Pics I've been meaning to post...And a recipe, sort of.

Here are some pics from my year. One is as old as April, a few are from May when I got my lovely new camera and several are from the past week. Enjoy. :)

Here is a picture of me (left), Kimberley Derting (middle) and my sister (right). We were at Powell's for a book signing and all the lights went out, which is why it is so dark. Ms. Derting's son was kind enough to be our photographer.

Pics from the Saengerfest:

 This is from the Nitobe Memorial Garden in Vancouver, B.C. One of my choir friends (name not shown to protect her identity) knows the gardener so we got in before hours. It was very quiet and lovely.

Also from the Japanese garden.

 Genuine Canadian Canada geese. :)

The church filling up for the Saengerfest. Sorry, but I don't have any pics of my choir singing.

 The Olympic Stadium through a car window.

 Vancouver's skyline.

More of Vancouver's skyline...not exactly sure what that building is, but it's cool.

 Entering Chinatown, the coolest part of the trip.

 The Jimmy Hendrix shrine.

 Dried squid.

 Mutant cucumbers. Yes, those are full-sized cabbages being dwarfed.

Me all dressed up for the party at the Hellenic Cultural Center. Don't ask me why the German choir was partying in a Greek building; we were in the Croatian Cultural Center the night before.

 A quick stop at a book store on the way home. Just because. :)

A frog. What more welcome could one ask for?

 A pretty flower.

 Conor the mouse.

Another pretty flower.

Fritz enjoying Insurgent.

Yet another pretty flower.

Waiting for a train to take me and my cousin on an adventure in Portland.

 A bridge in Portland.

 People at the Saturday Market.

 Cutlery art.

 Metal personages.

A cool statue at Chinatown.

 An interesting fountain.

Me and Monet.

 What to do with this overabundance of tomatoes?

 Let's wash them and lay them out...preparing for the slaughter.

 Tomato guts.

 Here are some peppers to throw in.

And some onions...

 Looks like we're getting somewhere.

 Lots of limes.

 Salt, pepper, cumin, cayenne and vinegar for flavoring.

And then lots and lots and lots of cilantro. Let it sit overnight and you have a lovely salsa. Of course, I still have enough tomatoes for five more batches....

                            Lieder Madchen

My Maifest Pics

Hello!  I spent the weekend in beautiful Leavenworth, WA. I was their with the Liedertafel Harmonie German Choir for the Maifest. We spent a crazy/wonderful couple of days singing, dancing and partying in true Bavarian style.

This is the view from Maryhill, where we stopped to stretch our legs.

The Stonehenge at Maryhill. This was built as a monument to soldiers who died in World War I.

This is me. If you look closely, you can see Mt. Hood in the background.

This is a pretty flower that I found by our hotel.

This was also by the hotel.

The view from the Icicle Inn, where we went to party. :)

A very friendly mountain goat.

A building decorated with fairy-tales.

Getting ready for the parade...

The bierwagen.

Taking pictures of the pretty mountains while waiting to march in the parade...

The dancers getting ready at the maypole.

Our audience.

Dancing.

Silly dancing.

One of the Bernese mountain dogs who marched with us in the parade.

I don't have the pics from the parade or concert yet (I was too busy marching and singing to take any of my own) but I will share when I do!

                                        Lieder Madchen