Summer plans

[kitkatz]

What are your summer plans for this summer or fall? Are you going somewhere interesting or having a staycation at home?

[kristina]

I was lucky and found a good summer school piano teacher, who assessed my piano playing.
When I originally started to study the piano, it was from scratch and I had reached a point,
where I needed to know where I stand... to continue from there...
The course lasted one week, was very intensive and a great help, because I don’t feel insecure anymore to study completely on my own...
...After finishing the course, I thought, I could leave my favourite Baroque composers for a little while and go a "bit more modern"
and so I begun to research Parry’s “Jerusalem”, but I have now decided that I better concentrate on Elgar’s “Nimrod”...
“Nimrod” was an employee of Elgar’s music publisher in Germany and they became very good friends.
Whenever Elgar needed encouragement with his work and/or private life, “Nimrod” visited him straight away,
encouraged him and they went for long walks and talked things out ...
...This summer I shall concentrate to play Elgar’s “Nimrod” better, continue to read a lot, keep as fit as possible, go for my walks in the Park
(hopefully I might have a chance to listen to some concerts in the Park)
and wait and see how things continue with my medical check up’s and evaluation for a transplant...

[MooseMom]

We're heading out on a road trip to Minnesota. 

First, we're stopping in at Lanesboro on the far SE side of the state and are going to hike the Root River Trail.

Hubby has always wanted to see herds of buffalo, so we're going to Blue Mounds State Park to do some hiking and buffalo watching.  The park is located on the far SW side of the state, right at the South Dakota border, so there will be a fair amount of travelling involved.  We've never been to Minnesota, so we're looking forward to seeing a part of the country we've not seen before.  I'm looking forward to just looking up at the stars at night!

In the autumn, I'll be in London for a couple of weeks.

Come November/December, I'm going to be in Palm Desert, CA to celebrate my aunt's 90th birthday.

We usually go somewhere for the week of Thanksgiving, but this year the Bears play the early game on TV, so we'll be staying home.  We usually make something very un-traditional for out T-giving meal (we don't have any family close by, so it's just the two of us, and we have discovered that even the smallest turkey is too much), and this year we're going to make a lamb stew that will be easy to eat in front of the TV.

[willowtreewren]

My summer is over. I go back to work on Thursday, but it was good. 

Next summer we are heading to Newfoundland to see another IHDer.

Aleta

[Charlie B53]

...............We usually make something very un-traditional for out T-giving meal (we don't have any family close by, so it's just the two of us, and we have discovered that even the smallest turkey is too much), and this year we're going to make a lamb stew that will be easy to eat in front of the TV.

I've been know to take a box of Stove Top Stuffing and stuff a couple of Cornish game hens, or a chicken.  Doesn't take too long and it's surprisingly tasty!  Once in a great while I'm find the really thick pork chops, slit them half way, stuff them, pack the remainder around them and bake the whole works. But then I'll have to put on a pot of green beans, bacon and chopped onion, simmer for a couple of hours.  Mmmm!

Still can take the plate into the living room in front of the TV.

[MooseMom]

Charlie B53, I've been meaning to do Cornish game hens for years, but somehow I never get around to it.  I've never prepared them!  I'll have to try preparing them; that will be my autumn culinary project.

Sounds like you make green beans the Southern way!  Yum!

[cattlekid]

Sorry to derail the thread, but since it's just DH and I for Thanksgiving many times, I do a turkey breast in the Crock-pot.  Perfect for two and still have a little bit of leftover for the inevitable midnight turkey sandwich.   

To be on topic, I had a staycation over July 4th and that was about it.  We've been doing little things on the weekends since DH just started a new job and doesn't have vacation.  We are going to Cleveland over Labor Day weekend to see friends of DH's.  I told him that I have to go to one of Michael Simon's restaurants and then see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well.

[MooseMom]

Sorry to derail the thread, but since it's just DH and I for Thanksgiving many times, I do a turkey breast in the Crock-pot.  Perfect for two and still have a little bit of leftover for the inevitable midnight turkey sandwich.   

To be on topic, I had a staycation over July 4th and that was about it.  We've been doing little things on the weekends since DH just started a new job and doesn't have vacation.  We are going to Cleveland over Labor Day weekend to see friends of DH's.  I told him that I have to go to one of Michael Simon's restaurants and then see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well.

Turkey breast would be the ideal solution, but for some reason DH doesn't like it.  He prefers the breast meat from a whole turkey, but bizarrely he doesn't like just turkey breast cooked on its own.  Don't ask me to explain it...I can't.  It's a mystery to me.

I hope you get to go to Michael Simon's restaurant; if you do, you'll have to tell us all about it!  I'd love to see the R&RHOF.  I'm going to be very envious!

[Jean]

Oh, Michael Symons Restaurant. I am eaten up with jealousy!!!

[kristina]

What is special about eating in Michael Simon's restaurant?
Does he cook a very special food, which has become well known
or is his restaurant to be booked for a very special occasion like “Tea at the Ritz” in London ?

[cattlekid]

Michael Symon (excuse the incorrect spelling earlier!) is a highly regarded chef in the United States.  His restaurant, Lola, is one of the best restaurants in the Midwest United States, if not the entire country.  I assume that we probably won't be able to get into Lola on less than a month's notice.  Mr. Symon also has several television shows (The Chew, Iron Chef America, other shows on the Food Network) and a couple of cookbooks.

He also has a less-fancy restaurant called B Spot that sells burgers, etc. I am assuming that we might be able to get into B Spot with a long wait (you can call 1 hour ahead of your arrival and get added to the waiting list). 

[Rerun]

Just enjoy the 90 degree days.  We only get two weeks of it.  We get 2 month of above 75 and then downhill from there. 

Ahhhhhh summer.

                                   

[Charlie B53]

Just enjoy the 90 degree days.  We only get two weeks of it.  We get 2 month of above 75 and then downhill from there. 

Ahhhhhh summer.

                                   

Where are you Rerun?

Mid-Missouri summers can be a Bit@#, nighttime temps can hang in the high 70's, humidity near 90%.  When I first moved her fromo Seattle the summer was a scorcher.  Rain clouds were coming.  I was so looking forward to it cooling off.

It didn't.

When it quit raining the sun came out even worse, the sky had just been washed clean so every ray came down, straight.  The water on the ground instantly turned into steam, creating a fog bank 15 feet high.

I felt just like the clams that I used to roast in the oven on a cookie sheet with a litle water to make some steam.

This place is like living inside a sauna most summers.

This year hasn't been so bad, yet.  It isn't over.

I rebuilt the A/C in our house.  Took out the old 2 1/2 ton unit.  The valves were leaking and wouldn't make full pressure, cooled only slightly.  Put in a high eff. 3 ton with a 4 ton condenser.  Acts like it's on steroids.  It works just fine.  Any # I turn it too, it will be the whole house within the hour.  And the electric bill stays reasonable.

[UkrainianTracksuit]

Nothing really spectacular this summer or autumn.  The arrival of my family is a "big thing" but I think it's something I don't want to think about right now.     They're coming to meet my husband which will be an example of a modern inquisition.  Watch your newspapers!     Otherwise, there is a trip planned to the Nikitsky Botanical Garden in Crimea.  I have to work each day so I spend the summer going to the beach at night.  It's just a short walk from home and with the current heat wave, it's a nice relief.  I people watch [it's funnier than you think] and go home.  I had to present a paper out of town.. on economics [blah] so that was my "summer getaway".

[kristina]

Michael Symon (excuse the incorrect spelling earlier!) is a highly regarded chef in the United States.  His restaurant, Lola, is one of the best restaurants in the Midwest United States, if not the entire country.  I assume that we probably won't be able to get into Lola on less than a month's notice.  Mr. Symon also has several television shows (The Chew, Iron Chef America, other shows on the Food Network) and a couple of cookbooks.

He also has a less-fancy restaurant called B Spot that sells burgers, etc. I am assuming that we might be able to get into B Spot with a long wait (you can call 1 hour ahead of your arrival and get added to the waiting list).

That sounds most interesting and very nice, thanks cattlekid ...

[Poppylicious]

I people watch [it's funnier than you think].

I LOVE people-watching. I could just sit and do it for hours.  If my Mumsy and I go shopping we'll sit and watch the world go by and talk about the people we see. I don't have anybody else I can do that with so it's a nice treat when it happens!!

I am now officially halfway through my summer hols, with three and a half weeks before I go back to work and meet new wide-eyed students.  I've cleared out the cupboard under the stairs, a plethora of drawers and the shed. The tip has been visited with all our junk. I'll be tackling the spiders hiding amongst the piles of cardboard boxes in the garage at some point next week (probably). I've read a few books, started some cross-stitch and watched a few films. We went away at Easter so we're not going away again. We've visited Hospital quite a lot this summer: Blokey's mother had half her lung removed and needed an endoscopy to check some irregularities in her spleen, and my Mumsy tripped out of her back door and broke her elbow last week. The summer is full of fun!

 

[cariad]

We just finished with Aidan's birthday week where we surprised him with a visit from his best American friend. We have stunning video of Aidan rendered speechless by the sight of his friend outside a pub in our little town. We went frisbee golfing with this boy and his English father, then that night Aidan spent over at his friend's grandfather's home, they had a day of playing football (both kinds, apparently) then another night there.

We picked them both up on Aidan's birthday and took them to a Go Ape - those high ropes courses. It was nerve-wracking as we went to one in Wales last year and both Dyl and Gwyn bailed on it. Go Ape requires one adult for every two kids, and they also require that kids be 1.4 metres tall and at least 10 years old to do the big course. Naturally, we said Dyl was 10, but height wise he was a good centimeter below the minimum (if you scrunched his hair down). I think Gwyn and I both sort of assumed that Dyl would be refused entry onto the larger course, and that one of us would not have to do it. I am not really afraid of these things, but was not keen on the responsibility of having to monitor the older boys as there is lots of attaching and detaching from cables, and obviously you risk injury or death if you muck it up too much. Gwyn is quite afraid of them, so I had my doubts that he'd actually do it. Well, we all started off on the course, but what's more, we all completed it! Little Dyl, who said he was 2 years older than he actually was and was utterly terrified of the zip line on the junior course last year was completely fearless this time round.

The American friend spent two nights at our house. The day after Aidan's birthday we went down to London to see Stomp and then the 3 boys got to participate in a workshop onstage with 3 of the 8 cast members. The cast members were absolutely lovely - I had no idea what to expect, but it was brilliant. Then we went to Five Guys burger joint down the street from the show, and my kids were over the moon to get a genuine taste of stereotypical American food. We took the train and the underground to the show, and our guest had clearly never been on an underground before, so it was adorable hearing Aidan explaining how to read the map to his friend. On the final day we invited a friend of Dyl's over and went kayaking for two hours with the four boys and then hired two table tennis tables down at the rec centre.

The boys have also done a week of circus skills and took a kayaking course. Next week our plans to go to Wales fell apart, so I suppose we will do a few small trips that we've been meaning to do for a while. The week after that I have enrolled the boys in five straight days of riding lessons (painfully expensive, but worth it all the same because they love it) and the final week of summer there is a possible trip to Europe, but I wouldn't be surprised if that never comes together.

I may have exciting news for autumn, but too early to tell. All told, it's been a fantastic summer so far, and we are only halfway through.