Just sayin'

Yum.  Worth every calorie.

Sweater weather

The weather pundits promised us another scorching hot, dry summer but it's been chilly and cloudy, more like the summers of yore in the Northwest.  We're stuck again in a same old, same old weather pattern. Sometimes the clouds burn off late in the day, but we'll be lucky to see a high of 70 for the next week. There's an old saying that summer doesn't get started in Seattle until after the 4th of July, and this year it seems to be true.

This was a quiet and uneventful week for me. OK, boring. Not a bad thing of course, when you consider all the unpleasant, unexpected events than can happen at my age.

It should be a nice weekend. We're going to the Symphony on Sunday, the last of the season, and will meet Betsy and Paul beforehand for gelato across from Benaroya Hall.  The downtown building that has housed the gelato shop and the beloved institution Bernie Utz Hats (in business for 84 years) was bought in January by a New York based investment company.  The hat store was unceremoniously evicted.  I don't know about the gelato shop. Kitty corner from the Hall, they are building the Northwest's second tallest skyscraper for Amazon, a glittering tower that looks like a shoe.

The stomp of progress marches on...

I bought a beautiful box of peaches at Costco for $10. I hope they taste as good as they look.  Since they're all getting ripe at the same time, I'll make my once-a-year peach pie from scratch. The one and only pie I can't resist.

Hope you have a sweet weekend.

Never be afraid

Lady Laura Troubridge was a British author, famous for writing "The Book of Etiquette" in 1926.  I like her stiff upper lip advice for the timid housewife of the day:

"We are not all born with courage, but it's latent in all of us, and can and should be pulled out whenever the occasion arises.  For the little ones first, by way of practice, and then, when you've made friends with courage, you'll only have to stretch out your hand to find it materializing at command. Never, ever be afraid.

"Be sad and sorry sometimes, because we all must be that way now and then. Be perplexed, because life is not all plain sailing. But never let life be too much for you. Take it as your motto these three words I'll repeat again: NEVER BE AFRAID."

Good advice for all troubled times, and certainly sums up the Spirit of Britain during the Blitz.

Speaking of royalty, which we can't seem to get enough of, I saw this morning on the news that the Queen (92) is a bit under the weather and cancelled an engagement yesterday.  No cause for alarm, the doctor was not called, and she's traveling to Windsor this weekend, probably to ride her favorite pony, a black Fell named Carltonlima Emma.  You gotta to love it.

Little things

Life in the Urban Village isn't all gloom and doom.  I was shopping at "The Junction" yesterday, and scored a parking place in the lot (still free for now) right behind Northwest Art and Frame, my favorite store.

Why be an old sour puss? The streets and shops were filled with happy looking young people.  Although you wonder, how do they make enough money to live here, spending summer afternoons drinking coffee and eating ice cream?  Anyway, none of my business. I found a nice frame for Grandpa Klingler's castle drawing, so now it finally has a place of honor. What a long way that little sketch has traveled.

The house sparrows are nesting in the yard again, after disappearing for several years. They raised countless generations on the side of the garage and have finally returned to take up housekeeping in the nest box Amanda gave us for Christmas.  I once thought they were pesty birds, but now I like the cheerful fuss they make from morning to night.

Don't it always seem to go,
That we don't know what we got
Till it's gone.
Pave paradise, put up a 
parking lot.

Joni Mitchell

 

Hot town, summer in the city

The local building boom shows no signs of slowing down, with hundreds of apartment units and condos going up within a few blocks of our house. I hear construction banging all day. The narrow streets are full of speeding trucks and mini construction zones, turning a simple errand into a white knuckle drive.  The other day, we watched a semi-truck from the kitchen window, loading those storage pods with a fork lift-- lucky people getting out of Dodge, or more likely, lucky people pouring in. 

Since folks would give anything to live in a West Seattle bungalow, why don't I feel lucky?  But the density has changed the old neighborhood so completely and strained the infrastructure-- public transportation, parking and schools, which are bursting with new students this fall.  None of this growth was anticipated very well, in my opinion.

Last night at 2 am, I  listened to trucks dragging in portable classrooms for the nearby school. We knew this was coming, but in the light of day, my goodness, they are big and ugly. My precious little desk view of the morning sun on the Olympic Mountains could be history.  It's too depressing to even think about. Might as well let the hedge grow another 8 feet tall again.

The wilderness girls

Amanda sent these pictures from a backpacking trip this weekend.  They hiked to North Lake, a 12-mile round trip up to the head of the Twisp River.  They were close to the snow line, but she said it was warm and lovely with waterfalls and high mountain scenery.  Looks like a great time.

A big treat at Hank's Grocery Store on the way home.

Nothing so exciting here in Seattle-- in fact, we hardly left home.  I cleaned the laundry room.  John mowed the grass.  We had overnight rain showers, wonderful for the garden (and the water bill.)

And of course, we ate.  I made him a belated Father's Day strawberry tart.

And of all things, a corned beef dinner on Sunday, with a brisket stashed in the freezer since St. Patrick's Day.  Not your typical summer fare, but my goodness it was delicious.

Tofu Monday today...

Pizza night

It's a sign you might have too much time on your hands, but I like to poke around stores like Marshall's, T.J. Max and Ross, wasting an hour or so looking for things I don't especially need.  The merchandise changes frequently and randomly, so there's always something new.  You can rarely go back and find the same thing again, which drives most people out of their minds.   But these stores are designed for the millions of ladies like me who still go recreational shopping. We're a dying breed-- they say most of that browsing/shopping happens on smartphones now.  So might as well enjoy real stores while we still have them.

Anyway, look what I found at Marshall's.  A set of individual pizza pans, very nice quality, for $7.99.  Who doesn't like their very own mini pizza?  I always make vegetarian pizza, we just prefer it, and there's less guilt.  But now I can put MUSHROOMS on MY personal pizza, and not have to watch a certain fussy someone painstakingly pick them off his.

Well, after our short heat wave, summer came in on the chilly side. We'll be lucky to hit 70 today, so I'll turn on the oven for Friday night pizza. No particular plans for this weekend, which is kind of nice since the last one was so busy.

Nevertheless, she persisted

Feathers and Flowers is nine years old this month.  2,721 posts of daily trivia, ramblings, rants and family milestones, big and small. My heartfelt thanks to my little group of followers who have been along since the beginning.

Looking back over the years, despite some deep and sad losses, how lucky we are.  Blogging can sometimes feel solitary and self-centered, but Amanda said the other day she was grateful how the stories and pictures on Feathers and Flowers document her family life, too, especially the times when she's been much too busy to journal or organize digital photos.

That alone makes it all worthwhile, so every six months I order anther "blog book" for her to keep someday.  As long as I feed my Google Wallet account, the blog will exist somewhere out in The Cloud. But nothing lasts forever, and there's something nice and tangible about holding paper books. Once a librarian, always a librarian.

I also like looking back at the times we would have otherwise forgotten. I'm struck by how redundant the blog is over nine years (ditto my life) and yet, nature always seems fresh and new. At least, I never tire of writing about it, or posting pictures of lilies year after year.

Getting back to June 2009. What a month. It seems like another lifetime.  Amanda and Tom expecting Nova, baby showers, happy times at the barn with my dear Sizzle, the garden absolutely bursting with flowers, quiet days in West Seattle before the building boom, random stories, and always-- cooking.

You can find the complete blog archive down on the left side, but this link should take you right back to June 2009:

June 2009
 

Land of the midnight sun

Well, not quite, but at latitude 47.608013, Seattle has 16 hours of daylight at the June solstice. Between the lingering twilight and early dawn, it really doesn't get completely dark, a least not here in the city.

Everyone is a bit sleep deprived. We have a bird in the holly tree outside the open bedroom window who gets going at 4 am sharp.  I love birds, all birds, although this guy (Bewicks Wren?) chirps so persistently and monotonously, he sounds like one of those electronic alarm clocks.
Enough already, guy. Hit the snooze button!

The weather is perfect this week, temperature in the mid to upper 80's, blue skies, no humidity to speak of.  Everywhere I go, I hear someone complaining about the awful "heat wave."  We have a huge tolerance for endless rainy grey days in Seattle, but are such wimps when it warms up.

June 20th is National Ice Cream Soda Day.  I don't know if Nova and Maya have ever had such an old-fashioned thing, but it would be a big hit.  You can make them easily enough at home, but in the good old days before fast food, what a treat it was to sit with your mom or grandma at the Woolworth Luncheonette counter.  On your best behavior, of course.

Zero tolerance

These haunting images of children separated from their parents on the southern border are shameful.  Of course, I think of little Nova and Maya, and the anguish Amanda and Tom would feel if they were taken away. Our country has never been perfect, but compassion for those seeking sanctuary has always been a core American value, and the very reason most of us are here. 

It is common sense that children belong with their parents, and it's cruel and immoral to use refugees as political negotiating tools. It is a basic human instinct to save your family from a burning building. As long as there is poverty and violence in Central America, the illegal migration will continue. This is not sustainable. There are not enough empty Walmart's to convert into kid cages.

This "America First" era fills me with shame and embarrassment.

Little drops of water,
      Little grains of sand,
Make the mighty ocean
      And the pleasant land.
Little deeds of kindness,
      Little words of love,
Make our earth an Eden,
      Like the heaven above.

Julia A. Carney

Weekend in photos

Nova giving her bike (and herself) a shower at the Twisp Works kid's splash pad.

Playing with friends Adelina and Finbar on Friday.

Maya being Maya 

Sun Mountain Lodge Stable, Saturday morning.

Nova mounting up "Roxie" with a hand from Wrangler Wyatt.

(One excited little girl)

(And one excited big girl) They gave me the lovely mare "Buttermilk."

 Off we go on a 2 hour trail ride.

John took this picture from the road above the Lodge.

 Beautiful scenery

Wide open country, well-behaved horses and the best trail buddy.

Who could ask for anything more?

Changing clouds made a dramatic landscape.  

Back to the barn. Nova said it was over much too fast.

I agreed.

 Later that day, hard-working Amanda prepared a big company dinner for us and their friends Rachel and Mike.

Speaking of hard-working-- Tom's new deck under construction in the backyard.

A feast of salad rolls, fried rice,  beef and chicken skewers. 

 Yum

Always busy!

 We had a great weekend -- all too soon it was time to say bye to our girls. 

On they go

Maya graduates from Little Star preschool...

And Nova ready to RIDE into 4th grade.

Drat

I just finished writing a long post for today when it suddenly disappeared into the blog-o-sphere. Just the thought of writing it over gives me a headache. Enough time wasted for one morning! I'll have some new pictures soon as we are going to visit the family this weekend. 

Let that be a lesson to you

If you ever consider planting bamboo. It's been three years now since we had our bamboo forest ripped out.

Remember that sad sight?  The plants are long gone, but the buried roots still have enough energy to send up clumps here and there across the lawn. Left on their own, these little leaves will eventually grow into giant plants again. The bamboo expert told me to cut off the new shoots when they appear, which will eventually starve out the root.  At least, that's the idea.

After three summers of that, enough is enough, so I've started digging out sections where they are really persistent.  This is hard work, because the roots are now dry and hard as cement. For all practical purposes, dead.  While you're hacking away, you can admire a plant with that kind of stored energy.   

The species of bamboo that we know today evolved from prehistoric grasses about 4o million years ago.  So bamboo has been on earth about 40 times longer than the human species. And will no doubt still be here when we're long gone. Probably some that I once planted.

June 13th is National Weed Your Garden Day. A weed is any unwanted plant in your garden.  Sometimes, even planted intentionally.  I'm listening to the pleasant sound of free water falling on the garden this morning.  The birds are ecstatic. A good day for weeding because wet soil makes it easy-- relatively speaking.