NYC Celebrates US

Northeast Spring

It is the beginning of a new week and I find myself back in Kingston, listening to the frogs and the chickens rather than the human and mechanical voices of  the CITY: all great sounds- so I am very lucky to have time for both. The internet weather reports tell me that we are all having the same day- cool temperatures and rainfall everywhere! I suspect that is the way of our world this year so if you have a chance to escape ANYWHERE, do so for your own sake!

 My escape to the East  Coast was great on all levels. I escaped the rain in Seattle, escaped daily life patterns for awhile and returned with new inspiration in all areas. With enough coffee I will be able to carry through with at least some of the new ideas and creations.

Jim and Carol retired!

Just a little review of the the journey so I can relive it myself for a moment and share it with you as well! I rented a car for most of the week, which was an entirely new way to see the Northeast. Driving into Manhattan during rush hour was my initiation and I must brag about how successful I was. It really is not all that difficult to read the road signs when you are traveling at 10 miles an hour! Driving through Connecticut to see Jim and Carol was a real treat. I saw a new perspective on the space I have visited often. The Spring colors were amazing. Everyone praises Fall colors in the Northeast but the Spring, with its' new greens and pastels is every bit as spectacular. Carol and I shared ideas and experiences in our respective lives and walked through the reservoir park, recalling the high school years when we did much the same thing.

CIA

Vanderbilt Mansion

I returned to New York in time for the weekend and a great excursion to the Hudson Valley to celebrate Mother's Day and Erin's birthday. Again, the landscape was gorgeous and relaxing. We stayed in a great little Bed and Breakfast in Hyde Park (for you foodies, across the road from the CIA). We visited mansions from the Golden Age of American industry - the Vanderbilts, Roosevelts, etc- and small,old, factory towns now struggling to become scenic tourist centers until something better comes along to aid the economy.

Valkil

Valkil, Eleanor Roosevelt's retreat, was especially inspirational since we had our own personal tour given by an woman who had known Eleanor and had been Eleanor's guest at Valkil. The DIA Beacon is perhaps the most unique Modern art museum I have visited, largely because of it LARGE size and the thematic curating of its shows. Marvelous-really! And of course, with any successful adventure there was great food that we were able to discover on our very own- ignoring the poor advice locals tried to offer. We returned down the west side of the Hudson River which is more agricultural and rural and therefore more beautiful to my viewpoint.

Beacon, NY

Since we returned on Erin's birthday we made an entire day of relaxing with mani-pedis at the local Williamsburg shop, under the subway. It always offers a great look into the local community and certainly did not disappoint,  with a group of Latina ladies and children getting ready for a celebration and a second group of young Hasidic Jewish school girls getting the "beauty treatment". Really much better than the theater or cinema. Dinner at Bianca's was great, as it always is, both food and experience. I think Erin's birthday was a success.

Jenny and Erin

With all that traveling,  my time in Manhattan seemed very short indeed. I took some time to shop for a shoot with Erin which was great fun. We had eyebrow threading in Nolita, saw great shows at the Design Museum, world renown tapestries at the Cloisters and great art at the Met- more that I can review but less that I wanted to see. Of course there was lots of good food and wine and coffee and treats to keep the energy level up! The wonderful thing about New York is that is it always there for a return visit and there is always something you didn't get to see to draw you back.

Spring HOPE

As a mother, I am thankful daily for my three wonderful children who all live in wonderful locations and let me come to visit!

Rain, rain go away...come again some other day?

Just a little shout out to you all before I travel across the country and DRIVE into the Big Apple! Yes, you heard right- I will be driving into Brooklyn on Wednesday afternoon. It turns out that it is much cheaper to rent a car for a week than for 3 days and since I am also traveling up to Connecticut, it make financial sense to rent the car to do both the trip to Avon and the adventure with Erin to the Hudson Valley. "Now don't be scared!"

Aside from planning for the next big adventure, there has been lots of garden work in the rain here in Kingston. I have planted everything- including tomatoes and squash on the theory that I will need the absolute longest growing season possible with the weather averages around 50 degrees. All of you in California and even in New York, remember the realities of the Northwest. We are in the rain-side of the 10 year weather cycle. I know the scientific community doesn't recognize my 10-year weather cycle but back in 1970 the medical community did not recognize stress and large amounts of sugar as problematic for womens health issues. I am always ahead of the curve on these scientific findings but no one remembers my first impressions-remember this!

I know you have mostly all heard about the amazing Easter meal shared on Tulin Rd. Radishes and nettles were two of the amazing hits. I will pass on the nettles recipe later, but I suspect no one has the available source that we do here in Kingston, so for now I will share the roast radish recipe which is outrageous and comes to us by way of Kyrsa.

It was also a bit of a birthday celebration for David so I made the celebrated Italian Cream Cake- one of MY favorites. Rather than the traditional cream cheese frosting,  I made the 7-minute icing with coconut topping as a lighter options- we all know that sugar is so much healthier because there is no fat!

Kyrsa will be visiting the Pacific Northwest this weekend and I will be sad to miss her but know she will have fun seeing other family and good friends. There will be lots of  laughter going out into the universe so be sure to add to it where ever you are. It is the needed relief from all the rain we in Seattle have been enduring and all the fear mongering the media seems to be pursuing. I think the wet weather has made me realize the paralyzing affect that constantly negative message has on people. I am REALLY walking away from the media news and deciding to live in a small cocoon of my own making. What is wrong with wrapping yourself in silk (unless you hatch into a tent caterpillar!-ugh)?

So that is the word from the home front. I will report on the garden progress when I return in a week. I hope the mildew has not taken over the roses by then ! Have a great week and weekend. I am sending you tons of love and reminding you that you make my life more hopeful every day by your creative living and your positive energy into the universe. You are the examples of  hope and change that I give everyday, to counter the negative message people absorb so easily. Go-Seek-Laugh!

Love you always but especially this Mother's Day.
Mama Llama

Easter Eggs

Just a moment of Spring sharing but you will have to imagine the view. I  spent the best part of the afternoon in the vegetable garden planting and tilling- tilling and planting, then covering the tilled areas with black ground cover so they would warm the soil for later tomatoes and squash. That was all an unexpected treat because the rain held off until evening.

The other unexpected surprise was the second egg laid by Ping. Ping, you will remember, was attacked by an eagle. Though she was rescued, she was seriously torn up so has been in rehab for the past 6 weeks. It has been almost 6 weeks since she laid an egg so I was becoming worried about her recovery but yesterday she gave us a lovely buff colored egg and today another. Hurray for Ping. She received lots of weed-treats today and will be able to join her friends again in a couple of day.

That is the news from Kingston. I hope you are all happy and well.

Love,
Mama Llama

Anita on the move!

Click on the photo above to go to the video of the bikers' homecoming.
Despite grandma's unceasing fear and continual warnings - do NOT crash - a beautiful day for a ride around Davis. Here's prep time:
Cheers!

April Showers bring ?

I am back home in Kingston with California stories to tell and pictures to share.

Since enjoying sunshine for 10 days in California, I should be better prepared for the rain and cold weather that greeted me in Kingston but that just isn't how it works. I did get 2 great afternoons this week to catch up with the weeds a little bit and hope for more time soon. The spring is moving slowly so at least I did not miss many blooms. Spring is always so hopeful, with the season ahead to watch plants struggle, get eaten by deer and slugs and languor from the lack of sunshine-but for now we hold high hopes.

Where's Anita?

The real news is the fun Anita and I had in California. We stayed in some great places and ate great food everywhere. We visited art museums, listened to symphony orchestras and walked all over San Fransisco. We road the buses, as well! Anita became a professional public transportation passenger, chatting with fellow riders where ever we rode and learning lots of new information about San Fransisco as a result. We even took the bus in the evenings, to dinner and to the symphony. Real city people!

Mary Ann, John and Anita

But as much as we enjoyed visiting the Bay area again, our highlights we clearly the smaller spaces. Anita is ready to move to wine country as soon as she wins the lottery. It didn't hurt that we had cocktails every night, wine tastings and beer tastings and then wine with dinner!

Along with the great meals and fine wines, we had excursions all over northern California. After visiting Jack London's Ranch (now a state park) I was greatly inspired to write at least 500 words each morning. Jack London wrote 1000! You can see by the lateness of this posting how long that inspiration lasted. The walk through his 140 acre ranch-park was spectacular and a real look at what California has been and is today. We also visited Old Sacramento and the State Capitol building and drove the gold rush trail. It is astounding the breadth and scope of California's natural and historic treasures .

Probably the most adventurous activity as far as Anita was concerned would be her ride around Davis with Colin on the tandem bike. We took a LONG ride but she was rewarded for her courage and balance with a beer tasting at the new beer stube in town.

 There were so many high spots I can not keep you attention and mention them all. Seeing Kyrsa and Dave and Colin and Susan  made everything fun. It was also nice to visit Mary Ann (Anita's sister) and John. It had been several years since I had seen them. There home is in a beautiful area just blocks from Folsom State Park. It is hard to believe the trip is over and California is so many miles away. But such a fun visit just reminds us all that visits do happen continually. There is always one to look forward to in the future. Thank you everyone for great times, great food, great laughter and always lots of love,

Mama Llama

In like a lion, out like a lamb?

Well let's hope so! March weather on the west coast has been wet wet wet but we are hoping that April will hold lots of changes for the better. Keeping that dream close to my heart, I ventured out into the garden this week to clean out the winter dead and make room for the little spots of bloom and blossom. The primroses are yellow and purple, daffodils bright lemon, the flowering plum bring in some shades of pink and the apricot is filled with white popcorn. All wonderful signs of Spring. This is the best season in my garden because it holds all the hope for summer while denying all possibility of failure.

Holding on to that hope, I planted peas, arugula,spinach and some lettuce this weekend. This way they will have 2 weeks to show themselves and I wont even be staring at them. I also set my artichoke starts into the front garden, surrounded by little green plastic tents to keep them warm. They look good so far and maybe the tents will let them grow before the deer spot them.

I cleaned and clipped roses but did not have time to spray before I leave, so I hope they are not pruned further by my 4-legged friends. I really need to build a fence to keep Duffy in the yard all day and all night. Maybe that would help! The neighbors might not enjoy the noise but there is always some price to pay.

For now, all it good and I am full of dreams of warm summer days. I am also thinking about life philosophies, solving world problems and generally meditating on life while I pull weeds and dig dirt. Do you realize that every person learns a language- some even learn Russian- when they are only 1 year old but at 20 we can hardly manage a second language. I think a big part of the problem is that after the age of 5 we stop playing with learning. The first language we learn by practicing sounds and saying senseless prattle just to see how it works. We love to show off our sound boxes all day long. As we get older, we want short cuts. We expect to learn what we want in the time-spans we choose. No wonder we become frustrated. Just like those little toddlers, we are still too impatient. And what about eunuchs? What was that about in the Byzantine culture? So many things for the mind to explore while the hands are tending to weeds.

As you can see, there will be epistles to come as the Spring proceeds. Tonight I am looking forward to 10 days in California. Anita and I will visit the Bay area, Healdsburg and the Sacramento Valley. We are throughing caution to the wind and packing swimming suits in case there is a pool somewhere, but more realistically we will probably enjoy a hot tub! I know there will be stories to tell when I return. Until then, love to you all and celebrate the beginning signs of Spring.

Love,
Mama Llama

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!