Leaves

I pressed a bunch of leaves this fall...I got them out the other day and took these pictures. The leaves held up pretty well. I like the pattern of the veins.

Holy Flowering Kale

These are two of the three pictures I tried to post last week, but for some reason, Blogger only seems to want to let me post two photos at a time, any more than that and all of the pictures disappear from the post. (Boo!)

So here are two of the shots of the kale in the bright afternoon sunlight:

Natural Beauty

Here's the cherry without special effects:

Neon Spring

This is a highly processed shot of some cherry blossoms:

Fungus Among Us?

This is my favorite photo of the day. It's growing on (what's left of) a tree stump down the street from our house.

Sunday...Second and Pike

I took these pictures on Sunday morning before I met up with Heather and Leslie to go to their baby shower.



This was taken on Pike between 1st and 2nd Avenues:














This is a detail of the side of a building on 2nd Avenue, taken from the corner of the parking lot on 2nd and Pike.




More greens and greys, but mostly I like how those colors have been recently revealed, that they were hidden under paint, billboards, who knows what else...but now they've made a comeback. (At least for awhile...before they're sacrificed for the latest condo or new office building.)

Cabbage Rolls Deconstructed

Due to some technical difficulties (and a dearth of patience on my part) I have no corresponding picture for this post...but Saturday, I decided to whip up something (a one dish wonder) that would see me through several meals. So, I browned up some mild Italian and garlic sausage (two links of each) that I bought at Fero's Meats at the market, (they weren't very greasy, so I didn't need to drain off any fat). Then I added a diced onion and cooked it with the sausage until it was translucent. Then I added maybe a cup of long grain white rice. Then I added half a head of chopped cabbage and some salt. Stirred that around for awhile until the cabbage began to wilt. Then I added a big can of tomatoes with basil and a regular old size can of chicken broth. I brought everything to a boil, then covered and simmered everything for about 30 minutes. There was still quite a bit of unabsorbed liquid, but I called it done (the rice was fully cooked)and stuck in the fridge. Then I didn't even eat it until today for lunch. And then again for dinner. What I'm saying is, I think it's important to let all the flavors kind of meld together for a day or so...and that it tastes good enough to want to eat (at least) two meals of it in a row. So I guess the technique that I used to make this is basically the same as making jambalaya (sauteing the "raw" rice with meat and veggies before adding stock).

Tree Trunks

I really liked these greens and greys together. Greens and greys have become two of my favorite colors, which is a good thing, because other than an occasional glimpse of "the bluest skies you've ever seen," almost everything else here in Seattle is one or the other...

Tuna Casserole

The Superbowl has become my annual junk food amnesty day, when I get to eat "food" that I don't usually allow myself to have any other time. Especially Cheetos (of the puffed, baked-to-a-delicate-crunch variety). This year Dave requested tuna casserole for the main course, and even though I don't necessarily consider tuna casserole junk food, I obliged.


Layers of pre-baked goodness:








Fresh from the oven, molten
amalga-
mation of flavors:






Ingredients in my tuna casserole:
tuna (duh)
noodles (I don't think the term pasta is appropriate in this application.)
light cream of mushroom soup
sauteed mushrooms
cottage cheese
cheddar cheese
toasted bread crumbs

Grey Day

Foggy trees on the bluff:








Branch with berry jutting into the fog on the beach:

Bright Spots

Believe me, after walking through the all of the fog at the beach, it was nice to come across some color. Even if it was on manmade objects...nature just wasn't providing much more than grey today.

Chipping hydrant:









Dented (and rusting) dumpster:

Tidal Tales
I had the day off today, and went for a foggy walk along the beach this afternoon. I think the patterns on the sand that the outbound tide leaves behind are so interesting and intricate.

Wrong Season For Roses

I think these roses were basically freeze dried on the stem:











I liked how this shriveling rose hip looked on this faded pink picket fence (the word forlorn comes to mind):

More From The Duwamish

Moon among branches:

















Bird in pussywillow:

Duwamish Park

After Second Use, we hit this park off West Marginal Way along the Duwamish.













This is supposed to demonstrate one of the hazards salmon face on their journey through the Duwamish...