coming up for air

it's been a full and fun week at the county fair

(one of my girls is in 4-H)

but I have to admit I'm happy for a little breathing room for the next few days

here's a snapshot of our week:

there's always so much to see

I love taking my camera around with me when there's any downtime at our booth

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today's a rainy day and I'm tempted to just curl up and read my latest book

"Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress"

does it feel like summer is ending or has ended for you?

... it always makes me a little sad ...

but then I remember that spring is just a few months away

ok, ok, more like 6 months away - but who's counting?

zero to thirty thousand feet

I got to see the sun rise at sea level 

and watch it set a few hours later at 30,000 feet

it was our travel day - sweet and sad at the same time

this week: school registration and county fair

happily, we still have two weeks of summer break left

... but my toes are missing the sand ...

town and country

I've just gotten back from a bit of a vacation

(not wanting to advertise my absence while gone - it's a good idea in this day and age)

can you guess the city from these photos?

if you haven't guessed by now, it could be you're from another country

or maybe you just haven't had the pleasure of visiting ....

... c h i c a g o 

we were only in the city for a day and spent the better part of a week in the country

Illinois is where I grew up - and have lots of family there

it was so wonderful to reconnect and meet the new husbands, wives, babies

kissing familiar cheeks and newly familiar ones

what a joy

*

and homecoming was sweet 

... I just have a little horn to toot ...

while I was gone I had art from my Etsy shop featured on their front page TWICE!

it's funny how things like that happen while you're sleeping - or even on vacation

summer fun

taking in a baseball game from the bleachers is a quintessential summer pastime

Seattle Mariners v. Los Angeles Angels

the M's won the game to sweep the series (that doesn't happen often for our M's)

and I got this picture from the car window as we were leaving

(no that wasn't our parking spot)

virtual friends and other kinds too

... yesterday I took a ferry from Anacortes to Victoria BC ...

I was meeting up with a virtual friend and fellow blogger

the ferry ride was serene:

I was able to make headway through a somewhat tedious YA romance favorited by my daughters:

(lately I've been looking for touchstones and conversation starters)

once there, I met another blogger Karen Berger, a friend of my blogging friend Elizabeth

we very quickly fell into chatter and laughter - finding so much in common

and discovering so much that was unique to each one

we enjoyed  pub lunch and let's just say LOTS of talking and laughing:

karen, kim, elizabeth
(note: my bottled hair color is finally all grown out)

the three of us - fascinating women, smart and gifted, moms, survivors

... and that's not all ...

I made a friend on the bus with a lovely Canadian lady and an amazing life story to tell

and the ferry ride home I talked the entire time with a woman who teaches high school art in Montana

my take-away:

listen more

life is short

bridges between people can be found everywhere

and on the trip home, the sun made an appearance over Friday Harbor

all in all it was one extremely fine day

flotsam and jetsam

today was our annual beachcombing trek up north

it's a tiny little beach at the site of an old dumping ground

and I read in the news that it's slated for environmental cleanup

:(

I pick up the larger pieces of glass for my photo transfers

there's an abundance ... and I have a hard time knowing when to quit

we ended up with about 10 lbs of glass and pottery

*

here is a close up photo of the tiny bits of glass mixed in with broken shells and pebbles:

and the drive home was through my favorite farmland

all in all - it's been one extremely fine day

out on the town

... what a fun afternoon ...

we got to see the live performance of Prairie Home Companion

(at Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville)

did you listen to it on NPR today?

I love this radio show and have listened in since the early 80's

it's been on air since 1974

... watched it live with my darling - the kids were at home listening on the radio ...

so cool!

Garrison giving us the news from Lake Wobegon

Fred Newman, Tim Russell, and Sue Scott performing Guy Noir Private Eye

on stage

sight seeing

we ventured out into the rainy weather to see the tulips up north

(Skagit Valley Tulip Festival)

this year is an especially beautiful one

the cold weather and added rain is just what the tulips love

- it's like sunshine from the ground up -

and of course, I have to stop and look at the barns

they are so weathered and lonesome out there - I feel compelled to honor their existence

this shop window captured my eyes and my heart too

and how many school days has this old school bell announced to not so eager children?

and after a day like this, I have to come home with treasures of my own

a favorite book series:

some nostalgia in painted metal and glass:

and a bit of the glory that drew us outdoors today:

what sights have your eyes seen this weekend?

a sunglasses kind of day

... not today, but yesterday,

look how gorgeous it is:

(north everett looking east over the water plant)

so I cleaned up my sunglasses and realized I need a new case for them

I found a very very easy tutorial for this zippered pouch on Design Mom

(link is HERE)

it took five seams and only 2 of them are visible

I used scrap oilcloth fabric from sewing up lunch bags,

batting, lining fabric, and a zipper I never used from another project

15 minutes easy peasy (if you sew)

*

and look at this little beauty:

a crocus in the sunshine - is there anything sweeter?

peace

staying in and getting out

back to that ball of luscious raspberry colored yarn:

I've got one sock done and one on the sticks

this is my 4th pair of socks this winter and I'm happy to say that after knitting 6 socks, my 7th is perfect and my 8th is (fingers crossed) coming out perfectly

(thanks to: Judy's Magic Cast On;Wendy's Short Row Heel;Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Cast Off)

meanwhile:

this afternoon is supposed to turn sunny

(after this fog burns off)

and then I'll be headed down to the beach collecting flotsam and jetsam 

(actually, I'll go whether the sun makes an appearance or not)

.... are you able to get outside today?

making color

 it was fun to read how everyone is tackling their winter blues and lack of color:

We are painting the interior of our house, all kinds of wonderful colors.....tomato bisque, apache clay, grey expose, honeysuckle beige (a yellow), canyon earth,dusky hyacinth,and wetlands (a green). Wonderful names and wonderful fun colors. They are all in a color family and when I look from one room to the next, it makes me smile.   -Yvonne

Everything around here is white with snow and so this afternoon l paint a sun!  -Lynda

turning all the lights on in the house or my studio seems to help!!  -Caterina

surrounded by colorful things, from embroidery to Tibetan prayer flag, and no matter what the fickle weather throws, there's color in my mind's eye, color in my memories. I wear red, stay in bed imagining the vistas of this wide, wide world, listen to colorful music, eat apples, beets and carrots, fling colorful words and strokes in pencil, pen, or brush across a ragged page, and so abide, content within my days. -Ms.

yes, I'm big-time color starved--I need to go pull out some colorful fabric and make something/anything with it!

-cat@sea.sky.stone

I am dreaming of green...I bought myself a bunch of tulips, orange with yellow tips, with the groceries this week. What a gift !  And my rainbow of embroidery floss does make me smile.  -Kim

Yes! You diagnosed what I'm suffering from! I hate my phone's camera for that reason-- all of the photos come out "blue" and somber. Today I tried retouching photos for my post on a "new" editing program my daughter loaded on my computer. Things are a little brighter, but could be better.  -Nathalie

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our fog has lifted today - finally

but here are a couple of parting shots from yesterday

Rime Ice coating the tree branches

(Rime Ice, which I had never heard of before now, is formed in freezing fog conditions)