Peak Bloom

Simply Abstract

The Bullshit Bag: Candidate's Edition

Please, spare the children...

A New Year

I like the four seasons. Some of my friends on the west coast scoff at this idea, but I like the seasonal changes and I like the cycle. Summer is always welcomed even with the heat and humidity of Washington, D.C. Just being out and about is a pleasure. There’s hiking, boating, the beach, baseball, crabs and beer.

Fall is great. I always look forward to Redskins football, a nip in the air, the beautiful pallate of the changing leaves, fresh cider, Nittany apples, and Thanksgiving.

I wouldn’t say I welcome winter, but winter provides it’s own special pleasures. It’s a time to curl up indoors with a good book, and it's a good time to bake some bread or sit by a crackling fire. And you can’t not like the Christmas and New Year celebrations, a bowl of hot soup on a cold winter day, and, of course, Maryland basketball.

But spring…pure joy! It’s an awakening, a renewal, and a breath of fresh air and the beginning of the cycle. Hyacinths, daffodils, cherry blossoms, and crowds of people in shirt sleeves outside the Barnes and Noble in Bethesda soaking up the sun... The first day of spring should be the first day of the year. Happy New Year!

At the Dog Show

Courtyard

The new courtyard at the National Portait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

The Silver Top Bottling Works

Sign of Spring

Hat Trick

Aunt Honey's Carrot Cake

RECIPE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
Dash nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup oil
4 eggs
3 cups shredded carrots
1 cup shopped walnuts
1 cup crushed pineapple

Pour mixture into lightly greased cake pan

Bake 40 to 45 minutes

Icing:

Mix:
1 lg. cream cheese (softened)
1 stick butter or margarine
1 box 10x sugar
2 tsp vanilla
Add a little milk if too stiff

(my niece baked this cake for us this past weekend, and I can tell you, it's one delicious carrot cake)

~ from the forthcoming Goodfellow Family and Friends Cookbook

Blue Skies

Steven Wright said:

“The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.”

“If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.”

“Dancing is a perpendicular expression of a horizontal desire.”

“A clear conscience is usually a sign of a bad memory.”