friends | The life of Rylee

A day at the zoo

It was a beautiful sunny and warm Spring day today. Where better to spend a few hours than at the zoo and with a good friend? I haven’t been to the Henry Vilas zoo in over a year. Wow, what a lot of new exhibits. I fell in love with this Macaw who was just as happy as a clam taking a shower in her huge tree-filled conservancy. But the real joy was getting to know Tyler, my friend Lynda’s son. I had a blast seeing the animals through his eyes and just absorbing his sweet energy. We even got to pet a skink!!!! He gave me the biggest hug when I had to leave and my heart melted just a little…… I’ve known Lynda since kindergarten and we’ve always had the type of friendship where we can go years without seeing each...

Posted on Apr 13, 2012 in friends, me | 0 comments

Seattle was a treat

Spent last weekend in Seattle with our good friends Scott and Terri who live just north of the city. Our good friends Mary Kay and Paul also came – so we had a full house and a great time! Just have to say, if I had to live somewhere else, Seattle would be high on the list. Ocean, mountains and a great temperate growing climate for flowers. We spent our first day, up at 5am to beat the tides and head out into Puget Sound at 6am. It was stunningly beautiful that day. Blue skies and amazing views. We dropped five crap pots into the Sound while we wandered all around the islands. The salmon had started running and we were going to fish for Lumpies and Chinooks. Fishing didn’t turn out too well – we only...

Posted on Sep 3, 2011 in friends, traveling | 0 comments

A great Monday dinner – Garlic Soup

Ten years ago, while living in Holland, we packed up our ski equipment one winter weekend, and with our Dutchie friends, drove down to Söll, Austria for a week of skiing in the Austrian Alps. Our friend, Emile, a Dutchie/Brit guy via South Africa had been to Söll before and swore up and down it would be worth the 10 hour drive. He was absolutely right. Söll was just a gem of an Tyrol village in the Austrian Alps with great ski pistes and a totally awesome après–ski. The one thing Emile waxed poetic about was the garlic soup at a restaurant in the heart of Söll that we all just had to try. He was convinced it would fuel us to victory for the next day of skiing and fill our hungry stomachs that night....

Posted on Dec 21, 2010 in food, friends | 0 comments

Christmas Pie in July

My friend, Eric and I were talking at work last week about one of our favorite summer treats, Christmas Pie in July. I was introduced to this little slice of pure heaven a few years ago at Beatons Lake. Eric’s mom, Bonnie, made it for Eric as it was his favorite as a kid when the rasberries ripened. I told Eric he’d have to make me a pie, but I also know that if I waited for Eric to do that, I’d be waiting along time. So this past weekend I went on a mission to create it. Now the easy thing would have been to call Bonnie, but I was in a pioneering mood and wanted to figure it out by myself. The key ingredient is pistachios so I figured something this awesome should be pretty simple to find on Google. But I...

Posted on Jul 20, 2010 in beatons, food, friends | 0 comments

Wiener Schnitzel Night

Last night, our German exchange student, Kathi, made us a traditional German dinner. We were very happy to sample her recipe for wiener schnitzel which called for stone ground mustard in the rub. Todd and Raine helped with the cooking, so it was a international family affair. We also feasted on red cabbage cooked with apples, cloves and bay leaves. And finally the classic peas and carrots and riced/mashed potatoes. The dinner was sehr...

Posted on May 20, 2008 in food, friends | 0 comments

‘A truly great man’: Milt McPike dies at 68

I was one of the lucky ones. During the 1980s, Milt McPike, was almost a daily presence for my classmates and me during our four years at East High School. Mr. McPike was the head principal but more importantly, he was a true leader to a socially and economically diverse high school on the eastside of town. With over 2,000 students, he managed to know just about all of our names. And if he couldn’t place it right away, he definitely knew what grade you were in, activities in which participated and if there was any trouble….. It didn’t matter to Mr. McPike whether you were black, asian, hispanic, white, rich or poor. When you were in his school – he treated everyone the same – with dignity, with respect and with just a tad bit of...

Posted on Mar 31, 2008 in friends | 4 comments