Saturday, January 30, 2010

Barba Joe

I love this 45 year old picture of Barba Joe holding his two great nephews. The tyke on the right is my son, and the one on the left is my nephew. Uncle Joe is the father of the owner of the newly opened winery in Olalla and his is the face you see on the label. He came to this country as a young adult, married a Gig Harbor girl of croation heritage and together they produced 5 offspring, while fishing commercially, and working elsewhere to put food on the table and a roof over their heads.
If you look closely, you'll see that Joe and Connie used many of the local croatian names on the wine label, with of course ours and his at the top :o) And, maybe you will spot the misspelling of croatian on the label, which most of us missed until one bright bulb among us spotted it. We all had a good laugh.

Barba Joe was an absolute dear, and I'm sure he's looking down on the son and wife team, and is very, very pleased.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Wilkerson's Pond

Just for fun, this is the backside of Wilkerson's Park and the pond. People take their dogs there letting them run loose and of course the first thing the big dogs head for is the water.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Afternoon Walk

I took another walk on the new Cushman Trail this afternoon...it's fairly busy now so I'm thinking it's going to be really crazy come summer. My favorite part is the bottom of this hill where you can walk through the old holly trees and see the back side of the old barn. Wish I could remember it when it was being used as a farm. I have a hunch the folks were definately self sustaining.

And..I sure wish the dog lovers would bring along a plastic bag for the gifts their dogs leave behind.

Pope To You ??

Never in my life could I ever have conceived of the Pope being so accessibleto us !!! But here ya are, check out his blog. Your chance to read his spiritual messages, to send pictures to his Piece of Peace, to Facebook, twittter and youtube to your hearts content. Lordy lordy, and ya don't even have to speak italian.
Ya gotta give him credit for being "with it" and he does have excellent taste in music.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Burger Roulette?

Are we playing roulette with meat and poultry? I read this piece and suddenly lost my appetite for anything that doesn't swim.
Maybe the old fashioned sack lunch we carried to school each day wasn't such a bad idea................

Have you heard about "pink slime" in ground beef? It’s the term affectionately used by meat industry insiders that refers to a pinkish paste made of meat scraps from the slaughterhouse floor. These scraps were once only used for pet food and cooking oil, but now, a company called Beef Products, Inc. created a process to collect the meat scraps, send them through a series of machines, and inject it with ammonia to kill pathogens like E. coli and salmonella. This “pink slime,” is marketed to hamburger makers and ends up in 70 percent of burgers in the United States. It’s also served in our country’s public school cafeterias!
According to a recent article in The New York Times, blocks of pink slime are mixed into conventional ground beef at McDonald’s and Burger King as well as in school lunches. America’s school lunch program bought 3.5 million pounds last year alone, the article reports, but ammonia doesn’t always kill pathogens. Government and industry records obtained by The New York Times show that in testing for the school lunch program, E. coli and salmonella have been found dozens of times in Beef Products, Inc. meat.
These types of pathogens are also found in chickens. Each year, salmonella and campylobacter from chicken infect at least 3.4 million Americans, send 25,500 to hospitals, and kill about 500, according to estimates by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While both salmonella and campylobacter are known to cause intestinal distress, campylobacter can lead to meningitis, arthritis, and Guillain-Barré syndrome, a severe neurological condition.
A recent USA Today investigation found that in the past three years, our country’s public schools have been giving our kids millions of pounds of beef and chicken that wouldn't meet the quality or safety standards of many fast-food restaurants. McDonald's, Burger King and Costco, for instance, test the ground beef they buy five to 10 times more often than the USDA tests beef made for schools during a typical production day. And the limits Jack in the Box and other big retailers set for certain bacteria in their burgers are up to 10 times more stringent than what the USDA sets for school beef.
For chicken, the USDA has supplied schools with thousands of tons of meat from old birds that might otherwise go to compost or pet food. KFC won't buy them, and either will The Campbell Soup Company.
Translation: we give our schools food that wouldn’t be accepted at fast food restaurants. That’s crazy!
After USA TODAY presented USDA officials with its findings, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack promised an independent review of testing requirements for ground beef sent to schools.
Until hamburger meat and chicken becomes cleaner, your best line of defense is to buy organic whenever possible, and look for “air chilled” chicken, which is among the cleanest, according to Consumer Report. Consider buying “grass-fed” beef which means that cattle were raised on pasture instead of in factory feedlots and not given any growth hormones or antibiotics. This meat is also higher in Omega-3 fatty acids and lower in saturated fat and cholesterol, plus grass-fed beef has 500 percent more CLA, a beneficial fat, than cows fed a grain-based diet.
http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/super-natural-home-beth-greer/2010/jan/14/are-we-playing-roulette-meat-and-poultry/

Monday, January 25, 2010

Life in Azerbaijan


I put together a few bits and pieces of my sisters emails from Azerbaijan...thought you'd enjoy them as much as I did.........

OK, you gotta love this one... I'm sitting here in my lovely bank (banks are the same worldwide...always nice surroundings!!) and a lady just walked in with a live chicken....she's got it hanging by it's feet and it is just flopping around looking at everyone... I'm in hysterics!! I think even the clients that are waiting are a bit surprised... She first came up to my desk and I didn't notice the chicken but said something in English...that always scares people away...so she went off to another person and that's when I saw the chicken. I just love it!!
As I look across the lobby, all I see is a sea of black... Everyone wears black all the time... when you see color, you just gawk.... Ah, there's an old guy with a grey hat and a dark green coat... refreshing... and the polis guy has a blue shirt on... wonderful.... I love the scarves that all old ladies wear though...on their heads... all kinds of fun wool patterns... They look at me like I might die cause my head isn't covered... that's what God made umbrellas for!! OK, one guy has a fake fur hat on... that's cute... Oh, and there goes a brown leather jacket all cozy warm....and the cleaning lady has on a royal blue cotton house coat over her "black" skirt and black shirt. Of course, I'm dressed in black slacks and a black sweater... why not?? But I do have fancy earrings... dangly sparkles... everyone one wears them..they cost 1 manat ($1.25) so why not!!
No cool clothing stores although one of the volunteers told me about one called H&M that she used to shop in in NY so Judy (she was here this weekend) and I went shopping...she found a fun coat for 25AZN and I found a pair of black (of course!!!!!) jeans that will work...with shortening... for 12AZN. Not bad.... It was a fun, we'll go back often.
Yes, I love scarves... I buy them, but always forget to wear them... Just got a great turquoise one on Saturday... 3AZN. They really add a little warmth around your neck, but I refuse to put them on my head... hair is getting thin enough without compressing it!!! Found a hair dryer on Sat also... Since taking a shower is totally random,,,when the water is hot which has no pattern!!.... I sometimes have to wash it in the morning and heaven forbid if you go out with wet hair...you might die or entice some random male to want sex...not sure which is the main reason...anyway, I will enjoy being able to dry it if I get to wash it in the morning!! Ah, life is always fun. Again, every once in a while you just step back and say..."wow, I'm really adapting and enjoying the whole experience... just have to laugh at what you are doing and how things are done..." And to think, I'm still living out of 2 suitcases!! What a hoot.


The people here are very handsome/beautiful... I can see your kids in them...that slavic look...dark hair, big noses, no curls though.... well, better do something...

Just had lunch with the boss... he is so funny... "miss gretchen, what would you like to eat today for dinner?" This is a daily occurance... So, I just said "anything, I'm starved" so we had kabob... in other words it was BBQ'd meat... sheep and cow...yummmmmmy. Whatever seasonings they use, it was wonderful. I think I am starved for meat... chicken is good, I'm getting plenty of protein, but MEAT!!!! yum. There were big chunks on the plate in the middle of the conference room table and 2 small plates across from each other (every day!!). So, I asked for a knife to cut the meat and he immediately jumped up and got one...but added, "it's much better if you eat with your hands"... so I did. But I hate getting my hands dirty so after I'd had my meat, I washed and then enjoyed the greens...with my fingers and pickles and bread... this all followed by tea!! What a "civilized" dinner...
Not getting skinnier... Just toner. I still laugh everytime I just nonchantly grab my flashight, take off my house slippers, slide on my fake crocs, and stomp out in the cold, stopping to bug the chickens, and then go into my potty, turn the light bulb, set the flashight down (on it's end cause if I laid it on the floor, it would roll into the hole), squat, do my business, turn off the light, and walk back to the outdoor sink to wash my hands, then change into my house slippers at the door and I'm done. You have to roll your pantlegs up above your knees so you don't splatter while emptying the bladder!! Gotta love it. We all comment on the fact that it's hard to get over not flushing... that is the strangest part... just pee and walk... very strange, I'll probably forget to flush when I get home!!

Oh, and our mattress is fresh sheep fleece stuffed into a bag...very soft, easy to move... very good... I sleep on one, and under one every night... and my pillow is stuffed with more wool... Thus, no wool yarn!!!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Charles I


Undoubtedly you're wondering why in the world I'm posting a picture of Britain's King Charles I.
Well, it's because I was talking to a friend about my many times great, grandfather, who arrived in Boston/the Massachusetts Bay Colony on May 18th, 1631 on board the Lyon/Lion, and Charles I, great, great, great grandson of Henry the VIII, was King of England at the time. My many times great grandfather managed to get here 3 months after Roger Williams. Of course you all know who he was don't ya??? Roger Williams floated into Boston/The Massachusetts Bay Colony, on the same ship. the Lyon/Lion on Feb. 5th 1631, three months before my many times great grandfather and eventually the two became good friends.
I'm thinking that for both to cross on the same ship, the crew must have made good time returning for the next bunch.
They spent time in Massachusetts, Salem and finally settling on land adjoining each other in Providence, Rhode Island, the colony that Roger Williams founded. It took him two trips back to England to accomplish his goal and he was the Governor of the colony from 1654 through 1658. The colony was founded on the premise of separaton of church and state.
Williams was a minister and when Providence burned to the ground, my many times great grandfather, who owned a tavern, invited Roger to hold church services in his establishment.
When sis and I were on one of our east coast jaunts, we visited Bryant Universiy, a small college that sits on land that used to belong to our kin and toured the restored home of the original owner. The property changed hands over the years and the last owner, Mr. Tupper, you know, Tupperware Tupper, donated the land for the college.
There...now you know why the picture of Charles I :o) Imagine having to wear that silly bunch of ruffles around yer neck.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

The Economy


The economy is so bad that . . . .

1. I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.

2. I ordered a burger at McDonald's and the kid behind the counter asked, "Can you afford fries with that?"

3. CEO's are now playing miniature golf.

4. If the bank returns your check marked "Insufficient Funds," you call them and ask if they meant you or them.

5. Hot Wheels and Matchbox stocks are trading higher than GM.

6. McDonald's is selling the 1/4 ouncer.

7. Parents in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and learned their children's names.


8. A truckload of Americans was caught sneaking into Mexico .

9. Dick Cheney took his stockbroker hunting.

10. Motel Six won't leave the light on anymore.

11. The Mafia is laying off judges.

12. Exxon-Mobil laid off 25 Congressmen.

13. Congress says they are looking into this Bernard Madoff scandal. Oh, Great!! The guy who made $50 Billion disappear is being investigated by the people who made $1.5 Trillion disappear! And,finally...

14. I was so depressed last night thinking about the economy, wars, jobs, my savings, Social Security, retirement funds, etc., I called the Suicide Lifeline. I got a call center in Pakistan, and when I told them I was suicidal, they got all excited, and asked if I could drive a truck.

For something altogether different...I love the American Spectator and thought this was worth sharing.
Oh...and the pix above was the last bit of sun on the hill across the harbor. It rained/bucketed most of the day and it was such a thrill to look out and see sun !!!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Ayla Brown

HUH ??? Ayla Brown??? The pix is Scott Brown, Ayla's father, who's running against Martha Coakley, for the position of United States Senator/the people's seat, from the state of Massachusetts.
Ayla is one of his two talented daughters and she has quite a voice. I ran across this video of her singing on July 4th, 2006, accompanied by the Boston Symphony. All I can say is WOW !!!!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Flute Playin Sarah


Found this video of Sarah playing the flute in the 1984 Miss Alaska competition. I wonder if she has time in her busy life to pick it up occasionally. For me it's a great way to relax and I have no doubt that she's got one hectic life. I caught her on the Bill O'Reaily show last night.
What's with the hot combs and straight hair these days. She has such a gorgeous mop of hair and it was a shame to have it pulled down, straight as a stick and stiff as a board.
I did notice in the video...she had a tough time with the high F and E...glad she didn't have to try for the A and G.
Oh...and while I am talking about hair...how bout this fright.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Birthday Girl

Six years have come and gone and our birthday girl is getting so grown up.
There she is in the pix on the right with her birthday cake. Chocolate cake and chocolate frosting. It was to die for.
Her other grammy made a cherry cheese cake from scratch and instead of using the ready-made graham cracker crust, she made her own with flour, butter and sugar. It too was to die for.
Bergen ordered flat iron steak for dinner and papa cooked it to perfection.
Because her birthday is so close to Christmas, her gifts consisted mainly of cold, hard cash :o)

Monday, January 11, 2010

Grand Aleutian Hotel


My young neighbor left a couple days ago for Dutch Harbor, Alaska, to work for UniSea. It was his first plane ride and first time very far from home. He picked a doozy of a place to go don't ya think. His contract says he will work a certain amount of hours which could take anywhere from 2 to 5 months.
He was to interview for a job in the Grand Aleutian Hotel today and I am sure he will get it. He's a hard worker and loves to keep busy.
On the plane, going north, he sat next to the captain of the Wizard, one of the boats that fishes crab and that we have all seen on the TV show, Deadliest Catch.
In the UniSea picture, you can see the location of the hotel and the docks etc.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Super Constellation


There was a story in the Seattle Times this morning about the restoration of a Super Constellation.
It caught my eye because I have always loved that plane. Now why in the world would I care about a particular plane? Because I remember as a kid, watching my dad slowly disappear into the sky on the earlier Constellation with it's three fins trailing behind. It was at the Bow Lake airfield, which is now SeaTac and it must have been in the late 40's or early 50's.
I got to looking through the videos on Youtube and found this one which you might enjoy watching. Be sure and read the history of the plane next to the video. And just for fun..here is a bit of history of Seattle Tacoma International Airport. I now know why it took me so many years to stop calling it Bow Lake.
After rejecting a possible site on the Sammamish Plateau as too close to the Cascades, the Port of Seattle selected Bow Lake airfield for the new airport, swayed in part by Tacoma’s promise of $100,000 to help pay for a facility that could serve it as well (the new airport ended up costing more than $4 million, so Tacoma got quite a bargain). Planners ignored warnings from longtime residents that the area was prone to thick and persistent fogs and quickly purchased more than 900 acres on the plateau.
Construction on the future Seattle-Tacoma International Airport began in January 1943, but the site proved more challenging than expected. Excavators had to dig as deep as 20 feet into the gritty glacial soil, and hauled away a total of 6.5 million cubic yards of dirt to create a level plateau. Then workers poured 450,000 square feet of concrete to create the main 6,100-foot runway and an “X” of adjoining taxiways. The original airport was officially dedicated on October 31, 1944, and promptly taken over by the Army Air Force to shuttle Boeing B-29s to and from the Pacific Theater. By then, Sea-Tac’s construction had cost $4,235,000, with most of the tab picked up by the federal government.
Limited civilian operations began in 1945, with waiting passengers and visitors confined to a Quonset hut heated by a single potbellied stove. King County voters approved a $3 million bond issue in 1946 to build a modern terminal and administration building. At its opening on July 9, 1949, Governor Arthur Langley warned the eagles and larks to move over, “for we, too, have won our place in the firmament of heaven.”

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Global Warming?


NASA took this pix of the UK under snow and ice on January 7th. I think it rather ironic that this wild weather all started during the Copenhagen fiasco.
A friend in Florida whom I play online scrabble with said the temperature at her place was in the 30's and I read where AMTRAC is suspending travel on the Minnesota run for a while because in one area the snow drifts are two stories high.
8 Jan 10 - By the end of this weekend, 180 million Americans will have shivered through a record-setting bout of arctic cold sweeping from the Great Plains and the Midwest to the Deep South, says the article on USA today.
"Sixty percent of the U.S. population will experience temperatures 15 to 30 degrees below average at some point by Sunday night", said Weather Channel meteorologist Jim Wilson.
In the South, record lows are possible each morning through Monday.
In South Florida, where the average high temperature this time of year is 76 degrees, overnight temperatures are expected to drop into the 30s this weekend."
The cold threatens $300 million worth of crops, from strawberries and citrus fruits to tomatoes and green beans. Unfortunately, the worst is still to come.
Sure am glad I live on the balmy left coast with the Solar Geomagnetic Activity at an all-time low.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Afternoon of a faun

We had orchestra practice tonight and made our first attempt at playing Afternoon of a Faun. I'm thinkin we will need a lot of playing together to get this one any where near listenable. Wish I was the one playing the flute solo cause I love it, but guess I will have to just enjoy listening :o(

As one of our oboe players left practice...she commented that "tomorrow" she was going to be picking up a new english horn. Oh lordy, we are all so excited for her and for the continuing growth of and balancing out of our orchestra.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and turn off the sound and enjoy the sweet sound along with the pleasure of watching Stokowski direct on his 90th birthday. I love the way he gives a really good down beat...even mouths the count for them...what a joy it must have been to play under his direction.
Here is the second part.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Amateur Garden Club


How fun it is to see The Amateur Garden Club building being used as a coffee shop. I've driven past that building all my life and never been inside until today when I stopped in to check it out and to show the little gal who works there where her great grandmother, Julia Skansie Babich, was in the picture they have hanging on the wall, of the club members on opening day in front of their new club house. The year was 1938 and my mother and aunt were also in the group.
They serve Caffe Vita coffee and pastries from Macrina bakery. There is also wifi and the location is right on Harborview which is great for walkers and for those who stop next door at the new historical museum and are in need of a sandwich or something to satisfy their sweet tooth.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

01022010=Palindrome


For those who watch the calendar, today folks might not know if they're coming or going.
The date 01/02/2010 is a palindrome: A rare confluence of month, date and year that reads the same backward as forward.
Oh...and today is also my mother's birthday. She would have been 94. I'm so glad she's off enjoying her great reward rather than having to endure all the pain and suffering that had made life very difficult for her. Happy Birthday mom :o)
An added note....the little house in the background was built by my grandfather and he and my grandmother lived in it for a short while during WW II when there was such a shortage of housing. It was first nestled on the hill above the bay next to their brick home, then moved to a new location on Goodnough Drive, across the street from our house, on a piece of land that grandpa donated to the community for a community club house. It was used as a Pierce County Library and after the library closed, we had it moved across the street next to our house where it became a home once again.