Magic Show

or Kids will be kids--no matter how old they are.

Recently at a festival we attended, we watched a magic show. The magician was Rodney The Younger (not to be confused with Rodney the Elder.) and even though he did only simple tricks, he was still a crowd  pleaser.  He was really more like a stand up comedian with his humorous patter while he was pulling things out of his sleeves.

The first member of the audience he pulled up on stage was a little curly haired boy who was totally awed by the "magic" Rodney was doing. He was adorable to watch with his big eyes and gasps as tricks were preformed around him. He truly believed in the magic.

Next Rodney asked who was there with their parents. Wally promptly raised his hand high. I scolded him and said that he wasn't eight years old and to put his hand down. And then Theo raised his hand which was totally out of character. He usually doesn't want to do anything to draw attention to himself. However,  I guess the possibility of getting his parents on stage overrode his shyness. And you know where this is going. In no time, Ward and I were both on stage for the next 10 minutes of the act.

While Rodney did some good-natured teasing and jokes, Ward and I and the audience watched as he did many tricks with Chinese Linking Rings. And, yes, it was both embarrassing and fun. But mostly it was fun for Wally and Theo. I guess it doesn't matter how old you get, it is still fun to see your parents look silly.

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions, Sept. 13, 2013

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions.

Wally had a yummy milkshake from this booth while on vacation

This Week's Food Waste

None

This was fairly easy to achieve since we were on vacation part of the time and we hadn't been to the grocery store in a couple of weeks except to get a gallon milk.   

This Week's True Food Confessions

(I didn't get any food pictures this week, so I've included these food-themed pictures from a historical festival we visited while on vacation. )

Can you find: A chicken plucker, colonial cooking, a cider press, a barrel maker, an electric potato cutter, a threshing machine?

Let's see. When didn't we eat out this week? A bad cold, late hours at the office, and a few days of vacation conspired to make this a week of catch as catch can. Some of our eating highlights:

--One morning at the hotel, they had biscuits and sausage gravy. They were not as good as my mother makes, but pretty darn good. An unexpected pleasure from childhood.

--And speaking of things from childhood, I had canned spinach for supper tonight. I loved this stuff as a kid, but haven't had it in years. We were recently gifted several cans, so I tried it again. And I still loved it. I thought maybe my tastes had become more sophisticated and I would prefer spinach the way I usually have it these days-- in a salad or freshly cooked. Apparently not. I still like the well cooked (some would call slimy) version.

--Wally had the best nachos he has ever had (his words) while we were on vacation. Instead of the chips piled high with the ingredients piled on top of that, the chips were in the middle of the bowl and the toppings were around the edges. Not only were they much easier to eat, they were delicious too.

--Theo discovered peanut and butter jelly again. We had PB&J sandwiches for lunch while we were on vacation, and he liked them.  For the last few years he hasn't. As the boys said when they were little, "He had a taste change."  

--Ward also tried a favorite from years ago. Pizza, Pizza. Or Little Caesar's Pizza. There was a Little Caesar's Pizza near where we used to live and it was our favorite pizza. We've been seeing commercials for it on TV and discovered recently that they opened a store near where Ward works. Well, to make a long story short, it did not live up to our memories. We decided that if we were going to do carry out, he'd stop by Aldi's which is also close to his work and buy a much cheaper pizza to bake when he gets home.

--We actually did eat at home a little thanks to the abundance of Leo's and Uncle Billy's gardens. We had roasted butternut squash again and two salads with fresh lettuce, tomato, and cucumbers among other things. 

 --The new recipe of the week was Graham Cracker Fudge. I modified a recipe that popped up on Yahoo that caught my attention because we had some stale graham crackers to use up. It also didn't hurt that we had all of the ingredients. It was super easy and pretty good. However, I still prefer conventional fudge, but would be happy to eat this any time.

 Graham Cracker Chocolate Fudge

14 oz sweetened condensed milk (1 can)

6 oz (1/2 bag) chocolate chips

7 oz. (1 1/2 sleeves) of graham crackers

Pour milk and chips into a microwave bowl. Heat for 30 seconds and then stir. Repeat this until all of the chips are melted.

While the chips and milk are heating, crush graham crackers into fine crumbs. 

Mix crumbs into melted chocolate mixture and then pour into greased 8"x8" pan. Let cool and set.

Enjoy.


Until next time....

A Second Look--September 11, 2013

Fall is the air--sort of. Some leaves are falling from the trees but most of them are green and hanging on. Many flowers are fading while others are just starting to bloom. (As evidenced by all of the allergy sufferers.) Last week we had a nip in the morning air, but it was 90° F and humid today. And except for the allergy part, I'm enjoying it all.

 Here's what I saw this week during my Second Look.

The sedum is in full bloom now. There were a lot yellow ants on it.

Every September in this bed of brown day lilies and tiger lilies, these Sternbergia lutea pop up to add a bit of brightness.

The hydrangea blossoms are starting to fade.

The butterflies are enjoying the second blooming of the sage. (Okay, Ward thinks this is a moth. I think it looks like a skipper butterfly, but I'm too tired to figure it out right now.)

These two late bloomers stand out among the other faded celosia.

We still have a few balloon flowers.

The volunteer marigolds continue to please.

I don't have any baby birds to show you this week, so I'll show you a bluebird feather I found.

Frank Lloyd Wright Houses

Falling Water--this gives you a feel of how much the house was a part of the landscape

or Vacation, Day 2

Unlike the first day of my family's recent vacation, the second day had a definite agenda. We visited two houses designed by famed architect, Frank Lloyd Wright--Falling Water and Kentuck Knob, both of which are located in the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania. Falling Water is perhaps Wright's most famous home because of its cascading and cantilevering design over a waterfall.  Kentuck Knob was a more modest home built into a hillside. Wright liked to be one with nature in both design and materials and these two homes were prime examples of this.

Kentuck Knob was built for the Hagan Family in 1956 and they lived in it the next thirty years. It was one of Wright's Usonian homes and was similar in many ways to the Pope-Leighy house we had seen earlier. It was one of last houses Wright built at age 86 and he said it was so easy for him that "he could shake it out of his sleeve." (If half of the stories are true, Wright did not lack in self confidence.)  As was typical with Wright's designs, there were repeating geometrical themes throughout along with cantilevering. Also, there was a blending of the indoors and out-of-doors by incorporating large windows and in situ boulders into the construction.  The house is now owned by an Lord Palumbo of England and was opened up for tours in 1996. Palumbo added a sculpture meadow to the grounds.

Falling Water was built for the Kaufman family and was the house the Hagans had seen when they asked Wright to design a house for them. The Kaufmans used it as summer home until the mid-1960's when it was given to a trust. Falling Water was amazing with multiple levels, many terraces, and various bodies of water incorporated into the design. The design was complex and was truly an architectural feat.

Besides Wright's affinity for creations in harmony with nature, there were some other interesting aspects to his designs. If an area was not used for living, say just for passing through such as a hallway, he devoted very little space to it. Even in the large Falling Water house, some hallways were only 19" wide. Also, Wright did not believe in garages, attics, or basements. He said they just encouraged clutter. He said that if someone has a space, they will fill it. Now that gave me some food for thought.

We had a great day touring Frank Lloyd Wright's houses. The weather was perfect and spending time in his mountain retreats was very calming. I would recommend a visit if you are ever in the area.

 Below are a few of the several pictures we took. Unfortunately, many of parts of the houses were in dappled shade which was not great for making out details. And of course, no pictures were allowed inside.

Kentuck Knob--The house was built from the local Pottstville sandstone. Wright was fond of these repeating and reverse patterned windows.

Kentuck Knob--Windows over one of the terraces. An example of the repeating hexagonal pattern that was throughout the house.

Kentuck Knob--One of the minimalist carports instead of an enclosed garage.

Kentuck Knob--One of the sculptures that Lord Palumbo added to the grounds. All of the sculptures were modern art and this is one of the few we understood.

Falling Water--You can see parts of the house cantilevering over the waterfall.

Falling Water--On the far right of the picture you can see a plunge pool. At the time, it was in fashion to take a plunge into the cold mountain water to invigorate yourself.

Thankful Sunday--September 8, 2013

or Vacation, Day One

I am thankful I got away for a few days with my family.

With our various work and school schedules, it is hard to coordinate time off together. Recently we were able to take advantage of the rare situation of coinciding schedules and take a vacation for a few days.

We had nothing specific planned for the first day except reaching our hotel by nightfall. So we went where the spirit moved us. Sometimes that was off the beaten path.

We explored little towns.

We did a family favorite and watched trains go by as we ate lunch.

We hiked along the C & O Canal.

We visited antique stores looking for old tools and clocks.

We visited a museum and historical site chronicling life in the Laural Highlands for the last 300 years.

And then we found our hotel and a very good Mexican Restaurant.  We had a fun-filled, lazy day which was a great change of pace for all of us.