SkyWatch Friday: Nailed it!

I could admit that I'm a frazzled day late with my SkyWatch Friday post. Or...I could claim that I've intentionally timed posting this beautiful sunrise to sync with today's Solstice! Yeah, let's go with that second one and pretend I nailed it!

Sunrise from our patio, 6/15/14

The day of that sunrise was also our next door neighbor's birthday, and since Carol had contributed greatly to BW's birthday earlier this month, we decided to surprise her with a cake. I'd seen this one on Pinterest,…

thought it looked fun and fell for the old "shoot, that looks easy!" trick. And it might have been, except that #1, cutting jicama stars freehand is harder than one might think, and #2, when Carol replied to our birthday ecard at 7:45 that morning, she mentioned she was heading to church and as soon as she returned they were leaving to spend the day and evening in the mountains. So yikes, instead of having most of the day to make her cake, we only had an hour! I'm sure we looked just like the frenzied chefs in those sadistic TV cooking competitions (much as I'd rather think I bore a striking resemblance to the gorgeously unflappable Chef Chloe!)

Anyway, after feverishly hacking and hulling and peeling and carving and impaling with toothpicks various fruity raw materials, we ended up with this rather pitiful yet somehow still deliciously festive birthday offering:

Though probably a candidate for one of those humiliating, sarcastic, hysterical "Nailed It!" epic fail collages, at least Carol seemed pleased with it! (Of course, it helps that I didn't show her the photo we were working from!)...

June has certainly provided us with lots of excuses for celebration, starting with my seventh "Blogiversary" on the 4th, several birthdays beginning with BW's on the 6th, Father's Day (and Carol's birthday) last Sunday, our 26th wedding anniversary on Wednesday, and now Summer Solstice! Whoo-hoo, party on!!!

Partying - yep, nailed it! ;-)

No fails here ~ just skywatchers around the world nailing celestial photography:

SkyWatch Friday: The Colors of the Wind

It's been a month of almost daily strong winds (and frequent storms), conditions that have wreaked havoc on the local trees and flowers, and in some parts of town on houses and cars as well! Severe thunderstorms are predicted yet again for today and tonight. And while we're very grateful to have thus far been spared the awful heat and devastating wildfires of our neighboring state of Colorado (and others), everyone is weary of the wind, even here in Wyoming where wind is ubiquitous...

But our wild weather has provided (or at least not prevented) many a photogenic sky! Last Sunday evening we noticed an especially colorful sunset developing (photography pun!) so I snapped a couple of photos from our front porch. And then kept snapping. And as the colors and clouds continued to change dramatically over the next 10-15 minutes or so, from soft, striped pastels to dramatic fiery reds and golds that set the horizon ablaze, BW and I couldn't resist putting on our walkin' shoes and heading west for a closer view (and less obstructed photos). 

And so I present the results in "The Evolution of a Sunset" - the photos of our sky in the order they were taken that Sunday evening...

When we returned back home, we noticed the sunset was perfectly reflected in a neighbor's upstairs windows, making it look eerily as if their upper story were on fire...

Got a favorite? Please share it in a comment! 

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, happy SkyWatching, and a joyful

or Winter Solstice to our Southern Hemisphere friends! :-)

Enjoy captivating skies from both hemispheres at

Summertime! "Beanwa" Burgers! Random Pics!

Happy Summer Solstice!

The first day of summer is being celebrated at Chez Laloofah with tasty, easy, vegan, low-fat, optionally gluten-free black bean quinoa ("keen-wa") burgers (hence my shortened name "Beanwa Burgers") that we've really been enjoying lately but which I failed to photograph. Oops!

Beanwa Burgers

(makes about 12-15 burgers)

Ingredients:

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed and roughly pulsed (one can at a time) in food processor
2 cups cooked quinoa (I prefer Inca Red)
1/4 cup + 1 TBSP whole wheat flour (or chickpea flour for gluten-free)
1/3 cup chopped soft sun dried tomatoes*

2 rounded TBSP minced garlic
1 Tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 3 TBSP water (microwave for 20 seconds or let sit for 5 minutes till thickened)
2 tsp liquid smoke
1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 rounded tsp smoked paprika

Directions:

Stir all ingredients together (add a little water if the mixture is too dry) and form into patties.

Heat a dry, non-stick skillet over medium heat (adding the patties to a heated skillet will prevent sticking).

Place patties in the pre-heated skillet, press them slightly with a spatula, and cook for 5-7 minutes on each side over medium heat till nicely browned.

We make our patties about 3 1/2 - 4 inches in diameter and about 1/4" thick and get a dozen or more out of one batch of "beanwa batter." Your mileage may vary. ;-)

Store leftover batter in a tightly covered container in the fridge. Will keep for up to a week.

Notes:

*Since we don't use or eat oil, I use the soft, dry-packaged sundried tomatoes I can get at Safeway, which work like a charm. But the hard, really dessicated ones we get at the health food store work fine too, as long as you rehydrate them by soaking them in hot water for about 15 minutes before chopping them. You may want to add a teaspoon or two of the soak liquid (or just plain water) to your burger mix to add a little moisture so the patties will hold together better. (If the tomatoes packed in oil are all you can find, I recommend rinsing them well first).

Chilling the batter for 30 minutes or so sometimes helps the patties hold together better while frying, but isn't mandatory. We usually have no problems unless we've made our patties too thin or too wide.

We enjoy our burgers on toasted whole grain sandwich bread with the typical trimmings ~ brown and yellow mustard, dill pickle slices or relish, and some sliced tomatoes and/or lettuce. I also love to sauté Vidalia onions and Crimini mushrooms together to throw on our burgers. Yum!

The leftover mix stores well in the fridge, making quick and easy meals during a busy week! (Which has come in especially handy lately!)

~~~~~~~~~~

Since I've got no Beanwa Burger photos for you, and a blog post without pictures just isn't acceptable at Mehitable Days, here are some recent random photos. (I took the first three with my awesome new camera on our Father's Day hike yesterday)...

BW found this butterfly resting on this pretty rock with his wings folded up, and called me over to take a photo. I confess to gently prodding the little guy awake so I could get a photo of him with his wings open. I didn't know what they'd look like, but when he obliged my nudge by spreading his beautiful wings, I knew interrupting his Sunday snooze had been worth it!

There were interesting clouds in the sky all morning (prelude to some wicked afternoon thunderstorms), and so I was gazing up at the sky a lot while we hiked and was therefore able to notice and capture this beautiful cloud, sky and sun tableau...

Remember my lament in my Lupine post that I'd missed photographing a bunch of all-white Lupines because I'd neglected to carry my (old) camera with me that day? Well, yesterday I made sure to bring my (new) camera, and was rewarded with an even bigger and prettier bunch of white Lupines in an even lovelier setting! Thanks, Universe! :-)

Ever been mooned by a hummingbird before? Well, now you can say you have. (No need to thank me). ;-)

(Calliope (L) and Broadtail hummers)

And finally, my adorable (if sometimes goofy) girls...

The three of them had been lined up in a perfect row taking in the view, but just as I snapped this photo Willow flopped down in the grass to roll and bask. (Well, sometimes Summer just feels so good you have to give into its temptation to laissez les bon temps rouler!) :-)

And what is so rare as a day in June?

Then, if ever, come perfect days...

~James Russell Lowell

Happy Summer!

Bon Voyage, Valkyrie!

I was supposed to be in town today for errands and appointments, but woke up with a migraine, rescheduled everything, medicated myself and went back to sleep! Now I'm over my headache but am feeling tired and "noodly," so am content to just relax in the cool basement and read on the shady patio. It's supposed to be in the mid-upper 90's today and tomorrow and around 100º on Saturday! Happy Summer Solstice!! Sure seems that someone suddenly flipped the "Summer" switch in Wyoming. Hard to believe that as recently as Monday morning, our pellet stove was running!

We sold our 1998 Valkyrie motorcycle yesterday... the buyer flew in from Tulsa, OK and we met him at the airport with it. We think he'll really enjoy the Valk. We sure did...when we had the time and good weather to ride it! At least he'll have a lot more good riding weather down there. I was sad to see it go on the one hand, as I loved going for rides, especially in the mountains. But on the other hand, it's nice to have that $ in the bank (for remodeling and sailing lessons!), and the room in the garage. And since all three dogs love going for rides now, we're thinking we'll yank the top off the Bronco, put a soft top on it for summer, and take the dogs into the mountains with the time we used to spend riding the Valk and leaving the poor kids at home! :-) (The Bronco is a 1975 beater, perfect for hauling dogs into the high country, since muddy paws and soggy fur don't matter!)

Someday, when BW retires and we're either living aboard a sailboat or in a small cottage (or both!), we'll invest in a couple of nice bicycles. We'd need serious mountain bikes up here, and we think our road up (and down) the mountain is just too dangerous. I really miss bike-riding, and pedal power has a lot more appeal to both of us than a carbon-spewing motorcycle does, so that's another fun thing to look forward to! (We have visions of docking in places like SF or Cannes or Genoa, unloading our bikes and pedaling merrily through beautiful wine, bread and lavender country ~ munching, sipping and inhaling aromatherapy along the way!) :-)

Anyway, here's the Valkyrie. She sure turned heads!

Happy trails, Valkyrie... and farewell to my fun days as a Biker Chick! :-)