CONTEMPLATING POPPIES: We have *so* many poppies on 'campus' this spring, and that's no accident. Last fall, when the kids and I were cleaning up the garden, as we were plucking spent poppy stems, we vigorously shook them to expel poppy seeds all over.
As we've been appreciating the poppies arrival, we've noticed the changes they undergo as they bloom.
They start off with a yellow 'fuzzy' center, as pictured up top.
During the next phase, a green center emerges from the yellow.
That green 'head' turns into what's pictured below - a purple-striped structure.
Eventually, the poppy's petals fall off, and all that's left is this purple head, underneath which is a kind of megaphone-shaped pod which holds all the poppy seeds. We'll be shaking those again this year. The more poppies, the merrier!
GOOD CALL: I was happy to read today that the University of Washington will be requiring all students to be immunized against COVID-19 at all of their campuses come fall. In a post called "Protecting our community’s health by requiring students to be vaccinated (University-wide message)," UW president Ana Mari Cauce announced the decision on May 3. UW joins the growing list of colleges requiring students to be vaccinated for COVID before coming to campus this September.
In other UW news, CJ and I spent an hour or so checking off items on his 'to do' list in order to be able to register for fall. For example, he had to go through a four part lesson on the Federal Student Aid website and pass a test to prove that he knew about student loans. He also had to upload data for his UW student ID, and notify the financial aid office about his scholarships. It's quite a process to navigate before the real learning starts. I sure don't remember it being this complicated with Rick and Ken, not to mention myself way back in the day.
KITCHEN DOINGS: We continue to play with our food for fun and sustenance purposes. This weekend, we cooked up some bagels. I think they're cheater bagels, because aren't real ones made by boiling the batter?
Our version uses silicone doughnut molds with batter piped into them.
Even though they're not authentic, they're 100 percent delicious. The texture is great and the flavor is on point. We even threw in some nutritional yeast this go round to boost the flavor.
Each little element of the 'bento' box had to be made, most of them out of gelatinous type ingredients.
Honestly, it was kind of a complicated process!
By far, the hardest part was getting the little black seeds to stick where they were supposed to on the panda parts.
While they had fun making it, the taste left a lot to be desired. They each had one tiny bit of it and then threw it away, in favor of a scoop of ice cream for dessert.
BIG DOG: We took a little field trip today around lunchtime. I happened to see online that the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile would be in Kent, which is about 20 minutes south of us. I asked the kids if they wanted to go check it out, and got two enthusiastic "Yes!" in response.
From the site, I learned that the Wienermobile we saw today is just one of six that travel around the United States.
Oh, and if you've always dreamed of driving a 27-foot hotdog, Oscar Mayer is hiring "hotdoggers." You can apply on their site. It's an excellent opportunity to ' “meat” and
greet people from coast to coast,' they point out.
HISTORY IN THE MAKING: More good news on the college scholarship front for CJ today. He learned that he was awarded the Mukilteo Historical Society scholarship for his essay "The Ferry Important History of Mukilteo." That's another $1,500 toward his tuition! So yay for that!
Today is national college declaration day. CJ didn't wait until today to declare his intent to attend University of Washington's Tacoma campus. We're all eager for that chapter to start.
DRIVEN: Meanwhile, Annabelle started a new class today - driver's education!
The classroom portion of it is all online (thanks COVID). The driving portion comes afterward.
CJ should probably sit in on some/all of her classes. Since he's 18, he doesn't need to take a driver's ed course. He just needs to pass the written and driving tests.
No doubt we'll be hitting up expansive parking lots around our place soon so the kids can get some practice in.
WE'VE GOT A WINNER!: Somehow, I haven't managed to get around to sharing some really good news here on the blog. CJ recently found out he was one of the winners of the 2021 BECU Foundation scholarships.
Each year, BECU Foundation awards at least 25 renewable two-year scholarships worth $2,500 each (a potential total of $5,000).
What are the selection criteria? According to the BECU Foundation website, "[A]n independent selection committee consisting of community members representing a diverse business and education background will evaluate the applications and select the winners." The committee considers commitment to community service and leadership potential. There is also a reference required. CJ used the volunteer coordinator at Birthday Dreams as his reference.
CJ worked hard on that scholarship application. I remember saying to him back in February, when the application was due, "I think you're going to win this one." My prediction proved true!
So congratulations to CJ and a big thanks to the BECU Foundation!
ADVENTURING: More good news, this time from Mars, where NASA's 4-pound helicopter is setting records with each flight.
On its third and most recent flight (Sunday, April 25), at an altitude of 16 feet, the craft flew 164 feet downrange, reaching a top speed of 6.6 feet per second.
During its journey, Ingenuity even snapped a cool shot of Mars rover Perseverance.
Photo: NASA JPL
PROFESSING: Monday afternoon, Annabelle had an interview with a Bellevue College Japanese professor to see if she can skip Japanese 1 since she learned along with CJ already. She got the go ahead, which is great. Sure, Japanese 1 would have likely been an easy A for her, but why not aim higher? Bellevue College actually has Japanese 1-4, so she could learn a lot over the course of the upcoming school year!
ANOTHER ONE DONE: On Monday and Tuesday, we spent several hours crafting a cake for a 7-year-old spending his birthday in a homeless shelter.
CJ chose this cake because he figured no one else would. The child apparently loves a show called "Henry Danger." It's some sort of superhero show on the Nickelodeon network.
CJ cooked up a vanilla cake (per the child's request). I have to say, it was his best cake ever. It baked so beautifully and was just the right texture. (We're wondering of our 'new' oven had something to do with how great it came out. It's the first cake we've baked in the Frigidaire Flair.)
We put vanilla buttercream between the three layers, and a few sprinkles for fun.
Annabelle fashioned a mask out of modeling chocolate she made.
We made some marshmallow fondant to craft the logo's swirls and the birthday boy's name and age.
In the photo below, the child's name is (rather crudely) obscured to protect anonymity.
The top tier of the cake isn't cake at all, it's a big Rice Krispies treat covered in fondant. The mask is propped up by a really tall red candle. Six more red candles were on the top of the first tier, bringing the total to 7, the birthday boy's age.
TWO DOWN: As of last Friday, we four have all had our second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Yay for that!
What wasn't as 'yay' was how we felt afterward. I'd say CJ weathered the reaction best. He had no real complaints, except a mild headache the morning after. Annabelle had a bigger headache and a mild fever the first night.
I was soooo tired, dizzier than usual, and had random neck pain. Christian had all of that, but to a larger degree, poor guy. He and I were feeling pretty puny on Friday, and slightly less awful on Saturday, which is a good thing, because we had to make sure 80 homeless teens got fed that night. Which brings me to our next topic. ...
FEEDING TEENS: I didn't really feel like it, but I was up and at it Saturday a.m. at 7, making 25 pounds of beef barbacoa (it was delicious), as well as mountains of rice (over 40 cups of cooked) and some seasoned black beans (they were six pounds when they were dry) from scratch. When the rest of the troop upped, they pitched in and helped, as well. A couple of hours before meal service, we wrapped all that goodness up into platter sized tortillas. I'm guessing the burritos weighed about three pounds apiece.
Meanwhile, up north, Kennedy was working on his own batch of burritos. He went with a Denver omelette-inspired recipe. Lots of potato, scrambled eggs, ham, peppers, onions and more. They looked and smelled so good!
Dinner included some healthy fruit ...
and some less healthy nachos, ha ha. There were lots of chips complete with salasa, jalapenos, sour cream and some bonus hot sauce packets.
And there were also beautiful desserts. My friend Anna made over 50 cute little cinnamon apple tres leches cakes in cute little tins.
And my friend Irene made some beautiful chocolate mousse cups in fancy little glass jars.
All in all, it was a big hit with the kids. Three different Teen Feed staffers came to the kitchen to report how much the meal was adored by our hungry diners. So yay for that!
The kids with a photo of Kyle Lewis, the 2020 American League rookie of the year. Lewis had been injured, and made his first start of 2021 on CJ's birthday.
BIRTHDAY BOY: And suddenly, CJ is an adult. Well, at least on paper. On April 20, he turned 18. That means he's old enough to vote, and that he has to register for the 'selective service.'
We planned a day of fun for him. (Well, as much fun as you can have during a pandemic.) Fortunately, the Mariners had a matinee game, and we were able to get tickets. In order to allow for social distancing, attendance is limited to 9,000 for each game, a fraction of stadium's capacity.
If you're wondering why CJ is wearing a Dodgers' jersey instead of one for the home team, it's because the Ms were playing the Dodgers, and the jersey is a Jackie Robinson jersey. And the way we figured it, any or every day is a good day to rep Mr. Robinson.
It was a beautiful day at the ballpark - about 70 degrees and clear blue skies. It was a pitchers' duel. Only three hits total were given up in the game, which took only about 2.5 hours to play. The Ms came out on the short end, losing 0-1 to the 2020 World Series champs, but they split the series and are still tied for first in the American League West as of right now.
The balance of CJ's day involved a sundae from Full Tilt, takeout dinner from Thai You Up and presents back home. All in all a memorable 18th birthday.
VERDICT: While at the ballpark, just about as the first pitch was thrown, we learned that the verdict in the case against former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd Jr. was in. Kennedy began monitoring news via his phone, with earbuds attached. Initially, the verdict was supposed to be announced at about 1:30. At that time, between innings, the Mariners played a video skit on the big screen called "Justus Served." It features pitcher Justus Sheffield
I think this verdict will become one of those "Where were you?" moments, as in "Where were you when you heard Chauvin was convicted on all counts?"
I mean, sure, you would HOPE that a guy who knelt on the neck of handcuffed, prone man and brutally choked the life out of him over the course of nine minutes, all the while being exhorted to get off the poor guy by several frantically concerned onlookers, would be found guilty. It was a brutal killing in broad daylight with multiple witnesses, video recorded from several angles.
BUT ... it was a cop doing the killing, and the victim was a black man. History has shown us that deed all-too-often goes unpunished.
Fortunately, this case was an exception, and the jury returned a guilty-on-all-counts verdict in less than 24 hours of deliberation.
There was a little buzz in the ballpark when people began learning about the verdict.
CJ reports being in the bathroom and hearing a guy in a stall yell, "Guilty on all counts!" and the men in the bathroom erupting in cheers.
Of course, there's nothing to really celebrate here. George Floyd Jr. is dead. But it would be great to think that perhaps this case might be a turning point and lead to some meaningful, sweeping police reform. Time will tell.
NASA NEWS: You've likely heard already, but the tiny helicopter on Mars has made its maiden flight! After a delay due to software issues, Ingenuity took off for a successful test flight on .
It was an amazing feat - the first time a flight has taken place on another planet.
Per NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, "The rover [Perseverance] was parked at Van Zyl Overlook, about 211 feet (64.3 meters) away in Mars' Jezero Crater and chronicled the flight operations with its cameras. These images from the rover’s Mastcam-Z cameras show the helicopter hovering above the Red Planet's surface. During this first flight, the helicopter climbed to an altitude of 10 feet (3 meters), hovered, and then touched back down on the surface of Mars. Ingenuity is a technology demonstration. The 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) rotorcraft will help determine whether future explorations on Mars could include an aerial perspective."
The milestone has been compared to the Wright Brothers' triumph at Kitty Hawk back in 1903. On board Ingenuity was a postage-sized stamp piece of fabric from the wing of the Wright Flyer. Pretty cool!
We're also monitoring the latest with Crew-2, the joint venture between NASA and SpaceX to deliver supplies and four astronauts to the International Space Station. It is just the second manned flight for SpaceX to the ISS. Predictions of unfavorable weather meant a scrub for the original launch date (Thursday, April 22). The launch now is targeted for 5:49 a.m. EDT Friday, April 23 (2:49 a.m. Seattle time).
Crew-2 will carry NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet.
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is seen on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A as preparations continue for the Crew-2 mission, Tuesday, April 20, 2021, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
DRAGON PURSUIT: This past week, CJ started his latest and final quarter at South Seattle College. The first week of the quarter is always a bit much. It's learning the expectations of the new professor, figuring out what's due when, and so on. So that has kept CJ busy, along with those of us who are trying to help him navigate it all.
This weekend, we worked hard, Hard, HARD around the house and yard. So many projects. Come Saturday afternoon, we were ready for a break. Going on a dragon hunt seemed like a nice diversion.
Renton, the city just a few blocks to our southeast, is the home of Dungeons & Dragons, a wildly popular game, first published by Wizards of the West Coast.
Three years ago, a big ol' dragon was installed atop a building downtown to mark the city's tie to dragon lore. This weekend marked the three-year anniversary of that installation, and the city hosted a dragon spotting hunt in conjunction with that anniversary.
We parked in the city's parking garage and followed dragon footprints painted on downtown sidewalks in hopes of spying at least 10 dragons. It didn't take us long to spot our first.
We had scorecards upon which to write down dragon's names. We were a bit surprised (and, frankly, disappointed) that the dragon's names weren't creative or cutesy. They were just a couple of letters and numbers. Oh well. It didn't interfere with the hunting fun.
Some dragons were hidden among foliage. Others were saddled up to public art.
Some were on street signs, and others were in business windows.
We found a dozen dragons within about a half hour. (Ten were needed to enter a drawing for fabulous dragon prizes.)
We made sure to go say "Hi" to Erasmus, the rooftop dragon.
We noticed a number of other people on the hunt, so I'd guess the event was a success. It drew a number of people to downtown Renton who wouldn't have otherwise been there on Saturday afternoon.
SPRINGY: Our springtime campus beautification efforts continue. Some of the beauty comes easy, like these tulips that offer themselves up every spring.
Other projects take a LOT more work, like planting three dozen or so tomato and tomatillo starts around the yard today, which included loading in 32 cubic feet of soil to help our efforts.
Most all of the starts went into pots all over the property. We'll see what blooms and grows. ...
RESTOCKED: Last weekend we finished our kitchen/pantry floor. After Christian and Annabelle took off for Bend, I spent a couple of days putting our pantry back together. It was a *lot* of work, but it was well worth it.
Now, we're working on getting the south cabinets reconfigured and that countertop finished. It's starting to feel like the longest kitchen remodel in the history of the world. Hopefully it will be worth it!
KITCHEN CHALLENGE: A couple of weeks back, an email from Food Network Magazine contained notice about a cooking contest for kids. It asked for recipes using King’s Hawaiian Original Hawaiian Sweet Rolls.
So, we picked up a pack at the store a few days ago, and Annabelle mulled over ideas. She decided to make Loco Moco Mini sliders, a twist on a Hawaiian favorite food featuring a hamburger patty, gravy, and a fried egg that's usually served over rice. The Hawaiian rolls were the stand in for the starch.
She had to submit the recipe, a photo of the finished product and a portrait of the chef.
Medium eggs were fried low and slow, in little cookie cutters so they'd fit on the little buns.
She seasoned and fried up a pound of ground beef into six little patties, chopped up a pineapple, and made some brown gravy.
She split and toasted the Hawaiian rolls, put Japanese mayo on them, some broiled pineapple, the patty, the gravy and then topped it with the top bun. She sprinkled a little furikake on for fun and to spice things up.
It's a national contest and unlikely we'll hear anything about her entry, but it was a fun project and the kids and Christian got a nice lunch out of the endeavor.
IN THE WEEDS: We spent some time yesterday cleaning out our numerous deck planters to help get them ready for some of our vegetable starts.
I was happy to see our rosemary is going gangbusters. Lots of blossoms and new growth.
PURRFECT GUEST: We have an extra critter on campus for a couple days this week. Kennedy went down to visit the Vegas family, so his cat Bexley is hanging out in our basement suite.
Bex is very photogenic.
I think I've taken more photos of him in the past two days than I have of our two dogs in the past two years.
GROUNDED: We've been waiting and watching for Ingenuity, the helicopter that hitched a ride with rover Perseverance, to make its first flight on Mars. Unfortunately, the maiden, historic voyage keeps getting delayed by NASA, which is a bit worrisome.
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter unlocked its rotor blades, allowing them to spin freely, on April 7, 2021, the 47th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
The Ingenuity team has identified a software solution for the command sequence issue identified on Sol 49 (April 9) during a planned high-speed spin-up test of the helicopter’s rotors. Over the weekend, the team considered and tested multiple potential solutions to this issue, concluding that minor modification and reinstallation of Ingenuity’s flight control software is the most robust path forward. This software update will modify the process by which the two flight controllers boot up, allowing the hardware and software to safely transition to the flight state. Modifications to the flight software are being independently reviewed and validated today and tomorrow in testbeds at JPL.
While the development of the new software change is straightforward, the process of validating it and completing its uplink to Ingenuity will take some time. A detailed timeline for rescheduling the high-speed spin-up test and first flight is still in process.
Hopefully the fix works and Ingenuity will be flying high soon.
