另類粽子

我喜歡吃糯米飯及椰漿糯米甜糕，這些都曾自己做來吃。

就是粽子，還没做過。

没去買竹葉，但家有糯米，試看葡萄葉能包嗎？

好，來做吧 - 另類粽子！

先準備：糯米浸水過夜

葉冲洗待乾

猴菇切片浸調味料。

把猴菇炒香，我另有素肉乾和素香鬆可以當餡料。

然後炒糯米，我先分成半，試做黄姜味的，及普通味的，放一些水炒至收水。

再研究怎麽包？

噢噢..葉子破洞，失敗，另類粽子做不成。

只好用碗包了。

两種味道都很好。

粽之，有得吃了！

Missouri River Irish Fest

From the website, "Memorial Day weekend at Frontier Park in St. Charles is about all things Irish. Put on something green and head over to the Missouri River Irish Fest. There will be plenty of Irish music, dancing, food, drinks and more. There's also a Kids Village filled with art, crafts and other children's activities."

The old St. Charles train station.  While no longer used for trains, the building is still used for events.  Today, one room in the building was hosting Gaelic (Irish) language lessons.

Fredbird (the St. Louis Cardinals mascot) passing by.

Old-fashioned ice cream churns using small engines, instead of child labor, to churn the ice cream. 

Strategic Water Teams had a water purification system on display.  They train volunteers to build and set up these systems, who can then go to countries that lack clean water to install them.  The systems are cheap and, once set up, need only a marine battery and salt to purify tanks of water.

One of the old fire engines on display for the kids to play on. 

After visiting the festival, we walked over to Main Street and strolled up the street to see the various shops.

A statue of Daniel Boone.

 Grandma's Cookies shop was having a cookie eating contest.

A very old cash register on display in one of the shops on Main Street.

I like to see the old building designs.

 The old Post Office

 The Lewis and Clark Boat House and museum, which holds a replica of the boat used by Lewis and Clark for their expedition up the Missouri River.

10 years

"我很愛你，老婆" 這是十年前，我來美國時，相公早上6點去上班前，寫在紙上給還没睡醒的我。

啊.. 住在美國10年了！

10年來對美國的生活有何感想？

從開始的不習慣到現在勉強適應。我住的還不長久，還没有真了解什麽，不敢也不能發表什麽。我只覺得我住的區域環境還算不錯，地大樹多空氣好，大致上這兒的人都還友善禮貌，生活悠閑。

我個人有什麽變化嗎？

心理成長是没增加聰慧明智，没更加温柔慈善，有加多的是懶散頹廢，很是慚愧。

生理就明顯有些不同了：1. 今年第一次對空氣（花粉）的過敏，中招時就打噴嚏流鼻涕水整天。2. 常吃有機蔬菜果後，現在我若吃到有很重農藥的，我的嘴上唇會腫癢，結乾皮幾天。3. 體力漸老不敏捷了。

繼續每晚睡前，感恩一切因緣讓我和相公過了每好的一天。

Bird nest

I saw some dead leaves and twigs on the ground by the garage last week, so I looked up.

Oh.. the birds are making a nest again.

Steve said the birds bought the nest from IKEA, and those were leftover parts when they were done assembling it. 

 Three years ago finches made a nest on the lamp in front of our house.

She laid four eggs.

This nest is too high up for us to see whether there are eggs yet.

 

I managed to sneak close enough to zoom in on the mother sitting on the nest. She is meditating with eyes open.   

When I got too close to the nest, the mother flew away, but kept careful watch on what I was doing. It's a robin.

Hopefully, we will see baby birds poking their heads up soon!

Peach trees

My friend started growing peach seeds four years ago, and she gave me two pots when they were ready to plant in the ground.
Last year my friend told me she harvested her peaches, but I didn't see any peaches on mine yet.

I was excited when I found one of my peach trees starting to grow about 20 fruits last month.

I checked the other, taller tree, but it has just one fruit.

Every time I felt happy when I saw the fruits growing bigger.
 

And turning red.

Oh no. I saw two dropped and they had been bitten.
I sprayed chili powder but the rain washed it away.

What should I do?
Will the CD moving and reflecting light scare the animals?
I hope I have a chance to taste my own homegrown peaches.

A early caterpillar

在㕑房時，我總喜歡望出窗外，看看景，看看鳥。。

今早看到一條毛蟲在蕩鞦韆，細細的絲從樹葉上，少說也有 7、8 呎的半天吊着。

我看了覺得有趣，拿相機出去幫它照相。

I like looking outside while I am in front of the kitchen window, look at the scenery, the birds...

I found it interesting when I saw a caterpillar was having a swing on thin silk this morning. It was hanging down from the tree's leaf, maybe 6 or 7 feet.

I went out with my camera.

毛蟲一直蠕動，風又吹着。

好了，你繼續玩。我要進屋去了。

等等，是不是你並不想玩而是掙扎試圖著處？

The caterpillar was squirming, and the wind was blowing.

Okay, enjoy your fun. I should go back into the house.

Oh, hold on. Were you really having fun or struggling to reach some place?

   

那好，讓我幫你一下，給你在較隱幽的地方。

早起的鳥兒要來了。

Alright, let me help, and put you in a safer place, under a bush.

The early birds are coming soon.

  

'Wonders of the World' festival

We received the newspaper from our town, Florissant. I was simply browsing the pages and found that the annual Valley of Flowers festival this year was celebrating 'Wonders of the World' on May 5, 6, 7.
It was only about a mile from our home, so Steve and I walked over to see it.
The first thing we saw was an emergency helicopter. Steve asked, "Can we go for a ride?"
He was joking.  (No, I wasn't!  Maybe no one else had asked! - Steve)
  

There was a large circus tent when we arrived at the fairground, so we went in to see The Zoppe Family Circus, which had already started their performance (and was probably the reason for the emergency helicopter standing by.)

This guy gave an awesome performance, balancing on his hands on the long tubes.
 

There were also clowns, a local acrobatic group, and a mime.  The only animals in this show were 2 horses.  (Steve was really hoping there would be tigers, so he could pet them and bring one home.)
We appreciated the performers, we enjoyed the fun.
 

The Kincald Karacter Puppets for the little kids.

RW Magic.

A play area for kids.

Older kids and teens can paint.

A petting zoo.

Face painting + balloon art, and pony rides.

There were many food vendors, mostly serving BBQ.  Steve was immediately drawn to the stand selling funnel cakes, and tried the deep fried Oreos - Oreo cookies, dipped in batter, then deep fried and sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Bubble fun with the Bubble Bus!
Under the shade of the outdoor ice rink (closed for summer) behind the bus, several dozen information booths and craft vendors set up, selling their wares.

Many kids were enjoying the festival, we have no kids though.
小孩最喜愛這些活動了，我們沒有小孩。

I am still a kid sometimes. I want to grab the bubbles!
有時候，我就是小孩。
我知道人生如夢幻泡影，但我這小孩却天真的想抓住它。