This is my entry to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge for the Week. To see more, go here.
Above is another shot of Rocky – our Volo hosts’ golden retriever. He was very active but calm. Such a lovable dog. He actually has a friend who was a perfect lap dog and very affectionate, rambunctious but didn’t bark at us, constantly moving I couldn’t take a photo of her.
Where is Volo? When I posted the barn my friends in FB asked, “Where is Volo”?
According to Wikipedia, Volo is a tiny village in Lake County, Illinois. It is only 4 square miles, of which 98% is land and the rest is water. That probably accounts to Volo Lake where we went to last Sunday.
Volo Lake
Out of the blue on Saturday night I got a message from my friend Ginger asking my plans for Sunday. All I had was church so she asked if I’d be interested to go fishing.
I was excited not because of fishing at 91 deg.F but to take a short trip to a place I’ve not been to before. Besides a couple of weeks before, I saw an old car on exhibit at the Lake Forest oasis to entice people to visit Volo where they have a vintage car museum and antique mall. Well neither interests me, but who knows what I could find to photograph there.
We took Golf Road all the way to Volo.
Lunch at Fratello’s their version of Portillos
Not very country but more of a rural area trying to embrace progress. It is a fast changing community of new developments – new subdivisions, malls, and cornfields struggling to co-exist. Unfortunately it won’t be long before these farms would yield to new modern towns.
The road to the camp site
Ginger’s daughter has a vacation home in a trailer camp.
Ginger’s daughter and grand-daughter
Never been to one before and to my surprise, the houses looked so charming! The homes are trailer size but they have extended sun rooms in a good size lot and it was in a rolling hill with old trees with a lake beyond. They also have a community pool nearby. It is a gated community so it’s not open to the public.
Here’s life!
Not the loveliest bare feet but when you are at the shore of a body of water like an ocean, you can’t help but kick off your shoes and enjoy the water. Chesapeake Bay, Virginia Beach.
At Carmel. There’s something that draws me to that quaint little town that one day, while my friend was at work, I decided to take the bus and spent a lovely day there. The alternative was to stay home and read. I was glad to summon my adventurous spirit and took the plunge of exploring by public transportation.
In the end I met and talked with some lovely people and discovered that kindness in humanity still exists. I found that out while waiting for my return bus to Monterey. I needed a dime for my fare. The bus required exact change. An old man was seated next to me in the shed. We were engaged in small talks when he saw me counting my change and upon knowing my predicament, he gave me the dime. A dime could mean a lot when that is all you need to secure a ride. And he looked like he hardly had more than that but kind eyes and yet he didn’t hesitate to help me.
My entry to Daily Post Challenge for the Week: Beneath your feet
Am not a big fan of roses but while at the grocery store one day, these caught my attention because of their unusual color.
It reminds me of my favorite Oberweis ice cream – mango and pomegranate. I wish I have taken a photo of that too, but unfortunately I always forget things (like taking a photo) the moment I am eating them.
My entry to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge for the Week. Go here for more.
Road trips! I love them because there is always a chance I can photograph something.
This weekend, my girlfriend Ginger, asked me to drive with her to Volo where her daughter has a vacation home in a beach resort.
On the way there, two old barns caught my attention but we drove past them with the idea that I could take their pictures on the way home. We drove slowly but I never saw the first one again, a red barn, until we reached the city.
One of the things I love about driving in the country is the prospect of finding something that interests me. I love barns, they are a piece of Americana that is slowly fading away.
This is my entry to WPC’s Challenge for the Week: Inspiration.
At my niece’s graduation a few months ago, my cousin (her uncle) tied white balloons on the tree branches. It looked very charming and it was wonderful watching them sway gracefully as the wind passed by.
The balloons also added a festive touch to the occasion.
My entry to Ailssa’s challenge for the week: Wind.
Elphaba
The characters of the Land of Oz descended in our office building the other day. They brought plenty of food, music, games and other entertainment.
It was our building’s appreciation day of its tenants.
My entry to WordPress Challenge for the Week: Close Up.
My entry to Ailsa’s challenge for the week – Grasses
I’d much prefer looking at a sight like this than being in a city of glass and steel.
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Grasses and wild flowers are not strange bedfellows in God’s garden.
Here’s my entry to Cee’s Foto Challenge: Teal or turquoise.
As teal or turquoise are hard to define somehow here is a description of Teal taken from O’Teal.com.
Teal is the color of the ocean under a sunlit sky, and as you descend into its depths. It’s the color that streaks through the golds and reds of a tropical sunset and that emerges with the dawn. Teal nestles in the overlap of blues and greens in an afternoon rainbow. Teal, in fact, is blue shaded with green. Or green shaded with blue. Take your pick.
This one caught my attention because it is very simple and requires very few ingredients.
I attended a baby shower hosted by LolaWi of Simply Beautiful last Sunday. It was a potluck and with the heat, I didn’t want to stay in the kitchen a lot.
The major ingredient here aside from the chicken wings is as you read above, Coke. Definitely you can use any other parts of the chicken or ribs.
This is a Chinese dish and although you may not see it in the menu in the restaurants, it is a new invention by them. They say Coca-Cola is a big item in China, they value it almost like good wine. But my aunt & uncle uses Coke too in our favorite pork barbecue so there must be something in Coke that makes it so good aside from tenderizing the meat.
Ingredients:
6 lbs. separated chicken wings (I got mine at Costco)
1 12 oz. can Coca-Cola (not diet)
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup of soy sauce
1/3 cup of cooking oil
1 thumb-size ginger, minced
4 tbsp. rice wine (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper
Minced cilantro or green onions for garnish
Marinate wings in the first five ingredients for at least an hour or overnight.
Brown wings on the oil but do not crowd the pan. You can do it in several batches so the chicken do not get watery and just to cook the blood out of the wings.
In a separate pot, add the minced ginger and deposit the wings there as they brown. When frying is done, add ground pepper. Meantime, you can boil the marinade in the frying pan where you just cooked the chicken. After a quick boil, scrape the pan of the sautéed remains of the chicken and add it to the chicken pot with the rice wine.
Cook until marinade turns thick to a sauce, cover and turn once in a while until tender. Adjust seasoning as desired.
Garnish with the greens before serving. Best served hot or warm.
Taking a Deep Breath 