Day at the farmer's market

I discovered on my trip to the farmer's market Saturday that it's still too early in the season to expect much produce. I had hoped for peas, potatoes, tender onions, etc., but found none of that. Could it be because I didn't arrive until 10 a.m.?

I did find asparagus, which Dale and I ate tonight. It was fantastic. I think the butter had something to do with it.

Mostly what you find at the market now is lots of plants -- herbs, veggies and flowers, like this citronella plant, which had a wonderful citrusy fragrance.



I wasn't fooled by these tomatoes. They're so perfect looking you wonder if they came off the supermarket shelves.


This broccoli plant looked a little intimidating.


This Mennonite couple was selling baked goods, but I managed to resist the temptation.

There was live music....


And live animals. The rules say that no dogs are allowed at the farmer's market, but I'm not sure this darling creature even qualifies as a dog yet.

Robbed, again

For the third year in a row, the Wichita Eagle team placed second in the Kansel Trivia competition, losing again to the same group of carpet-baggers from Topeka. We are so mad we could chew nails.

Actually, our team, including PJ Griekspoor, Molly, Nick, Dan, me and Josh Wood, tied with the Topeka scumbags for first, but they won the tie-breaker. (Each team had to guess before the competition began what their final score would be. In case of a tie, the team that guesses closest without going over wins. Team Topeka guessed their winning score exactly. Grrrrr.)

Here's a photo of this year's new venue, the reception hall at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic church in Andover. Our loss was especially disappointing because we were in the lead by 2 points heading into the final round. And we did well on the final round, but Team Topeka did slightly better and managed to close the gap.

Nick Jungman, who -- let's face it -- carries our team every year, scored one victory, however. He had the winning bid on this sweet mountain bike, valued at about $250. He got it for $210 (and it came with the lovely bike helmet he's wearing here.)

I would blame myself for not helping my team more, but instead I think I'll blame Travis Heying, who for the second year in a row abandoned our team. Next year, Travis, no excuses. Your team needs you.

Mary Evelyn's Birthday

I somehow managed to post my video tribute to my mother to YouTube and, now, here. OK, I'll forgive anyone who doesn't want to watch this 9-minute video. You kind of had to be there to get much out of it. But a bonus, if you do watch it, is that Jaime Oppenheimer agreed to be in it, which I am thoroughly grateful for. Jaime -- my family also told me to say 'thanks' to you! And, as always when it comes to making movies, I have to thank Travis for his technical and moral support.

Fun with the family

Dale and I went to Great Bend this weekend to celebrate my mom's birthday with the rest of the family. I prepared a 9-minute video tribute to my mom, and let me tell you, there were more than a few misty eyes around the room during that. Mission accomplished. A few snaps:

My mom and me.


With my youngest brother Richard, his youngest son Joe, and my niece Ashley's kids, Hudson and Harper, sitting with my mother.



My niece Aspen had her prom that night and showed off her hot red dress. She's with her dad, my brother Stephen.

Will is my brother Richard's middle child, and he's into hoods right now.



Joe again.

My sister Lisa with her granddaughter, Harper.

My nieces Rachel, left, and Sara with their boyfriends and my brother Richard in the background. Jordan, the cute dude with the blonde hair, is a rodeo competitor, while Sara's boyfriend, also named Richard, goes to KU (as she does) and plays on the football team.



Ahhh, Dale, with a zonked out Hudson.

It's getting hot in here

When we started our evening of martinis and wine at Chester's last night, we were a tad chilly at our waterfront patio table. But after one round and some depraved chatter, we all agreed things had gotten a good deal more toasty.


By the end of the night, Denise could barely keep her clothes on. Here she's flashing our rather cute server, Lance. When I made my departure last night, Lance and Brenda were practically all over each other. Eager to hear how that turned out....

Jill and Lori B. earlier in the night.




Deanna, Molly and Carrie, who organized our little group outing to celebrate, in part, her return to a life with alcohol in it, after a six-week hiatus.


Denise, me and Brenda, who broke our hearts yesterday by revealing she is moving to Kansas City. We're all deeply depressed about it, but the liquor helped.

Eatin' at the Eaton

I reviewed the Eaton Steakhouse last night for the Eagle. Overall, the experience was good, and I do love the elegance of the place, including the white-gloved doorman and the person who comes to your table to offer each diner a warm, damp cloth with which to wash your hands!

We dined with friends Deb Miller and Jim McLean, who live in Topeka. Deb is the secretary of transportation and Jim is vice president for public affairs for the Kansas Health Institute. (Go to its site, www.khi.org. it's an excellent place to get health-related news)

The biggest disappointment of the evening was my meal. I ordered the lobster ($49) and think it must have been a baby. There were literally about six bites to it, three of which I gave my dining companions!



Plating also is not a big strength for the Eaton, in my opinion. But this penne rustica with chicken and shrimp tasted divine.

Again, the plating leaves a lot to be desired but Dale's pork chops in an apple-flavored sauce was excellent.

And, of course, we couldn't get through the evening without sharing two bottles of wine. Sort of feeling that today....

Down memory lane....

In black and white photos.

I'm in the painstakingly slow process of creating a video for my mother's birthday April 18. (It takes me about 20 minutes to do one small task that I imagine takes 1 or 2 minutes for Jaime and Travis to accomplish, if that.) But it's been fun to go through old photos looking for just the right images from my mom's life. Here are two starring ME!

No doubt waiting for my mom to mend something I had torn. We were pretty dang poor, but we always had decent clothing and lots of toys. Note the jack-in-the-box on the sofa next to my mom. And notice how elegant my mother manages to look in such humble surroundings.

I think I was trying to look very piously at my rosary. Things sure have changed.... (Also, it looks like my younger sister, sitting behind my mom, is wearing glasses but if you enlarge the photo you'll see that someone used a stick-pin to punch out her eyes. Probably me. Sorry, sis!)