They're back!

We found trumpeter swans alight in the Skagit Valley and north, when we drove up to Bellingham for the day. Very nice to see them again. And a little closer besides!

I had crab cakes and sweet potato fries at the Oyster Bar - yum! - and chocolate gelato in Fairhaven. We wandered through two wonderful artsy sort of stores and could have spent thousands on beautiful blown glass and art and jewelry. (But we didn't. We hung tough and considered The Economy.) We had a tough time getting Mark out of an embarrassing situation in the saltwater taffy store with the dull saleswoman who couldn't understand his joke about how the only Jelly Belly jellybean container that was still full was the popcorn flavor one and hadn't she just said she didn't like that kind herself... And there were only a few bicyclists on Chuckanut Drive where there is no room for them, so at least we came through there unscathed. Altogether a successful outing, even if we did run the odometer over 9900 miles on my brand new car that maybe isn't so brand new anymore. Good grief.

Anyway, that was the excursion for today. We'll see what sort of trouble we can get into tomorrow. Because, of course, tomorrow is the first of March!!! Spring is on the way!

(Yes, we had snow again this week.)

Lovely weekend

We had one of those wonderful weekends that we love to create - a day in the city with a fabulous lunch in one of our favorite seafood restaurants (long walk included) coupled with a day at home reading, doing a little project (that turned out so well!) and cooking/baking. Very satisfying. We even had some sunshine.

The Northwest Flower and Garden Show was this weekend - rumored to be the last one, although a charming couple in the restaurant told us that they had heard that the franchise had been sold and would probably continue anyway. It was full of 'demonstration' gardens and vendor/organization booths and we had a marvelous time. We bought a new garden sculpture...

... to go with our new plantings that we put in last week - having found, at the nursery, the plants that were blooming so beautifully (and fragrantly) at the locks last weekend.

The 'reading' was to finish a book by Mark Helprin - 'A Soldier of the Great War' - which was, once again, a marvel of thoughts and prose and story telling. I loved it. (His 'Memoir from Antproof Case' is also one of my all time favorite books.)

The 'project' was to paint a wide 'stripe' of slightly darker color on the breakfast nook wall to create some depth and definition behind the shelves that are on that wall. We are quite pleased with the results - even if we do say so ourselves (and we do!) It wasn't a BIG project, but we could do it in a few hours and it made for a very satisfying result. Always nice to have an idea and make it happen and then be happy with it.

Finally, I roasted a chicken today - yes, I am very successful at that now, after years of not being. And proud of it, after all this time. And the 'baking' project was bread. I'm trying to develop a recipe/technique for really good 'artisan' bread, the likes of which we find once in a while in our wanderings when we stop into a really good little cafe. I've always assumed that you just follow the recipe in the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook and whatever you get is what you are supposed to get - but I am not getting something as good as I've had elsewhere so... well, it makes me wonder. So I'm learning about bread. What goes into it, what could go into it instead, what yeast wants to do and feed on, how flavor develops... And my bread is getting better.

Anyway, an altogether lovely weekend resulted from all that. A reminder to me, when I sometimes get discouraged, that it is the everyday pleasures, the opportunity for a little creativity, the enjoyment of beauty, the quest for perfection, and the time set aside for relaxation, that really brings meaning to life.

Ominous Post

According to my Blogger 'dashboard' this is my 666th posting. I feel like I should do something special, something innocuous or non-inflammatory; something that will otherwise negate this ominous number. Post kitten pictures maybe? Wax eloquent about puppies? Create a 'spring' poem, perhaps... ode to flowers, sort of thing.

But I'm going to use it to review. I'm not, obviously, as devoted to my blog as I was in the early days. My first posting was August 3, 2005; before Hurricane Katrina, before economic disaster or political chaos. Some of my postings have certainly been about national news or politics but far more have been about growing things, going places, cats, Mark and his quirks, me and MY quirks, reminiscences, and everyday observations. I've shared nearly 200 pictures on this blog - my favorite part. And received over 550 'comments' - thank you all. (OK - that's probably my favorite part.) I have, more times than I can remember, considered giving up the whole thing with a 'That was fun but now I'm done' sort of posting. But I can't quite give it up either. So I will drag along with the occasional comment or picture and continue to take advantage of the blog as a 'diary' of our lives and happenings. And now that I'm past this ominous posting, maybe I'll get better again.

Who knows?



P.S. A few interesting comments from Wikipedia regarding 666:

People who seriously avoid things related to 666 have a phobia:
hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia.

The sum of all the numbers on a roulette wheel is
666.

Tidbits from the day

We took a walk today by the locks that connect Lake Union to Puget Sound - and found spring! I always get excited by this. Who wouldn't? The days are lengthening and hope is rising. This Witch Hazel has a wonderful scent, as did some other unidentified bush with very small white flowers. We also saw a pink rhodie in full bloom and several varieties of helebores blooming. Almost time to go to the nursery. (The flower and garden show is next weekend!)

So we came home to clean up the gardens and make room for the new growth that is already coming out in daylillies and little other miscellaneous bulbs that I can't even identify. Very exciting, it is.



But before heading for home we detoured to finally get a picture of the Fremont Troll, under the Aurora Bridge in the Fremont District - still grasping the poor V-Wobbly car that first dared cross his path.



And then at home, a daytime visitor. We wonder if this little guy doesn't get close enough to the food dish at night when the rest of the group comes to eat. Amazing that he ventured out in broad daylight, knocked on the door asking for food, and then persisted to explain that while he appreciated the peanuts that we first tossed out at him, what he was really hoping for was some more of that dry cat food please...

And no, it doesn't bother him at all to be nose to nose with Frik.