Parties and a Flood

Roger's Dad Al stayed with us through the celebration of Roger's 55th birthday at the end of the month.  It feels a little quieter now that he is back in Auburn.  But we will be seeing him soon enough as we go down to celebrate Christmas with the Ellisons in a week.

The Christmas Season began in earnest for us with a couple of parties on Dec 4th.  The first was our annual National Park dance at English Camp.



I dressed up in my 1850's garb but had no time to change before the next shindig, and open house at the new Brickworks Farmers' Market.  Roger had gone directly from the market to the open house. 

The next day the Soroptimists had their annual Holiday Party at the Community Theater. I made devilled eggs. Three days after that, I drove one of the cars in a caravan of Textile Guild members to the Burke Museum for a show on fabric from countries throughout the Pacific Rim.  A nice weaver named Erica gave us a talk on the similarities and differences in weaving techniques.  It's a good show.  See the link Burke Museum And on Saturday, we attended a lovely Caroling Party at Heritage Farm.



Our new floating dock



our road?!



Meanwhile, back at our farm, the waters were beginning to rise.  And rise.  And rise.  What happened was--Alaska Place overflowed its culvert which overflowed the ditch to Eric's place which jeopardized his shop so he diverted the water into the Ellison Lane ditch which couldn't keep up.  So our road became a mini-stream.  And the pond filled and filled and filled and the stream became a river, and then a lake.  The paper said it rained 2.66 inches that day on top of the 2+ inches in the five previous days.  Oh, and our shop flooded, too.  I, myself, vacuumed 35 gallons out and Roger matched that amount.

our stream?!

Don't worry, the waters have already receded.  Although they do say we are in for more rain through December.

Oh and Tuesday, the Textile Guild Holiday Party was a big success.  They seemed to like the tree ornaments I made by pressing Queen Anne's Lace into snowflakes.  More parties planned for this coming weekend.  Stay tuned.

October flies by

I didn't mean to skip the whole month of October without an entry.  Lots of things happened of interest.  Getting back in the swing of things after the Sicilian trip took awhile.  I hosted a couple dinner parties with a Sicilian theme--complete with cannoli which you can actually buy here on the island.  I also got busy with both the Textile Guild and the Soroptimist becoming the San Juan Island Rep for the former and the Mentor Program administrator for the latter.  I painted the kitchen.  We picked all the apples. And we hosted several visitors.

But the big events in October had to do with family.  I got to babysit the four year old twins Iliana and Lenora for a few days while their parents and baby Audrey were on a business trip.  We went on field trips to the beach and worked on crafts and watched a lot of movies.  When their parents returned three days later, they stayed on for a few days to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with the Barreca Family.  Sometimes referred to as "Thankstween" and rotated through the family, this year it was my turn to host with help from my nearby sister Rosalie.  Twenty-five people for dinner, two turkeys, five desserts and lots of jamming from the musicians in the family.  Barreca Family Jam Session

We went to a Halloween Party.  I was an owl.  Roger had a hatchet in his head/hat.  We joined a team for Trivia Night on Thursday nights at a local restaurant, and our team won first prize one week.  The questions can be very hard.  But Roger's expertise in musical history came through with Peter Townsend as an answer.  No one else knew who coined the phrase "power pop". 

The first of November, Roger drove down to Auburn to help his dad through cataract surgery.  Al is staying with us for the month so we can help put drops in his eyes twice a day.  He seems to be settling in nicely.  In fact, he's putting a satellite dish on his r.v. this very evening so he can watch his shows.

Roger and I are milling some logs into tapered posts for our carport.  This takes a lot of measuring.  I'm hoping my carport will be ready sometime in 2011 or 2012 (at the rate we're going).

And this past weekend, I got to go to Camp Orkila, which is a big YMCA camp on Orcas Island, for a San Juan County Textile Guild Retreat.  Three days of hanging out with knitters, weavers, felters, spinners, and basketweavers.  We had several workshops, I spent days ahead of time sorting out buttons from my mother and mother-in-law's collections so I could braid a button bracelet.  But I also reserved time to hike all around the camp.    It reminded me of my old CYO summer camp days.

Gosh, looking back on it all, we did get a few things done.

Late Summer into Autumn

It's been awhile and I feel like I've been around the world since last I wrote.  Wait!  I have!

But let me start where I left off.  The San Juan County Fair.  Great, as usual.  Roger won several ribbons for his garlic, chard, apples, and runner beans.  I won some lesser ribbons for a couple baskets.  Our friends came up and the band Clumsy Lovers from Canada were really hot.

The week after the Fair,We attended my brother Marc's investiture as a Federal Bankruptcy Judge.  Most of the family came for the ceremony and the party afterwards.  Highlights were Dad placing the judicial robe on Marc and Emily's tribute to her dad.

 We left for Twisp in the Methow Valley directly from Seattle.  Here we visited with friends of our friend Liz who promised us that we had much in common.  She was right.  The trip over North Cascades Pass was beautiful in both directions.  Cascadian Farms had great blueberries and raspberry ice cream.  We hiked near Sun Mountain, attended the farmers market, windowshopped in Twisp and Winthrop.  Meanwhile, Suzie got to play with their dog Frida.  Fun was had by all. 

Meanwhile, Roger's brother Eric brought Al back up to stay with us for another week.  I spent the time packing and preparing for my trip back to Sicily, this time with my dad, brother Joe, and his wife Cheryl.  We took Al back to Auburn on Monday, and I left for Italy on Tuesday.

We stayed the whole time in Castelbuono, the ancestral town of my grandparents. We were met by relatives I had come to know a year ago when I was there visiting with my sister Jeannette. They wined and dined us, and showed us the villa and orchards where my grandfather worked before he shipped out to America at the start of the last century. We also visited Mt. Etna and saw the sights along the Tyrrhenian Coast.

For more, click this link:  Pictures from trip to Sicily 2010

The trip back was long and arduous.  (hint, don't believe Travelocity and never travel through Chicago if you can help it)  We had a great time and I'm very glad to be home.  Time to settle in for a cozy Autumn.

Mandala

Looking back over the last five weeks since my last post, it feels impossible to bring my readers up to date on all that has gone on.  Perhaps if I just make a chronological list.

July 10- Roger leaves to take his parents to Montana.  He drives their r.v. for them 12 hours from Auburn to Anaconda, Mt.  stays three days and drives back 12 hours on Thursday, July 15.  Meanwhile, I take care of the plants, the chickens, and Suzie.

July 16- Roger meets me in Seattle for a dinner with friends from work to celebrate the life of our co-worker who died (see last month's entry).  We stay in Seattle until Sunday to attend the baptism of our third granddaughter Audrey.  This is one of those end of life/beginning of life mandala weekends.

July 20- Two days after our return, Roger's mother dies suddenly of a heart attack.  He is shocked but grateful that he was able to spend her last week with her.  Family focus turns to Roger's dad Al and his ability to adjust.  An open house is scheduled for Sunday, July 25th, which happens to be Al & Rose's 62nd wedding anniversary. 

Meanwhile, my friends Larry and Nancy come up to the island and our friend Mark starts work on kitchen and bathroom cabinets.

July 26- Al comes back to the island to stay with his two sons, Roger and Eric, while arrangements are made back in Auburn for some in-home care.  He stays with us for two weeks until Roger brings him back home on Aug 8th.  I begin dog sitting "Friday" the 12 year old lab for a week while her owners vacation at Mt. Hood.  Dog sitting involves feeding three times a day, administering love and medicine, and a little walk while negotiating the asphalt-laying taking place on their road that week.

July 30- My friend Mary arrives and agrees to follow me around to all my errands.  The highlight of her visit is attending a performance of "Henry V" in the outdoor theater at Roche Harbor.

Aug 5- Jay brings his two Turkish Visitors, Semih and Gulat.  These kind people have hosted our friend twice while he has visited their country.  They are academics in horticulture and fruit production.  We bring them to gardens, farms, the Lavender Farm.  We even saw some whales!

Meanwhile, we enjoy visits from our Seattle friend Nan and her daughter, my cousin Rose and her whole family who haven't been here since Benjamin was a baby and I'm not sure if Mariah was ever here and now she's practically grown.  Also, Nieces April and Bina and Bina's baby Ovid stay with my sister and me for two nights.  Ovid is 16 months old and he and Suzie form a strong bond.

During all this period Roger and I are still trying to do our "usual" things.  Like keeping up the landscaping business, the garden, the mowing, you get the idea.  And fun things, like another hike on Henry Island, walks on the beach at low, low tide, and evenings with good friends.  This weekend we regroup and get ready for the San Juan County Fair, more visitors, and whatever else life can throw at us.  Right now, I think I can talk Roger into taking a break from the garden for a dunk in the pond.  Later.

Hay! It's July!

Here's my latest basket, it is made of cedar, ash, and copper wire.  I took a class from world-renowned basket maker Polly Sutton http://pollyclasses.blogspot.com/  And yes, it is supposed to be asymmetric.

Also since my last posting we've had several visitors including my in-laws for a week and then my father for ten days.  While my dad was here we visited Lopez Island to see "Native Plants, Textiles, Baskets:  Inspired by Traditions of the Salish Sea" at Chimera Gallery.  Here is a photo of a cedar bark doll made from a Tulalip weaver.  You will see my father talking with George Simpson in the background.

Of course, my dad was up visiting to help celebrate Independence Day.  The highlight of that day was the parade, this year the theme was all about local farmers--like this one. My sister Rosalie and her husband also marched.  Here is Rosalie celebrating the 150th birthday of her church along with fellow Presbyterians.

But now my father is back home and Roger is in Montana at a family reunion in Anaconda.  He drove his parents' r.v. for them and should be gone about a week.  So that leaves me and Suzie to hold down the farm.  This includes mowing, feed and care of chickens, watering plants in greenhouse and garden.

As I was mowing the nut orchard today, I had time to contemplate the large amount of work it takes to maintain 15 acres.  And even though we reduced our mowing to the areas around the driveway, garden, orchard, courtyard, and paths connecting all these areas, that still comes down to a lot of mowing.  And I'm using gasoline power for this chore.  What about my carbon footprint?

One thing I've realized from this exercise is that after a long afternoon of mowing, nothing feels as good as a long shower and a cold beer.

Hitting my Stride

The week of my birthday a couple friends from my basketry group came over and wove willow baskets with me.  I returned the favor by attending a class by one of them in concrete leaf construction.  This has gotten me all psyched to finish the fountain in the courtyard.  That and the fact that Roger was able to fix the drainage problem it was having.  I will be making a concrete bowl decorated with colorful stones and beach glass that the water will splash into before it reaches the pool.  I also painted a tile in Chinmayo's studio, http://www.etsy.com/listing/45391446/tile-top-box?ref=sr_gallery_26&ga_search_query=jewelry&ga_search_type=&ga_page=&includes%5B0%5D=tags

(This link will show you a tile like mine that Chinmayo made.)  So I feel I'm flexing my creative parts lately.

On the outdoorsy (?)front, I was approached to be a land steward for the Land Bank's King Sister Trail that goes near our property.  This involves visiting the trail at least once a week and paying attention to the camas in bloom or an invasive shrub, that sort of thing.  What is it that NPR says?  "Being a member makes you listen differently".  I would say that being a steward makes you see differently.

http://www.sjclandbank.org/images_sanjuan/king.html

Our friends B&K visited us from Raymond over Memorial Day.  We had a lovely visit despite the rainy and miserable weather.  But we did venture out one afternoon to visit the Sculpture Garden at Roche Harbor.  This included a nature trail that wound down near to Wescott Bay. 

Unfortunately, our friends missed seeing Roger and his brother Eric marching with the National Park 1860 color guard as their ferry was leaving just before the Memorial Day Parade.

Of course, the weekend after our friends left, the sun came out and all was beautiful, but I needed to finish the trim in the mudroom and the bathroom I just finished painting.  (This was a project I planned on starting in the Spring of '08 and finally started a month ago.)  I did sneak out on Saturday for a couple hours to check out two places on the annual Artists' Studio Tour.  I was caught between wanting to stay in their gardens all afternoon, and wanting to run back and start fixing up my own place.

This week I finally feel like I am living the life I'd envisioned for my retired self.  I savor it all the more as I was reminded of just how precious these years are by the unexpected death of a dear friend and colleague last week.  He'd only been retired five years.  And here I am in the middle of my third already.  It would be nice to think there are thirty more ahead of me to enjoy.  But one never knows.

Birthdays, Anniversaries, and other things

On the Sunday of our anniversary weekend, we took the boat to Orcas Island.  Close in miles but  neither of us have been there in years.  We visited the Bullock Brothers farm, where we took our first permaculture classes maybe sixteen years ago.  They have a standing Sunday potluck lunch invitation to the whole island which we crashed and got a tour of the place to boot.  Came home with a truckload full of plants from their nursery.  http://www.permacultureportal.com/

After that we cruised the island and drove up Mt Constitution for the view.The very next week I went to Orcas again, this time with members of the San Juan Textile Guild for our quarterly meeting.  Orcas was having a Sustainable Living Fair that weekend as well.  Orcas has it going on!

Suzie and I have been walking quite a bit.  One trip up Mt. Young, we came upon a fox who was very surprised to see us.  What's that in its mouth?We went up Mt. Young to look for wildflowers and saw lots of avalanche lilies and shooting stars and some camas.My birthday week was great.  I met friends Lynn and Diane in Anacortes for lunch one day, my friend Linda (from Montana) visited another day, and then I got to go to Henry and Pearl Island with my friend Kathy on her monthly rounds to check the meters.  Here is a picture of the lovely meter reader near a teepee on Henry Island.

 I walked to my sister Rosalie's place on my birthday.  The weather was perfect.  And that night Roger took me to dinner and "My Fair Lady" at San Juan Community Theatre.  The next day, two basketry friends came over and learned to make willow baskets with me.   I showed them my living bench which is coming along nicely near the r.v.

 All and all, it has been a pleasant and eventful Spring.  Tomorrow, we are opening our place up for a tour of our chicken coop operation.  It is part of a "Islands Farm and Feast" weekend.  http://www.sjcarc.org/  Good excuse to get the place shipshape!

Think Spring!

When I last posted, I was on my way to a Basketry Retreat in Port Orchard.  Here is a picture of one of the baskets I wove.  It is made of reed and I've filled it with Easter knickknacks;  it is supposed to be a market basket.  It's a little different from the willow with which I usually work. 

Now it is April and everything is green, green, green.  We went down to Seattle one weekend and brought back a pick-up truck load of plants for Roger's clients.  But I got some of the leftovers (privilege of being a landscaper's wife).  So besides weeding, I've planted ajuga, daylilies, cala lily, asters, etc, etc.  Roger is planting seeds in the greenhouses, but we've yet to plant vegetables outside--even the potatoes beds are prepped but not planted.  I got to try out the riding mower Roger bought from our neighbor Ron.  So the pasture be the pond is newly mown.

We went to see a friend's concert in Seattle--the real reason for our trip.  http://waywardmusic.blogspot.com/2010/04/jay-hamilton-fred.html

And since we were there we were able to help celebrate some friends' April birthdays.  Suzie loved riding in the pick-up truck, like a grownup dog.

This past weekend, Bjorn and his family came to visit.  April is a very big month in their family as the First was the twins' Fourth birthday! 

 And Ethel's birthday was the 12th, and Bjorn's is the 30th.  Little Audrey will be 3 months old tomorrow!  http://www.flickr.com/photos/8374500@N06/4536476464/  The weather was great and we got to play on the beach at Eagle Cove, the girls visited Uncle Eric's ducks and bunnies.  And the grandparents babysat one night so Bjorn and Ethel could go out for the evening! 

This Friday is our 22nd wedding anniversary.  I'd like to go to Orcas for the day.  More on that in my next post.

The Silk Road, Road Trip, and other things

So much to catch up on.  The Textile Guild met for our quarterly on Shaw one month ago on February 20th.  We saw some beautiful tapestries and textiles from a trip member Joan Christoferson made to China, Tashkent, Samurkan etc on a Silk Road Tour.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road

The following week, my father had an operation to remove part of his colon.  My brother Jeff and I stayed with him during his hospital stay.  And when he got out of the hospital my sister Rosalie brought him up to the island to recuperate. Here's a picture of him haggling with a local farmer at the Saturday Farmers Market.  He stayed in our little cottage for ten days and then we took him back to West Seattle on our way South on the road trip we have been planning for quite some time to see Roger's brother Guy's new home near Sacramento.  Before dropping Dad off, we stopped by Bjorn's so Dad could see little Audrey for the first time. 

After leaving Dad, we drove to Raymond to see our friends' new home.  (I know, not the most direct way to Sac but we don't get off the rock very often.)  Brent and Kathy bought an old dairy farm right on the Willapa River.  The house is over 100 years old and needs a lot of work, but its got good bones.  And everyone needs a project, right?

Pouring down rain from Raymond to Sacramento--only it was snow when we were near Mt Shasta.  But once we got to Brenda and Guy's, everything was good.  We took in the California State Train Museum.  http://www.csrmf.org/ which may have been the real reason for the trip.  Then Guy and Brenda showed us the town of Folsom, closest town to their home in El Dorado Hills. 

After a great visit with Guy and Brenda, we drove west toward Alameda, where my niece Bina and her family reside.  But first we stopped at Village Homes, an ecovillage prototype near U of C at Davis.  70 acres of permaculture!  http://villagehomesdavis.org/

We got to Alameda and the historic home that Bina, Joe, and Ovid call home.  Spent the next couple days walking everywhere (Alameda is VERY FLAT).  It was good to spend time with Bina and Ovid and see where Joe is working in a factory that is working with kites that propel boats up to 30 mph!

I had planned all the trip down to Alameda, but none of the trip back.  It was all ad hoc and turned out to be fabulous.  First we stopped in Petaluma, to see college buddy Nancy's new venture, a pizzeria start-up with her son-in-law, Raphael.  Hence, Rafy's!http://www.yelp.com/biz/rafys-pizzeria-petaluma

We found ourselves in Sonoma County and went to a winery that Brenda and Guy recommended based  on "biodynamics".  The winery was in Glen Ellen and is called Benziger.http://www.benziger.com/winegrowing/overview 

But the real find was that Benziger winery was surrounded by 180 acres once owned by Jack London and turned into a state historical park.  We visited the "Wolf House", a huge rock mansion ruin in the woods that burned down before London ever moved in.  And the farm where he experimented with radical farming techniques that seem very organic today.  http://www.parks.sonoma.net/JLPark.html

By this time we were running so late we decided to add an extra day on to our trip.  We stayed the night in Ukiah, Ca then drove through the "Avenue of Giants" redwood forest and got to drive through a Redwood tree, just like my family did back in the 60's on my last road trip to California.

 We also stopped in Arcata in Humboldt County
http://www3.humboldt.edu/engineering/sites/www3.humboldt.edu.engineering/marsh/index.htm
where an old lumber mill was turned into a wastewater treatment marsh and wildlife sanctuary.

At this point we were undecided as to which way to head up North.  We could head back to Yrika from Eureka and attempt the Siskiyous sans snow this time (we hoped)  But that highway was closed due to slides.  We could go through the Redwoods from Crescent City to Grants Pass like we did 18 months ago and then head to Crater Lake and Bend.  But then we decided to skip the whole mountain pass thing and hit the beach at Brookings, Oregon. 

The next day we drove up through Myrtle Point and stopped in Remote at a covered bridge to eat lunch.  Then we drove on to connect with I-5 at Roseburg.  Five grueling hours later, we were at my sister Jeannette's in Olympia.  She was good enough to put us up for the night AND cook dinner for us.  We easily made the 2 pm ferry the next day and arrived home safe and sound.

No time to do anything but regroup and repack.  I'm on to a Basket Weaving Retreat in Port Orchard in three days.  http://www.nwbasketweavers.org/retreat2010/index.html