Free Friday Nights at Sommers-Bausch Observatory

We enjoyed a free Friday evening at the Sommers-Bausch Observatory. You can go up on the deck about 8:00 and view various heavenly bodies. The University of Colorado staffs the deck with knowedgeable staff to explain what you are viewing and they periodically re-set the telescopes to show different things. Be sure to stop in the Fisk planetarium lobby first to visit all the wonderful photos and displays that they have. After visiting the Fisk lobby you will exit through the back and walk up the hill behind Fisk to the observatory steps on your left. Just keep climbing the steps and then turn to your left at the top. It's right behind Fisk.

Here is the link to their homepage Sommers-Bausch.

Here is a link to other free stuff to do in Boulder.

Glowing Gemstones by Dale Chihuly

This is another Dale Chihuly sculpture called Glowing Gemstones Polyvitro Chandelier. It is a blown polyvinyl sort of material that was created in the Chihuly studio. This one hangs opposite the glass blown one called Inside & Out (photos below). Both are at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. You can visit the Chihuly website to see more information on him as well as some gorgeous pictures of his other work. www.chihuly.com

Dale Chihuly at Joslyn Art Museum

When I went to Omaha I visited the Josyln Art Museum where they had these two really beautiful gigantic Dale Chihuly sculptures. Dale Chihuly creates eye candy! Really I just wanted to lick it but I fear I would have been arrested. This sculpture is nearly 30 feet high and is made of 100's of pieces of blown glass attached to a giant steel trellis.

Macaroni Salad - musings and a recipe

See these guys in this picture? They are frowning because they bit down on something crunchy in their otherwise soft macaroni salad. Either that or they forgot you are supposed to refrigerate things with eggs and mayonnaise and they all got belly aches.

I always loved my mom's macaroni salad. Well that is except I seem to remember that she put in chopped celery which created a horrible dissonance in my mouth. There I would be chewing along on some soft macaroni and hard boiled eggs with a creamy sauce and then out of nowhere CRUNCH.

"What was that?!" my mind would scream to my mouth. "Was that a bug?!"

"I know it was a bug! Yuck spit it out spit it out! Wait - not a bug...maybe it was a VEGETABLE!!!! "

Well I have outgrown that reaction to some degree but I still have it when I bite into a chewy raisin in an otherwise crunchy cookie. (but I digress)

Here is my mom's basic recipe but with my modifications. I know my sisters have all modified it to their own tastes as well.

Mix together the basic three ingredients

• 16oz box of elbow macaroni cooked and drained according to package directions


• 1 qt Miracle Whip


• 1 doz. hardboiled eggs peel and chop all but 3 or 4 which will be for slicing and placing decoratively on the top

The rest is up to you but here is what I put in mine

• Onion minced very fine


• Peeled and chopped cucumber


• Lawry's Seasoned Pepper

Some people like to put these things in their macaroni salad as well

• Olives


• Pimentos


• Celery


• Red and Green Bell Peppers


• Vinegar


• Sugar

I like to stick pretty much to the basics. Sometimes I use a different kind of macaroni such as bowtie macaroni or twisted macaroni or sometimes the little straight tubular shape and sometimes I even get really crazy and go for the tricolor macaroni product that is made with spinach or tomato in the dough.

Check out my Spaghetti Squash recipe.

Salem

I was just reviewing my pictures from our trip and going through some of the souvenirs and my huge collection of random brochures and pamphlets and realized that there was still more to post on my blog. We sorta hit the ground running when we returned to Colorado and this is the first chance I have had to revisit our wonderful memories.

On our way home from New Brunswick we visited Salem Massachusetts. I was reading the House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne and was so excited to visit the house that was the subject of the story. If you haven't read it it is a wonderful story. Just take it slow and savour it. It is definitely not a fast read.

New Brunswick - Bay of Fundy

Because it was the end of the tourist season in Canada there were very few people on the beach. It was a bit intimidating being among these towering formations. I felt a bit anxious as I irrationally imagined that the ocean would come rolling in on us at any moment.

This is low tide at the Bay of Fundy and these are called the Hopewell Rocks. The tides rise sixty feet in this area and they undercut the landmasses leaving flowerpot formations. You can walk on the beach for about five hours at low tide. Apparently people occasionally get trapped out in the water and are cut off from the shore and have to swim when they realize what has happened.

Cape Breton Highlands and the Cabot Trail

Cape Breton Island is the northern most part of Nova Scotia. The Cabot trail is named after the explorer John Cabot. The hills drop off dramatically into the ocean and you can hear the waves pounding even from high above. Every turn you take reveals another glorious scene. It takes the better part of a day to drive the whole road. We saw a moose eating shrubbery just back off the road but could not get a decent picture as she was well camouflaged.

It was dark and stormy periodically but the sun broke through the clouds here and reflected brilliantly off the water.

Greg

Jude

Lighthouses are everywhere - You could spend a lifetime photographing them.

Fishing shack and lobster traps.

House on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

On our way to Cape Breton

Leaving Brier Island in the morning. We took a hike to seal harbor but the fog was so thick and it was blowing so hard that we weren't sure where we were going. The light house was behind us and sounding the fog horn regularly so we knew we couldn't get lost plus we were on a path. It was the strangest mixture of sound with the fog horn, the wind, the waves and this constant eerie howling. I almost expected some wild animal to come charging out of the brush.

On our way to Cape Breton we passed through Saint Bernard. This cathedral was built by the locals one row of bricks per year for decades. It is known for it's outstanding acoustics and they have a classical music festival there every year. http://www.musiquesaintbernard.ca/welcome.html

Another day of blessings!

Whale watching

We went on a Zodiac to see some whales. Zodiacs are really fast and low to the water and really bumpy. During the trip we also saw a Harbor Seal and some HUGE tuna. We saw two Humpback whales and then we saw a Fin whale. The Fin whale was entangled in a long rope and was in distress. The captain said he looked thin as if he had been entangled for a while, perhaps days. We assisted the rescue operation by sitting with the whale along with another boat. We were able to gaff the rope and pull the end of the rope out and attach a buoy to it so that when the rescue team arrived they would be able to locate him. The captain promised to give us an update if we sent him an e-mail. Hopefully it had a good ending. More to come.

Another day of blessings.

Rolling for the plunge - these whales come up and breath four or five times in a row before they dive for about another seven or eight minutes.

Before getting into our flotation suits

We look like big pumpkins!

There were eight of us on the Zodiac plus Captain Tom

All in this tiny boat

To see two beautiful humpback whales

Brier Island - another piece of heaven

This morning we awoke to the most gorgeous sunrise. All we had to do was open our eyes and there was the sun rising right out the window over the water. We didn't even have to get out from under the covers to see it. We are staying at the Brier Island Lodge. We ate breakfast in the dining room surrounded by windows that faced the water. We went outside and all we could hear was the sound of a rooster crowing behind the lodge, the sound of the ferry motor running softly as it crossed the inlet and the water gently washing against the shore. In the yard next to the lodge an alpaca was grazing. It was cold and clear and the air was fresh. Another day of blessings.

Greg petting a goat at the lodge

Path to Seal Cove

View from the lodge

View from the lodge looking across the inlet

The sheep were friendly

Consulting with a sheep "should I lead, follow or get out of the way?"

Fishing Boats