We were invited to Nikolay & Elena's place to celebrate Maslenitsa with them and Elen
a's Mum Natasha, who had just arrived from Russia. (We had lunch with Natasha's brother & sister-in-law in Vancouver, Yourie & Mila - it really is a small world!)
a's Mum Natasha, who had just arrived from Russia. (We had lunch with Natasha's brother & sister-in-law in Vancouver, Yourie & Mila - it really is a small world!)Maslenitsa (Pancake week) is an old Russion tradition, celebrated over 7 days, for everyone to let go of the long cold winter and open their arms to the long anticipated spring. Why pancakes? Nikolay told us it's because they are the same shape as the sun!
Sat 7th March
This was a busy day as we moved onto dinner with our friends and walking buddies, Pat & Sam, Donna & Hugh and Beth. It was a great night listening to everyone's upcoming goals - Pat is doing a triathlon, Hugh is doing a marathon in Little Rock, Arkansas, and John & Beth are considering walking together in the inaugural Ireland 100km event in September this year. Such inspiring friends!
This was a busy day as we moved onto dinner with our friends and walking buddies, Pat & Sam, Donna & Hugh and Beth. It was a great night listening to everyone's upcoming goals - Pat is doing a triathlon, Hugh is doing a marathon in Little Rock, Arkansas, and John & Beth are considering walking together in the inaugural Ireland 100km event in September this year. Such inspiring friends!
Monday 9th & Wed 18th March - that's right we went twice!!!!
The Houston Rodeo - yee haa!! On the Monday, Alex came with us and we parked the car in Midtown and hopped on the train for a fun ride down Main Street to Reliant Stadium. For me, the rodeo has some high points and some low points but overall is a very enjoyable experience. Our friend Ginger had a booth in the shopping pavilion so it was fun to visit her at her "Family Jewels" store. She was having a bumper year in sales - seems like the 'recession' hasn't hit the rodeo fans yet! The finale concert featured Lady Antebellum - a relatively new country group who were really good and had the crowd bopping. Then unexpectedly we went again the following week with Anna! More of the same however this time the after-concert featured Gary Allen. He is extremely popular pulling a crowd of well over 62,000 - not sure why - we thought he was pretty ordinary. Anyway the Houston Rodeo is the largest rodeo in the world ('cos everything really is bigger in Texas) and definintely worth experiencing - once!
Thursday 12th March
Group dinner at Candace & Bart's home. These nights are always fun - good food, good conversation and excellent company. Tonight's theme was Indian - a small concern for the kitchen challenged such as myself, however I came up with a tamarind dip that actually was way toooo sweet for the vegies so at the last minute was switched to a dessert dish - and tasted great! One of Bart's many talents is that of an artist and we were dazzled with some of his work - lifesize timber sculptures - absolutely amazing! Check them out -
..........................................................Tuesday 17th March - St Patricks Day
Renata & Branko invited us to their home for dinner along with their friend Glen and our friend Nancy. Renata is an absolute whiz in the kitchen and had whipped up the most amazing raw dinner including a raw cake for dessert - it was delicious! We had a wonderful night hearing all about their worldwide travels, particularly Glen who has just returned to live in Austin from a 2 year stint in Russia. He has also lived in many parts of the world including China and Australia - such interesting company. Renata & Branko have also lived in many countries - a night like this could actually could give one itchy feet.......
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