Bead-bye Bangle-bye

Last Tuesday, my dear friend Megan abandoned Seattle and moved to St Lewis for Seminary.

To help ease the ache of saying goodbye to this dear sister, I sent these bead dangles along with her.


They did look super pretty on her....

...but I'm afraid I must be honest and report that since she left, the gifts have not in any way helped me miss her less! Sigh!

Maidenhood Bowers

I have always loved the word 'maidenhood'. There is something old-fashioned about it that brings to my imagination a sense of innocence dancing in light-filled daisies.

Before I got married, I lived in a house with these five dear friends. I used to think of all of us as a bower of maidens who lived in a dry warm nest, with soft ferns to lie on and petals in our hair...

This was very fanciful, I admit, but I am simply addicted to being fanciful. It makes the world such a lovely place.

(I also used to think of us as pomegranate seeds growing in one skin, being shaped by each other as we swelled into wise, wise women, but that is another story.)

All this to say, my maidenhood bower spent a weekend in June on Cameno Island, celebrating all that makes us maidens. (No boys.)



It was a wonderful set of days filled with play,



relaxation, good food,

good books and the unfettered speech of sisters.



Until we are together again....

Our Anniversary

Well today we are married exactly three years and one month.
Here we are in 2002, falling in love.

Here we are in 2007, still in love!

For our anniversary, Jonathan woke me up at 5 am, bundled me onto the motorcycle and took me on a tour of the places in Seattle where we fell in love. We drove past my old house on Dewey Street where I lived out the end of my maidenhood in a bower of girl-sister-friends. The neighborhood I lived in before we got married is really out of the way, and I felt this growing excitement as we took streets I hadn't driven in years. I also cringed a little, as the motorcycle sounded exceedingly loud on the quiet sleepy, Monday-morning streets.

We also drove down Madison street to a park on Lake Washington for the sunrise.

This park was where we first held hands. It was such a magical experience for me, that I remember thinking, " this is why people describe being in love as walking on air!"

Humorously, both Jonathan and I were struck by how far it was to the park, even on the motorcycle...obviously we were not really thinking about our feet the last time we walked that road!


After the sunrise we drove out of Seattle for breakfast at the Maltby Cafe. We were their first customers!

It was very yummy, and we felt very sleepy after we finished eating.

Jonathan had planned to take me to a fair on Highway 2 (roughly north, north east of Seattle) But when we got there they had just packed everything up.
So we found a really neat hiking place instead. This is my stud of a husband, looking extra cool in black leather. (By the way, I don't recommend protective motorcycle wear for hiking gear.)

It was a beautiful day and a beautiful river.


We also inspected the salmon hatchery. It had a lot of little baby salmon, all of whom were intensely afraid of our shadows. That was kind of fun.

Then we had a late lunch at the Dutch Cup. This is where we had our second date. Our first date didn't really help either of us decide if we liked each other....the second date definitely did!

Hooray for a Fun DAY!

Flower Petal Soup

If you stop to look and listen, there is always magic in plants and seeds, in water and soil.

When I was small I often picked all the flowers in my mother's garden so I could cut up the petals, add water and make 'soup'. Usually. this soup was for tea parties with stuffed animals. Sometimes it was potions for interested younger brothers who needed extra strength and courage to fight the dragon. Other times, it started conversations with grownups walking by...I could never coerce any into taking a sip.

Of course these fantasies did not really require the discipline that weeding and cultivating a garden does. But at the root it was them same. I was and am still, entranced; the quiet magic of the colors, the water and the earth both soothe and excite me. Someday, my garden will be a place for young and old to get lost in their imagination. Right now, it;s a good thing I have an imaginations because my garden needs it to get lost in it...but here's what I've been working on.


This spring I planted sunflower seeds and pick-axed out flower beds around the edge of our lawn.


I put in the seedlings and they looked like this

And now they look like this.


I put in sunflowers, lupine, foxglove and asters next to the back porch.

They grew...

And grew...

And GREW!

There's just nothing so incredible as tending the earth while it is doing it's work!