It's Buckin' Fun in Virginia

We recently went to the Loudoun County Fair and saw pigs and cows and sheep and various rides and things but the thing that interested us the most were the people riding on a mechanical bull called Ride Raging Bull.  Little children and teenagers and some adults got on this mechanical bull and while the "It's Buckin' Fun" T-shirt wearing attendant operated it, they tried to stay on while it bucked and circled and twisted about. Most only lasted less than 30 seconds although the attendant did make it go slower for the very little kids who clambered on including a little girl who cried at first and begged to be lifted down but two minutes later begged to try again! Her mother allowed her on again and she lasted almost a minute and got a big hand from the watching crowd.  Apparently RideRagingBull will also be at another county fair, the Frederick County Fair July 30 to August 4. You won't get me on one of these but it was fascinating to watch people try this. It was one of the few activities at the fair that challenged people rather than just sucked money out of them on silly rides and whirl-a-gig machines that seemed designed to get people to scream and throw up their cotton candy, hot dogs and fried potatoes. Riding the Raging Bull also seemed like an activity that a group could do together as they stood about egging each other on and cheering when someone stayed on, or fell off! Actually, everyone falls off and the owners of the mechanical bull have a large padded safety mat area that cushions falls. They also have "It's Buckin' Fun" T-shirts in blue and red for anyone who just wants this instead. 

Cabbage Becomes Casserole For Dinner

Beautiful cabbage

Large pan of cabbage and potatoes

Shopping at Giant recently I was captivated enough to buy an amazingly fresh-looking green cabbage. I brought it home and wondered for a whole day how I would cook it rather than staring at it in wonder. I even photo'd it as I was impressed with how it looked. So I tweeted about what I should do with it and a friend tweeted back with some ideas about combining the cabbage with potatoes and onions. So I steamed some of the chopped-up cabbage, boiled some sliced potatoes and cut onions in rings. I also fried some nitrite-free lowfat bacon and considered some suitable spices to add (sprinkles of cumin and a pinch of salt).  So I made three layers of cabbage, onions and potatoes, adding in the cut up cooked bacon and spices. I also sprinkled in some layers of mozzarella cheese. I cooked the whole thing for about 40 minutes in a hot oven and served it steaming hot. And photo'd the final dish even though you really can't see the cabbage pieces inside which were different shades of yellow and green when cooked.  This was a tasty and delicious meal.  Even cabbage-hating hubster ate some of it. If someone was vegetarian, I imagine they could substitute something else for the bacon, but that flavor seems essential to me when combined with the cabbage. Simply deelish!

Putting the Bloom in #BloomingdaleDC

Wandering about the streets in our sector of the city, there's lots of plants and flowers to see. And sometimes there's some extra special effects such as a staircase of herbs in front of an ivy wall, or pots of petunias on the fence or sunflowers in the parking lot.  You just know someone has gone out of their way with these flower displays. Despite the heat, it's worth while doing a walk-about and seeing the extra efforts everyone has done to make our spot of the city so pretty. I found these on Bryant, V and First streets and am sure to find more!

Seeing Art Deco in Downtown WashingtonDC

Going home on the bus recently, I glanced out the window and snapped a shot of the old Greyhound bus terminal building on its 11th street side. I am very glad some preservationists fought the good fight to ensure this landmark didn't get torn down in some improvement scheme. I remember reading and hearing about this when I first moved to DC and was glad when they won Historic Building status in 1987. You can read some history of the building here or see some historic photos here.  Of course it's no longer a bus terminal and the entrance serves as an entryway to another much bigger edifice -- and there's other businesses using the window space --  but nevertheless, in my mind, it's important to keep pieces of the past around us, especially when they are so distinctive and evoke a different time and place so strongly. And I've always been a fan of that guy Art Deco! Apparently, there's a museum in the lobby at 1100 New York Avenue that I'll be sure to go and visit some time. And kudos and big thanks to the people who fight to keep our history with us!

Summer Garden, BloomingdaleDC

June was a terrific month for flowers in my city garden this year. It seemed like everything bloomed profusely all at once. Not just the day lilies and the Asiatic lilies, but the pink and the white roses, as well as the biggest hydrangea heads in several years, not to mention the petite little orange nasturtiums that I am very happy about as this is the first year I really got them to flower after growing them from seeds. And now we are in July, many of them are deadheads or getting very wilted as the heat is so much for them.  But the flowers have been wonderful so far even though we are now only enjoying crepe myrtles and tube vine and some honeysuckle which I will photograph soon and add to this page.  I just love having tons of flowers in the garden. 

Just Gotta Love Those DC Trash Collection Guys!

Well, we actually had two big bulging bags of paper and cardboard trash left over after our July 4th fabulous firework party but I only had enough room on the photo chip for this one bulging TNT bag. I just think it's marvelous how trash is taken away and disposed of on our street. We bag it and bin it and they take it away! One morning I caught those hard-working DC trash collection guys doing their job and had to snap a few photos and thank them for a job well done. If you stop and think about it, those guys are totally essential to our well-being in the city.  I also appreciate the Recycle pick-up which seems to occur on a different day.  We are very good at filling our recycling bin too with bottles, plastic, magazines and paper and suchlike and it too just mysteriously disappears out of the blue bin and hopefully gets recycled. There's also something to be said for how the city residential neighborhoods mostly have alley ways so one doesn't really see the piles of trash very much and it helps keep the streets clean. I think this design really helps make Washington, DC a very livable city. Having regular trash pick up is very civilized too, as anyone who's been overseas where they have not organized this knows what happens if there is no regular organized trash pick-up.