The Swedish Hearth

I had a delightful lunch with my friend Tina at Harth. And we had a lot to talk about.


Tina is both Norwegian and Swedish. She is an award-winning rosemaler.

                                                                          Tina and Chris


                    The bread was very delicious.

                                                         Pannacotta for dessert!

Lovely birch tree decor!

Remembering Argentina!

My two friends, May and Janet, and I went to a fantastic Tango concert at Kirkwood Presbyterian Church in Springfield. It featured the Pan American Symphony Orchestra that was outstanding.

The outstanding soloist was La Grande, a musician originally from Assisi, Italy. She was able to make the cello sound like a guitar!

Problems in the Arctic

Linda Priebe gave an interesting talk to the DC Sons of Norway lodge. Her subject was US-Norway relations in the Arctic.

Saving the Arctic is a top priority for the Norwegians. Linda talked about the situation today and the efforts taking by Norway to stop the destruction.

Linda

New Discoveries in Del Ray

My friend May and I decided to explore the Del Ray neighborhood in Alexandria. We made many discoveries.

Our first stop was Green's Garden Center. I actually made some purchases - a pair of garden gloves, a stone owl (for house or garden), and a sticker that says I Dig Gardening.

A restaurant

My salad at the Caboose Restaurant

Frozen vanilla custard at the Dairy Grandmother, a favorite of Obama and his daughters

We had a good time discoveriing a new neighborhood but we weren't very impressed with the restaurants. May went crazy, however, over the scrumptious custard!

I am not from here!

Where is Ceil from? She answered this question at the One More Page Bookstore in Falls Church. Mary and I went to buy her book and to hear her talk.



Ceil and I go way back. We worked at the Center for Applied Linguistics together in 1976-77. It was great to reconnect. She is an exceptional woman.

Ceil's book about her interesting story growing up outside of the U.S.

Mary and I had dinner at the restaurant directly across the street from the bookstore.

                                              I had a delicious cheese and basil flatbread.

                                            Mary had something else, I don't remember what!

Vote for the Donkey or the Elephant Cookie!

My friend Solveig and I had lunch at the Alexandria Pastry Shop. A special campaign treat. You could choose among the following cookies: a donkey, an elephant, or an American flag. If you chose a donkey, a vote for Hillary was recorded. If you chose an elephant, a vote for Trump was recorded. If you chose the flag, no vote!

                                 Elephants on the left, flags in the middle, donkeys on the right

                                                    I chose a donkey, of course!

The vote tally - And the winner is The Donkey!

Solveig chose the donkey, too!

Celebrating our friends Ivan and Larissa

We celebrated the new status of our Siberian friends in grand style at the home of the Hostess with the Mostest Susan W. She really knows how to throw a party!

                                                      I gave Larissa an American bear.

                I gave Ivan this sign: An hour spent with friends is a happy hour. (Pronounce "happy hour" in two different ways for two different meanings to the sentence.)

                                                     Oksana, Larissa's friend, and smiley Ivan

I baked a Watergate cake for the occasion.

Party on a Boat

Katrina threw her birthday party on their boat, 1000 and One Nights, which is docked on the Potomac in Alexandria. Although it was 100 degrees in the shade, my guest May and I had a pleasant time chatting with Katrina and her friends from different sectors of her life (e.g. Home Schooling and Teaching).

                                           Katrina taking a photo of me taking a photo of her

NGA

I met my friend George at the National Gallery of Art and we viewed the lovely Paul Mellon Collection. My favorites were Cassatt's "Woman with A Black Hat" and Prendergast's New York: Central Park."

I will be posting photos soon. 

After viewing the exhibit, we had lunch in the museum's Cascade Cafe. I had a delicious salad of watercress, fennel, and grapefruit. A terrific combination!

A Diary

Our Sons of Norway Reading Circle met to discuss What I Hold Dear, the diary of a young Norwegian immigrant who worked as a maid in homes in New York City. The author was present and the turnout was very good, 14 interested individuals.

The discussion was very interesting.


The granddaughter of the Diarist and the translator of the diaries, Ruth Nybro

 Ruth and Norwegian scholar Solveig Zempel

                                                             Ruth with Christine

Christine Meloni, RC Facilitator with Nybro and Zempel

Many delicious offerings to refresh those present

Name Sisters' Lunch

I met my Name Sister for lunch at the Grand Carlyle in Shirlington and she brought her handsome and smart son Michael with her.

                                                          Christine and Michael

Michael enjoyed his calamari and his lobster salad. He definitely likes seafood!

The food was very good but the conversation was even better.

Icebergs

I went to the National Building Museum with my friends Marie, Barbara, Linda, and May to see the Icebergs exhibit.

On the first floor of the museum we were in the ocean and saw the icebergs, both the parts under sea level and above sea level.

We then climbed a staircase, looked down, and saw the icebergs on top (just the tips of the icebergs).

Then we had the real adventure! We ate, or tried to eat, Kakigori, traditional Japanese Shaved Ice. See the diagram below to see what the ingredients were. We basically paid $5.50 for shaved ice. We were not overly enthusiastic about this experience!

Godzilla offered us Small or Large. We were glad we chose Small!

We really did it for Marie who tries to do everything Japanese for her son who is in Japan!

This is a view from the second floor.

After viewing the exhibit, we went to the Chinatown Garden for a delicious lunch.

Although the exhibit was rather disappointing, the company was wonderful and everyone agreed that the outing was a success!

I am very sorry I did not get photos of May and Barbara. Sorry!

What a Dinner Party!

My friend May had a marvelous Lebanese dinner party. The food was fabulous.

Here is my plate with a wonderful variety of delicious foods. (I will fill in the names soon.)

The delicious dessert that starts with a K. (To be filled in soon.)

Juicy green grapes with a selection of five cheeses (to be listed soon)

An adorable cheese marker - This mouse indicates his Mexican Cheese.

May, you are the hostess with the mostest!