The new way

Good morning, America, how are ya? This president of ours will eventually be just the stuff of history books, although you have to wonder if the office is forever diminished and demeaned.  Can we preserve some civility until this is over? How low can America go?  We're not there yet. The news is full of ugly, crude and stupid things, as catastrophes pile up around the world.

On that cheerful note.  Happy Birthday, America.

June flew by as always, and we're headed into a long Fourth of July weekend, at least for people taking Monday off.  We don't have any particular plans so John is working, except for Tuesday, of course.  The weather turned perfect-- cool nights and mornings, but up to the mid-70's by late afternoon.

Have a good weekend.

The head of the Statue of Liberty

on display in France, 1884

Royals

Princess Elizabeth and Margaret

We recently watched a TV documentary called "Our Queen at 90," a tribute to Elizabeth's long life and reign. It was more personal than most of those programs, with the Queen's sharp reminiscences and contributions from relatives. I especially liked the rare family movies of the two little princesses growing up.  Elizabeth seemed like a serious child, but Margaret had such a vibrant personality. She was always joking and laughing, despite the rather dour upbringing. 

Photographer Reginald Davis, 92, spent his career photographing the royal family and some of the biggest stars of the 70's and 80's.   He said that Princess Margaret was the Diana of her day and a joy to photograph. A party girl.

Poor Margaret didn't have a happy adult life.  After the war she fell in love with Captain Peter Townsend. He divorced his wife and proposed to Margaret, then 22. Many in the government believed he was a unsuitable husband for the the Queen's sister, and the Church of England refused to accept the marriage.  She later married a photographer who was created the Earl of Snowdon by the Queen.  They divorced in 1978, and she died at the age of 71.

Speaking of royalty, is there a woman alive who wouldn't like to look like Princess Grace?  She had a smooth, sweet facade, but Reginald Davis said that she was the most difficult person he ever had to photograph: “She was such an attractive woman, but haughty, arrogant and distant beyond belief."  His photographs are collected in a new book, "My Life Photographing Royalty and the Famous." 

For no good resaon

Hitchhiking
San Diego to Berkeley

1974

For No Good Reason

As if you needed one,
as if you could help it,
for no good reason
a tune out of nowhere
pops into your head
when you least expect,
riffs effortlessly in the
folds of your cerebrum—

your own private jukebox,
your personal music device
on random minus the earbuds—
drumming itself up to keep
you company: here, a little
Janis Joplin while you vacuum
cat hair; there, a John Denver line

as you peel potatoes at the sink.
How can others not hear it,
this frequent odd gift?
Sometimes you forget
and blurt the words to the chorus,
which, after all, is all you can remember,
those take me home, country roads,
that feelin’ good was good enough
for me, even conjuring

the gas station in Colorado
back where you, wearing
those bell bottoms and that
paisley, were about to fill a tank
of freedom into the blue VW Bug
when Carole King belted out
and it’s too late baby, now it’s too late
though we really did try to make it

and you couldn’t move, couldn’t
quit sobbing to the steering wheel
that would not console those blues
or say what you had left to lose,
wouldn’t question why in hell
you were going down that road
where for no good reason
you seemed to be heading.

by Twyla Hansen

The Anjou Bible

I ran across some fascinating Gothic miniatures on an art blog I follow. They are from the Anjou Bible, created at the Royal Court of Naples in the turbulent 14th century, a time of power, corruption and intrigue.

For almost 500 years, the manuscript fell into oblivion until it finally surfaced in Belgium.  It's currently being conserved and digitized at the Theology Faculty's Library of the University of Leuven.  High-resolution pictures and zoom make it possible for scholars to study the tiniest details in the strange symbolism.

After the exhibition, this gem will be re-bound and returned to the safety of the dark strongroom for many years to come.  But the digitized version is online and the mighty Amazon sells a reproduction book for $109.

Cold and hot

January 1, 2017

June 25, 2017

Now we've been to Kobota Gardens on the coldest and hottest day of the year. It was magical after a New Year's Eve snow, and yesterday Seattle set a heat record of 96 degrees.  It's always peaceful and uncrowded, at least in the morning when we're out and about. The garden is somewhat off the beaten track down in the Rainier Valley-- one of Seattle's best kept secrets.

On the way home, we stopped for some tasty street tacos at the El Asadero Bus on Rainier Avenue. 

The short heat wave is history.  It's 59 this morning. Cool marine air pushed in around midnight and filled the bedroom with fresh air like a delightful (free) air conditioner.  It's going to be a beautiful summer week in the Northwest, dry with temperatures in the mid-70's.  Good deck-painting weather for me.

Hot weather weekend

In Seattle, even the crows are hot weather weenies.  This poor guy was standing in the yard panting yesterday afternoon-- it was all of 83 degrees. 

Marji and Dad will be amused to hear we have an "excessive heat warning" in Seattle this weekend.    Our high temperature might reach the daily low they've had all week in Las Vegas.

I love warm weather.  It doesn't happen enough to make it worth all the complaining. Most of the year we're shivering under a thick marine overcast.  I woke up around 3:30,  and the sky was already getting light.

Yes, it will be hot later, but it's a spectacular cool morning without a cloud in the sky.  I watched some of my wildlife friends and a neighbor's cat check out the new front yard.  With the laurel hedge diminished, noses seemed a bit out of joint.  The birds are quiet, and that I am sorry about.  But you can't kill laurel, and it will green out again in a few months.

Seattleittes are just waking up and thinking of ways to keep the water rescue people busy. The rivers, lakes, and of course, Puget Sound, are freezing cold, but that doesn't stop anyone from going out on treacherous water in flimsy inner tubes.

Alki Beach will look like Coney Island in August. We saw on the news that the police were setting up crowd control down there today.  If you feel like jumping in Puget Sound, expect to park about a mile from the water. 

Remembering Summer

Being too warm the old lady said to me
is better than being too cold I think now
in between is the best because you never
give it a thought but it goes by too fast
I remember the winter how cold it got
I could never get warm wherever I was
but I don’t remember the summer heat like that
only the long days the breathing of the trees
the evenings with the hens still talking in the lane
and the light getting longer in the valley
the sound of a bell from down there somewhere
I can sit here now still listening to it.

W.S. Merwin 

Taming the Beast

Five strong young men armed with chainsaws, a bucket truck, a giant wood chipper and the job was done in record time.  At long last, the bully is tamed!   Blooma Tree Service, where have you been all my life?

I'm sitting at my desk marveling at the sight of morning sun hitting the Olympic mountains. Who knew?  After 40 years, we actually have a little view beyond the Urban Village.   

Summer arrives

The summer solstice slipped by on Tuesday, with about 16 hours of daylight in Seattle.  Add another 4 hours of dusky light, and it's only dark (sort of) for a couple hours around midnight. But it's all downhill from here, folks, as our northern hemisphere begins the long march toward the winter solstice.

We got a fancy new light-blocking roller blind for the bedroom window.  We had an old-fashioned cheap one for over 20 years, and amazingly it still worked, although was getting pretty tattered.
This new one has a chain on the side to yank, instead of pulling it up and down with your hand, like every roller blind I've wrestled with since the 1950's.

It looks nice, but I'm not sure if the mechanical part is an improvement over the old classic.  John had some choice words for the inventor.  But we'll get used to it.  Senior citizens aren't crazy about change.

Well, the dreaded hedge-cutting day has arrived. I'm using a new company this year, and the plan is to take about 3 feet off the top and cut back the inside pretty drastically.  It will be ugly for a few years but needs to be done.  It is slowly but surely creeping across our valuable little piece of front yard.
Ha.

On the website, this company makes it look oh-so-easy with their fancy bucket truck.   What could possibly go wrong this time?  Stay tuned.

Bee house

I hope it's just my imagination, but seems like there there were fewer bees on the alliums this year-- their favorite flower.

Happily though, the endangered bumblebees made a nest this summer under the garage/shed.  I watch them go in and out through a little hole in the ground. And some other variety of "good" bees have a hive in the birdhouse.  You can hear that sweet, low thrumming sound. 

It's a cute birdhouse, but picky bird parents shun it because it heats up in the afternoon sun.  For many years, the ubiquitous house sparrows nested there, but now they're completely gone from the yard.

West Seattle is becoming so urbanized. The scraps of land are worth more than the old houses, so some are torn down to build condos and modern-looking box houses that cover the entire lot.  People want maximum indoor living space these days, not the work and bother of wasted yards.

This French-provincial, stucco McMansion went up nearby, nestled among the wood bungalows.  I shouldn't trash someone's dream home, but it looks like it was dropped down from an Atlanta suburb.  And how about that concrete bunker in front?

Back in the 1990's, the city plan to designate West Seattle as an "Urban Village" sounded kind of quaint and European.  No one (except the developers) payed much attention to the zoning changes that opened the door for multi-story apartments and high density in our part of the city.

Not much happened as the recession came and went, but now we're in the middle of a tremendous building boom. Some would say bubble. The narrow streets are congested and pay parking is probably just around the corner. About 30 percent of new apartment developments here include no parking at all. In the Urban Village, we're supposed to ride bicycles, take transit, or walk to work. (ha ha)

Still we should count our blessings like green belts, parks, beaches, and thousands of backyards.  But we're at a crossroads as Seattle tries to hang on to its natural soul.

Ice Cream Soda Day

June 20th is Ice Cream Soda Day.  Ice cream sodas were invented by Robert Green in 1874 during Philadelphia's 150th anniversary celebration. Mr. Green added vanilla ice cream to the soda he sold after he ran out of ice.  The concoction was an instant hit, and later he claimed he invented the idea before the event. He was so proud of his creation that he had “Originator of the Ice Cream Soda” engraved on his tombstone.

Holy smoke! It's blazing hot across the West, the exception being Seattle, of course.  We might reach the low 60's today, with a 50% chance of rain.  But down yonder in Las Vegas, the high temperature forecast is 117 degrees, which would tie their all-time hottest day.

The scorching heat is brutal on tourists trudging up and down The Strip, but the locals hunker down under the AC, like smart desert rats.  Marji said they have the house thermostat set at 84, which seems quite cool. In Seattle, an 84 degree day would set off "excessive heat warnings" on the local news.

On the downside, there's no outdoor walks this week for Dad and Doodles the Dachshund.  Even in the early morning hours, the sidewalk is still hot enough to roast him like a wiener.

Stay safe down there. This is why they invented ice cream.

Coconut cake heaven

I thought of going to Metropolitan Market to buy John one of their ridiculously expensive little cakes for Father's Day. Then I realized I had almost everything on hand to make a homemade coconut cake, including a can of that hard-to-find cream of coconut (not to be confused with unsweetened coconut cream.)

I can't find it at the grocery store, but they sell "Coco Lopez" at the big liquor stores because it's an essential ingredient in Pina Coladas.

The best coconut cakes are made with that gooey sweetened cream. There are dozens of "best ever" coconut cakes on the Internet, some of them pretty crazy-- like adding expensive coconut cream to a plain old white cake mix.  Why bother?  Others have pages of ingredients and instructions which turns me off.

I think the fewer ingredients the better with cakes. If you're going to consume all those calories, it might as well be wholesome.  I found a fairly simple recipe on Epicurious and especially liked it because you use up the rest of the cream of coconut in the frosting, so none of the decadent stuff goes to waste. 

I tend to lose recipes then I'm kicking myself later, so I'm putting this one on the blog then I can look it up.  The cake is dense, moist and not too crumbly or sweet.  Definitely a once-a-year cake. If you like to bake, I hope you give it a try.

Coconut Cake

2-3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup butter, room temp
1 cup canned cream of coconut
1 3/4 cup sugar
4 large eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk

Heat over to 350.  Butter and flour two 9-inch cake pans.  Whisk all dry ingredients together in a bowl.

Using electric mixer, beat sugar, butter and cream of coconut in large bowl until fluffy.  Beat in egg yolks and vanilla. On low speed, beat in dry ingredients, alternating with buttermilk until just blended.

Using clean beaters, whip egg whites until stiff but not dry.  Carefully and gently fold whites into batter. Divide between pans and bake for about 45 minutes until tester in center comes out clean.

Cool on rack 10 minutes, then remove from pans and let cool completely.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

 2 (8-oz) packages of cream cheese, room temp
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Approx 1/2 cup cream of coconut

Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy.  Add the powdered sugar, vanilla.  Gradually add the coconut cream until you get the desired consistency.  Top with sweetened coconut flakes.  

Happy Father's Day

We have been truly blessed with strong, gentle family men and wonderful fathers.  Special greetings to Dad, John, Tom, Brian, Jordan, King, Dan and Jerry.  Have a great day!

"I believe that what we become 

depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, 

when they aren't trying to teach us. 

We are formed by the little scraps of wisdom."

Umberto Eco