beans are asoaking

on this rainy sunday









aren't they awesomely gorgeous? yup they are ... these babies are Good Mother Stallard's from Rancho Gordo - and even if they weren't beauty queens, wouldn't you love them just for their name?

soon there will be a pot o' beans ladled over brown jasmine rice with some yummy aged white cheddar grated on top and a dollop of cilantro relish

yum

an afternoon at the orchard - the digital version

Went to Rock Hill Orchard (Mt. Airy, Maryland) to get apples and pumpkins and take a few pics. I brought the D90 and the slr 680 polaroid along. Blew through one pack of polaroids (10 shots) and to be honest, I pretty much liked everyone of them - well, perhaps 7 out of 10. How's that for a keeper rate :-).

The digitals are fine, but they just don't make me as happy for whatever reason. One thing I noticed is that I need to remind myself that bright midday sun is not the "optimum" time for arty apple orchard images. Oh well.

Anyhoo, I've got the pola bug bad, and it ain't fading. As an aside, I had no film in the house so the FE2 stayed at home. I have since rectified the lack of film issue.

here are some digital outtakes from the day (most of the polas are on flickr)

anthro + sushiko

aka some retail therapy and a dinner date to help pass the summer doldrums

the kid and I love anthropologie - you can't help it - the visual appeal is utterly palpable

too bad the prices don't love us back :-( - or maybe that's a good thing .......















dinner with the fambly at sushiko in Chevy Chase, MD

first time there for us - the hubs liked it fine but I wasn't blown away ... it was good but not amazing - how is that for some equivocation



the peach bellini was good :-)



chicken yakatori

pola stories

Back in the depths of winter, I went ebay hunting for polaroid cameras. I say cameras because I ended up with 3, but that wasn't the initial intention.

It had been about a year since I got the first DSLR and made my admittedly tentative steps into the flickrverse. This photography thing is overwhelming. You start off thinking you just want to take some pictures and then it explodes: Digital, film, medium format, toy cameras, polaroids, and every flavor in between.

I find it extremely humorous that I have ended up loving the look of film over digital despite the fact that it was the little entry level D40 that began what is now a de facto passion.

So, off I went to step back in the analog waters with polaroid. The first one I bought was a Sun 600 for 15 bucks. No lie. Got it home, and with a pack of 600 I had also bought, took some pictures. To say I was underwhelmed is an exaggeration. I didn't like a single image. They were so bad I threw them away. I knew that what I really wanted was the SX-70, but I was cheap and film was no longer an option at your local CVS, so I hesitated. That didn't last long because I was enchanted with the look of those SX-70 images and that enchantment was NOT waning. The Sun 600 went in the closet and I gulped and won an SX-70. Again, my forays into this world have not been smooth. I have yet to get THAT look. The look you see here and here and here. Undaunted, I decided I needed a 680 SLR, a kind of version of the SX-70 that took 600 film without modifications.



I will say that I love these cameras but they don't love me back. But love will conquer all, and I will keep at it (in slow dribs and drabs because, holy shit, the film is expensive).

However, as the universe is wont to do. The cameras seem to love the kid.

In my fantastical generosity, I offered up the $15 sun 600 to the kid to take with her to London for her semester abroad. I even gave her two film packs. I thought, she didn't care about THE LOOK, and so she might find it fun.

A few months later and she is holding up some rather nice polaroids to the screen as we were skyping across the ocean. You took those? With that Sun 600? Huh?

Not only did she take these wonderful images, but the camera figures into one of her "on the road" stories that she has from her 3-week rail trip on the continent. Yes, it's a rough life these students live.

Early on, the girls (the kid and two friends) decided that they would eschew the convenience of the Eurail pass in favor of the more spontaneous, buy each train ticket as they went method. Why they decided that I don't know, but she's a big girl now ... Well, actually, it was the hubs who said with some ostensible knowledge of these things, you won't need one. Real Europeans just buy their tickets as they need them. You just know those words would come back and bite him

One (very early for us) morning, we get a panicked call from the kid. "They are all sold out!!!," she yells across the atlantic. YOU SAID WE DIDN'T HAVE TO WORRY!

Turns out, it was Easter weekend and they were trying to get from Montpelier to Barcelona to catch an overnight train in Barcelona that they actually had proactively purchased tickets in advance. These tickets were not cheap, and these girls were minutely aware of where every last euro was going.

Anyway, it was our fault, naturally, that she found herself standing in the train station dead stuck sans tickets. I may exaggerate a bit the sense of dis-belief, entitlement and outrage that was coming across the phone line at that moment, but not much. OK, she did have a bit of a meltdown, but she got over it after we calmly (not so calmly actually) asked WTF she thought we could do about it over here. I'll figure it out, she said and click went the line.

The plucky mademoiselles decided to ask (beg?) the conductor to be allowed to sit in the aisles on their luggage (please please please). He said no.

But.

He beckoned his finger and pointed at the front of the train. Turn out, true story, what they got instead was a free ride with the driver and the engineer. Yup, that's apparently what happens when you are 20 and cute.

This is the cute and very nice French train driver. The kid got to drive the train as well as blow the horn. Yes, did I say happen to mention what happens when one is cute and 20?




And finally, here's where the camera comes in. Either she heard it wrong, French not being a language she has studied, but neither the driver nor the engineer seemed to be familiar with polaroid. They were quite taken with the magic that is polaroid and so she left each of them with a picture of themselves. A nice way to say thank you I think.

The polaroid at the beginning of this post is one of the kid's. With that $15 camera. It's in Aix en provence and it's my favorite pola of hers hands down. I will post a few more of hers from that trip, and I will be sure to give proper attribution as mine stink.

sunday mornings

are spent like this

breathing in the beauty that is the food that comes from the passion and hard work of local farmers who believe that stewardship of the land comes first









beets aren't my thing but they are so gloriously gorgeously hued that on looks alone, I should like them (but I don't :-()

then yesterday, as I was driving around on errands, the public radio show Splendid Table was on, and there was a nice section on loving beets - maybe I will have to give them another go ...














more sugary (and untouchable for me) goodies from bonaparte bakery

Amsterdam, part four

of course there's a bike in jump shot three - of course there is

there are also a few folks in the shot who didn't really understand the need to jump :-) who cares, right? jumping is joyous

and yes, there is a bike(s) in jump shot 4 (of course there is :-))







it wasn't all bikes all the time (although a closer look at the following "not bike" transportation shots reveals one can't quite get away from those wonderful and ubiqitous bikes ;-))

there were a few automobiles worthy of a snap - this citroen DS had to be photographed because back in the day, it was the family car - the hubs' family (well, it was Opa's pride and joy).

You don't see so many of these in the states



old school mac mobile?



from bikes to automobiles to the four-legged kind





tight squeeze - yup, that's a bike in the top left



I loved window shopping. There was something to see on every street. Oh, to have the time to go into each and every one of those little shops ...

something must have looked good, because I stopped and actually lowered the sunglasses for a better look



hands down, my favorites are the food shops - wish someone would pay me to shoot food shops - I love them that much :-)

so how can you not love a pastry shop with open doors and customers who come for a visit with their dogs - although I have a hard time imagining Tucker and Bo having any semblance of behaviour where croissants are involved





there were quite a few sweet/pastry shops - what do they say about the things that are forbidden are the most fascinating? they are for me







very old or somewhat new?





absolutely no comment



__________________________________________________________

what was I thinking when I didn't write down where we ate? where was my moleskin? I had my guidebooks that recommended this place or that, but in the end, like it usually does, we liked to find local haunts, ones that weren't necessarily in fodors or lonely planet.

there was a local restaurant just down the street from our canal house that we ended up going to twice for dinner. It was smallish but not too small, had a limited but changing daily menu, and the best part? we saw a yellow lab IN the restaurant hanging out with his family - as if this was no big deal

dorothy, we are not in kansas anymore - I loved that! A lab in the restaurant! And I loved my grouper (night one) and monkfish (night two) - I don't seem to have any real pics of the food (it was wicked cozy dark in there by the time our food arrived), but I played stealth photographer for a few. I always wonder about the stories of fellow dinners.





not only did we come for two dinners, we ordered the same bottle of wine both times

creatures of habit?
that south african wine was really rather good, and their website has a few nice touches



late afternoon - another pit stop for libations- this time I actually have a name, the Cafe in de Waag

hot choc for me, beer for the hubs, wine for the kid

and dutch frites of couse, with mayo for the two with the dutch dna, and ketchup for the uncivilized american

a little pout pre potatoes






prepping for dinner which involves the massive lighting of candles as dinner is served by candlelight only - we meant to come back and check that out of course, but time was short and we didn't get a chance, but how lovely is this???

next time, right?









there at the end is a window - equally wonderful inside looking out or ...

outside looking in



I did say we liked our south african bottle of wine, didn't I?

who's the tipsy paparazzi? nothing is in focus but I like it anyway - we were a happy bunch coming back to the house after dinner

you can tell, can't you

Amsterdam, part three

We had five days in Holland. Well, really four as one day was travel to and from london. Days one and two were spent with no real agenda except for wandering around town. I am not one of those that has everything mapped out from morning till night (despite the multiplicity of guidebooks I lugged in my suitcase). I'm pretty sure I would see a lot more famous stuff if I were super organized and those famous things mattered greatly. But I'm not, and they don't. I suppose it could be a bit of a problem if I traveled with folks who were like that, because I could happily spend all my days wandering with no agenda except for stopping here and there, bouncing from one cafe to the next, all the while people watching and picture taking. Luckily, at least for the first two days, the folks I was traveling with were content to walk the streets and canals (well, they had to be didn't they!). They were content to drink and eat and drink and eat and shop a little from time to time. Aimless? Yes. But how lovely.

It is not then surprising that the bulk of that picture taking on these first two days was an aimless slightly patterned focus on food, cafes, bikes, streets, food, drink, bikes, canals, ............

On occasion, I did try and focus on architecture and buildings just because it's probably the thing to do when you are in a new city.

It's not really my thing though, so I'll get a few out of the way now









ok, that's sorted then,

de rigueur in Amsterdam?



it's not often there was a street shot without a bike - just ask me how much I love that

you've got your flowers and bikes



you've got your wine and bikes



your shoes and bikes



your cheese and bikes



your shop windows and bikes



bikes and bikes







street/canal views don't count in my book as architecture shots. it's completely different. really. those canal and street views I just couldn't stop shooting. Stop, shoot, swivel, shoot, turn-around, shoot. They were that picturesque and I was not able to catch that certain something no matter what I did. I tried though. Many times ... :-)

Amsterdam, part two

Beer, of course (we are in Holland you know), was sampled regularly and often by the guy. The girls stuck to wine and fancy cocktails.



Downtown Amsterdam is a city that is incredibly lovely. Canals, ancient houses, cobblestone, cafes, flowers - water everywhere. Turn the corner and it's another visual feast.



evidently, there is history to the tendency to not have curtains on the windows - something about demonstrating wealth and that you have nothing to hide

we were struck by how often we could look right into windows morning and night

this one was more modest but still had a tableau for all to admire ...



we were often in cafes, at all times of the day, as was, evidently, all of amsterdam

it became our inside joke to look around and mutter, "does anyone work around here?"

total jealousy on our part

before the 5 o'clock rule (which we broke with wild abandon), our table would often look like this: water for me, beer for the hubby and diet soda for the kid



trams and bikes and famous hotels, oh my

not sure if I like the fuzzy, slightly polaroidy version of this one better than the other, so here's both






what is holland without tulips and bulbs?
























there are all sorts of stories parents have that fascinate their kids

back in the day, when the hubs was mere stripling of 15, he would regularly skip school (shhhh!!!) and head to amsterdam to hang -

on these steps one day, said 15-year old was arrested for being a vagabond. He had the nerve to sleep on these steps in the dam square overnight in his sleeping bag - the kid wanted to see the infamous site of her father's arrest - kind of anti-climatic I have to say













I don't rightly know why I love this photo - each to their own - something about history and bikes and an embracing couple I guess



at night the city is all amber and beautiful in a whole 'nother way

Amsterdam, Amsterdam - part one

Woo hoo - we're here. Finally in Amsterdam. It's seemed like a long time coming. The kid is 20, and while we have been here and there as a family, somehow, despite the fact that the hubby is DUTCH!!! (yup, he's still not a citizen, and he still has one of those old permanent green cards that piss the US immigration officers every time he comes in and out of the US with a picture from back in the day when he had hair - [and you should have seen his shaggy blond moptop from those days :-)]), WE HAVE NEVER BEEN TO HOLLAND!!!!!!!!

so what's up with never visiting the homeland? who knows -

I managed to get the kid to visit her great grandmother in copenhagen (my mormor), so there really is no excuse that we never made it to holland. Well we have now. And you know that dream about living in london, I have decided to make an executive decision and officially expand that dream to Holland. Yup. It was that wonderful.



I do realize that vacation life is not real life but, man, life in amsterdam seems to have such a vibe. Hop on your bike, take a 3-hour lunch and enjoy the day

that's the vibe, and if it's even only 50 % true, it's my vibe. Too bad there isn't a tad more sun, but who's niggling












it didn't matter that it was in the 50's and the sun would come in and out

the cafes were ALWAYS set up and ready to go - you gotta love sitting around in your smashing and stylish leather jackets under all those heat lamps they've got going















possibly my only recorded jump of the trip - and you now can see why

just call me claw women - the kid on the other hand ... I did say she had mad skills, didn't I. talk about getting into the spirit of things ....



is there anything more perfect than cafes and bikes? I ask you ...

Heading off and Arriving in Amsterdam

How do you start off talking about vacations that burrow deep in the heart. I certainly can't find the clever and eloquent words and phrases. Suffice it to say, I believe that I belong in Europe and maybe, one day, I will get to live my inner dream and spend more than a few days there. For now, I can only say that I realize I am lucky to have gone period. And to go twice in 4 months is pretty much unbelievable. I have been thinking a lot lately about the notion of re-invention and enabling one's inner most dreams. Can one start again in some way at 50? Will it be the same to do the thing you longed for at 20 and 30 and 40 at 50? My dream, which began with the Beatles in 1964, has always been to live in England. I know England is not perfect, and it's not so very different from what I know. I could be more visionary or intrepid and dream about Thailand or Nepal or some other very different place. But that's the thing about inner dreams: it's my dream, bolstered by a lifetime of very sporadic visits, innumerable british mysteries, dramas and tv shows, not to mention the steady, life-changing music that has been my bulwark against life's crazy ups and downs.

I am amazed that for as long as I was depressed about 50 being the end of the world, as far as I was concerned, I had it so wrong. I have traveled more in the last 18 months than any time since I was a kid and we would go to Europe and Egypt every summer.

Maybe 50 is a start. A start of listening to those whispering dreams and hitching a ride somewhere, again and again. With the kid graduating next year, I think those whispers are gonna start to get louder and more insistent. If not now, then when.

But that is for the near future, I hope. Till then, I have the memories of this trip. A trip undertook by the three of us - one little nuclear family hanging together mostly being goofy and happy.

___________________________________

Dulles Airport - DC - waiting in the BA lounge for our evening flight to Heathrow



We arrived around 7 am in heathrow, hung around for a few hours in the BA lounge in terminal 5 (major luxury that lounge is: I had a shower, got freeby elemis spa skin goodies, nabbed several gossipy magazines)

we then took the tube to St. Pancras train station and boarded a high-speed train to Amsterdam by way of brussels

pulling into Antwerp



goofing around



outside of brussels






finally starting to see those famous canals in belguim and holland



a theme of this trip turned out to be the happy jumps undertaken by the main goofballs - I was far more reserved, as is my wont, and generally behind the camera, as is my wont

everytime they attemped these jumps, we all fell about laughing like idiots (and we got some odd looks too)

turns out the kid has mad jump skills for such a shorty...






those canal houses would glow as evening waned - it was really beautiful



by the time we arrived and were settled into our very cute and narrow little canal house, it was way past 9:00p and we stumbled down the street for dinner at a place recommended by the house agent (I can't for the life of me remember the name - that tendency is another theme of the trip - luckily, I can visually get there next time I go, so there).

fondue was the order for the two of them - I may have relaxed my typical food snob/sugar is the devil attitude ten-fold on this trip, but cubes of white bread wasn't a deal-breaker (that would be chocolate and croissants)

engrossing

she sat there on that bench the entire time we ate dinner at Raku reading Eat Pray Love.

have to say, I too loved the book, that is when I could get past my jealousy of someone who gets paid to take a year off in italy, india and indonesia

an asian diner - Raku

Going out to dinner is a love/hate thing with me. I love to go out and be a part of the liveliness all around in a good restaurant. It's fun to see people enjoying themselves. And, often enough, I can be persuaded not to cook . Really. It's ok by me :-). But, then there's my food issues. It's a mood thing. Sometimes I let go of my food snob prejudices and go with the flow.

It seems I have been out to dinner twice in matter of days recently. Hmmm. Good weather must be back. Unfortunately, for the hubby, going out also means the camera.

Witness the typical reaction (apparently we live with dogs given his vest all nicely permanently peppered with Bo and Tuck hair):



I very much like Raku in Bethesda. Basically, if there is a curry coconut soup on the menu, then it has my name on it



but there's lots more to like there - like Tuna Sashimi and the Blackberry (not for me mind, you know, the sustainable thing)






ban ban chicken appetizer



meet the new boss



where the kid gets her amazing eyes



it was packed inside, but less so outside. perhaps just a tad too chilly without those lovely space heaters they have in canada and europe everywhere

mezze night

at the Lebanese Taverna

I adore the LT downtown on Conn Ave. Sitting outside watching people go by on summer nights whilst snacking on little plates of arab/Mediterranean goodness is close to perfect. So I was excited to check out the new member of the LT family in Bethesda.

Well, I'm a little disappointed. The falafel was cold and hard, the bread cold and too chewy. The rest of my normal mezze feast, aka the hummos the tabouli, the foole m'damas, the dolmas, the Fateyer B'sBanigh etc., was fine but not amazing. I'm sure they are just settling in. Next time, though, I am headed back to the downtown location. And now that the weather is getting there
...

back home with farmer's market branches

the best part of going to the farmer's market is coming home with things to cook and eat and make your home pretty

dupont sundays - 4/5/09

Happiness is wandering through the various farmer's markets on offer in DC. Sunday belongs to the Dupont farmer's market. I don't always get there, but when I do, it sets off the day like no other. I wish I didn't have to drive but it's a good 5 miles and whilst I could bike, I tend to load up with goodies, so I wimp out of that option. Perhaps this is the year when I figure out the baskets and panniers and actually regularly bike there.

Sunday April 5, 2009: the strawbs and asparagus are still not there, but the root veggies, spring onions (duh!) and the beginnings of spring greens and lettuces are making their appearance ----












but the real star at this week's market was the profusion of spring flowers and flowering branches



















the market is very crowded in spring and summer, which makes for a less than relaxing experience. I try and get up to be there when it opens at 9:00. I think, though, that I am still on the old clock as I just haven't able to make that goal. So, when I do arrive, the crowds are in full flow (which does have its own energy). For this little girl, finding a space out of the maddening crowd meant finding a little niche under a table --



of course, the usual market suspect were all there from the egg man to the bread folks and gelato makers

until the next time ...