Jon's in Madison this time around, I did get some in Oak Harbor at Pot Belly Deli Steak and Rib in Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island.

I cooked two things while on Whidbey, Coupeville Summer Pudding and Apple, Pear, Peach Crisp. I saw The Barefoot Contessa on TV while in Seattle and she was making Summer Pudding with Rum Whipped Cream . My variation utilized the blackberries picked from the yard and oh so sweet this year. I used only black berries, Grand Marnier, lemon zest and juice and 7 grain bread. It was mighty tasty, imo:)

The Peking Robin

(photo from: http://www.hoglezoo.org/animals/view.php?id=192)

While sipping my coffee and eating the Oatmeal Muffins from sister Susan's recipe, I head that sickening thud that meant only one thing...bird hitting window. I glanced out and there on the ground was a beautiful bird, one I'd never seen, standing looking rather stunned. He proceeded to topple over after making some feeble attempts to stand. I gathered him up and put him in a little tub which I covered with newspaper since I didn't want any neighborhood cats to find him. Meanwhile I noticed more of his kind flying around the patio. I peeked at him every once and while and was encouraged that he wasn't dead. I left the room and later ran back hearing another thud. He was not in the tub where I left him and was sitting on my floor. I tried to get him to sit on a branch outside but he just sat there and then transferred to my finger. I checked his wings and they seemed okay. We sat looking at each other for awhile and then he flew away! Oh joy, oh joy.
I was able to find out from The Birds of North America online, that he was a Leiothrix lutea, a "blabber" introduced to Hawaii in 1911. Why it is I'v never seen one before, and now I've seen a flock, I can't explain. They mate for life, so I'm glad he flew away and hope he finds his way home.

It always amazes me what information is available on the Web. I have yet to discover what this fungus found growing in my sister's yard is, but I'm sure the info is out there.


Aaah, hold the phone! It's a Lycoperdon pulcherimum.

Movies on the Road

Step Up is a cute movie with good-looking people starring in it. "Bad" boy with good heart meets perfect ballerina. Together they dance their way up to fulfill her dream, and he gets one. It is a pleasant enough copy-cat movie, but lacks the oomph of the Eight Mile, Billy Elliot, Flashdance or even Save the Last Dance. I will rate it 2/5 acorns and no clives.

The Illusionist stars Edward Norton, one of the best of actors these days, imo. This movie is very intriguing, dark and romantic and is perhaps the best movie I've seen at a theater for awhile. A boy of low birth falls in love with a countesss and she loves him. They plan a life together but their plans as stymied by her parents. The story is told from the eyes of a detective played by very well by "Sideways" actor Paul Giamatti. When the Illusionist reappears and finds his true love is betrothed to a cruel and coniving man, and that she recognizes him and returns his love, the story that unfolds is exciting and mysterious and so well done.
I highly recommend this movie. I do love periods pieces and to have fantastic mystery is even better. The intensity of this movie reminds me of the Johnny Depp movie "From Hell", but while I would give that movie a clive, this movie has no clives. I rate it 4/5 acorns.


Little Miss Sunshine has a lot of great actors and actresses in it including Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin, Toni Colette (mom from Sixth Sense and About a Boy), Abigail Breslen, and Steve Carell. The older brother played by Paul Dano and this character is my favorite in the movie. I enjoyed this movie about an offbeat family who unite to back Olive in her quest to become Little Miss Sunshine.
The timing of seeing these caricatures of the little beauty queens is creepy considering the recent news regarding Jon Bonet.
I will give this 3/5 acorns.


I saw the hacked of verions of Just My Luck on the plane. Lindsey Lohan is very cute and not quite grown up in this romantic comedy about a very luck woman who loses he luck to a very unlucky man when they kiss at a masquerade ball. She is supposed to find and kiss him to get her luck back. This is a chick flick that I enjoyed especially since I didn't have to pay money to see it.
I will rate it 2/5 acorns.

And It Ain't Even Halloween yet

The movie watching has slowed down in the heat of the summer, but I watched Silent Hill, Day of the Dead and Ultraviolet (TV series).

Silent Hill had lots of creepy effects and dead people. It was entertaining but not memorable to me. The story was a little hard to follow. There were great animated bugs and that always counts for something.

Day of the Dead was the third of George Romero's zombie trilogy. The first one, Night of the Living Dead is pretty much THE zombie movie and it still scares the heck out of me. Dawn of the Dead was a real action movie with zombies that can run fast. Day of the Dead has Bob. Bob is the "tame" zombie. The special effects and make-up are pretty amazing. The extras on the second disc show how they were done, and I must say they are quite convincing. This is not the kind of movie you want to watch while eating lunch.

Ultraviolet is a UK TV show. The first few episodes were quite slow and I could have used some subtitles. I put it aside for a while and started back on the second disc. I got in to it a lot more and went back to watch the first disc again. It is quite dark and serious with some new twists on the vampire theme. A clandestine goverment agency recruits a newly bitten, reluctant policeman and he is cured. He has to go after a close friend who has turned. The exploded vampires turn to dust and the dust is collected and stored as they can regenerate.

All of these movies have clives and are not for the faint of heart. I will give Hills 2/5 acorns, Day 3.5/5 and Ultra 3/5 acorns.

I will be absent from blogging for a few weeks as I will be vacationing. At least I don't have to worry about missing 24, as Season 6 doesn't start until Jan.7. I got my free month of wifi to try out. too.