Sauteed Pork Chops with Apples

Ok, kind of a boring shot today--but the meal wasn't boring.  Pork chops seasoned with a sugar and spice rub, browned to make a rich sauce, and then cooked with apples, chicken broth and wine. Green beans, salad and finally, some really sweet strawberries, which were on sale at SuperTarget.  (If I'd known they would be so sweet, I would have bought more!)

At the Glockenspiel

We went to lunch with Dan's parents today.  A German restaurant is always a winner with them (my mother-in-law is from Bavaria).  This one is in St. Paul and has lots of charm.  This is the sign to the bathrooms.  When I took the picture, the waiter told me to walk behind it to notice that there is a water reservoir with a motor and some tubing arranged so that when it is turned on it looks like the little boy is peeing!

Sea of green.

(Friday's picture.) The lawns always look so perfect in May--solid green with few weeds and no dry patches.  I had to take a shot of the backyard before summer hits and the lawn returns to its patchy usual self.  Also, we are tearing down this old deck and replacing it this summer, so I thought it would be a good idea to get a "before" shot.

Viaducts

I've always liked this view of one arch after the other, with these two parallel bridges on my walk over to Lake Phalen. (One is a biking trail--former railroad--and the other is a road.)  I wanted to capture it in the morning light because it's even prettier than in the afternoon.  But the weather and my schedule haven't cooperated for morning walks lately. So afternoon it is.  I used two different aperture settings for the shots.  Part of my learning curve....

New Skateboard deck

Today's picture is of my oldest son's new skateboard deck. He was in the process of transferring his trucks and wheels from the old deck to the new one.  I liked the 3-D effect of the brand name. It kind of cracks me up that all the skateboards have such fun pictures on the bottom--but the pictures are almost immediately scraped off by the act of skateboarding! And the top picture is covered up by grip tape. All that great artwork for nothing!

A Photo Walk

I met up with Tracy today to take a "photo walk" along Summit Avenue in St. Paul--a boulevard filled with lovely old mansions and embellished with May flowers and plants.  The sun wasn't out (too bad) but we still got some great shots. We also took pictures inside the 10,000 Villages shop.  Tracy takes 5 shots to my one and I can't wait to see what she selects for today's photo! Since I was too lazy to post the past 4 days, I am going to post more than one shot today.

A person could just take pictures of doors while walking down Summit Avenue.

 

 

This picture is for Tracy's amusement. She saw me eye this tablecloth three separate times while we were in the 10,000 Villages store.  Yes, I finally just bought it and it fits perfectly in my dining room!

Crabapple blooming

The crab apple blossoms are opening  today and the air smells sweet! I love that this tree has the deep pink blossoms.

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Mystery Plant (Tuesday's shot)

I've been working in one of my gardens, which in the 1960s and 1970s was a Minnesota Wildflower garden put in place by a Master Gardener.  During the '80s and early '90s it went completely to weed (including stinging nettles) under the owners ahead of us (who were definitely NOT gardeners!)  Over the years we have lived in this house, I have been trying to reclaim this garden space from all the weeds.  I occasionally discover  plants that I know were put there by that first owner.  I'm not sure what THIS plant is.  Maybe when it opens up I will see it and say "Duh!" but right now it looks like a native plant that I might not know. Oh, and I angled the camera for the shot because centering it was boring and didn't fit the "rule of thirds." :-)

May's greenery

I love how the lawn is so incredibly green in May.  It will dry up in patches and thin out over the summer, but it is lush right now. I also like the first part of the gardening season when the lilies of the valley and the hosta are just opening up. 

Crabapple Tree Revisited

This is the crab apple tree outside the window by my desk in my upstairs home office. To take this picture, I opened the screen and window and used my new little tripod to keep the camera steady (I think I'm going to love that tripod!).

The leaves are now out and the buds are tightly wrapped, but it won't be too long before they burst open and perfume the air.  I will probably take another picture when the tree is in bloom--too bad technology can't capture scents!

Downtown

This is the Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul. I took this picture as my husband and I came out of the St. Paul Hotel at Rice Park, after enjoying some drinks and dessert at their restaurant this evening. It was after 8 pm but because it is only about 40 degrees outside, there is this unconscious feeling that it ought to be pitch-black outside at this hour  (as if it were autumn). Instead it was still light!  Well, it IS May 14th after all--but why does it have to be so COLD??  What a strange spring we are having this year.

Completion

This photo is boring but it is meaningful to me.  This form showed up in my email today--in the nick of time for me to meet my graduation deadline.  It was the last piece I needed to complete my thesis and get my grade.  It is the approval from the Institutional Review Board, or IRB, (which approves all human studies) for me to close out my study.

May flowers

I bought a book today on basic photography skills, and started reading it while on the elliptical (still multitasking a bit too much, I fear).  Anyway, here is my first attempt at using a wider aperture setting.  I was pretty happy with it! (These are tiny flowers.)

Memories of a crabapple

These mushrooms show up every spring to remind us of the crabapple tree that died a few years ago (of old age).  Obviously the roots are rotting away below the lawn, nourishing these fungi.

Umbrella stand

We went out to breakfast in a quirky place that had so much fun decor that I spent half the time shooting pictures! Making a decision about what to post was difficult, but I got a kick out of this umbrella stand and chair. (Oh, and the food was awesome! Who knew that avocado would be such a great addition to scrambled eggs with roasted veggies?)

Grand Central Station

Killing time before the defense on Thursday

It was a gorgeous spring day May 5th in Newark.  My husband and I walked around campus for awhile to kill time before my defense.

All packed for Newark (and New York)

Ok, I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be.  I've prepared my presentation and my husband and I are all packed to fly to Newark tomorrow (and then to treat ourselves to a quick visit with Dan's sister in NYC).

Pajama Game

We went to see my niece Marie and nephew Alex in their school's spring musical.  My niece did a lot of the choreography.  It was a lot of fun! Two photos today.