Cincinnati Scenes…

I flew to visit my sister this week…  I was greeted by temps nearing 80…

P1140388P1140391P1140397P1140399

…which then plunged to winter’s chill and dropped snow overnight!

IMG_20140415_103908568_HDR

I love the old architecture in the vicinity!

P1140421P1140418P1140425P1140427P1140429P1140430 

We both loved this one best…

P1140424

But this is home, sweet home.

P1140437P1140444

Experiencing local culture necessitated a trip to: Jungle Jim’s a most quirky and colorful international market!

Everything from pig snouts and tongues to fine teas and gourmet chocolates…

IMG_20140414_200534304IMG_20140414_202517893IMG_20140414_211204426 And a very lot of exotic produce in between.

But comfort food in these parts comes from:

Skyline Chili

IMG_20140415_213048990IMG_20140415_210535914_HDR “Skyline Chili” is a secret-recipe chili of supposedly Greek origin, with an unexpected touch of cinnamon.  It’s served on spaghetti pasta topped with a mound of shredded cheese.  This is a “three-way”.
For a “four-way” you add chopped onions OR beans.  And for a “five-way” you add BOTH onions and beans.  I tried a ‘five-way’.  Tasty but not comfort food.  Apparently the taste grows on you.  Many locals love it.

And that’s what I’ve seen of Cincinnati so far…

P1140451P1140453P1140448 crop…but the best part is this:

 

Heather and Lindy

–LS

Ferry Life…

We had a quick trip over to Vancouver Island this weekend to catch up with our daughter.

Didn’t seem noteworthy in pictures. We are so used to taking ferries whenever we go anywhere… P1140327

Then again, maybe our ‘normal’ is not your normal, so I snapped a few pictures…

P1140331P1140336

Dock upgrades and changes to ferry schedules and routing  have been BIG small town news of late.  But everything is now returned to order on our routes…well, almost everything.  This ferry is ‘out of place’ on this route actually.  But there are new ‘dolphins’, new ramps, wider lanes for loading and off-loading and… well, you get the idea.  Big small town news.

 

After a beautiful hour and a half of sunny sailing (spent out on the deck dozing in the sunshine)

we’re almost home!P1140339P1140341

Time to return to our vehicle for off-loading.P1140345

P1140346

And that’s it.  Our ‘normal’ mode of travel.  Try it, you’ll like it—well, except for the price tag.  Such is ferry life…

–LS

Home, Green Home

P1140062P1140065

We dug out the car one last time and hit the road,
leaving snow country behind…

P1140091P1140093

It’s picturesque and nice to visit, but nicer still to get back to GREEN!

P1140134P1140139

Care to join us for the next-to-the-last winding leg of our journey?

The Coast of many curves—the land between ferries.

 

Whew!  A welcome sight: P1140141P1140142cr

And what a treat to be welcomed to our Sunshine Coast with SUNSHINE!

P1140151

And to walk in the door and be greeted by forsythia in bloom:

P1140153The barren branches I’d snipped before we left

have come into bloom!P1140162

And other buds are swelling…

P1140165

It’s good to be home.

P1140185

…for quiet walks around the block as spring approaches softly…

P1140187

–LS

(And quiet dinners for two…)

P1140197P1140195

(on new custom placemats!)