Fun and more fun

Yesterday, we all had a special treat. We,along with good friend of the fam Lisa, went to see the brand new musical based on The Christmas Story (movie) at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in Seattle. It was spectacularly good! And the theatre was ornately gorgeous with beautiful Asian paintings and carvings. We had a wonderful time riding the bus into Seattle (Anni's favorite part), having lunch at Rockbottom brewery (Alex's favorite part), seeing the show (my fav), getting coffee (Ari's favorite) and a cookie (David's fav) before heading home.

And just because we could all could use some more fun, it's time to play everyone's favorite game....
What's in Anni's Purse Today?

Here is Anni's new owly purse. It's not much bigger than a paperback novel. What was inside today?

(See below)

A holiday bell, a teapot lid, a dog and its bowl, a rooster, a goat, a mouse, a rabbit and a cow, a person, a doll, a fairy, a princess, and a penny, 2 piggies, 2 sheep, 2 cats, 2 cars, and 2 prehistoric beasties, 3 horses, 3 building blocks, and 7 trees! I really looked for the partridge in a pear tree, but I think she might be saving that for later in the season.

Good Cheer!

Thanksgiving in the Great Northwest

Snow Day? Online programs don't have snow days. I'm so bummmmed!

Snow days? Every day's a fun day for me. Wheeeeeee!

Snow Day! Eek, my feet are cold! Back to the nesting boxes. Cluck, cluck!

It snowed again on Thanksgiving morning.

The cars got another good covering.Wednesday's farm box: satsumas, pears, pomegranate, apples, potatoes, green beans, broccoli, carrots, kale, celery, parsnips, and salad mix.
Thanksgiving dinner at the funny farm.

Wild organic rice with mushrooms, shallots, and herbs.

Wild sockeye salmon in a soy ginger butter sauce.

Fresh young asparagus with lemon butter.
Anni eagerly awaiting the arrival of the next course. Could it be...

Dessert; fresh pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream. Dinner was delish! Then we all needed a nap!

Our favorite post Thanksgiving events began today with the lighting of the Kirkland City Christmas tree down town, followed by our traditional homemade soup and bread supper. This year it was spicy pumpkin soup with cornbread. Yum!

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!

"What's this cold white stuff? My tail is cold! And so are my paws! Woof!"

The green house. Plants inside are thinking (yes, you know they can), "It's cold, and who turned out the sun?"

The chicken coop. Henrietta, Claudette, and Waltzing Matilda are thinking, "Cold, cluck, cold! I need to go lay an egg. Race you to the nesting box."

The garden under a blanket of white.

The last of the garden veggies we harvested the evening BEFORE it snowed; carrots, celery, chives, and squash.

Final Adventures in BC

A long time ago in BC...
Okay, well not that long ago, I spent a lovely Sunday morning at the BC museum. This shaggy woolly mammoth was on display.

Just for my mycology loving girl (Ari), a display of mushrooms,

shaggy mushrooms

and flattened mushrooms.

And then the moose was on the loose, eek!

Followed by a big brown bear, yikes!

And the most fearsome of all, a wolverine, gulp!

This little fire belly frog swam up to say hello.

The bearded dragon was just hanging out.

Adult owl.

Cute fuzzy baby owl.

Canadian native (aboriginal) man in full regalia.

Mask

Eagle mask

Transformation mask.

Deer hide drum. (I made one of these while living in Alaska. I still need to paint a design on mine!)

Zounds! Is that Edward Cullen captured in a totem pole?

Entrance to Totem Pole Park.

How many animals can you recognize?

Eagle and beaver.

A trio of totems.

More animals to identify.

Beaver.

The latest addition to the park.

Last view of the totem poles.

My final day in Victoria was full of packing, book shopping, and tea drinking. I arrived home relaxed and full of writing inspiration.

Further adventures in BC

I woke up at the crack of dawn today. It was eerily quiet. There was no one snoring. No one was calling, "Mom." The chickens, dog, cat (insert animal of your choice) weren't clucking, whining, or meowing (or whatever) to be fed or let out. It was more than I could take. I got up and went for a five mile run in the light drizzle, immediately followed by a warm cup of tea and a hot cross bun from the Dutch Bakery on Fort Street.

After a shower, I stuck in another two hours of writing before deciding to go exploring around downtown. I found not one, not two, but three used book stores, a needlecraft shop, a shop of weird and strange memorabilia, a new age place, and an aromatherapy emporium. Cool!


I had brunch at another of the local's recommendations, Lady Marmalade on Yates. It was very granola crunchy and delicious. I'm finding that dining in Victoria definitely has been influenced by the French. It takes quite a while for menus and then food to arrive.


I went back to the hotel then to write for a couple of hours, take a nap, and read some. Then it was back downtown for tea at Murchie's and a browse through Munro's Bookstore. Then it was back to the grindstone for another two hours. Needing a stretch, I went for a drizzly walk (the weather did not clear as predicted) through the James Bay neighborhood, and guess what I found? Another bookstore!

Dinner tonight was tapas at Venetos, a very swanky place. I tried the veggie tapas which were very good. On the way home, I stopped in briefly at Chapters. You guessed it, a bookstore! After which, I had a nightcap at the inn's pub. I tried their new speciality, hot butter rum - Yum!

The inn has always been a quite place, that is until tonight when a group of heavy drinkers moved into the room directly above mine. I swear they were clog dancing up there as well as hooting, hollering, and hanging off the fire escape cussing. Oh Joy! Inn management finally shut them down when the fire escape began to creak. And the bliss of quiet returned. I wrote another hour reaching my word count goal and went to bed happy.

Meanwhile in Victoria, BC

Heh?

Writer Mom Escapes the Funny Farm for a weekend in Victoria.

I arrived yesterday on the Victoria Clipper to bright sunny skies. After stowing my gear at the St. Jame Bay Inn, a lovely little place set in a residential neighborhood, I went for a walk. It was glorious along the bay. I traced a course past Emily Carr's House, out by the breakwater, past the fishermen's wharf, and back along the bay front trail.

On the ride across, I sat with a couple from Redmond celebrating their 45 wedding anniversary with a stay at the Empress and a man from Victoria who'd been having a break in Seattle. He recommended several restaurants where the local eat. I had lunch at one of them, the Ferris Oyster House and Grill. I had the oyster platter, local oysters done eight different ways with a big leafy salad and bread. It was delish!

Then, I strolled back to the hotel (a 20 minute walk from downtown) to write on my Nanowrimo project. Three hours later, it was time for tea. I headed back downtown to Murchies Tea Salon for a pot of afternoon tea and a current scone with jam and cream. I noticed I was beginning to nod off in my teacup, so I went back to the hotel for a nap. Then, it was time for a run, a nice little three mile loop.

I got another hour of writing in after my shower. Then, I began to hear strange noises, my stomach rumbling and screaming, "Feed me!" I had dinner at the India Curry House. I had the lamb gosh rogan. Since most of my family won't eat lamb, it's a special treat for me. It was delish along with the veggie samosa and naan. I got one more hour of writing in before heading down to the pub at the inn for a Bailey's nightcap. Finally, I did something I never get to do at home, I took the world's longest, warmest bath complete with girly smelling bubbles. Davine bliss!!!

Farm and Garden

The CSA farm box arrived today. This week featured bok choy, collard greens, romaine lettuce, mushrooms, cucumber, onions, brussel sprouts, broccoli, tomatoes, oranges, lemons, apples, and pears.

Today was a sunny, cool day. We've had a very mild fall so far. The garden is still showing signs of life. The carrots and chives are growing. The celery is happy in the ground, and the squash vines are alive and twirling. Usually by this time, the garden is done for the season.

We're hoping to extend our growing season in Anni's green house. We have an orange tree, tomatoes, peppers, squash, herbs, brussel sprouts, flowers, lettuce, and leeks growing in there. Stay tuned to see how they do.

Dinner tonight was shepard's pie with potatoes from the farmer's market, pumpkin from the pumpkin patch, onions from our garden, and grass fed beef from the farmer's market. We served it up with steamed broccoli from the box today and cauliflower from the garden. Delish!

Fall in the Northwest

Early morning along the banks of Lake Washington

Anni looking for the perfect leaf.

Alex and Ari take in the sunlight.

Anni enjoying the sunshine.

The colors of fall.

Alex on a field trip with his school program. Here he is launching an air pressure rocket. The kids challenged the adults, including David, to a contest to see whose rocket could fly the farthest. Losers buy the ice cream. The oldsters won. David's rocket fly the farthest!

Eek! What is that speeding ball of smoke? Is it a rocket? a UFO? Ari's latest attempt at cooking?

No, it's a pressure launched pumpkin, looking worse for wear.

This one looks even worse! The kids had a great time learning some basic physics and destroying helpless vegetation. Ah, the joy of learning.