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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