Happy Birthday Barbara

I know you are all wishing you could have enjoyed celebrating Aunt Barb's 50th birthday so I am sending you come photos from the adventure. Lacey was a great driver and it was especially nice to have she and Corey drive David and I from doorstep to doorstep throughout the evening.

After working our way through heavy rains and Friday evening traffic, we arrived at the Herb Farm in Woodenville just in time for the pre-dinner introduction to all things Herb Farm. They served an interesting and tart herb tea for the introduction, as well as wine. Interestingly, we all chose the tea, being particularly ready for a warm relaxing beverage after the drive.

The dinner menu was set, with the Northwest trees as the theme for the evening. We were all surprised at the selections that we favored.
 The Egg appetizer was really subtle and paired with a wonderful Riesling-like white wine. A beautiful pickled breakfast radish adorned it. Really amazing! I also liked the Sturgeon stuffed with nettles - a fish I don't remember tasting in the past. It was full of interesting and delicate flavors. The cheese was served with tangy fresh greens and an aged local balsamic-wonderful. The syrah gelee with pepper meringue was unusual and very interesting as was the birch sap ice cream ( a little maple-like but more subtle).

Since the theme was trees, Colin would not have enjoyed the meal as much as I did because of the vast number of nut components. They change their menus every 3 weeks so. If he decides to go, he will have to choose a no-nut menu.When we made the reservations, they asked about menu restrictions and we did notice a vegetarian selection going out during the "Pork" dish that included a turnip instead of the pork!

Pigs are a big part of the Herb Farm and between courses patrons can ask for a slop bucket to feed the 2 Vietnamese Potbellied Pigs. Barb's friend Jill thought that would be fun so we walked out with her between the Meat Course and the cheese. They were pretty funny! In all, it was a culinary experience of excellence and art and a good birthday celebration. I hope Barb enjoyed it as much as Lynne and I did.

I hope you are all enjoying the month of March. It is a blustery month in Kingston but in spite of the weather, the goats have been shoren and the chickens have a new spring yard to explore, with a cover to protect them from the eagles. The injured chicken is in the hospital-cage in the chicken yard so she does not feel lonely. I hope she will improve and gain back her weight (she got a like thinner after the trauma of the attack). I, on the other hand hope to get thinning over the month! In all cases, may March be good to us all.

Much Love,
Mama Llama

Back Home in Kingston

Hello from sunny Kingston- around 20 degrees but sunny. As always, it seems like we never left but there are plenty of fun memories to remind us of our vacation. You know by now that California met us with stormy, windy rains  but the food, wine and company were enough to offset the weather and then some.

 Healdsburg was our first stop. It was great to see Kyrsa and Dave's new home. Their house is really great, tucked in the amazing beauty of the many grape-growing valleys around them. Dave and Kyrsa are getting into the spirit of Sonoma by combining new expertise in cocktails, wines and food in their cozy new space. How can any of this be bad?

Judy wishing for a swim

A 6 hour drive through pouring rain found us at Hearst Castle, where we met Judy and Ralph. We took a wonderful tour of this giant monument to American industrial giants and their egos. Despite that, it is quite amazing and extremely interesting to consider, as a connection to our national history. We watched giant herds of elephant seals, walked the beach between rain showers and drove the coast through towns and fields. The company of old friends was the real gift.

On Sunday morning the sun decided to shine on our last beach walk. The drive up Highway 1 was long, windy and beautiful at every turn. Because it was the middle of the 3-day weekend, the traffic was light until we turned into the city of Carmel. San Fransisco had decided to drive to Carmel! What a weird little spot of trendy shops and bistros. The streets and sidewalks were packed with gawkers of all ages and incomes. Shop keepers were almost hawker-like in their efforts to invite customers- an interesting diversion on the long drive north to Davis.

We actually met Colin and Susan in Oakland for  nettle pizza and homemade tonic water, along with much more. The next day we walked the wonderful arboretum trail in Davis, drove through the acres of fruit trees to Winters for lunch and had a great afternoon with Susan and Colin cooking, drinking and eating in between lots of sharing.

So it is back to life in the northwest after much fun and sharing. Barb and I took in the Northwest Flower Show and I bought a new pruner- yikes! I hope I don't get tree pruners elbow this weekend. Today was my first day getting back into the rhythm of Tulin Road. I did projects, cooking and animal care. I walked around in the cold sunshine, imagining new garden spaces, new ways to grow better crops and filled with hope for Spring. That is the curse of the gardener- eternal hope.

While on vacation I was gifted with many conversations about ideas, philosophies, problems and solutions. I think back on all the words now and reconsider those ideas with a different perspective. That is the best part of "free speech". We have problems to solve moving ahead into a new century. This is easily agreed upon. We also have every reason to believe that there will be hard decisions, some suffering and new solutions on the road to a future I can't imagine but am excited to watch unfold. I am so very proud of the children in my family who have grown into adults now and who all work with passion and creativity, unfolding their days into tomorrow.

Keep up all the great work and believe in your tomorrows especially when you can't see where you are headed...and keep on traveling. I believe in us all.

Love,
Mama Llama

Happy Valentine Day

Happy "celebrating love" day to you all. I know that it is common practice to think of February 14 as a Hallmark marketing ploy but there is really no reason not to celebrate the love in your life- friends, family and lovers. We all need occasional reminders to show people they are special to us; to let them know they make our lives better and make us better in the process.

I am especially aware of this after working 5 days last week and realizing how much time work takes away from our energy and creativity. Today I am sending you hugs, kisses and lots of love. This morning I had that fun of creating and puzzling little projects that are wending their way into the world. I hope they will  remind you, again, that you are the most important parts of my life. I am thankful daily for your examples of strength, adventure, love are generosity. With those examples in front of me, you would think I would be better at sharing my love but at least I continue to try. With that said, have a happy Valentine's Day. Share a smile with everyone you see this week and hugs with those you love. The world will be measurably better when you do. Surround yourself with love by remembering how very wonderful YOU are and give yourself some love too.

Love you always and today,

Mama Llama

Making it through January

After the holidays, January is always first restful then a long slog.Though we may feel bored, tired and sluggish, those of us on the west coast can't ever complain when we hear of the winter weather in the East. That makes us even more tired and bored!

Still, the entire nation must be having a January slump and fighting it with unusual gun violence. What on earth- even in Port Orchard (now don't roll those eyes) a gunfight erupted at Walmart between  the police and a man on the run with a kidnapped teen!?! Why is anyone carrying a gun to Walmart? And this is just one of many stories reported each week in the local environs. I, of course, have a course of action to change things.

I think we should have a law making any crime committed with a fire arm a federal offense. Anyone committing a crime involving a fire arm should immediately be sentenced to 20 years in prison without parole.

We will never pass legislation to limit gun ownership in this country but no one seriously believes in the right to commit crimes with guns! Those who will argue about the cost of incarceration should consider that anyone using a fire arm while committing a crime will by statistics have a high rate of recidivism, costing the state much money in legal fees on both sides of the court as well as continual social service costs and the eventual cost of life when just one of those crimes goes wrong.When the person cost of gun-toting crime is realized, criminals will re-access the cost-return and the casual carrying of guns to Walmart will be affected.

Crazy people will always find guns to kill. Hard core killers, professional criminals and mobsters will find their guns and their paths. But the misdirected deserve a bit of unsolicited help. The spontaneous stupidity needs a chance to think and society needs to be a little bit safer and saner.


So there is another "big idea from small person". Take it and run!

Happy 3 Kings Day

Well, Here is a New Year's resolution- I will not wait for an entire MONTH before writing! I was absolutely aghast when I noted that is had been an entire month since I last "spoke". All those great ideas and thoughts of the moment lost into eternity- almost a tragedy.

But worry not, I am back. It has been a busy last month as you know because  I have been able to be with most everyone who reads this missive. Still there is always something to tell. It is the especially rainy season in the Northwest and cold to boot but I will head out today to groom rabbits and take good care of animal shelters before the next storm. I am also busy, wanting to spin and weave for 4 blankets in the next 5-6 weeks. I have lots of reorganizing and restructuring to do before the garden season is on me. So I will be rushing around for the next 2 months like the chickens without their heads cut off.

The chickens are busy as well. They have dug through the garden and turned it over much like a real tractor. I am taking it all in stride and deciding it must be the time to start from scratch because they certainly are not discriminating between  perennials and annuals. Maybe the perennials will shoot back up in March when my tractors move to their spring space.

Today I made the hotel reservation in Cambria where we will meet Ralph and Judy in February. It is part of David's Christmas gift but one that is am much for me as for him. We fly in to San Fransisco and will rent a car for a week with the hope of popping up to see Kyrsa and Dave in Healdsburg on the before leg and Colin in Susan after the coast. It will just be for a short overnight hello but still fun to see their homes and lives in California, since David has not had a chance to do that.

The holiday were great and filled the last month with visiting, gifting and sharing. I am left with great memories and lots of gifts that spark those memories when ever I need a little energy boost. I realize what a energetic, giving and fun group of people I call my friends and family and am inspired to meet their examples- then I get off my "seat" and start that next project. (I have to start WATCHING my language since Erin had me listening to Savage Love podcasts for her interview preparations!) I do have lots and lots of ideas for new changes and creations but I need to keep reminding myself to enjoy what I am doing now without feeling anxious about moving on to the next idea.

I am happy to say I am able to move on to the next book now! I finally finished "Never Let Me Go" by Kazu Ishiguro. It was well written with an interesting premise but slow and slightly removed, in my humble opinion. I have read now 3 of this authors novels. They are strongly written but not compelling reading. In the end they are thought provoking but in a rather morbid and isolated way. I think I may have finally had enough. On to Peggy Guggenheim- a particular heroine of mine! Crazy and rich is really my dream-life combination.

For now, I must head out to clean my own rabbit hutch and feed my own goats. Crazy but NOT rich- at least half of the dream. Happy Three Kings Day to everyone. We still have the Holiday with us and can remember to give gifts everyday in our action, in our words and in our creative energy. What we give away with love and joy always comes back in multiples. Give lots and receive back the surprises with grace.

Love,
Mama Llama

Christmas is coming

It is true, Christmas is coming and there is never as much time for the season as we all want but still we must try to enjoy what there is. Anita was in Kingston to start the Christmas activities, so while I made wreaths, she made caramels and party mix. Only little elves live here.

An "elf" suggested I put my Christmas letter on the blog but since anyone who sees the blog has already received the letter, it seemed redundant. Instead I while share some thoughts that come to mind as  I decorate the house and the tree.

Of course, "Home Alone" is playing and next I will watch "Holiday Inn". As I place decorations and hang Christmas needlework, I think about a young friend and her two toddlers. They will have a "Solstice Tree"  and celebrate with friends coming over for the day. The young parents grew up with the traditional Christmas activities but feel strongly about sustainability so will not cut down a real tree. They are also passionate about not adding to the marketing and financial irresponsibility of "Santa", so are trying to stay away from the tradition of gifts. Of course I was appalled, at first, but as I thought about the choices, I realized that happiness is in what we create and enjoy. This young family will be remarkable and very happy because they are seriously involved in their children and in creating a happy family.

Still, the  message of Christmas kept nagging at  me. Not the typical message  Barb and Dave enjoyed at the Lynwood Church musical- stop rushing around and find the real meaning of life in Christ and in the people around you. We all know what happened to Ray Milan! But the reminder that Christmas is most fun with children around to surprise. Why is that?

Maybe Christmas is important, in the cold and dark of winter, because it removes us from "reality". It allows adults to reconnect with fantasy and play, the important  parts of the season. And that is the reminder I want to send into the new year! There is no "realistic" answer to life. Reality is the moment we are living and how we choose to live it. Choosing to live without play and imagination and dreams is our own decision but not a "more realistic" one. The future is not "realistic", it is unknown. Let us try to dream good, happy moments into our futures this year and not let the possibility of unhappiness dictate our choices. That is not more realistic but just allowing  fear of unhappiness to direct our path. Give yourself the Christmas gift of believing in your own happiness and your own dreams, no matter how improbable they seem in the dark of winter. Run through the snow and sled down the hill believing that there will not be a ice wall but instead a pile of soft snow at the bottom. Take the walk in the snow, go down the steep hill and taste the snow on your tongue all year long and make the your decisions, knowing they will be full of the fantasy and joy that you bring to them. That is the reality that Christmas lets us remember each year.

BRRR...!

That was Monday- and after two days and counting of temperatures in the teens, the novelty is wearing off. Remember back in the olden days when the pond froze and the water pipes froze and the rabbit bottles froze and the goat water buckets froze. Yes, it is all back again. I did forestall the frozen pipes by spotting the freeze at the very beginning. With a propane heater in the pump house the water began to flow again and it has been trickling down the sink ever after. We are looking at overnight temperatures around 15 again tonight but Thanksgiving should be our turn-around hope. It is predicted to be almost 40 during the day and the beginning of a warming trend with rain following.

Tulin Rd is an accident happening, as usual. Yesterday there were 4 cars at one time ditched along the curves. They seem to be towed out and we even heard the gravel truck last night so maybe we WILL be able to drive to the ferry on Thursday. Fortunately I have all my ingredients at ready. The sauce is made and noodles are on the schedule for today, along with bread sticks for hor d'ouevres and dinner rolls. So, we are enjoying and old fashion holiday here in Kingston. The only thing missing is a kitchen full of hoodlums helping to cook a "pioneer meal" because school has been canceled, including "Indian pudding".

Have fun and stay warm, eat well and know I am sending you all hugs and kisses.
Love,
Mama Llama

Winter Surprises

The sauce is simmering on the stove, ready for Thanksgiving noodles.

The apple bread is baking, using the last of the damaged apples from the garden.

There are spices in the pot simmering on the wood stove and as I head outside ...

Happy Week before Thanksgiving!

                                                   

The Big Time

Well, after years of taking an independent stand in the face of fashion dictates, I have finally been recognized by the fashion world. Witness the Dossier Journal Style posting for November 19 if you will. 
http://dossierjournal.com/style/  Who are those good looking, fashion forward stars?

Sorry, I can't make this stand up straight!

Aside from my presence in the media, the world around Kingston is wet and cold. I have been busy doing what, I don't know, but time is passing, preparations are being made and winter is coming, along with the holidays. I have had a few sad moments because my sweet little QT died this week. I nursed her through a bought of scours and the last few weeks she seemed on the mend, eating with a great appetite both hay and grain. This week I came back from school and found her dead outside her shed. She was a real sweety but I think she has had some  serious internal health problems that finally overwhelmed her. At least I feel like she was happy and cared for when she died.

With Thanksgiving just a short week away, it is time to realize how lucky we all are. Despite our little complaints and our bigger problems, we have people to love and support us. We have a warm home and enough food to feel satisfied too much of the time.  Most important, we have faith in the future and faith in ourselves.

With all this wealth as part of our daily experience, it is hard not to become a little "let them eat cake" like in our awareness of others. I take an example from a recent day in the high school "math-for-daily-life" class. We all hear the repeated complaints about the failure of our schools to educate our students for the lives they need to lead. Why don't teacher demand more discipline? Why don't students care more and reach farther? Why don't parents support teachers and encourage excellence in their children's academic performance?  As hard as it is for those of us who are so very fortune to accept, there are many students who seem perfectly normal, average and able but are truly unable to learn anything beyond basic math. This may be because of their physical limitations or it may be their emotional disabilities but the reality is the same. Despite effort and encouragement there are limits on the complexity of information that can be understood and held for future experiences.

As I saw this reality repeated throughout the day, the need for safety nets and survival structures was brought to my mind. I am not suggesting wheel chairs and wagons to carry people through their lives, but crutches and railings that help people find a safe path to travel through their life with success and self-worth. Workers at the local convenience store,  greeters at Walmart, maintenance staff in the schools and hosts of other citizens offer important work to our society. The do the best job they can and they still have to pay rent, buy groceries and buy medicine when their children are sick. It is not in our best interest or societies that the hard work and long hours of these people leave them living below the poverty level and on the edge of survival.

We all look to local Food Banks, Goodwill, and Salvation Army missions to help those in need. We generously donate what we feel possible to help in these efforts. But the real offer of generosity and empathy will come when we require a social structure that offers basic health care and living wages to all of our citizens. The multitude of non-profit  organizations striving to meet the needs of poverty, illiteracy and illness only show the great failure in the structure we call our government, for only the government can provide an Interstate structure allowing all of our citizens to travel through life secure AND  productive.

And Thank God I live in a government where I can constantly proclaim my words of wisdom to the world!
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I send my hugs and kisses out to you.
Love,
Mama Llama

Happy November

Halloween is over and All Saints Day too (Nov. 1 is a big Catholic Day). It is just the beginning of the holiday season. We have turkey and and sugar cookies ahead! It is always a big surprise when the holiday season arrives with speed that mystifies. I always imagine there will be loads of time between summer and New Years- but where does it all go?

Still, here we are in November and I can not complain. Along with some days of fall storms and pelting rain, we have enjoyed days of crisp sunshine, sometimes with as much warmth as July. The animals are all fitted out for the coming winter days. The chickens have a light in the hen house, the rabbits are closed in from the rain and, for the moment, the goats seem healthy after a bought of illness the last couple of weeks.

This week I ran into Home Depot to get a couple of bags of top soil for my new garden in the front lawn (it is now planted with garlic which I hope will repel the deer- mine are probably Italian deer!) While in the Home Depot I spotted a GE Profile 909 electric range, recently advertised at $1100. It is black and stainless steel with a glass top, 5 burners with a fast-boil element, a convection  oven with a special "meat probe" for roasting and "most important" was only $399. It is now in my kitchen and it works! I made coffee this morning and dinner this evening so the experiment begins. Now I can cook the holidays in with ease.

Aside from the big purchase, not much news in Kingston. The elections are over but the media seems to have realized it is really cheap to fill their minutes with "pundits" who are on staff and can bombard us with their opinions. As a result I am still listening to books on tape while I spin. The most recent is a book by Jean Kwok- Girl in Translation: a story of immigration from Hong Kong to New York and the New York garment district. It is an excellent reality check. What is defined as survival and hard work is relative to personal experience and can certainly not be transferred from generation to generation because all of the elements change. Lesson learned-we are very fortunate and should be on the look out for those who might not be. Maybe we can help?

Now that day-light savings time is upon us, I look forward to early evenings reading with a cup of tea. That is at least until wreaths want to be made and holiday decorations demand attention. The renters moved out this weekend and will be cleaned out soon but I am putting the A-frame rental project on hold until after Christmas.Who knows, I may win the lottery by then and decide to change it into a weaving studio. Not much else to say for now. I hope you are all well and enjoying the fall. Good luck with work, with school, with projects all and have a great November!

Love,
Mama Llama