Same Overalls, Different Horses

The greatest teachers of my life have been my Dad and Christieview Farm. Both things taught me a great love of gardening, doing things the old fashioned-way and a respect for nature. I am very thankful for my childhood, and all of its seasons, on the farm.

Every Wednesday, my Dad's blog is a flashback of the farm over the last near thirty years. It is fun to watch which sibling pops up, what they are wearing, and which pet they are holding. If you look at the most recent one, it is me, in a nifty yellow hat. I'm around four years old and holding a kitten. This morning, Rich woke me up to tell me "that you made the flashback page!" Yes, the whole family loves grandpa's blog. I looked at the picture, remembered the event, but could also see my daughter in myself. It was a cool flashback - even though i don't remember the kitten!

Today, i'll flash back to a photo of my Dad on the farm, with Bonnie and Tara, from roughly fifteen years ago. This is pretty much how i remember my Dad as a child. Those same overalls. That stature. And, this is pretty much how my Dad still looks. Just different horses.

Thank you Dad.

Team Girl Power and the Trailer Boys

We just spent a rather fun weekend with everyone on bikes!

Cloverdale, BC Dollar Store

A Locally Grown Diet With Fuss but No Muss

Just a straight article link... A Locally Grown Diet With Fuss but No Muss

Bounty of the Season

The other day, we had a great morning blueberry picking at Mercer Slough. The kids had great willpower until the very end. Once Miles started eating the berries by the fistful, Mina just couldn't hold on either. We came home with 1.5 lb picked blueberries and likely the same amount already semi-digested. Mina was a huge help in freezing some berries and making a quick-to-disappear batch of Blueberry Bounty Buns from Vive le Vegan.

This beautiful dress is a birthday gift from Uncle Ross, Aunt Rosana and cousin Liam! Thank you! She LOVES it!!! It ranks up their with her beloved Maui dresses.
Africa-inspired Mina balancing raspberries from the Bellevue Market on her head.

Harvesting our lavender. We saw people at the market selling bundles for six dollars each! I think that we need to set up a lavender/egg/bread stand!

Artichokes, fresh from the garden, just prior to steaming in preparation for Friday night pizza!

My favourite garden...

For Ian

Rich is expanding his hobby list to include bread-making. Not just any bread-making but naturally-leavened breadmaking. He's got a little starter going and is quite cute in his new role of breadmaker. Our first taste test of it all was a YUMMY batch of english muffins.

Here's the website where Rich learned how to start, thefreshloaf.com

Bring Your Child to Work Day!

Last Monday, Mina went to work with Pappa for a day. She's been looking forward to this event for a while. Technically she's suppose to be seven but this year, she crashed the party. After a day of meetings at Microsoft, she stated that what Pappa does all day is "kind of boring". However, she was okay with the access to free chocolate milk. The highlight of the day was meeting up with another father-daughter pair in the cafeteria for lunch. And yes, also a ride on the city bus - until Rich got off without her :)

Baby Beluga, Oh Baby Begula Part 2

We spent Sunday afternoon/evening in downtown Vancouver. Twenty years later, Rich returned to the Vancouver Aquarium with two kids and a wife in tow. I had gone with the kids in the fall and was eager to get back. We waited in line to see the so sweet forty day old baby beluga - with its mother who likes to swim upside down!

Then we went for a picnic supper on Beach Drive. It was a late trip back home but a quiet one after a busy and super fun weekend in Vancouver!

Weekend in Vancouver

Last weekend, we drove up to spend some time with our family in Vancouver. I'm including some of the favourite shots including a ride on a local Thomas the Train and a visit to Redwood Park. Part of this crew is moving back east and we are really going to miss them!

Group shot taken by Ethan and Mina at Redwood Park.

80% trying their best at silly faces

Big and little kids on the tire swing

Amy and Mina walking back from Crescent Beach

The big ride on Thomas!

Photo of me taken by my nephew Ethan.

Eisenia fetida

The hot topic of worms! Look what was in "print" today...

Seattle Times -"Cadillac of worms" rules as an urban composter!

You Grow Girl - Worms for Composting

Bluebird Grains

Based on pre-kid visits to Twisp (including the Cinnamon Twisp Bakery) and Stehekin, i have a strong love for the Methow Valley of Washington. As a result of this love, my ears perked up when i heard about Bluebird Grains, a family farm producing heirloom grains in Winthrop, WA.

We received our first order last week and i've been having fun with my new friend named Emmer. So far, we've enjoyed Emmer as a pilaf as well as flour in bagels and pizza dough. We bought 5lbs of the berries and grind it fresh with our Whisper Mill 2000. I'm going to try sprouting it shortly. Anyways, our family is 100% hooked. As a pilaf, Mina thought that it was the best "rice" ever! I'm currently making our second batch of bagels with it. I'm in the midst of the pre-bake boil. This time i was smart enough to make a double batch but i'm up rather late making bagels! Late night baking seems to be a theme in my life...

Anyways, if you are interested in Washington grown grains and flours, check them out!

Foodie/Farm Links

I'm making bagels and blogging, so this is quick and dirty...

Visit some of Washington's 33,000 farms

Eat Wild

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Feist Meets the Muppets

I can't wait to show this to Mina in the morning, Feist on Sesame Street...

Mina's current swim teacher's name is Leslie, which Mina was quick to point out is similiar to Leslie Feist.

:)

Beijing 08-08-08

In case you miss them during the events in August, these pictures beautifully highlight the facilities that have been built for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Sub Pop 20

On Sat, Rich and i biked to Marymoor Park to take part in the Sub Pop 20th Anniversary Concert weekend. We savoured an afternoon/evening back in the childless land of all day concerts. We heard favourite bands like The Helio Sequence, Fleet Foxes as well as Iron and Wine.

I just found this cool picture from the Seattle Times with the Space Needle getting dressed up for the record label's celebration. Here is another photo album from the weekend.

July 4th Weekend

I love a long weekend - and this one was particularly great! We biked, hiked, swam, canoed, letterboxed, played catch, hung out with neighbours at the lake, cooked garden-fresh veges (lettuce, peas, artichokes, sorrel, chard, herbs), bbq-ed, tried out some new local wine/beer, worked like mad on the yard AND Rich built a new, swinging double bike stand. Not to mention, we also got totally hooked on the American Team Olympic trials! Go Dara Torres Go!

I did not get time to sort through all the recent camping photos! Soon!

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day from our house to yours!

This morning, the kids were excited to see the Canadian flag flying out front. Mina quickly asked, "where is everybody else’s flag?". I'm tickled that she thinks the holiday is one to be shared by all. We send out love to our families and friends - and to everyone else who is celebrating! Tonight we'll having our friend Kent, fellow expat Canadian, over for bbq dinner.

We've just returned from an awesome nine days of camping across Washington. I'll be posting more of that and some pictures later. Next year, we hope to get in some BC camping too!