Happy Halloween, Samhain, and Day of the Dead!

We celebrated the trifecta of spooky days by going to the Day of the Dead cultural festival at the Seattle Center with our friend Lisa.
A brightly colored skull.

Sand painting. There were many art opportunities at the festival. We tried our hand at linoleum carving and printing.

An offrenda to Pancho Villa.

Our scary sugar skull.

Ancestral dancers. There were many, many types of dancers at the festival in beautiful, bright costumes.

An offrenda to the ancients.

Offrenda of pan de muerte and lights. A bakery was selling the bread on site. Yum!

Offrenda by local school kids.

Lots of skulls on this one.

A simple family offrenda.

Bread and fruit offrenda.

The jaguar on a wild offrenda.

Hope you all had a happy Halloween, Samhain, and Day of the Dead.

BOO!

Whoooooo!

Welcome to our haunted house.

The mummy greets you (and the daddy too).

Witch says step into my cage!

Pumpkins galore!

And even more.

Spooky house aflame.

A bucket by any other name.

The mantel all decked out.

Anni's bulletin board
And eek what is this? An alien civilization? Warts on a witches face? Toe jam? An undersea garden? Hazard a guess...

It's a Romanesco Broccoli. The kids call it Klingon broccoli. It's delish.
We got one in this week's CSA farm box. And speaking of produce, today was our last local farmer's market for the season. Today's finds were potatoes, red onions, pears, chili peppers, spicy cheese, rainbow chard, and a butternut squash. We wish all the farmers a warm and happy winter season. See you next spring!

Today was cold and rainy, a perfect day for a cook-in. So, I made curried butternut squash soup (thanks Lisa for the recipe), potato-leek soup, Italian bean soup with chard (our dinner tonight), turkey leek stock, a big pot of veggie spaghetti sauce, and spiced squash scones (desert tonight). The kitchen smelled incredible!

David and I had a chance to get all decked out in our finery last night. We went to the Seattle Opera to see Lucia Di Lammermoor. It was terrific. The primadonna and base padre especially. Think: a cross between Macbeth (treachery) and Romeo and Juliet (tragic love).

Beauties and the Beasties

Anni and Ari picking pumpkins at South 47 Farm.

Anni being a sunflower.

Another sunflower (not as cute as Anni)

Male red wing blackbird on top of dying sunflowers.

His mate a few flowers over.

A very friendly little Nubian goat.

And we all loved this little chocolate alpaca.

We took a walk along the Sammamish River trail last week before the sun disappeared. We saw this extra large turtle soaking up the rays on the embankment.

The Canada geese were also out in force.

The foliage is beginning to turn and the berries brighten. All was beautiful until....

Someone let the rain fall AND the beasties out, the scary beasties, the ZOMBIES!

Saturday was Thrill the World when groups around the globe combine to try to break the world record for dancing Thriller for charity. Can you spot me?

Here's another chance. Our group was raising money for the 2nd Story Rep children's theatre education program.

EEK! Ari is about to get her brain eaten.

Rainy Season Returns (Did it ever really leave?)

We finally traded in the accord for...
Another Honda, this time a red Civic, just the one David wanted.

The attack of the fruit and veggies continue. Here's the latest farm box: apples, nectarines, mango, oranges, pears, figs, limes, bananas, lemon, plums, corn, mushrooms, green beans, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, and radish. From the farmer's market, we found: pumpkins, squash, green onions, Concord grapes (taste exactly like Welch's grape juice!), and cilantro. And finally, from the backyard garden, coop, and green house: eggs (yes, I know, not a fruit or veg), tons of cherry tomatoes, green peppers, celery, lettuce, red bunching onions, carrots, strawberries, raspberries, herbs, and a lemon cucumber. Phew!

Anni showing off the new and improving learning room. That's the math cupboard to her right, the writing one to her left, her social studies stand-up is behind her, and her musical instruments (which she LOVES!) are all around her. She's also showing that you can go to school barefoot!

Alex, why are you standing in front of that helo with a funny look on your face?

Alex, what are you up to?
Is that helo moving? Alex???

Come BAAAAAACK!

Okay, just a bit of fun. Alex helped David out with the emergency preparedness fair at Evergreen Hospital this weekend. The Coast Guard dropped in with their search and rescue helicopter.

In other news, we've been checking out the latest offering in the Seattle Arts scene. Ari and I went to see The Cider House Rules (based on the book by the same name). David and I saw Wedding Belles (a Southern comedy). Lisa, Ari, and I attended a kickoff event for Write a Novel Life which was strange but fun. And finally, I'm learning the Thriller dance and how to dress like a zombie for the attempt to break the world record later this month! Another Phew!!

Weekend Wackiness

It was a busy first weekend in October! On Saturday, we went to the Salmon Festival in Issaquah. There was a long parade, hundreds of craft and what-not vendors, food, and of course the salmon were running by the hundreds in Issaquah creek. A good time was had by all.

Today, we headed across Lake Washington to the Seattle Center which was hosting a multitude of events. First on our list was Brickcon, the annual display of incredible things build out of Legos. We saw a town, outer space, castles, forest, a Chinese gate, a tribute to Japanese animation, a portrait of President Obama, steam punk vehicles and so much more all built with these hardy little bricks. There was much oohing and ahing.

Then we headed across the fountain to Arts Crush. What's that you ask? It's the kick off event for the performing arts in the Seattle area. Free tickets, 2 for 1 deals, and discounts abounded for plays, comedy, dance, and music. We left with 6 free tickets and a program of events to keep us busy during the L-O-N-G Northwest rainy season. Ari and I are headed to a play at Book It Theatre on Wednesday! We love win-wins.

And finally, we checked out the Northwest Tea Festival. $5 got you a ceramic tea tasting cup and then you were off to sample tea until you could hold no more. My favorite was a coconut tea from the tea purveyors out of Pike Place Market. Other winners were Choice's organic Fruity Rooibus and their Wild Forest Black teas. Our favorite tea concept was the little tea shop (3 Cups of Tea) in Bothell that donates profits to help build schools in underdeveloped countries (yes, like that book of the same name). Another win-win.

After all of our weekend adventures, we came home and put our feet up!