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.

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!!