Our House in the Middle of Our Street

a lavender cart using the honor system  My friend Susie and I tooled around a new-to-us place, Vashon Island in Puget Sound, this past weekend for a very quick (but very full!) girls' trip. Susie comes stateside once a year and I'm lucky to live close to her husband's family, so I often get a visit, too, though she's usually with her family in Nebraska. We had both heard about Vashon Island but had never been, and found really cheap accommodations through airbnb.com. I read this article and this one in preparation and rented a car, while she communicated with our hostess. It worked out brilliantly. We headed down to the Faunterloy ferry in West Seattle and got there around noon, and although we had a bit of a wait going out, the price was so cheap! Something like $20 for the two of us and our car roundtrip . We had reservations at The Hardware Store for dinner that night and very little expectations for the rest of the time. Lighthouse on Point Robinson ...

via NPR * The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh - This debut novel from Diffenbaugh was one I heard recommended over and over again on my favorite podcast, What Should I Read Next? by Anne Bogel. When it became a book that my book club was going to read together, I jumped on it because I knew it'd be interesting. The main character has an uncanny gift with flowers and the meanings behind the bouquets she creates. This is a story about a little magic, and a little redemption. It was cute. *Taproot Magazine: Preserve - I always include these because they are ad-free and over 100 pages and I read them cover to cover. This issue was all about preservation, from the story The Jelly Maker to how to care for a cast-iron pan. I always find this magazine incredibly beautiful from the illustrations, photographs, and words, and I don't get too many magazines anymore, but this is worth every penny of the $40 that comes 4X a year. * Some Writer! The Story of E. B. White ...

At the end of June we finished a monumental task- we finished the entire Laura Ingalls Wilder series; nine books where the shortest one was 150 pages, and most were well over 300. It took us a solid 7 months of reading aloud, during school time, bedtimes, bored times, etc. and I am so glad I made this a year-long goal, because quite frankly, it was a doozy. I had never read the entire series myself, I remember reading at least two of them, but I knew my kids were at the right age to enjoy these books. There are a number of series I have 'planned' to read to them through the next 3 years or so, and these were the books that I thought best to start with, because the kids would enjoy the simple stories of pioneer life, and were considered the 'youngest' of the series. The last two large books, Little Town on the Prairie, and These Happy Golden Years, were listened aloud on audio with Cherry Jones (thanks for the tip, Jamie Martin! ) because I needed a break, and my ...

As the kids start to get older I'm putting a lot of energy into finding excellent resources to teach my kids that are affordable and interesting outside of picture books. Cooked , a 4-part series by Michael Pollan on Netflix, is one of those resources.  As an American in Canada, I sometimes feel a bit snobbish turning my nose down at the options found here. My pitiful, first-world-problem attitude of 'there's nothing on this Netflix'! led me to this series, which I'd never pick in a million years if I could watch Parenthood, Nashville, and New Girl back to back. Such is life, and I'm glad, because watching this--a show I was only marginally interested in--became a full supply of conversation between myself and my kids when we watched all four parts together.  I own one of Michael Pollan's foodie books , but I haven't read it yet. This documentary series is four parts named after elements used in or with cooking: Fire, Air, Water, and Ear...

Aren't these just beauties? My best friend, Emily, owner and founder of Topline Photography , does portraits, often with animals and their people. Or rather, people and their pets! She specializes in that niche and does phenomenal work because of her history at a vet clinic and present work training horses and their riders!  As evidenced by the photos on my banner, we have not gotten family photos taken in three or more years! One thing I really wanted to do this year was get our family's photos updated, and I was so grateful Emily was able to squeeze in some time for us to do this. I've got over 50 beautiful photos just waiting on my hard drive for printing, framing, and book-making. I've got two impatient family members (surprisingly, not who you'd think) who hate having their picture taken and she took these and many more gorgeous photos in less than 20 minutes before they gave up and died a fiery Nebraska-heat death. Now that's great serv...

I rarely set up field trips as intentional, often they'd be more categorically listed as "accidental" (happily!), and this would be one of those. The morning we went out to Willow View Farms in Abbotsford  was a gorgeous Fall day. It was chilly and sunny-just like apple picking should be. By mid-morning our jackets were off and we were noisily chomping our fresh honeycrisps. With moving into the lowermainland of British Columbia last year near the end of September, I felt I really missed apple season, because as much as we travel back and forth between borders, we can't take fruit or seeded vegetables across with us. I was also schooling the kids, packing up our apartment in Blaine, WA, finding housing, and doing all sorts of other necessary and tiring things, and I unfortuantely missed one of my favorite seasons in the year-apple pickin' time.  Growing up near Nebraska City, which is the home of Arbor Day , apples are THE Autumn seasonal marker for ...

 The huge bridge connecting the West and East banks of Kelowna, BC Two weekends ago we went for our annual visit up to the Oakanagan area, where Stefan's paternal grandparents live. It's a beautiful part of B.C. with a massive body of water, hills, seasons, and fruit orchards everywhere. Imagine me telling you--forcefully-- these photos just do not do the area justice. I haven't met a person who doesn't like going up to the Oakanagan. It's beautiful.  The first few photos are of the Oakangan lake (it's huge and spans many large cities) and crossing it on the Kelowna bridge that separates the East and West banks. Peachland, where we spend our time, is about a 30 minute drive to the 'big city' part of Kelowna.    The view behind on the bridge The kids enjoy the trip up to see their great-grandparents, stay in their own room together (oy, the nights), though this time driving up was a trial. It was incredibly hot the day we drove up, (43...

I barely remembered to snap a photo before I devoured it We don't eat out much, but when Stefan's in the mood (which is not often, he has more will-power than I do), for a burger, he usually wants to eat at Red Robin. We probably haven't eaten there but three or so times since moving out to Blaine, but I crave their Crispy Chicken Salad something fierce. If you want a salad that is a meal, and you love stuff in your salad, take my word for it and make this at some point this week. You will not be disappointed!  This serving size is enough for 1 person's salad, with chicken 'strips' leftover for 3 other people, at 2 a piece. You'll need: *3 skinless chicken breasts, thawed and cut into 3 strips a piece *6 cherry tomatoes * 1 medium carrot, chopped *2 cups of your favorite lettuce (I like curly leaf, and romaine) *2 eggs *1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese *homemade honey mustard (1/2 cup each of honey, yellow mustard and then 1TBSP...

 Our church's community garden is growing like crazy right now. Out here in the Pacific Northwest, we've had a hot spell for at least the past week. Thankfully, our secret beach is a short distance away and a free ocean water cool-off is always easy to get to. The heat has been amazing for the garden, though, and now it's my turn to water. A friend of mine watered the first month for the summer, and now she's headed out on vacation and I'm up for the next month. It needs near-daily watering, and I know by week three I am going to squeal if there's a day of rain, but honestly, it's a small price to pay (around 30 minutes of work, more if I weed) for delicious organic vegetables for free.  The bird houses on the fence posts are new this year, and so far I have yet to see any birds flying in and out of them. The paths--aside from the mulched parts--are completely overgrown with clover, weeds, and grass. Once the mulch gets put down everywhere it will lo...

Last week was Lukka's second year of attending an annual Miniature Horse camp out in Ferndale, WA. For less than $100 (that we had paid months ago to reserve our spot!), Lu was treated to his pony Ali for a week, learning about the ponies and how to care for them, and practicing obstacle courses and showmanship skills. There are only six spots per class and only two or so weeks of camp per summer, so when I saw the ad for it this year, I jumped at the chance because I knew we'd still be in the states during June. Lukka was so excited to do the camp again, even though the basic outline is the same year to year. The camp focuses on horse care including daily grooming, water and feeding, and mucking, along with learning to show one's horse in 4-H-like competitions. Here is an example of a large  mini-hose jumping course . The final day of the camp is competition. The students get 30 minutes to groom and dress up their ponies with ribbons, flowers, etc. in their tails a...

An annual activity our family enjoys is strawberry picking. Nebraska strawberries can be a finicky thing, and the last couple of years we were living there a late frost or crazy storms destroyed the crop. We got a few, but not as many as years past. Last year, we came home with so many strawberries from Barbie's Berries out in Lynden, that they lasted until last month in the freezer! For every corn or cattle farm in Nebraska, is a berry farm in Washington. They're everywhere. Strawberries, raspberries, then blueberries, in that order, over the span of about 6 weeks or so.  We took our opportunity to pick a 10-lb bucket full of strawberries yesterday morning with some friends. They are so ripe, the juice stains the fingers within minutes. Ani, who loves strawberries more than any other fruit, had juice on her hands, shirt, pants, and backside! Every year she manages to get a stomach-ache from her indulgence! The strawberries were at their peak and probably had ...

I've had the privilege to take care of a large community garden plot that is just west of our new church family, Northwood Alliance in Blaine. I'm not sure how large the square footage, but it's got it's own well, a nice greenhouse behind, and at least 15 rows and a few mounds of plants. I've always wanted a plot of land but up here prices are even worse for land than back in Nebraska. I know it's a 'far off dream' but I haven't let it die yet. In the meantime, something I can do to make that dream a reality is to help with the community garden. It helps to take ownership of how it turns out, and with daily watering, I'm invested. I have watched this garden over the summer and it is something our family shows off with pride when visitors come.  I'll try to explain the views as you see them in the photos. The top photo is looking south from the back fence where the green house is. The photo above (with the black trash bags) is ...

 Red and Yellow Tulip fields and the mucky mud that surrounded them Every weekend we try to go out and explore our new area, whether hiking, canoeing, biking, or driving up to British Columbia and finding a new spot up north. After a hike with the kids down at Deception Pass State Park (breathtakingly beautiful) near Mount Vernon, we decided to take a slight detour to see the Skagit Tulip Festival . The festival is a month long 'driving tour' where you can stop at different farms to see the luminous fields of flowers and choose to pick a few to buy for your home.  I had first seen the site of Dutch Roozengaarde on another blog , and I had thought it looked worth the drive, especially if we were in the area. Going on a Saturday wasn't the best time because there were huge crowds everywhere, but we were able to snap a few pictures and gawk like tourists at the colors that illuminated the otherwise dreary landscape.   Light Pink (distance), Dark P...