Halloween: Part II

Here's a look at the truck in its full glory. It's a 1961 model that a local Firefighters Fellowship group bought from a museum. Now they use it for parties and events such as this one.

It really is a fine machine and it still has the original manual transmission. Not everyone can say they've taken a ride on a beauty like this one, so I consider myself pretty lucky!

Skywatch Friday: Halloween!

This was the beautiful night sky on Halloween. We were lucky in my neighborhood, someone had rented an antique fire truck to take the kids (and adults) around in. It was a fun ride!

Happy Friday everyone!! To see more skies from around the world, click here.

Hibiscus

My Cajun Princess hibiscus finally bloomed! It's rather sad it's so late in the season though. Last year my summer was filled with these beautiful blooms.

I tried some effects on the flower. What do you think?

More on the Viking...

Viking hosts a PGA golf tournament here in Jackson every year. Unfortunately, this year's even was canceled due to all the rain. The tournament is played at Annandale, but the qualifying round was played on my very own course - Deerfield!

We had a bunch of PGA volunteers and such out at the course on the qualifying day. They also had all the teeboxes set up with their own markers. It was pretty neat, it's just too bad the tournament was canceled. One of our favorite players from Germany was taking part and we were going to walk with him to show our support. Maybe next year...

Viking Cooking School Continued...

Our class was an appetizer class. The top one is grilled salmon skewers with a Japanese five-herb marinade and a miso-ginger dipping sauce. I'm not usually a big fan of salmon, but those things were good! The bottom left is shrimp and artichoke hearts in a  herbal vinaigrette sauce. And the last photo is curry chicken salad in phylo cups. I usually do not eat chicken, but I had to taste my own preparation.

I would definitely make the salmon skewers again, I think you could even use the same marinade and sauce with a different type of fish and make it as a main dish. It was a great idea for a birthday present and I hope to take another class sometime!

Viking Cooking School

As you may have heard, the Viking Classic golf tournament was canceled this past weekend because of the rain. Luckily the rain didn't stop people from cooking though! Viking recently opened a branch of their cooking school here in the Jackson area and my husband signed us up for a class as a birthday present. We had a great time and learned some useful techniques. Check back tomorrow and I'll show you some of our concoctions.

November Theme Day: Doorways

This is the cafeteria building at Mississippi College. I love those big windows and the inviting doorways. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Click here to see other doorways from around the world.

Route 66

I find the European fascination with Route 66 quite interesting. Perhaps it's because I grew up on the route, so it's nothing really special to me. Germans do love their bugs though - you almost see more of them than the new beetles. This one was certainly in good condition.

Skywatch Friday

Friday is finally here! And I hope you'll enjoy this blue sky from over the Ullsteinhaus in Tempelhof. I think it used to be a factory and today I guess it's an office space or something. I certainly wouldn't mind working there - they've got a great view on the canal!

Happy Friday everyone! Click here to see other skies from around the world.

Die Mauer

The 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall is coming up soon and everyone is celebrating. They had these "walls" up at the Tempelhoffer shopping center. These were painted by school kids and they even had walls up that patrons could add to. I think it's a really nice idea.

My husband was in university when the wall came down. That night he had been studying for a big test at the library. When he came out, the streets were flooded with Trabbis (those East German cars) and he had no idea what was going on. How exciting to be a part of history!

Boat in the Hafen

The harbor had some actual boats! I think this one doubled as a restaurant, but it was still nice to see that it's not only a fake-harbor shopping center.

Tempelhoffer Hafen

My MiL lives in Tempelhof and the "Tempelhof Harbor" shopping center is not far from her house. I walked there one afternoon to check out the shops and whatnot. The shopping center is quite new and really nice, although once you've seen one mall, you've seen them all.

There is a real sort of "harbor" though on the canal. I'll show you more tomorrow.

Frische Fische!

There are so many good photo ops at the market. Don't those fish look tasty?

Berlin Church

I don't remember the name of this church, but its on the Winterfeld Platz in the Schoeneberg neighborhood. They have a beautiful market there every Saturday which my husband and I always visit. We were lucky this was one of the sunny days, there were not many during our ten day stay!

Five-sided building

My trip to Berlin started with a quick stopover in Washington, D.C. It was a clear day and we got a great view of the Pentagon on the way out. Sadly, I've never actually visited our nation's capitol, but I hope to one day!

Skywatch Friday

This was yesterday's sunrise over the highway on the way to work. Don't worry, I wasn't driving!

Happy Friday everyone!! To see more skies from around the world click here.

Roses

This picture was taken awhile back at the golf club. I never get tired of beautiful roses!

Painting

Theaters go through a lot of paint and New Stage is no exception. The stage for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was well underway when I was there for The Shape of Things. Performances are coming up next weekend and I'm quite excited to see it. It's always fun to see classics come alive onstage.

PS: I'm back from Germany! I'll be posting pictures from the trip next week.

Inside Cups

All of the Cups locations have interesting tables. I especially like this one from the French Quarter location.

I'm back from Germany today! I'll probably have to do some guest posts with photos from my trip, because the archives are drying up. It's good to be back home though.

Cups

This is the Cups in the French Quarter. Although their front terrace is not very big, it's a nice place to relax and enjoy a coffee drink. There's also a larger terrace in the back, in case you need more space!

Shoes!

Another look backstage. This might be Imelda Marcos' paradise, but I have a feeling she had more refined taste than for chucks and black stage shoes!

Skywatch Friday

Yes, I probably spend too much time at the golf course, but it's a beautiful place isn't it?

Happy Friday everyone, to see other skies from around the world click here.

Eastern Bluebird

I've seen a couple of eastern bluebirds at my feeder lately. They are such pretty little birds. I hope they'll stay.

I also hope you'll enjoy this bonus video. It's not really for the image, but for the sounds. These are the birds I hear in the morning when I sleep with the window open. I'm not really sure which birds they are, but they make a wonderful alarm clock!

PS: Heute, bin ich Geburtstagkind!

Backstage...

You can find loads of interesting things to photograph in the bowels of a theater. I liked the colors of these old electrical cords. I've enhanced the colors a bit with picassa, but they really were pretty bold by themselves.

Ladies Dressing Room

Although we were not performing on the main stage, we got to use the dressing rooms and the green room during my recent performance at New Stage. It's a wonderful place to work,  both on- and off-stage. I hope it won't be the last time!

Check back tomorrow for another look backstage.

Cosmos

I love cosmos. They are so easy to grow and always add a little color. Mine just started blooming, but hey, I'll enjoy them while I can.

St Joseph's

Saint Joseph Catholic church is located in Gluckstadt, Mississippi. The congregation hosts the annual Germanfest every year. I'm not sure what the proceeds go towards, but it must be something charitible.

In any case, I like the simplicity of their place of worship, and the light coming through the bell tower is quite nice as well. For more information on the history of the church and its congregation, click here.

Skywatch Friday

There's nothing nicer than a blue sky over a cemetery.

Happy Friday everyone! To see more skies from around the world, click here.

Flower in Black and White

I can't remember what this flower is called. I planted quite a few bulbs last year, but didn't get very good results. This year they made plenty of stems again and I waited and waited to see if they were going to flower, but nothing. Until now. At the very, very end of summer.

Perhaps it's all the rain we've gotten lately or something, but some of my other flowering plants are doing the same thing. They did not flower during the summer and all and now there are blossoms everywhere. I will enjoy them while I can!

I'm off to Germany today and will be back in ten days. I've got my blog on automatic posting, but I'll try to check in every now and then if I get a good internet connection. Until then, enjoy!

More Germanfest...

The local fire brigade also had some trucks out on display. There are many reasons I'm happy to live in Madison, and red fire trucks is one of them. Those yellow ones are just not right.