Do they eat sausage in Denver?

For Memorial Day weekend, Corinne took a trip to Denver to visit her aunt, uncle, cousins, but primarily her grandmother, who was recovering from a stroke. Her mom was also there, visiting from Seattle.


The Denver branch of the Massman clan.

While Corinne was in Denver visiting family, I stayed home to finally make sausage! As it turned out, I should have made twice as much as I did; the 4 pounds of Italian sausage I did make was gone within the week, including half that very same night at a BBQ at Andrew and Amy's, friends of ours from work.


Boy, doesn't that look appetizing? In case you were wondering, I bought the sausage casings from Whole Foods in Portland; I ground the meat (beef+pork) myself using the meat grinder attachment for our KitchenAid mixer; this particular sausage spice mix came from Penzey's; then stuffed the sausage using the sausage stuffer attachment.

- Mike (& Corinne)

Becky & Gordon's wedding

On our long trip East to Amsterdam, we went by way of our old homestead, Boston. And coincidentally, it happened to be the weekend of Becky's bridal shower! So Corinne spent the weekend partying with Becky (while I spent the weekend visiting Stef and Serg and their new baby, Diego! Photo to come later.)

Here's the motley crew that was up all hours of the day and night.


...and 3 weeks later, it was time for the wedding! Here are the lovely bride and her matron of honor, "relaxing" before the ceremony. Lots more photos from both the shower weekend and the wedding can be found in the "MasterWong" albums on Flickr.com.


Bride, groom, and matron of honor

- Mike (& Corinne)

Hike on Mitchell Point

In between the various May trips (Boston, Amsterdam, Boston, Boston), we did manage to sneak in one weekend where we were both home. To take advantage of the opportunity, we went for a short hike on Mitchell Point, a hiking trail just west of Hood River which follows part of the old Columbia River Historic Highway. It was a nice spring day, and the viewpoint gives both eastward and westward facing views of the gorge. We didn't hike for more than about an hour and a half, and given that we didn't get started until 3pm on Sunday, that was just fine.

On this hike, we learned several things:


Sometimes none of the photos you take turn out well (this was the best one)...


... and this is what poison oak looks like. In large quantities. It's all over the Gorge, but this trail was the worst so far. Thank goodness for Tecnu.

- Mike (& Corinne)

Boston (again), and Husum scenery

So things are getting a bit out of chronological order here, but I'll try to keep things straight.

We were in Boston on our way to Amsterdam, the last weekend in April; then we spent a week in Amsterdam. (See previous postings). The very next weekend after we returned to the states, Corinne was back in Boston again for Amory & Brian's wedding reception. (She didn't take any photos - so now I don't feel so bad about not taking any photos of Diego!)

While she was gone, I took some artsy photos of the scenery around our house.


The roadsides are full of poppies; they add such bright colors, you sometimes forget they grow wild.


Now I know what people are referring to when they talk about "western skies".


The windmill in front of our house. Apparently, it used to pump water; but there's nothing attached to it now.

- Mike (& Corinne)

We Are Not Dead

I have no excuse. (Actually, I have several excuses, but I'll spare you.) It's been 3 months since my last post, and quite a lot has happened in that time. And I need to go all the way back to January to catch up! As such, I'll keep the summaries short.

Donna and Vivian - early January

A week after returning from the holidays, we decided we needed to see family again. So we had a relaxing long weekend in Husum with 3 generations of Massman's. There was much knitting. And I learned how to tailor my own shirts!

Visitors from New Jersey - mid January

Drew, Michelle, Beverly and Jorge visited all the way from "Back East", staying for a week in early January. Unfortunately, the winter weather was pretty bad... at least for a group who were expecting to ski and snowboard all week! Snowfall was at a record low on Mt Hood (only 30" of snowpack). They did manage to get one good day in on the mountain, and had lots of fun exploring the area. Come back soon!

Malinda and Jean - late January

Due to Microsoft overworking their employees, Malinda and Jean were only able to stay for about 24 hours before they had to head back to Redmond. But at least a 24 hour trip is possible now that we're only 4 hours away!

Sometime in January, we managed to go to work, too. But unfortunately, due to weather and scheduling, we weren't able to use any of our new snowboarding gear.


- Mike (& Corinne)