Mind Boggling Month

How do I reconcile all death and destruction that went on this month with all the good, creative events?  As the beautiful golden leaves of October gave way to the bare branches of November, friends and family gathered together to celebrate the harvest, and to comfort each other in their loss. 

Good news first.  Roger and I are heading up our respective organizations this year, he is Master of the Grange for the third year in a row, and I will be the President of the SJC Textile Guild for 2014.  They won’t be easy terms, we are lucky to have great boards to help us through. 

Roger has been busy this month, first he built a root “closet” in our basement—it has a fan that will come on with a thermostat to keep it cold enough for potatoes, etc.  Then he built a new craft table for me so I could donate my bigger worktable to a new food prep area in the basement.  Then he built a new front end on the outdoor boiler for our radiant heat system.  And he’s brought in a lot of firewood on top of that.

I attended a Micro-Macrame/ cavandoli workshop by a nationally known teacher, Joan Babcock from Santa Fe.  Since the class I’ve finished a pendant and two bracelets.  I hope to have earring to match before too long. 

Check out her work at Joan Babcock's jewelry 

Roger’s birthday fell on the day after Thanksgiving this year.  Two days packed with family and friends and great food.  Our friend Shann returned to the island after ten months bouncing back and forth between Fred Hutchinson and University Hospital.  She made an appearance at the Cask and Schooner and made all of our days.

friends celebrating Roger's 58th birthday

 The major event of this past month, my sister Jeannette and my quick trip to Kansas City for the funeral of our Aunt Ruth was really a celebration. My mom and my aunt Ruth were very close growing up so we felt it was important to represent Mom's side of the family.  Aunt Ruth lived to one day shy of her 97^th birthday and was beloved by her children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  It was a privilege to be a part of that.  Jeannette and I immersed ourselves in family lore for three days.  

Jones cousins at Aunt Ruth's funeral

Evelyn and Ruth Jones, ages 14 and 18
 

 A weird week of communication blackout overshadowed this county of islands this past month when the cable connecting all of our long distance and most of our internet was severed, supposedly due to an earthquake.  Everyone experienced the outage differently, I could call Orcas Island for instance, but not anyone on a cellphone in Friday Harbor.  Here is an article in the Atlantic Monthly that describes the situation pretty accurately.

Atlantic Monthly article

The news was bad that week.  For one thing, Eric’s beloved lab, Pepper died suddenly on November 5^th.  My father-in-law made a trip to the emergency room,  two of my aunts were in critical condition one in Kansas City and one in L.A. This same week we learned that a friend’s son had died in a head-on collision on Maui,, and a horrible typhoon hit the Philippines, killing perhaps 10,000 people.

It’s hard to discuss quince/apple pie and macramé in the face of all this mortality.  And yet, I feel so blessed, to be surrounded by all this natural beauty, the great people in the Grange and the Textile Guild and my yoga class, all our dear friends, and large, loving family.  It's incongruous.  It boggles the mind.

 

 

 

The Roger Issue

Roger meets Nate at April's wedding in August
 

This post is intended to highlight whatever the heck Roger has been doing.  He always seems to be in the background on my blog but is very much in the foreground in what has been happening around Thornbush.  Roger, this blog’s for you.

 

Stripping Bark at English Camp for Weaving Weekend

You can describe Roger’s life in recent years as being divided into three parts—running his business-Thornbush Landscape and Design, developing this property, and community involvement through the Grange.  Ok, add in family matters, especially helping his dad, Al, through his transition to assisted living, but also being a grandpa.  In other words, he lives a very full life.

 

Fourth of July with Al
 

FAMILY

The Big Event since my last blog was the celebration of Tony and April’s Wedding near Mt Rainier this past August.  It was a family reunion and a vacation wrapped up in a long weekend. 

Mt Rainier Scenic Railway in Elbe

Roger especially enjoyed the ride on the Steam Train with Bjorn and his brood,  we’d taken a similar trip many years ago with Bjorn when he was a lad.



Roger and Anita hike Paradise
 

 

We also got to hike around Paradise with my family on a beautiful morning amid the wildflowers and vistas. 

 

Roger with In-law Bill Yake

Just this past weekend we were able to reminisce with many of the same family members at Barrecas Thanksween.  Roger likes two things in particular about these gatherings—the great food and jamming with the “Outlaws and Inlaws” Yesterday, Bill and Roger on guitar, Marc on keyboard and Joe on bass.
 

 

HOME

Chickens and Orchard Expansion dominated the year.  But the garden and firewood gathering are mainstays.
 

COMMUNITY

 

A blue sky weekend for the Fall Farm Parade

 

Grange Events were big this year.  Most recently, they co-sponsored the Fall Farm Parade.  As the Master, Roger also attended the State Convention at Ocean Shores in June.  He writes a blog, too.  It’s at:  San Juan Island Grange

Of course, I could go on and on about what Roger is up to.  Just remember in reading future posts, that Roger is there keeping things running, generating new ideas every day.  Now that I've covered Roger can the Suzie Issue be far behind?

Sorry for such a long delay in publishing this Thornbush Report.  Part of  the problem is I want to try out Wordpress but haven’t even had time to work that out.  So I am still using Blogspot for the time being.

November Rain

Lindsay marries Greg
 

Let's see, the first weekend of the month--oh yes--Lindsay's wedding.  What a wonderful time we had--witnessing Lindsay's big day.  We also stopped in to see the kids.

I volunteered to host the Friday Walkers at Thornbush on the 9th.  It rained each and every day that week, and then on Friday, sky was blue, sun was out, and more than twice the usual number of walkers showed up (this is a club that's been walking for twenty years or more).  I made a little map of the place, had them walk the perimeter trails, down Christmas Tree Row, over the ridge by the Eagle's nest, down through the nut orchard and Alder Pond, past the garden, then over to Eric's, up Alaska Place to Barbara's border trail, ending at the pond.  Then I gave them a farm tour.  It was well received but I really think they should come back in the Spring when things really look nice.

The week after that--Roger and I drove to Boise!  For the National Grange Convention.  This involved crossing the Cascades and the Blue Mountains twice in the middle of November.  We had a friend Suzie-sit, and we stayed overnight at my brother and sister-in-law's place in Richland.  Which seems to be roughly half-way between Anacortes and Boise.  Add a stop in Ellensburg to have lunch with an old friend and a stop in Baker City at the Sumpter Valley Cafe, and you've got yourself a pretty decent road trip.


Jane, Anita, and Roger's shadow in Ellensburg--not raining
 

At the convention, Roger and I took the "7th degree" which is the highest level for Grange members.  Cannot tell you about it as we are pledged to secrecy.  We met up with people we met last June at the State Convention, and met some nice new people from California, and met up with our friends Shann and Steve who were on their way to the Southwest for an adventure through the Grand Staircase.

Snoqualmie Pass on the way home
 

Of course, the following week we celebrated Thanksgiving.  Because the Barrecas took care of that holiday back in October, we had a small Ellison gathering at the Village at the Harbour, with an added visit from Roger's brother Guy earlier in the week.  I didn't have to cook!  But then, I didn't have any lovely leftovers, either.  The whole day would have ended quietly, but we had a phone call in the evening letting us know that Al had fallen and hit his head on a table leg.  Roger met with the EMT's at Al's bedside.  The hospital wasn't due to open for four more days.  The staff, after consultation with the on-call doctor, decided to wake Al up every hour to make sure he wasn't suffering from a concusion.  Fortunately, everything seems to be okay at this date.

Ellison boys laughing it up at the Cask with Al

I started a basket--biggest I've ever attempted.  We'll see if I get through it or not.  I'm learning a lot.  I worked on the even bigger living basket-- that is the grandchildren's "eagle nest".  This was fun because I was inside of the basket to work on it.  Felt like a Lilliputian.

Inside a basket
 

Then came Roger's 57th birthday.  I'd already given him the 3 new c.d.'s for our trip to Boise (I know--old school)  So, just a cake to bake, a couple other little things to wrap, and a trip to his favorite Mexican place for dinner.  That should round out the month.

The Very Rich Hours in October 2012

Looking back now it is doesn’t look like much of a list, but as it was happening it felt like I couldn’t cram one more thing into this busy month.  Both Roger and I had a lot of projects coming to fruition this month--Things that we’d been working on all year.

 

It began gently enough, the weather unseasonably fine, no rain for many weeks, records being broken.  I joined the island’s walking group on a walk to Cattle Point Lighthouse.

 

 And of course, Roger was again involved in the second annual Farm Parade.  This year, I got to ride in the truck with him, pumpkin man riding with us in the back.

 

 

Midmonth, the weather turned to its normal, rainy conditions, and is still trying to make up for lost time.  But I managed to drive to Olympia and then Rockaway Beach, Oregon in beautiful weather, stopping to have lunch overlooking Canon Beach.

 The reason for this trip South by myself was my attendance at the Columbia Basin Basketry Guild’s Fall Retreat.  I’d been wanting to go for several years, conflicts had always arisen.  This year I was determined to go despite the fact that the Barreca’s were meeting the very weekend of the retreat in Olympia at my sister’s for our annual early Thanksgiving celebration (Thankstween)

 

So I decided to go for just two days and three nights and signed up for one giant two day basketry class—making my own cedar hat.  I would leave Saturday morning and be back in Olympia in time for the big dinner party with 28 other family members.  Unfortunately, the weather going back up to Washington was unruly, I passed through several squalls (or did they pass through me?)  The roads were dicey, but I made it to my sister’s and had a nice visit with the family.  My husband, however, had gotten sick in the meantime and was unable to join us. L

 

 

 As soon as I got back home, it was all about the all-Island Textile Guild Meeting, that I, as SJ Island rep, was in charge of hosting.  We had a new venue, and a great speaker from Whidbey Island.  Also, I had decided to run the first ever “bag raffle” which meant collecting articles to raffle from the members, sorting, and bringing in the infrastructure to show off the items.  Thanks to the hard work of a core group of guild members, the meeting worked out great.

 Having no time to rest, the very next day, Thornbush was spotlighted for a “Farm Tour” as part of the “Savor the San Juans” festival, the festival that had started so many weeks earlier with the Farm parade.  Roger had been working all month to get the place ready, but the big push to make everything beautiful came in this last week.  It rained and poured all week and we weren’t expecting much of a turnout, but on Sunday, it stopped raining and the sun even peaked out for a minute or two.  There wasn’t a big rush of people touring, but a steady little dribble all day long.

 

Of course, out in the real world, the Presidential debates are changing the course of history, the Giants sweep the Tigers in the World Series, and the biggest damn storm ever hits the east coast.  Meanwhile . . .

 Monday, good friends from Seattle visited and left yesterday and today I got into costume and was able to show off my newly-made cowboy hat.  And so October comes to a close.

The Very Rich Hours of Anita Barreca

Roger was in charge of the Parade.  First Annual FH Farm Parade    Check out all the photos on the underlined link, including one of Eric driving a rototiller and towing a cart with two black labs inside. 

On that same day, Barrecas were celebrating their personal Thanksgiving at Jeff's place in Seattle.  Bina presented Nala to the family.

Nala was a big hit with Audrey and the step-grandmas.

Barreca jam session 2011

We also had the now infamous jam session sans Roger but with Matthew's friend Liza on violin. 

Other Colorful Events

The weather cooperated this month, perhaps sheepishly asking forgiveness for such a crappy summer.  The Fall Foliage has been great.  On the week following the Farm Parade I organized the SJC Textile Guild's General Meeting and our guest speaker Gail Harker, gave a speech entitled "Immersed in Color".  And ever since the slide show I've appreciated the color combinations just that much more.

Speaking of color, a big event for Roger and me this month was the arrival of a colorful triptych painted for us by Peggy Sue McRae.  She has named it "The Very Rich Hours of Anita Barreca" which is probably what I should rename this blog. An inspiration for this project was the medieval illuminated manuscript, called "Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry", where a blue arc divides the sky, suggesting the passage of time.



The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry



The Very Rich Hours of Anita Barreca

There were other influences in the work as well and we like it very much.  I am working on a coiled basket which will repeat the colors and pattern.

I started volunteering two days a month at the Island's Food Coop.  I painted the bathroom. We took Roger's Dad down to Auburn--first trip home in six months.  We took my friend Karen to The Cask and Schooner, our latest favorite restaurant.  We attended the Ag Guild's Harvest Dinner under the tents at the new Brickworks Farmers Market venue.

And today, Thornbush Farm hosted an orchard walk.  So I thought I'd add a picture of what the orchard looked like today. 

It actually stopped raining for most of the tour.  But the wind came up and . . . you guessed it, Jay. . . took down more of that willow tree you bucked up last month.  When are you coming up again?



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.

Thanksgiving and Christmas 2009

Seasons Greetings, Buon Natale, Happy New Year to All!

We have had a wonderful, family filled month of festivities this year.  It began with a large family get together at my brother Marc's on Bainbridge Island.  Everyone was able to come.  Kudos to Marc and Leigh for taking on, feeding, and entertaining 32 people.

Even my neice Bina came up from Alameda with nine month old Ovid Duke.

A good time was had by all.  The guys played music most of the afternoon and after dinner we watched a slide show of my trip to Italy narrated by my sister Jeannette.  It was fun to relive the memories.

Here is a family portrait:

 

That same weekend we visited Roger's folks in Auburn and celebrated his 54th birthday.

December was filled with Christmas parties, cookie exchanges, caroling, tree trimming, lots of visiting with friends and even a play called " Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol".  This year they could say of me "She knew how to keep Christmas well."

After spending four days in Seattle doing a lot of Christmas in the City type things, we brought Dad up to Thornbush.  Bjorn and his family joined us Christmas Eve.  Two three-year olds at Christmas time add up to a lot of fun.

Iliana

Lenora

The kids hadn't been here in awhile and there was a lot to show them, including Uncle Eric's bunnies.

But soon it was time to go and celebrate Christmas yet again at the Ellison's.  This time all the attention was on the newest member, Miles James Ellison, just three months old.

Here he is held up by proud Great-Grandfather Al. with Pappa James and Grandpa Guy alongside.

This year my Dad joined us at the Ellisons and convinced all the guys to play a game of pinochle.

Joe, Guy, Leif, Roger, Al

And the fun is not over yet.  Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and our guests are coming in on the 4:30 boat.  We plan to make merry into the next decade.

May all your 2010 dreams come true.