cherry tomato

Slow Sunday

This weekend turned out to be both relaxing and productive. I’m going to keep it brief today and just leave you with a few scenes from our weekend filled with baking, an impromptu dance party, napping, a Wisconsin fish fry, organizing my studio, more napping, chicken and dumplings and ending with some kung fu.

Whole wheat blackberry scones using Molly's recipe and substituting freshly picked blackberries for the dried apricots. The best part? Having my 2 year old help out.

A Wisconsin fish fry. My friend's parents visited from Wisconsin and brought with them some blue gill to fry up for us. The tally: nearly 250 fillets, one keg of beer from my favorite local brewery, one case of wine and 30 friends = one lovely summer evening.

Playing with a balloon = endless entertainment. Well...until it POPS.

I finally put up these flags in J's room. I made these for his birthday party a couple of months ago with the intention of moving them to his room after the party but couldn't make up my mind about exactly how I wanted to hang them. Now, they've finally found a home hanging next to the model airplane made by my great uncle.

Hope you have a great week!

 

A Simple Task Made Beautiful

For the past two years now, we have been collecting our seeds at the end of the growing season. It is time consuming but somehow feels worthwhile in the end. There is a certain sort of purposeful respect given to the plants when you save their seeds in cute little packets and store them in old cigar boxes. it also makes us happy to give them out to our friends who also love to garden.

It is even more gratifying to give them to artist friends who also appreciate their beauty and, in turn, paint watercolors of them.

This was painted by our friend Kris Garland, a friend and artist we adore.

It was my husband who designed and created the seed packets we use. The 'E' is for Eric and the 'M' is for Mary. One night, I was out with my friends having dinner and came home to find a stack of these adorable seed packets. I frankly couldn't believe it. I think what amazed me the most was that it was important for him to keep the seeds in something beautiful rather than simply utilitarian -  simple task made beautiful.

Now that the peas are gone, it's time to save some of them for next year. And the cycle continues.

Happy Friday to you. I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

August Evenings

As summer draws to a close, I've been trying my darndest to soak up every last bit of it. The weather here has been whacky to say the least, and our garden has suffered from the lack of sun. Our tomatoes are struggling to ripen, and some things, like the cucumbers, never seemed to even be able to make a decent start.

Even though the growing season has been dismal, there have been a couple of highlights. Our peas produced until this week, we've had abundant greens (lettuce, kale) and the strawberries just won't quit. Last night we did some harvesting just before dinner.

The carrots and beans are just starting to mature.

We had some of the purple beans last week, and they actually turn green when you cook them. I really wish I had smell-o-blog so you could small these. It is the smell of summer, I tell ya.  Gorgeous, gorgeous beans, and they were the best I've ever had. Really.

Our evening ended on the beach looking out over this stunning sunset while the boys threw rocks into the water. I'm going to think back to this day when I'm in the middle of our dreary winter.

 

A Tourist in My Own Town

I am fortunate enough to work just a mere block north of the famous Pike Place Market. Our office moved in six months ago, and I promised myself I would become a regular at the market. After all, it bursts with produce and fresh fish year round, and has so many shops, one truly could spend every day exploring it and never see it all.

Long ago, before I lived in Seattle, and before I had even graduated from high school, my best friend and I traveled to Seattle and spent a day roaming around the downtown area. That day, we hatched a plan: we would both move to Seattle after high school and attend the University of Washington. We would live in an apartment above the market, work at the Betsey Johnson store, get rid of our cars to ride adorable bikes all over the city and fill our apartment with fresh flowers we would buy at the market on the way home from work. My best friend never made it here beyond another visit, but I actually did end up at the University of Washington. I never worked at Betsey Johnson (although I would have loved to), but now, it seems I finally get to "live", er work, above the market. When we came up with the plan, neither of us really thought we would do it, but I feel like I've actually come mighty close.

From the local weather reports, it looks like summer may be ending in these parts as of tomorrow. I've already started the autumn nesting but hold out hope for a bit more summer. With that in mind, I  left my office yesterday afternoon to soak in the warm sun and bustle of Pike Place Market with my camera in hand, and I got to pretend to be a tourist. With my friend in tow, we set out to explore the market.

Dahlias:

The Can Can

Globes:

Battle of the Wind-Up Toys:

Vegetables, of course:

Enjoying lemonade: