44 Pounds!

No I haven't lost 44 pounds! I'm packing for our two and a half week trip to Africa and 44 pounds is the weight limit for the one suitcase we are allowed on the inter-Africa flights.  I put everything out on the bed and had serious doubts that I was going to make it.....

But just look....I did it!  42.4 pounds and my carryon weighs 14.6, just under the 15 pound limit for a carryon!

Now I'm going to stay awake all night wondering what I forgot! 

Photography

I have been using the same camera for quite a while now.  Basically I use the auto mode and seldom try anything new.  I have been determined to learn how to use the camera features and thought of taking a private photography lesson.  While I was searching on line for a class I stumbled onto a series of amateur videos specifically designed for my Canon SX 40 IS.  I love the British girl who is the 'teacher'.  Like me she has little interest in the 'theory' behind the camera but is great at explaining how to use the various features.  I can't believe all I have been missing!  Here are a few of my recent attempts to improve my photography skills.

I can hardly wait to try my new skills in Africa!  We leave in a week!

Cloud

No this isn't a post about the Portland weather!  Although there are plenty of clouds here.  Cloud is our latest foster dog from Guide Dogs for the Blind.  We've had her for about a month and have definitely fallen in love.  She had completed all her training and was ready to be paired with a visually impaired person.  Unfortunately she developed some allergies and was just career changed.  The 'puppy raiser', who trained her for the first year or so of her life, wants her.  In fact the report is that she is very excited to get her back.

I can see why.  She is seriously as close as you can get to a maintenance free dog.  No chewing. No barking.  I've heard her make one sound in the month we've had her and that was a quick bark when someone knocked on the door. She often gets in her crate to take a nap. About four times a day she needs to go outside and she quickly takes care of 'her business'.  When we take her for a walk she is excited but she is content at home too.  If we sleep in, she sleeps in. Every person who has met her is impressed with her; every dog her immediate friend.

The other day a sweet little girl came up to us.  Her dad asked if she could pet the dog and Cloud immediately sat and just gently put her head on the girl's shoulder.  It was so adorable.  I wish I could have gotten a picture!

Next week we'll have to say goodbye but we know she is going to be a fantastic, well loved member of one very lucky family!

Class-Cooking

My friend Kim's "Class Cooking" classes definitely teach you to cook with class!  I love all the of cooking techniques I've learned and my whole family loves the variety of recipes.

It all began during our years of living in Barcelona. As 'trailing spouses' of our Hewlett Packard husbands, we enjoyed any excuse to get together.  Kim combined her teaching experience with her culinary expertise and came up with a great plan; a group of women spending the morning cooking together under her direction, using her fabulous recipes, and then enjoying a feast for lunch!  Now home in Vancouver, Kim has expanded on this idea to create "Class-Cooking".

The first class I attended was on Indian Cooking.  The Tika Masala recipe is one of my family's favorites.  In fact every Indian restaurant since then has been judged by 'Is their Tika masala as good as Mom's?"  I'm delighted to say that the answer to that question is frequently, "NO!"  Thanks Kim!

A recent favorite was the tamale class.  I wowed my lunch book club with two flavors of homemade tamales, two salsas,  salad and even dessert tamales! Another delicious class was the Aebleskiver class!  Aebleskiver Eggs Benedict!  Fantastic!  I love the easy Hollandaise sauce so much I have to restrain myself from drinking it right out of the blender!  I've had classes on gourmet salads and sandwiches, Thai cooking, soups and this week I learned to cook Moroccan!  Now I want to go buy a tagine.

So I can make....."Tagine of Chicken, Preserved Lemons and Olives"

                                           "Spice Lentil and Butternut Squash Tagine" 

And "Romaine, Orange and Date Salad with Cinnamon Orange Dressing"

Kim's classes are professionally done yet she explains and demonstrates everything so well that I always leave knowing I CAN do what she has taught us.  The classes are 'hands on'....if you want to eat you have to help!  She teaches all kinds of easy shortcuts and has many recommendations for buying ingredients that might not be available at your local grocery store.  Anyone who has an interest in cooking and wants a fun morning out, should check out http://class-cooking.com.

Spring has sprung????

We lost an hour of sleep last night and I'll be going to seminary in the dark so does that mean that it is spring in Portland?

I doubt it.  These last few sunny mild days are just teases!  But I have enjoyed them and the flowers are beautiful!

I know Spring is coming and hopefully before July!

Happy Birthday Aunt Clarice!

Today is my mother's sister's birthday.  She is 90 years old today.  My mother adored her little sister.  She always said that Clarice was a beautiful little girl with blonde curls who loved to play with dolls.  Momma was much more of a tom boy who loved to play cars in the dirt with her boy cousins.  My mother always teased that whenever it was time to do dishes Clarice had to go to the bathroom and was finished about when the dishes were!

Because their father died when they were young they spent most of their growing up years living with their maternal grandparents.  Evidently their grandfather was a strict disciplinarian who believed that children should be seen and not heard.  Any teasing or playing around at the table and you had to leave the table immediately.  Their brother Edward loved to get them in trouble by walking behind Grandfather Webster and making the little girls laugh!  Discipline yes, but Momma was also quick to say that they were surrounded by love as they grew up.  Love but not much money!

One of their proudest days was when she and her siblings were all working and could finally afford to rent an apartment so that they had their own home.  But the proudest day of all was when they were able to buy their mother a hearing aid.  I suppose she had needed one for a long time.  That must have been a joyous day.  I believe this picture was taken on the doorsteps of the house where they lived after they moved out of the Webster home.  My mother is the one in the white sweater and Clarice in the dark sweater.

Momma and Clarice raised their families in the same town and both worked in offices downtown.  For many years they met once a week for coffee at a local restaurant where they discussed everything under the sun and could have solved many of the world's problems if given a chance.

My mother admired so much about her sister. Family was what was most important to both of these women.  Clarice lives in the country in a little community where she was active in everything from the church to the senior citizens meetings.  She was always taking food to someone who needed it.  In her church she worked hard at whatever job needed to be done.  She and Momma were alike in that.  My mother admired all Clarice did for others.

Happy birthday Aunt Clarice!  I read an Email someone sent once about Clarice that said, "I want to be just like you when I grow up because you just 'keep on keeping on.'  I hope I have some of those strong, kind, involved Boyle female genes and that I'll be like both of these wonderful women when I 'grow up'!

A few things that make me smile.....

The new pillow....

 And how great it looks with our new bedspread! Thanks Pottery Barn!

These iced shortbread cookies from Beaverton Bakery.  I only buy them when I need to take cookies somewhere because I love them so much that I can actually eat a dozen of them.  No self control!  They taste even better than they look!

Our new foster dog, Cloud.  She is seriously the easiest and sweetest dog ever!  I often find her just hanging out in her kennel.....

chewing on her bone!

 I'm not the only one that she makes smile!

I just reread Cry, the Beloved Country.  What a beautiful book!  I'll steal a review I found on line - 

http://papertrailbooks.blogspot.com

This novel is beautiful in so many ways: the lush landscapes, the intimate conversations, the biblical arc of the story, the cumulative power of so many voices. The writing is sparing and lyrical, its rhythms building and breaking into poetry. But perhaps what is most indelible about this novel is the way Paton lays bare the tragedies of apartheid--the poisonous fear; the gross disparities of education and wealth; the destruction of family, tribe, and land--through the development of characters who are unforgettable in their humanness: their struggles, sorrows and triumphs have the clear ring of truth.  This novel is both devastating and hopeful in a way that tends to steal one's breath.

If like me, you read it years ago, read it again.  If you have never read it, then please do!

And last, this movie billed as a 'fairy tale for the geriatric set' was completely delightful.  The acting is superb, the scenery is gorgeous, and the story is predictable but sweet.  And best of all the music is beautiful! 

Hope your week is filled with things that make you smile!