Wild Fleury 8 August 2009

So much has happened in this past week and it has all happened so fast that I haven’t had time to catch my breath.

Our Colorado visitors continue to bring us much happiness.

Together we are seeking out every wonder this region provides…

More lavender, of course.

A taste of Britain in Victoria, B.C.

Observations of 3 orca pods co-mingling in the San Juan Islands.

All topped off with JumbleSpouse’s TWO!! generous job offers.

That will allow us give JumbleSon (and his very concerned Mama) the perfect preschool experience (provided one kind family declines their spot).

And, we also have a few decent housing options.

I do believe that JumbleBoy picked up his new favorite phrase, “that’s freakin’ me out” from his Mama. Who does, indeed, have a blown mind for all the good fortune that we are drenched in.

May your weekend also be bursting with good things!

Lammas Loaves 1 August 2009

Today is the first of three Autumnal harvest festivals that we celebrate (often called Lughnasadh or Lammas – because we can actually pronounce it .

It’s so wonderful to be back here where I feel connected to the Medieval calendar because everything – the weather (which, happily has returned to normal – I’m layered in a long sleeve top & sweater), the flora, fauna and agricultural flow (watched hay harvesters today) – are in sync. It is starting to feel, smell and look like Autumn is coming!

Our first harvest of the day was in the veggie garden…collecting all the bolting lettuce to take to our furry friends at Black Rabbit Farm.

There was also some nibbling of said lettuce by a JumbleBunny…

We then set out to find berries for putting in gluten free muffins for Angeliki and Tiger. Our first (secret) spot along the side of a country road found our buckets empty – not ripe yet. Plan B – pick our own at the farm 1/4 mile down the road. JumbleSon was not interested as he had his sights set on harvesting from the Farmer’s Market (city boy!). But, Angeliki & Tiger got heaps of gorgeous boysenberries and fat blueberries. We then made our way to the market so JumbleKid could fill his bucket.

On our way home we stopped off at Black Rabbit Farm to share our lettuce harvest & pick up eggs for the muffins – try as I might, I can not successfully bake vegan, gluten free treats. They flop every time. Eggs are the secret, me thinks. So, when we got home I whipped these up using brown rice flour from the amazing Fairhaven Organic Flour Mill in nearby Bellingham. You can find the berry muffin recipe I used at I Am Gluten Free.

While we were out frolicking this afternoon, JumbleSpouse was hard at work.

Gnome-approved cinnamon raisin bread

He is the bread baker in the family and makes a killer loaf of whole wheat bread from scratch. But, it takes nearly an entire day to do so. Not practical for a family that goes through at least four loaves of bread a week!

Although I lean toward Luddite living and loathe gadgets of every kind, it became clear to me months ago that we should consider using a bread machine if we really wanted to cut our grocery bill by nearly $20/week.

However, I’d never had a loaf of bread machine bread that I liked…texture problems.

Enter Rose’s Panasonic Bread Maker.

JumbleSpouse is quite the scientist – even in the kitchen. So, he began experimenting and within 2 weeks, he’d devised the most amazing loaves of whole wheat seed bread. Behold…

If you’ve ever feared machine made bread, give this recipe a try and let me know what you think.

Blessed Autumn days to you!

JUMBLEBERRY WHOLE WHEAT VEGAN SEED BREAD

This recipe is for baking at sea level

3 teaspoons bread machine yeast
3 cups whole wheat bread flour
1 1/4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons earth balance (vegan buttery stix)
1 1/2 cups water
4 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Measure and add all ingredients into bread maker in the order listed.
Set it to “rapid whole wheat” mode (on the Panasonic SD-YD200 – not sure what it might be on other models).
Close lid & hit “start”
Takes about 3 hours to bake.
Recipe makes 2 loaves (if you cut it in half horizontally)

Tribal Shores 31 July 2009

I can not believe what just happened to us!

I was sitting up in the loft (house hunting). The boys were playing with Angeliki out in the yard. The windows were open and I heard a very odd sound.

It was like a chant. Low and deep.

Somehow I knew what it was.

I leaped out of my seat, grabbed my camera and ran. Like I can’t remember running in a long time.

I was headed to the beach.

When I emerged on the shore and looked in the direction of the chanting, I saw canoes! LOTS of canoes coming down the Strait.

Native American tribes were landing on the shore! Just a few hundred feet from my beach!

I gasped.

Ran like mad back down the lane. Grabbed the boys and Angeliki and went back as fast as we could.

This time we ran into our neighbors. This was their land. Home of the S’klallam Tribe (click here for more about them). Today they were welcoming nearly 31 tribes from the Pacific Northwest (US & Cananda) to their shores. You can read more about it here or here.

When we arrived the Elder was addressing a canoe full of women and men. Canoe after canoe arrived, some singing, some chanting, some silent. They waited their turn – oars pointed in the air – to announce themselves, offer to share their song, dance and medicines in exchange for permission to come ashore, dine and drink with them. Once permission was granted, there was much drumming and cheering in agreement.

JumbleSon took large clam shells, positioned himself right behind the Elder, clapped them together and joined in saying, “Welcome! Welcome!”

I couldn’t stop crying.

As I sit back here at the computer again (we left so as not to intrude on the ceremonies), I can hear the chanting, singing and words being spoken. Bless the wind for bringing me this gift.

I can hardly breathe.

I’m beginning to understand that my attachment to this place runs far deeper than just a love of the weather.

Nature Table Friday 31 July 2009

A few weeks ago, I was asked to participate in Friday’s Nature Table at The Magic Onions. I was so honored as I really love Nature Tables and look forward to seeing what others do with theirs.

I can’t wait until we settle in to our own place and can thrift the perfect table specifically for holding our precious collections.

In the meantime, our table moves. Some days it’s outside, others it’s in our car and today it found its way to our loft…

The baskets came from Black Rabbit Farm – our favorite spot down the road where we visit and feed much loved & tenderly cared for bunnies, chickens, goats, geese, ducks, sheep, and cows. We also come home with heaps of gorgeous organic produce!

The beautiful poppies came from Rose’s garden. The tiny jars to the right are full of Cabernet grape jam that lovely Grace from Black Rabbit Farm made and gifted to us. The basket on the left holds shells from our morning beach walks and come in handy as telephones, butterflies and various other things during snack breaks.

Have your brought any treasures from the outside world into your home lately?

Head on over to The Magic Onions if you’d like to see how others have been touched by Nature today.

Thankful Anyway Ironic Thursday 30 July 2009

It was 104F/40C in Seattle yesterday.

Hottest day on record – EVER.

We were there.

Car air conditioning died.

Traffic was barely moving.

Two boys in the back seat, wilting.

Two Mamas in the front, dripping.

Angeliki & her son, Tiger.

Visiting from Colorado

where I was so miserable for the sun & heat.

It’s cool and rainy there now.

Just like my home, Seattle, once was.

We found a shady spot by the wading pool

and were able to make it back to Rose’s.

I am thankful anyway.

W.I.P. Wednesday: Berry Buckets 28 July 2009

As a follow up to last week’s Work In Progress post, I present…

Berry Buckets!

Here’s what I did…

Found picture of raspberries using Google Image search

Printed, cut it out, modified leaves a bit, separated the black berry and glued them into a configuration that I liked.

Pinned the cut out to green felt & cult around the leaves. Snipped the leaves off the template, then pinned & cut around the berries on red & deep purple felt. Reassembled template with sticky tape (for a second go).

Hand-stitched the berry bunch onto blue felt.

Then, I tried to use a yogurt cup and my poor engineering skills to cut felt pieces to wrap around and sew together to make a cup shape. It ended up being a bit of a hack job the first try. But the second looked much better – sort of like a milk carton on the bottom (no, you may not see what it looks like inside or up close .

JumbleSon took his bucket on an inaugural run to the Farmer’s Market where he foraged at the berry stand.

Having the yogurt cup insert proved to be a good call – them berries are messy. Look at those fingers!

In the wild, our bucket testers found the cup a bit annoying as it would sometimes launch itself out of the felt carrier until a good number of berries were inside (note the cup is missing in the photo below):

Thankfully, blueberries were plentiful along the trail to Sol Duck Falls and by the end we had a good haul (even with all the trail-side munching).

So, what have you been WIPing up? Check in to see what others are up to at WIPster Central by clicking here.

Love Shack: The Lighthouse 23 July 2009

It was a cool, misty morning when we packed up and headed to Seattle for the day. Fog horns were bellowing out in the Strait and our morning beach walk was shrouded in grey. A stop at The Lighthouse felt like the right thing to do.

Many drive through coffee shops have pleasant outside seating areas like this one. And, walk up windows are also common (as seen here).

The coffee was pretty good. In fact, we’re becoming used to this – little shacks serving up coffees of “acceptable” to “really good” ratings. It’s always a bit of a surprise. But when there’s as much competition as there is here, I suppose it’s to be expected. Of course, we’d love to discover THE place – the one that serves up coffee as memorable as Cafe Hernandez in Sydney, The Coffee Garden in Salt Lake City, or any place in Italy. But so far it eludes us.

And we’re OK with that. The fun is in the hunt (or drive thru as the case may be)!

Thankful Anyway Earwig Thursday 23 July 2009

I vowed that I would never complain again once we got here. And, overall, I’ve done a pretty good job of keeping that promise. So, participating in Mon’s Thankful Anyway Thursdays seemed like a thing of the past. Until…

I harvested a gorgeous head of broccoli from Rose’s garden. Teaming with earwigs!

Now, I’ve never really been one to lose it over creepy crawlies. But for some reason a mob of Dermaptera on my food freaked me out. Thankfully, JumbleSpouse was quick to action and relieved me of earwig disposal duty.

But their greatest offense was yet to come…

Yesterday morning, before I was fully awake, JumbleSon requested his water. I rolled over, grabbed his sippy and without opening my eyes, gave it to him. He took a drink and when I took his cup back, I pried open a lid to find him reaching into his mouth and pulling out – an EARWIG! I can barely type for the horror of it! I felt ill. The creature had been nesting in the little opening!

It’s needless to say, that sippy is forever banned!

And I am thankful anyway because I now live in a moist climate – perfect for breeding critters that share my love of dark, wet places – and that we brought a spare, earwig-proof sippy with us!

So, what are you thankful for – against the odds – today? Head on over to Holistic Mama to see what others are thinking about.

W.I.P. Wednesday – In Search of… 21 July 2009

Berry Buckets!

We found ourselves on “The East Side”* with nothing to do for a few hours last Saturday. So, we found the nearest kid-friendly hike and headed to Tradition Lake first thing in the morning.

It was so peaceful.

But that wasn’t the highlight for JumbleSon (or his parents either, really). Because the first wild blackberries of the season were coming ripe – right along the trail!

Alas! His Mama did not come prepared for foraging. He had to collect as much as he could in his little hands and eat them right away instead of saving some for later.

I immediately knew what I must do! (And before the berry season ends.) Make a berry bucket, of course!

I have no clue how I’ll actually put it together, but I picked up some cute ribbon for the strap at the local scrapbooking store yesterday. I have my felt at the ready and plans to make it fit a yogurt cup. Details to follow…

While you wait, feel free to check in with all the other WIPsters

* The East Side is how Seattle dwellers refer to the suburbs and beyond that are east of the ginormous Lake Washington which forms the eastern boundary of the city.

Views from here 20 July 2009

Not a day goes by that I do not fight off the overwhelming feelings of guilt…that we are here, staying in Rose’s amazing home and having the happiest times that I can remember since JumbleSon arrived – at no cost. Yes, we do a bit of work on the grounds, but really, this can’t even come close to repaying her for the amazing gift she has given us. Not that she expects it, of course (she is far too gracious for that). But, still. It’s very humbling to accept such a generous gift.

I know she is missing being here with us, too. So, I thought I’d share some views from our cottage today and garden shots later this week…

Mt. Baker hovers across the Strait

From the kitchen sink

New friend at our table

View from the hot tub

Shedtop quail friend

Lettuce harvest