The Road Not Taken

One of my favorite poems is "The Road Not Taken" by Robery Frost. He was a stoic old New Englander, and there isn't an ounce of self pity in this poem-- just a reflection on a life, if you happened to take the road "less traveled." Here's a charming thing about the aging mind: you begin to remember what happened when you were six more vividly than what you did last Tuesday afternoon.

This is an old picture of the Pennsylvania farm where we lived until I was about seven. It is still there, the field stone houses were built to last in those days, although most of the out buildings are probably gone. My parents worked hard to make ends meet with dairy cows, chickens, pigs, ducks and of course an enormous kitchen garden for Mom's canning and freezing. On Friday nights, we drove to the A&P in Quakertown to buy flour, sugar, salt, coffee and other staples, but that was about it. Just about everything we ate, and the animals ate, was grown on the farm. If you've read the wonderful book "Omnivore's Dilemma" you know this is called poly-culture farming (as opposed to mono-culture) and it has become environmentally trendy indeed. But back then, this was just how small family farms were run.

In those days, most kids didn't have scheduled activities except school, and we were sent outside to play in the summer. My sister, brother and I invented a make-believe world of our own on the farm, and had no trouble amusing ourselves. I was a tomboy and always loved animals, so I spent more time underfoot in the barn than the house. Somehow we managed not to get trampled by a cow, fall out of the hayloft, or drown in the creek! And I'm sure my strong immunity to this day has something to do with toddling around a cow barn. Another favorite poem, "Fern Hill" by Dylan Thomas, captures the absolute magic of childhood spent on a farm.

Nova and Mom

Here's Amanda and Nova out for a walk in the park yesterday. What an adorable and chubby little baby! And doesn't Amanda look happy and wonderful? We can't wait to see them this coming weekend.

The blessing of rain

It was wonderful to wake up to the sound of rain this morning falling on the parched grass. I forgot how much I missed it, and the garden will be thankful. It also rinsed the dust off our pretty (but worthless) fig tree. I call it worthless, because thousands of green, inedible figs drop off in the fall along with the leaves, and I have to rake them up or they rot on the ground. This tree is also responsible for John's broken knee a year or so ago during a pruning misadventure. It seems ironic to have such a robust backyard tree that doesn't produce any delicious, expensive fruit.

In the colder parts of the country like Ohio, the fig trees are nursed along in the winter, and never get very big. But they probably produce a little fruit to make it worth the trouble. This tree was here when we moved into the house 30 years ago. Of course it was smaller then, and Amanda had a tree house up there that our old cats "Cowboy" and "Puss" liked to nap in. I like to think about Nova sitting up there in a just few years.

Here's some info on growing figs, that gives an idea of just how much trouble they can be:

http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/fig.html

Swing time for Nova

'Tis the gift to be simple,
'Tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down
Where you ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
It will be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained,

To bow and to bend,

We will not be ashamed.

To turn, turn, will be our delight,

Until turing around, we come round right.

From Simple Gifts , written by Shaker Elder Joseph Brackett in 1848.

P.S. Amanda said Nova was good for about 2 minutes in the swing today. Well, a start :-)

Apples and Frosted Mini-Wheats

Our apple tree has some pretty looking fruit, but I haven't looked too closely. This tree is a disease resistant "Sparta" variety, although a few years ago it finally succumbed to the dreaded western Washington apple maggot. The cycle goes like this: the larvae winters in the soil, hatches into a nasty fly at the exact time the tree sets fruit, then lays its eggs in the little apples. Then they hatch, eat the apple, and do it all over again. Nice.

I checked with the agricultural Extension, and the timing and chemicals to control this thing is daunting. And why risk decimating the bees along with the "maggot" just when they are pollinating gardens in the spring? In fact, the Extension does not recommend growing orchard fruit at all anymore. They suggest you buy it at the store or farmer's market in season. No surprise, the fear is this disease will spread to the commercial apple growers in eastern Washington. Since neither John OR Sizzle likes to eat the Sparta apples, I should take their advice and cut the thing down.

Most horses like carrots, and sweet apples too. (The Sparta is not sweet.) But after years of toting bags of carrots to the barn, I finally found the perfect and inexpensive little treat for a spoiled horse: Frosted Mini-Wheat's! I don't think Sizzle ever tasted anything so good in her long life. Yum.

Fall sedums

A few years ago, my sister-in-law Rachel in Ohio sent me this unusual purple sedum. I'm not sure of the name, but it has a slow spreading habit like a ground cover, and the bees love it.

The sedums are an easy garden plant, and just coming into their prettiest stage now. But I think they are attractive almost all year, and none are fussy about water or soil. I usually cut them down each fall, but even in the winter the tall seed heads on Autumn Joy are interesting. I've never seen any winter birds eating the seeds, but it seems like they should.

And speaking of garden birds, where are mine? Before I left last week, the finches, sparrows and chickadees were draining a feeder of sunflower seeds every couple days. John let it run dry while I was gone, and now they've deserted us. I guess they gave up on the free buffet. I've only seen a few chickadees in the yard this week, and even the house sparrows and crows are somewhere else. But I've heard big flocks of starlings gathering in the trees, a sign of fall.

Baby Nova wakes up

Actually, she's been (mostly) awake since birth, but now she's beginning to show her little personality. If you've had kids, you'll remember that euphoric stage when you're pretty sure you will soon have Baby on a Schedule. Ha! And like all newborns, your drowsy infant becomes an individual with a definite mind of her own as she figures out her new world.

At 1 am.

At 3 am.

And again, at 6 am!

So if new parenting were reality TV, the third week would be the show :-)

Amanda got out of the house yesterday, and said how good it felt to be seeing friends in town and doing normal things like eating a bagel at the bakery. She and Nova then went to town for a check-up with her new doctor. Nova screamed like a banshee the first time she put her in the car seat, but after one block-- blessed silence! Ahhh...

And at the clinic, Nova charmed everyone by looking around like a good-natured little cherub. Everything is fine-- in fact she has already gained a pound. Good job Amanda and Tom!

Sunday excursion

In the winter, we like to go to the Symphony on Sunday afternoon, but in the summer we seem to stick closer to home on the weekends. The traffic! hassle! tourists! Getting around Seattle can be a real headache. Our garden is a nice little sanctuary this time of year, so why leave home unless you have to?

We made an exception yesterday, and went downtown to the Seattle Art Museum to see an Andrew Wyeth exhibit. He is perhaps most famous for his painting "Christina's World."

The paintings in this show were from private collections, and most featured his famous neighbor Helga, whom he seemed to admire (at least as a model) a bit more than his wife! Along with other parts of her, he loved painting her German braids.Afterwards, we went across the street to the Pike Place Market to search out some lunch. The Seattle waterfront was lined with massive Alaska cruise ships, and I think everyone was on a shore excursion to the Market. Wall-to-wall people! We elbowed past the tourists gawking fish throwers and flower stalls to the lower level, and found a quiet Chinese restaurant with a killer view of Elliot Bay. Nice, fresh food too-- John enjoyed his "little" bowl of won ton soup.

Perfection vs Reality

Because I canned a few jars of beans, I don't want to give the impression that I'm some sort of Martha Stewart. (There is dust under the beds and cobwebs in the corners of this old house.)

Take my bonsai plants for example. When our friends Candi and Roger left Seattle years ago to live in the frozen Montana climate, I inherited their lovely bonsai collection. I'm proud of the fact they are all still alive, and haven't turned into great forest trees by now. But I don't have the obsessive attention to detail to maintain the type of plants like you'll find at the Weyerhauser Bonsai garden in Federal Way. Yes, this is the same Weyerhauser that cuts down forests all over the NW, and they have a famous bonsai display at their headquarters. If you live in the Seattle region and have never visited here, I'd encourage you to go. Like walking through a living museum, and although this sounds pretty boring, it's actually fascinating when you learn the great age and history of these specimens.

Compare for example the museum presentation above of a classic larch grove, and my larch "forest" below. (Candi, I think there might be an elf living under there.) I call this the natural look, but you get the idea on the perfection thing! Time for a fall bonsai grooming session.

A second bloom

After getting off to a rough start this spring, the roses now have another beautiful late bloom. The record heat and sun this year made a perfect summer for flower growing, except for the endless task of watering beds.

This has also been great weather for tropicals like cannas, and this pretty banana plant I bought at Home Depot in June. With our cool summer nights, the tropicals are so slow to get started here. Unfortunately, when they finally do come into their prime the days are already cold, short and wet. I should learn to say "bye-bye" and treat them like other annuals, but get attached to these big plants I nursed along all summer. I get a kick out of the gardening books that tell you to winter them over in "a cool, bright room," as if we all have extra sunny rooms to spare for big outdoor pots!

A mild El Nino may affect our NW weather this year. It tends to send the stronger, wet storms south. Sorry California, but we had our share of misery last winter-- your turn!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2009437432_apusscielnino.html

Early morning work

I usually do some canning every summer, depending on how ambitious I feel and what produce looks good. I don't waste time canning tomatoes and peaches, which are fine from the store, but just make a few special things I can't buy or cost a fortune for a tiny jar. (Although if I lived in the Methow Valley and had access to all that wonderful organic produce, I'm sure I'd be inspired to preserve more.)

I'm bragging a bit now, but my friends will tell you I'm famous for my home made chutneys. My kitchen is small, and canning is somewhat of a meditative activity for me, so I only do it when there is no one home. And that means you, John! :-) Hiding in the basement does not count, the house must be quiet and empty. Since I am a weird morning person, I get fueled up on strong coffee and often putter around early doing housework. I was in the mood today because the weather suddenly feels like fall, making you want to stash some food away. These are pickled "dilly" beans and spicy asparagus. A bit of work, but worth it when you open one of these jars for the Thanksgiving relish tray.

Kids, cats and new shoes

Everyone had a jolly summer morning at the barn yesterday, except for Sizzle (who got new shoes) and my farrier (who had to put them on.)

Sizzle tries to cooperate but those old legs are stiff, so she is what the farriers call "heavy to shoe." That means Ken has to hold up about 200 pounds of horse hind leg while fitting a new shoe and doing a delicate nailing job at the same time. Ugh! But we're done for another 7 weeks.

School is just around the corner in Seattle, starting right after Labor Day. It's been fun lately having nice kids visiting the barn on these last summer days, and I'll miss them.

There is debate about where this little black barn cat came from, but I think he's there to stay. It probably has something to do with the all-you-can-eat cat food buffet. Speaking of wandering and ungrateful cats, Vino/Tabby/Tigger is showing up at our back door most mornings this week. One theory is his adopted family is away on vacation, and he's looking for extra attention. Other than a sip of milk in the morning, he has no interest in eating here. He just says hello, leaves and goes about his private kitty life!

Nova's (second) bath

Nova loves her baths. By this second one, she was already enjoying herself immensely. You can see helpful Roger in the background, keeping an eye on things. I haven't mentioned him lately, he's been slightly "demoted" for the time being. But Roger has been an excellent dog-- very respectful of the baby and good company for Amanda home alone.

Amanda tells me Nova only cries when it's time to come out of the warm water. She has started bathing her late in the evening with a product called "Lavender Sleepy Time Aromatherapy Baby Bath"or something like that. Nova then has a nice 4 or 5 hour nap (most of the time) and lets her parents get some much needed shut-eye too. Another 2 or 3 am feeding, and the night is over-- as Amanda says, "in a blur." Life with baby settles into a routine.
(sort of)

A Poem for Nova

For Nova

That morning you arrived,
You were our bright summer star.
And I drove East to greet you,
Body, Mind, Spirit--
With a prayer for every mile.

Time passed. Road and silence.
Mountains, rocks, fields,
The occasional gift of horses grazing.
And finally, clear desert light
Above the ancient river.

Then your Mother's call, at last!
Wonder and tears
Turning a roadside nowhere into Somewhere.
Oh, you thrilled us
With your big entrance: Here I Am.

So, an old story but still a fresh miracle.
And I arrived at a new place, too.
A little hand to hold,
Precious life to cherish,
The circle complete.

Begonias and babies

Some things in life (like all babies and certain flowers) are worth the long wait.

I like begonias, even though it seems frustratingly slow to grow them. But the reward comes in late August when an ugly looking plant turns into something spectacular.

In Seattle, we're not tormented by hard storms, drying wind, or hail in the summer. So the delicate, juicy begonias love this climate. It just takes them a while to realize this. I bought these bulbs at Costco in February, and planted them outside in pots where they did absolutely nothing for the next 5 months. The squirrels dug up and destroyed a few, but at last--- here's the reward.

After 4 hours of driving, this was a pretty sight when we got home on Sturday. Thank you John, for watering pots while I was away. I love looking out the kitchen window and seeing these planters on the deck railing. I know... begonias are a bit old-ladyish, but hey, I'm a Grandma now!

Baby Nova's new hat

Grandma Sue worked SO HARD crocheting a pretty bonnet for Nova, to match her Dad's favorite orange hat.

And she HATED it.

:-)

Home Sweet Home

We had a long but safe drive home yesterday, and got to Seattle in the late afternoon. I started missing my little granddaughter as soon as I left, but the new family is doing really well and time to settle into a routine of their own. We plan to visit again over the Labor Day weekend.

It is amazing to think that this time last Sunday, Nova wasn't even "here" yet. What a week, and it flew by in a busy and happy blur for all of us.

The rain in Seattle was a real blessing, all the flowers are refreshed and blooming. The colors were beautiful this morning when I went outside. So much to be thankful for in this lovely world. I'm looking forward to a quiet day with John, and heading over to see Sizzle. I missed her!

Life is Good!

A rainy day and we're staying close to home. John left Seattle at 6 am, and got here around 10 to admire Nova for the afternoon. And just one glance was worth that 4 hour drive! We're both driving back to Seattle tomorrow, and will be so sad to leave the family for a few weeks, but everyone is doing so well.

Hello world!

Wedding in October

Just to shift attention from Nova for a few minutes, I was thinking this morning about how nice it is here during the week. In the past, we've only visited on the weekends when town is full of visitors like us (from the Coast, as they say over here.) It is a different world during the week-- no lines at the grocery store, locals going about their routines and main street quiet and peaceful.

These pictures were taken when were here last October on a beautiful fall day at the "Salmon Recovery Park" where Amanda and Tom are planning their outdoor wedding ceremony in October. We will hope for a day as lovely as this, but it could also rain or even SNOW then so we'll be prepared for everything!


Nova is thriving, nursing well and changing before our eyes-- and we cannot take our eyes off of her. She is so lovely and so is her Mom.

Good morning

It is such an incredible joy being here with Amanda and Tom for Nova's first days. And I can tell you Grandma has been very busy! Today is a cooking day to get chili, soup and pasta sauce in the freezer for later. And a good day to stay home-- the weather is cloudy with a little rain but pleasantly warm.

Yesterday Amanda's loving and sweet midwife came to the house again to check on both of them and tell us what we already know-- Nova is a beautifully healthy and thriving newborn. She is having a bit of trouble with the "day/night" thing :-) so the new parents were a bit bleary eyed this morning but all is well. Amanda is getting stronger everyday, and if she is up for it we'll give Nova her first bath this afternoon. We are all madly in love with this baby, and she is a real charmer, already alert and curious about her new world.

Baby Nova Pictures

What a darling little girl and she is just a joy today in every way. Everyone is doing fine, and we're all walking around in 7th heaven. Thanks John your fancy camera is working great.

Meet Nova

This is little Nova just seconds after she was born- isn't she lovely? The new family did really well last night, and she is strong and thriving. Honestly, I don't think I ever saw a baby hold her head up and look around the house the very day she was born. (Between you and me, I think she is getting Amanda and Tom figured out in a hurry :-)



The camera has been going since I got here, so more pictures later, but thought I'd start in the very beginning. Today is a day of rest for Amanda and massive laundry for Grandma!

A precious new baby is here!

This morning at 9:30 Amanda gave birth to a healthy and absolutely beautiful little baby girl. She weighs 8 pounds 12 oz. and is 19 1/2 inches long. We're stunned with happiness and gratitude for this lovely new life in our family. Amanda is tired but doing well tonight and I'm here to help out for a few days. I promise pictures soon, but to be honest my eyes are too blurred with tears of happiness tonight.

Thank you everyone for all your love and prayers.

Heading east tomorrow

the forest returning to the meadow
Originally uploaded by Lilbenne

No, I didn't get that big phone call from Amanda we're all waiting for, but I'm driving to Twisp in the morning so I'll be there for the birth (hopefully sometime next week) and to help out a bit afterwards. Amanda's birthday is Tuesday the 11th, and wouldn't the miracle of a new baby be the best possible gift?

So John will hold down the Seattle fort and play his symphonies as loud as he likes for a few days! To be honest, I'm not ready for summer to be over and the eastern Washington sunshine will feel nice. The weather in Seattle turned cool and cloudy, with some rain expected next week. And if Baby takes its time, there is lots for us to do next week, like getting some meals stockpiled in the freezer. Also, a town ice cream social on Thursday and a gallery opening with horse art. Oh, boy!

Stay tuned, hopefully I'll be posting a baby picture soon! More news tomorrow when I get to the other side of the mountains...

The waiting game

What a change in Seattle. Last week we had scorching record heat, but now temperatures are below normal for August. Downright chilly at night, and dark in the early morning with a thick marine cloud cover. No rain at all, but hopefully some arriving next week to wet down the dusty lawns. Yesterday at the barn I noticed yellow leaves starting in a few trees, and the thought of seasons changing always makes me feel sad and excited at the same time. This will be a busy and happy season with a new baby in the family, and a wedding coming up in October.

Today Amanda's baby is "officially" due. I think she told me there is a 10% chance the baby will be born on your actual due date (or some very low chance like that.) But we make our plans, and Mother Nature always has the last word in these things. Amanda is probably getting tired of her Mom calling twice a day and asking "are you feeling anything yet?" I'll be driving to Twisp next week, and will write from there on Amanda's computer. Hopefully, baby pictures on the blog very soon!

Here is a little heartfelt poem I found on the Internet, written by a grandmother waiting for a baby to be born:


Waiting and Wondering
by Ellen Bailey


I sit here waiting for a new soul to be born
In the pre-dawn hours of an early morn
I am to be a new grandmother, you see
And keep wondering what it will be.


Children are a gift from God and a token
They deserve all our love and devotion
So I am here waiting for this new soul
To let it know how much I love it so.


If it's to be a little baby boy
I know he will bring lots of sunshine and lots of joy
If it's be be a little baby girl
I hope she has lots of hair and lots of curls.


The gender of this new soul doesn't matter to me
It will be a delightful addition to our family
I will reach out to it with arm unfurled
And help welcome it into this old world.


Is that the faint cry of a new born baby's wail?
The waiting is over, this new soul I must go hail
I have a new grandson for all the world to see
I must tell you about him if you please.

Making granola

I make a big tray of homemade granola about once a week. It looks like more work than it is, although the process is a little bit fussy until you get it streamlined. But it's worth the trouble and costs a fraction of what you pay for a fancy bag at a place like Whole Foods. We both eat granola for breakfast Monday thru Friday-- me with plain yogurt and John with milk. I don't get bored with it, maybe because my "recipe" changes from week to week. So that is pretty darn healthy. (Although on the weekends we look forward to eggs and pancakes, and if we're really lucky some bacon!)

There are many recipes for granola, but it isn't like baking so you can improvise according to what you like and have on hand. Nuts, for example. When you throw a bunch of tasty ingredients together, it's pretty hard to mess up.

My basic recipe goes like this:
1 (small) container rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped or whole nuts
1/2 cup dried fruit
1/2 cup "healthy-type" margarine (or butter, if you're still living the good life)
1/4 cup honey


Mix together the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts. Melt the margarine and honey over low heat, then pour it over the oats mixture and mix it in. (You can do this in a separate bowl, or right on the cookie sheet.) Bake in a slow oven (about 300) for a half hour or so, until light brown. You may have to stir it with a spatula so the edges don't burn. Right before you take it out, add the fruit or raisins.

P.S. Hi April! Thanks, sweetie for following my blog.

Pretty Black Beauty

Not the horse, but the Black Beauty lily.

And this one is as tall and strong as a horse, sometimes reaching almost 7 foot in our garden. The flowers are "re-curved" or backward facing and bloom for several weeks.




The only thing you can hold against it is the lack of fragrance, but the plant is spectacular. A number of years ago, we took the ferry to Bainbridge Island and drove 101 toward Pt. Townsend to visit a famous mail order lily farm called B&D. They have an excellent website, and still ship all over the world:
http://www.lilybulb.com/

I think were were there in late summer, and was really interesting to see lilies grown in an agricultural setting, instead of the babied garden flowers we're used to seeing. I remember the fields were rough and dry, but with magnificent plants scattered here and there. I'm ignorant of lily propagation methods-- but know it requires lots of patience: dividing mature bulbs and/or planting the tiny "bulblets." And from seed, it apparently takes 7 years for a lily to mature and flower. No wonder the large bulbs are expensive. Anyway, at B&D you could wander around freely looking at the different species before you order. At one point a lady came up to chat and gave us a catalog, but it was a peaceful and low pressure situation. There were beautiful Orientals growing like weeds, and I saw the Black Beauty for the first time. I remember being struck with a bad case of garden covetousness, I HAD to have that lily!

The best time to plant lilies here is in the fall, so we placed a large order that summer and I remember the bulbs were huge and fresh when they arrived in September. I planted the Black Beauties and several other varieties, some of which gradually petered out. But old Black Beauty is still going strong. B&D describes it on ther website as "nearly indestructible."

A cat named "Vino/Tabby/Tigger"

Once we had a cat, and his name was "Vino."
I'm using the past-tense, because now he lives down the block somewhere, and his new name is "Tigger." We didn't see him for weeks at a time, and eventually assumed he was deceased. Then one day he strolled in our kitchen wearing a fancy collar and a "Tigger"name tag. He found himself a new name and a better home, and I guess his new owners were afraid their precious cat would get lost. Ha! Little do they know, their rescued "stray" is just out visiting his old home.

Now-- before you accuse us of cat neglect, I will say "Vino/Tigger" received every kindness at our house after I brought him home 6 years ago. He seemed a bit high strung, but like a normal tabby kitten. He was nothing like our fine old tabby "Cowboy," but I thought he had potential. But it wasn't long before he started going out and selectively working the neighborhood. He liked visiting the houses of elderly ladies with soft furniture and free cat food. A few years ago, I met a nice woman just down the street who referred to him as her favorite cat "Tabby." She said he liked to climb up her arbor and sleep in her 2nd floor bedroom. Does this sound like a dumb cat to you? She eventually moved, and "Tabby" also moved on to become "Tigger" somewhere else.

To make a long story short, "Vino/Tabby/Tigger" got a good scare this spring when Amanda's little dog seriously chased him out of our yard. Roger is a fast Australian Shepard-- nothing like the sweet, lumbering golden retriever "Vino/Tabby/Tigger" was good at avoiding. And so we didn't see him again for a long, long time. That is, until this very morning when he strolled in the kitchen at 5 am and drank a bowl of milk, as if he had never left. At 3 am the raccoons were fighting like wolverines in the yard, so maybe he needed the security of his first home? Here he is, staring up glassy-eyed, begging for milk and looking like he never saw me before!

Golden hops vine

Have you ever heard the expression
"hopping mad?"
It came from the drunken rages of the "hoppers," who were itinerant laborers in the English hops fields. Hoppers were the lowest dregs of medieval society, scorned for their poverty and nasty hygiene, not to mention their scary dermatitis caused by exposure to abrasive vines and oils from the hops plants. No wonder they were mad!

We've had a golden hops vine on this arbor for years. I've tried to grow daintier plants here like clematis, but eventually gave up. The hops is the only vine that does well in this poor, parched spot. It dies to the ground in the winter, and has never turned invasive on me, like so many other vines. And when I did some Internet research for this post, I was amazed at the long history of hop cultivation, quackery and folklore.

The ancient Romans grew ornamental hops and ate the young shoots in salads, but I don't think they made much beer with hops, that being an Egyptian invention. The hops plant has long been revered and feared for its herbal and intoxicating abilities. In fact, hops is now used in modern aromatherapy as a treatment for depression. I read Abraham Lincoln had a little "hop pillow" to calm his nerves and gloom. I wouldn't call it intoxicating, but the scent of the flowers is strange and dreamy, so Abe may have been on to something. Scientists have found enough psychotropic compounds in hops to give it legitimate value for treating insomnia. I also learned it is sometimes used as a beer-substitute to wean alcoholics from actual beer. Since hops is strongly associated with beer, I suppose it could have a placebo effect in alcohol substitution. Although if this were true, then eating fresh grapes would ease a wine craving.

I don't think so...

Casa Blanca days

We can't remember a summer in Seattle that felt more like summer than this one. June is typically cool and foggy, then in July or August we'll have a short stretch of hot weather and have to be content with that for another year. But this summer has been one long string of sunny, warm days. The lawns in our part of town are now a "politically correct" crispy yellow-- we haven't had a good rain since May and most people don't have sprinkler systems. Who cares? No one has to mow in August, and the grass will green up again in the fall. But the gardeners who've kept up on watering their beds have been rewarded this year with beautiful flowers and vegetables.

Hard to beat the Casa Blanca lily for fragrance and pristine beauty. I have several of these plants left in the garden, and they come back every year. They look fragile, but are not as finicky as John's favorites, the fancy Stargazers lilies I struggle to grow. The sun comes up and goes down in a big orange ball, and the morning light was beautiful on this perfect white lily.

I'm not plugging White Flower Farm, but if you are interested in ordering they have a good reputation:
http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/381378-product.html

Summer weekend fun

What could be nicer than a warm summer weekend spent with good friends? Curt and Lydia invited us out to their beautiful lakefront home on Saturday, and after margaritas on the dock Curt grilled up the best hamburgers ever! And I got to take a swim in the warm lake. It was like a mini-vacation, and hard to come back home to the big city last night. Thanks so much Curt and Lydia, it was wonderful seeing you enjoying your hard-earned retirement.

A couple of good books

A few years ago, my well-read friend Julie recommended a book called "My Own Country" by Abraham Verghese. It is the true story of a young Indian doctor who travels to America and begins his medical career in rural Tennessee where he becomes, by sad necessity, the local specialist for the treatment of HIV/AIDS when it first emerges there in 1985. His compassionate and realistic writing won numerous book awards. Not surprisingly, this young doctor went on to to a brilliant career, and founded the Center for Medical Humanities and Ethics at the University of Texas.

Now he has written a remarkable first novel called "Cutting for Stone." The setting for this book is Ethiopia, where apparently he lived and trained as a surgeon. The plot is too complex to describe here, and if you are squeamish about watching "ER"you may want to skip it, as some of the medical descriptions and surgeries in the mission hospital are graphic! But I thoroughly enjoyed the unusual story about twin boys, and the fine, fine writing.

I'm ashamed to admit how little I knew about the rich history and culture of Ethiopia, other than eating those tasty pancake things with my hands in an Ethopian restaurant.


"Border Songs" by Jim Lynch couldn't be more different, but if you love birds just one look at this dust jacket makes you want to read it. The novel takes place not far from Seattle, on the rural (and rapidly changing) border between Washington state and British Columbia. We have driven merrily along here many times on our way to Harrison Hot Springs in BC, oblivious to what a busy place this is for pot growing, illegal drugs, and human smuggling! The unusual "hero" of this book is 6' 8" and severely dyslexic. His father pushes him off the dairy farm and into the Border Patrol, where he puts his strange mental gifts to work and at the same time indulges his compulsion for bird-watching. (Dave, you will like this book.)

John keeps me generously supplied with brand-new hardcover books like these, that I'm too cheap to buy for myself. I usually just take them to the book exchange when I'm finished, but I'd rather pass along to friends-- so let me know if you're interested.