MS150 Day 1

MS150

Parents Weekend in Knoxville!!

Bamboo Forest Kyoto

We saw much in Kyoto yesterday. While John was at the factory, I got to go see some of the countryside and walk on the bamboo forest.  Also I included a photo of a typical meal.

Painted Churches

We spent the weekend in La Grange with friends and visited five of the painted churches. It was a nice weekend even with Saturday's temperature reaching 108.

How Many can fit in the Honda Fit?

We squeezed with the neighbors and got eight people in Laura's new car!

Kindergarten Puppet Theater

The latest Keating family project is done! John Bridget Kellie and Laura are excited about the completion of the new addition to Kellie's classroom.

Block Island 14 days away!

Hope all are doing well and getting excited about this years trip. John and I thought we would start the countdown with some past photos. We will bring the albums from years past to look at during the week.

Save the date!

We are planning John's 50th birthday party. Even though the March 13th is actually Marie's birthday we decided we could celebrate both on the 13th. I will keep you posted!

Christmas wrap up

I am writing this post from my new netbook. Thank you John! I thought I would post some photos to summarize the Christmas fun. Our first event was Zilker park to sing carols with Asleep at the Wheel and look at the lights. Christmas Eve was enjoyed with friends, family and food (and a friendly visit from the fire department). Followed by midnight mass. Christmas day we opened gifts,hung out (some in their snuggies) and had dinner with the Taylors. The hour in the ham line earlier in the week was worth it! Enjoy the photos.

Thanksgiving Festivities

Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend. Here are some pictures of our Austin activities. We started off with the Turkey Trot on Thursday morning. Then we spent the rest of the day cooking and eating the turkey and watching football. Today we hiked Enchanted Rock with the Lackeys. After the hike we cooked out, it was a nice day.

Trip to Gruene Tx for Labor Day Weekend

Kellie, Bridget and John went to Gruene TX for Antique shopping and Lunch.

Lazy Sunday

Hi Everyone! This weekend, I got Mom and Dad to go to free yoga at Barton Springs Pool and then go for a swim. I went to see Wicked with a Laura, Mary Lou, and Marie. Then we had chicken and brisket that Dad smoked with some neighbors and friends. It continues to be too hot here in Austin.

Today, we stopped by Marie's birthday party at an art studio. They decorated mirrors with big wooden frames. Some were prettier than others. The studio was nice, I would like to go back myself and create mosaics on something for the kitchen or garden.

Tomorrow, Claire starts her sophomore year of high school. Dad will be in Memphis for the week, so you can call him in the evenings, when he might be bored. Laura is in Austin until August 28.

Pork Chops Stuffed with Feta and Spinach

Tonight, Laura made this recipe for me and Dad. It was delicious and had a nice presentation! She made it with a pine-nut couscous, a very good side.

Cooking spray
4 garlic cloves, minced and divided
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
5 sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil, diced
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) block-style fat-free cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops, trimmed
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano


Preheat broiler.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add 2 garlic cloves; sauté 1 minute. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, tomatoes, and spinach; sauté until moisture evaporates. Remove from heat; stir in cheeses and rind.
Cut a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each pork chop to form a pocket. Stuff about 1/4 cup spinach mixture into each pocket. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper over pork. Arrange pork on the rack of a broiler pan or roasting pan coated with cooking spray; place rack in pan. Combine remaining 2 garlic cloves, juice, mustard, and oregano in a bowl; stir well. Brush half of mustard mixture over pork. Broil 6 minutes; turn pork. Brush remaining mixture over pork; broil 2 minutes or until done.

You can see the original recipe on My Recipes if you click on the link.

THE FAMILY

BI 09 Katherine's Hike

Today, Katherine, Kellie, John and Jim went on a hike on the southwest corner of the island off of Dickens Farm Road. We tried to get to the trail that goes through Dicken's Farm Preserve, but there was a giant puddle across the whole road with no way around. We had a good adventure on several other hiking trails, but as you can see we retraced our steps several times. We saw several impressive hawks as we hiked through a basin area and a turtle on the main road. On one of the roads we saw the foundations of some early Block Island buildings. In the future, we hope it will be dry enough to do the hike we originally planned.

Check out this Garmin Connect activity: BI 09 Katherine Hike
BI 09 Katherine Hike

If you are experiencing problems with the link, copy and paste the following URL directly into your Internet browser
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/9339801

THE GROUP

Bridget, Laura and John are getting ready for the bike rides on block island. We got up early this morning and drove out to Andice from there we did a loop on the farm roads to Florence.

View the Map of the ride click this link;

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/8556392

Victory Garden

The Austin Keatings have built an herb garden by their pool. Laura designed it on her computer. Then John and Laura built it. And Bridget and Kellie did the planting. It's built out of Cedar boards and lined with plastic sheeting. We planted banana peppers, chile peppers, bell peppers, serrano peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, cilantro, dill, parsley, basil, sage, lavender, mint, oregano, and thyme.

It has been a challenge keeping them watered in the Texas heat, however, we have lots of peppers and tomatoes blossoming. We hope to see some eggplants; the plants have many flowers on them. We also had a caterpillar infestation on the dill, but have moved the caterpillars into a jar to watch them develop. Aunt Sandra tells us they are going to become Black Swallowtail Butterflies. I will write more about them in the future.