Five Things Meme

I usually don’t do these memes, but came across this on Les’ blog and it looked like fun:

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago:

- Living in a nearly 100 year old house on Bainbridge Island, WA
- Not feeling too much like Christmas having only recently lost my father
- Raising 16 year-old twins who each had their own cars and waiting up late at night waiting for the sound of the cars in the driveway
- Reviewing books and editing Rawhide and Lace Magazine (I was probably on a deadline)
- Still waiting for my ship to come in

5 Things on my To-Do List today:

- Wrap Chrstimas Gifts
- Get rid of clothes in spare bed room
- Order gifts from Heifer international for my brothers
- Finish Christmas cards
- Finish online shopping

5 Things I would do if I were a millionaire:

- Quit work and write that great American novel (and, in a perfect world, babysit my granddaughter)
- Revisit Ireland and Wales
- Move to one of our favorite places (we’d have two homes one in the San Juans and one somewhere warm – probably Kauai they've been our favorite places to visit over the years so why not live there?)
- Buy a boat hahahaha
- Have lap band surgery

5 Things I'll never wear again (or have never worn):

- High heels
- Hot pants
- Pantyhose
- Polyester
- Bikini

5 Favorite Toys:
- iPhone
- Laptop
- iPod
- Anything Kyra’s playing with
- TiVo

Dan Fogelberg 1951-2007

FREE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN TICKETS

No, I'm not giving them away. But I did get them -- in a roundabout way. Last night we went to the local Casino -- not something we do very often but one of my coworkers was "celebrating" her last day of work so a few of us met her there for some fun. I said at the beginning of the evening that all I wanted to do was win enough money to buy Bruce Springsteen tickets. I wanted to go to his March 29th concert so badly but couldn't really afford the tickets (around $220 or so) and they were going on sale the next morning. Now you have to realize, I usually lose the $20 I choose to play. Within 1/2 hour I lost that $20 on the penny slots and then since I had another $20 bill burning a hole in my wallet, I went and and got another slot ticket. I went to a nickle machine near where two coworkers were playing and sat down. It was one I didn't know how to play but I kept hitting the 18 credits. It got down to 40 credits left and I was trying to decide whether I was going to go for another $20 ticket or not. Then the machine started going crazy and giving me free spins. It finally got up to over 5000 credits. I did some quick math and thought - whee - I won over $25.00! I figured I'd take my winnings and go to another machine. I printed out my ticket and it read $271.10!!!!! Enough for my Bruce tickets! I didn't have to be told twice to go cash that baby in. We spent another hour or so at the casino watching everyone else play :-) So this morning my dear husband gets up at 8 AM to go down to the Ticketmaster outlet, stands by the front door for an hour and finds out that they are no longer a Tickemaster site!!! This is the little indy record shop I have always thought so highly of. Anyway, John rushes back home and sets up his own Ticketmaster account on the laptop despite never having tried to get tickets before. What a trooper. Alas I had to come to his rescue. By the time I ended up signing on we ended up with two general admission tickets -- no chairs - ugghhhh. But at least we have tickets. Let's see if these two people who are the same age as Bruce can manage this! Perhaps we can go to Stub Hub later and get better seats if we have to. But the best thing is -- Even when all is said and done, paying for a few drinks last night, I still have the $40 in my wallet I started with and Bruce tickets that I won the money for.

We figured the general admissions and decent seats went within 15 minutes in Seattle. I just went to Stub Hub and the great seats are going for over $1500. Even the GA are going for at least 50% more than what we paid. Darn! John just said we should have thought this through and bought four tickets. As they say hindsight is 20/20. I am really looking forward to this because I love his political diatribes and with the 2008 election coming around you know he is going to have A LOT to say! And the general admission will still be better than when I saw him over 20 years ago in Tacoma from the second to last row of the Tacoma Dome.

Great Bumperstickers

This is a car we saw on a side street as we were leaving our hotel in Olympia, WA a couple of weeks ago. So many times I try to remember the great sayings on the bumperstickers -- this time I actually pulled over and took a picture. Click to enlarge to read them better!

OCTOBER READS

Not a very good month as far as number of books read -- was reading too much reference on Alzheimer's I'm afraid. But I did finish the following:

Lottery - Patricia Wood - A

I was absolutely mesmerized by this gem of a read that tells of the $12 million lottery win by a man who is mentally challenged (NOT retarded but slow ). Plowed through it like mad! It was wonderful to read. First time I think I have ever read a book set in Everett, WA! (a town north of Seattle, not known to be the most, well shall we say, picturesque) - the aroma of the mills is mentioned and that says it all .

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer - A

This was a rare re-read for me. I had to read it again after seeing the movie. This story of Chris McCandless (aka Alexander Supertramp) and his fool-hardy adventures has been fodder for many discussions with my husband. I am sure more are to come as he is reading it now.

Service Included by Phoebe Dramrosch - B+

This was a Book Sense pick and is another in a succession of foodie memoirs I've been addicted to of late. This one is from a server/captain of Per Se restaurant in NYC (owned by Thomas Keller who also owns the famous French Laundry in northern CA). This tells of true gourmet/fine dining. It was very interesting to see how others dine - I doubt I will ever taste many of the foods on the menu at this place but I enjoyed the read.

Concert Review: Iris Dement, Olympia, Washington 10/20/07

Iris Dement is a folk/Americana singer who is probably best known for her song, "Our Town" which was the song played over the closing credits over the last episode of Northern Exposure or as a duet partner for such singers as John Prine. This is a copy of the review I sent to No Time to Cry, the Iris Dement internet discussion list of which I have been a member in some way or another for over 10 years:

Iris was in Olympia, WA October 20th for a fundraiser for both the Foundation for Self-Sufficiency in Central America (the same organization that brought her to Olympia two years ago) and for the Olympia Film Society. One thing I love about Iris - at the end of the show she asked concert-goers to contribute to these organizations whereas the opening act was hawking his CDs and art prints (perhaps he needed the $).

The show was to start at 8PM; we had conflicting reports of when we could pick up our tickets (all were will-call, no Ticketmaster for this show) and when the doors would open (7 or 7:30). We got in line at about 6:25, the box office opened at 6:30, the doors at 7. We went in the right side aisle and then saw the piano over to the left and I thought- aha - that is going to be the best place (special guests already had the first 4-5 rows center) so we found seats on the aisle in the 3rd row on the left side in this auditorium that seats around 600 (and amazingly wasn't sold out!)

There was a rather forgettable, and thankfully short, opening act. After a short intermission, Iris took the stage. I chose not to keep a set list during the evening and instead within half an hour after the show tried to write down the songs that were sung (I had my iPod to jog my memory). I can say she looked better and sounded better, was more self-assured than I have ever seen her.

Other than some strange leopard-print stockings, she was dressed lovely in a velvety skirt with jacket, very nice and even her hair looked very stylish and healthy. That said, it was clear she was still Iris with her sense of humor, her stating that it still felt strange for her to be sitting up on stage with us watching her. She said she likes it, but it's still strange. She said many nice things about her mother ("I may have tired her out,I'm afraid. She'll be 90 in February") in an introduction to Mama Told Her Truth.

Other than the first song and the encore, I have no idea what order the songs were sung - and forgive me for any omissions or errors as this was done by memory:

When My Morning Comes Around - started the show

New Songs:

Mama's Truth

River of Tears - Intro'd as a happy song

Anniversary Song (we have no title, others have called it This Love's Gonna Last, but she called it an anniversary song and since we are celebrating our anniversary on the 24th, I am calling it the Anniversary Song)

How I Learned Now to Pray (I loved this)

Goodbye Party (Great old Cindy Walker song)

That's the Way Love Goes (I had never heard her to this or the above song in concert before and particularly enjoyed this one)

****Another unfamiliar song - Applause was too loud when she announced who wrote/sang it originally

IRIS SONGS:

Mama's Opry

After You're Gone

He Reached Down

No Time to Cry

Let the Mystery Be

Easy's Getting Harder

The Way I Should

Encore:Sweet is the Melody --- and the piano broke - she mentioned earlier how nice it was to have a beautiful piano as it wasn't always the case. When this happened - and truly keys weren't playing - she said,"Looks aren't everything" She tried boldly to go on before switching to the guitar for:

Our Town

Her voice was strong, but as I believe others had mentioned, most of her songs had different arrangements than what we are familiar with on her CDs and previous concerts. I have no idea why that is, but after a bit, and being somewhat prepared, it really didn't make any difference. This was Iris and it was wonderful to be in the moment. She brought me to tears more than once. We had wonderful concert partners, a coworker of mine and his wife (he has been to about as many Iris concerts as I have so is a huge fan and agreed this was huge fan and agreed this was one of the best concerts she's ever done.

My conclusion is that it WAS the best Iris concert ever; if not the best concert I've ever been to. And this is despite the fact she didn't do my favorite, Walking Home. If you haven't seen Iris live, this is her best time. Even if you have, get out to see her again. She is magnificent.

Movie & Book Review: Into the Wild

I first read Into the Wild ten years ago when it first came out after finding out that parts of it are set in Carthage, Miner County, South Dakota pop. 187, a town where my mother has family and where her cousin was once mayor. My great-grandmother is buried in Howard, the Miner county seat. So that was the book and movie’s initial appeal. I mean this town is the true “blink-and-you-miss-it” town. That is, if one would ever even happen to drive through it as it isn’t on a main road. So I wondered, how young Chris McCandless, the subject of the book and movie ended up in Carthage in the first place.

Then I read that Sean Penn was finally making a movie adapted from the book and filming in Carthage. I thought it would be really interesting to see Carthage on the big screen. The first day it was showing in our little theater here in town I Shanghaied my husband (who really isn’t a movie goer, in fact if you ask him, on a scale of 1-10, that he’d suggest going to a movie as a form of entertainment he’d probably tell you –2) into going with me for the matinee. Now John had seen the Oprah show where Sean Penn and Emile Hirsch (who portrays young McCandless in the film) were guests along with author Jon Krakauer and didn’t think too much of McCandless so he was even less excited than usual about seeing this film. If he had known ahead of time that it was 140 minutes long he’d probably had left the theater after his first carton of Milk Duds. But the trooper he is, he persevered for my sake.

The movie adequately told the story of young Christopher McCandless who after graduating from Emory University, took off on a two year road trip, calling himself Alexander Supertramp. Very early on his car was destroyed and he abandoned it, burned what little money he had left and took off on foot. Some one say he was idealist others an adventurer, but others just reckless. Everyone seems to have his or her own opinion. What is clear is that he was found two year later dead in an abandoned bus just north of Denali National Park in Alaska. However his adventures along the way and the people he met tell a very interesting story. And the just how he died is still fodder for speculation although Krakauer does give his theory. Hirsch as McCandless is wonderful – his portrayal deserves an Oscar nomination as does that of Hal Holbrook as Ron Franz, the elderly recluse who befriends him. Told mostly in flashbacks, the movie suffers from uneven editing. I was also disappointed in the cinematography—the Alaskan scenes could have been brilliant but they were just average. That said, the South Dakota prairie was breathtaking. And it was fun to see Carthage. I think the entire town was filmed.

After watching the movie, I was compelled to read the book again. At only 207 pages it’s a fairly quick read. It was even more meaningful after watching the movie. I read many passages out loud to my husband and told him I thought he might change his opinion of McCandless. He is now reading the book. I don’t have the absolutely negative opinion of young Chris as many people have. He was a bit reckless, that’s for sure. But no more than many young men. As Krakauer mentions late in the book, it’s that attribute of daring that contributes to many young men signing up for the military—particularly in times of war. Yes, he did some things wrong. But don’t we all. The only reason that we’re reading about him was that he made some little mistakes that ended up killing him. He was actually a smart kid and I found a lot in him to be admired. It was sad he had to die. Any loss of life is sad. And that is what bothers me the most. That a parent lost a child, that a sister lost a brother, that a world lost a promising young man. There are lessons to be learned here, of course, but was the price too great?

Book Review: I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron

I had heard about this book for quite awhile before I ended up reading it. It wasn’t that it didn’t appeal to me. It did. Very much. I just couldn’t justify paying $20 for a 137-page book. Even after seeing the author on Oprah and laughing out loud several times, I didn’t buy the book. Les’ review almost convinced me though. I still couldn’t see how a millionaire socialite could speak to me. How could I identify with her? Eventually I checked the book out from my local library. I was sorry I hadn’t read it earlier. I found out we were alike in more ways than we were different. She is a little older than me, but I am experiencing some of the same issues she is regarding aging. However it wasn’t the essays on the physical aspects of aging that spoke to me the most. I loved her essays on life and friendships and child raising. But two of my favorite essays were the ones to do with reading --- one had to do with being unable to read, the decline of eyesight and having to place cheater eyeglasses all over the house (oh how I can relate!)

“I can’t read a word on the menu. I can’t read a word in the weekly television listings, I can’t read a word in the cookbook. I can’t do the puzzle. I can’t read a word anything at all unless it’s written in extremely large type, the larger the better. The other day I pulled up something I wrote years ago, and it was written in something so mall I can’t imagine how I wrote the thing in the first place. I used to write in twelve point type; now I am up to sixteen and thinking about going to eighteen or twenty.

And this

“Reading is bliss. But my ability to pick something up and read it—which has gone unchecked all my life up until now—is now entirely dependent on the whereabouts of my reading glasses. I look around. Why aren’t they in this room? I bought six pair of them last week on sale and sprinkled them throughout the house, yet none of them is visible. Where are they?”

My other favorite essay is one titled, On Rapture -- having to do with the spending several days in rapture with reading a book. It was then I knew, that despite her millions, her thinness, her cosmopolitaness, and her fame, that we were soul sisters.

“I have just surfaced from spending several days in a state of rapture—with a book. I loved this book. I loved every second of it. I was transported into its world. I was reminded of all sorts of things in my own life. It was in anguish over the fate of its characters. I felt alive, and engaged, and positively brilliant, bursting with ideas, brimming with memories of other books. I’ve loved. I composed a dozen imaginary letters to the author, letters I’ll never write, much less send. I wrote letters of praise. I wrote letters relating entirely inappropriate personal information about my own experiences with the author’s subject matter. I even wrote a letter of recrimination when one of the characters died and I was grief-stricken. But mostly I wrote letters of gratitude: the state of rapture I experience when I read a wonderful book is one of the main reasons I read, but it doesn’t happen every time or even every other time, and when it does happen, I’m truly beside myself.”

What avid reader hasn’t felt this way??

It was these two essays that convinced me that I had to own this book. No, I still didn’t pay $20 for a copy but I did fine a pristine used copy at Amazon.com so I can read these essays again and again. And enjoy them again and again. Maybe, as I grow even older I will find that I have even more in common with the author. Highly recommended!

Happy Birthday & A Fabulous New Gastronomic Discovery

It is AMAZING to me that after over seven years in Jefferson County and nearly four in Port Townsend we had yet to eat at the highly recommended Wild Coho Restaurant. For some reason this little restaurant in the Uptown District with only 10 tables had intimidated me. Perhaps it was that it seemed so elegant that I was afraid we'd feel out of place. The chef came to Port Townsend via two of the finest Seattle restaurants and we're lucky to have him. I was intimidated despite having been to some of the nicest restaurants in Seattle and other cities. Well tonight was John's birthday and I decided to surprise him with reservations at what proved to be an absolutely delightful and charming restaurant. On this, a Wednesday evening, only half the tables were full so we got the full attention of the server and our service was impeccable. And the meal, it was easily the best meal we'd ever had in Port Townsend. We started with Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter, Sage and Mascarpone followed by Organic Seasonal Greens, Tomato-Rosemary Vinaigrette, Roasted Tomatoes, Mt. Townsend Trailhead Cheese and Little Garlic Croutons. For our entrees John chose Grilled Lamb Sirloin with Grilled Onion-Artichoke Risotto and Tomato-Mint Relish and I had Grilled Flat Iron Beef Steak with Potato Garlic Gratin, Morel-Roasted Onion. Of course since it was John's birthday we had to top it off with desert and we chose to share the Trio of Custards--Espresso, Crème Brulée, and Cinnamon Plum Tea Custard.

One thing I love about this restaurant is that it uses local foods, from cheeses at the Mount Townsend Creamery to Berries and produce from the great Finnriver Farm, Chimacum and Greens, famous garlic, and potatoes from Corona Farms most every ingredient used is local. This is where I want to spend my money for a delicious meal. Another fun thing about this restaurant is on Thursdays they have their "small plates" where for $5, $6, or $7 diners can choose one or more plates at bargain prices. John and I have decided we're going to do this several times a month.

We have a lot of really great restaurants in this little town by the bay, The Silverwater, The Castle Key at Manresa Castle, T's, and Sweet Laurette's (our favorite for brunch) but it is clear we've found a new favorite. It was a wonderful way to spend a birthday evening.

Musical Review: The Spitfire Grill

After living in this community for over seven years we finally went to a performance by its community playhouse, The Key City Players, last night. The musical, The Spitfire Grill, is based on the movie starring Ellen Burstyn and has been a long-time favorite of mine. When we heard from our next door neighbor that he was going to be one of the performers in this musical, we knew right away that we wanted to go see it. The basic premise is this: Percy Talbott is a young woman who has just been released from prison (for reasons not revealed until much later) and takes a bus to the idyllic small town of Gilead, Wisconsin where she gets a job at the Spitfire Grill run by the crotchety Hannah Ferguson. Hannah, a widow who lost her only child in the Vietnam War, has been trying to sell her little diner (the only one in town) for 10 years without success. Hannah falls, breaking her leg, leaving the running of the diner to Percy and her nephew (Celeb)'s wife Shelby. They do a terrific job of bringing the sleepy little eatery back to life. In the meantime they concoct an idea having a raffle to get rid of the Spitfire Grill and even make a little bit of money. It isn't long before the entries come in by the mailbag loads. There are a lot of light moments as the letters are read (people have many reasons for wanting the Spitfire Grill). But a lot of questions to be answered -- who will win the Spitfire Grill? Who is the mysterious man showing up at the back of the grill every night? Will there ever be true love for Joe and Percy? And the music!!!! How wonderful to use music to give emotion to these wonderful characters. I particularly liked Percy's song "Into the Frying Pan" with sort of a country-western twang. Aimee Kelley Spencer who played Percy did a fabulous job in every aspect of this play. Other songs ranged from operatic-type songs done marvelously by Rowen Matkins to comedic relief by Deena Lien-Richards. Katherine Jensen did a fine job as Hannah Ferguson. The male actors, John Edwards as the villainous Caleb and James Milton as Sheriff Joe were no less sung and acted to perfection. And one mustn't forget the wonderful Mickey McKinney who actually speaks volumes without saying a word. As John and I both commented when we got home, it's marvelous and amazing to find that we have the talent in our small town to find actors who can so perfectly fit these roles. As much as we loved the movie, the musical was even better--the movie having ended tragically and the musical having left us with smiles on our faces. I can only hope we can find time to go see it again. Word is going to get out how marvelous this production is and the little theater only seats 45 people. Should we be selfish and see it again or let someone else have the experience???

September Reads

I had a good reading month -- most of it spent with Ruth Reichl and her foodie memoirs that I read one right after another and enjoyed immensely. If anyone hasn't read these, I would say although it isn't absolutely necessary to have read the first two before enjoying the third, it would really enhance your reading experience if you have a bit more background of Ruth's life. I followed these up with I Feel Back About My Neck by Nora Ephron and despite our vastly different backgrounds I found myself nodding in agreement throughout the book. I ended up with the first fiction in a couple of months, one of Meg Cabot's books for adults, Queen of Babble. I enjoyed the French setting and the fairy-tale feel to this book. It was a fun read.

Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl - 4.5/5
Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl 4.5/5
Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl 5/5
I Feel Bad About by Neck by Nora Ephron 4.5/5
Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot 4/5

A Date with My Son

It is a rare occurrence when you get to share with one’s offspring something you experienced at almost that exact same age. Last night I was able to relive a concert seen over 30 years ago, at age 27, with my son who will be 27 in April when we went to see the band Jethro Tull at the Paramount Theater in Seattle. This is a band I have loved for years – and hadn’t seen since August 15, 1976 at the L. A. Memorial Coliseum. I bought these tickets in May so have been looking forward to seeing the genius that is Ian Anderson and his band for a long time.

Our evening started out early when I picked Jake up at his home and we took the ferry over to Seattle. Since he’s the chef, he picked out the restaurant, I asked for one that uses local foods. He chose Restaurant Zoe, one the owners of the restaurant where he works as sous chef has been recommending. In fact, the chef-owner of Restaurant Zoe lives on Bainbridge Island and has dined at Jake’s restaurant, The Four Swallows, many times.

We arrived right on time for our 5:30 reservations. I let Jake pick out most of the appetizer and despite the fact I really wanted the foie gras, we had ricotta gnudi which was divine. Jake also chose the wine – and let me see if I can get this right, I did write it down: Podere Ruggeri Corsini 2004 Barbera d’Alba Armujan. One of the perks dining with my son came to light when, on overhearing a conversation our server discovered Jake was “in the industry” and asked him about it. Another appetizer arrived at our table compliment of the kitchen. We did each choose our own entrée: He had a braised short rib dish (it looked yummy) and as per my usual I had scallops. They weren’t as good as Jake does at the Four Swallows but they were unique and delicious. We ended our meal with desert and coffee, having had a wonderful meal with impeccable service.

It was then off to the beautiful Paramount Theater, one of my favorite venues in Seattle. I think the first concert I ever attended there was in late 1972 or early 1973 (Kris Kristofferson). It is a magnificent old structure and the architecture alone is worth a visit. Because I didn’t find out about this concert until tickets had been on sale for a week, our seats were in the third mezzanine, but the hike up three flights of stairs was worth it. Every seat in this venue of around 3000 is a good one and our seats in the first row of the third mezzanine were no exception.

I tried to prepare Jake a bit for the music. I explained to him that while Jethro Tull was a loud band and what we’d call hard rock back in the day, they were quite unique, taking their inspiration from more classical music. And indeed throughout the evening this proved to be the case as they played everything from Bach, to Henry VIII to a song inspired by Shakespeare. Of course they did many of the more well known Jethro Tull hits, Aqualung, Thick as a Brick, Living in the Past. etc. Ian Anderson, is a delightful stage presence, his foot work (prancing on stage like an elf) and this virtuoso flute playing (does anyone do this better?) has not suffered in the 40 years he has been performing. His voice still has the same quality we all remember and is instantly recognizable, albeit perhaps a bit weaker and in a different key, but it is that wonderful, delightful, sexy Ian Anderson all the same.

Unfortunately we had to cut our evening short as I was getting a migraine and Jake was feeling a bit sick to his stomach and we had a ferry to catch – not willing to wait until a much later ferry that would get me home after 2:00 AM.

Dinner at trendy restaurant - $150.

Ferry fare - $35.00

Concert Tickets - $115.00

Spending time with my son - Priceless

Fall Bounty & A Recipe

We feel our first attempt at growing vegetables has been a success! We've eaten over a dozen ears of corn, each one better than the one before. I told John that of all the fresh vegetables from the garden, the corn is what I will miss the most once it's gone. We have more tomatoes than we can possibly eat and I have been taking them to work to share with my coworkers. The cucumbers have been the best I have ever eaten. Next to the corn, the nicest surprise has been the brussel sprouts. Neither of us had even seen brussel sprouts growing before, never knew what they looked like in the garden. I really, really love brussel sprouts and eating them fresh are so delicious. Their test is less cabbage-y -- they seem to have a flavor all their own. I found this simple recipe a few years ago and it has been our favorite method of fixing them ever since:

2 slices bacon

1 clove garlic

1-2 cups brussel sprouts, cleaned and cut in half

Cut up bacon in inch long pieces and place in small frying pan, Add cut up garlic, once you have a bit of bacon grease, add your brussel sprouts and cook until heated through. Enjoy.

San Juan Sojourn Day 3

The Ferry on a "Soft" Day

Pelindaba Lavender Farm

Sunday morning we awoke to rain. Disappointing, but not surprising. We just counted ourselves fortunate to have had two warm, sunny days - two out of three, in mid September, we figured wasn’t bad. Again we had breakfast at the B&B including the wonderful granola. Our hostess, discovering John wasn’t fond of granola, had substituted a fruit plate for him – very thoughtful. Our tablemates were a younger couple from Malibu, California. Both composers, the woman is a native of County Galway, Ireland. We had a nice conversation about Ireland with them, and it brought back found memories of my trip there several years ago. I loved her description of the light drizzle we were having. She said it was a “soft day”. Charming.

During breakfast I asked our hostess about the lovely birdbaths in her front yard. We had admired them when we had arrived and on closer inspection saw they were made of old plates, platters, vases, glasses, and candy dishes. The next day we saw some in town at an artists’ cooperative. Discovering Debbie had made some of those in her yard, I asked if she ever sold any. She then said she hadn’t but she would. I am thrilled to be the owner of the lovely pink and crystal birdbath we had admired on our arrival. I may even try to make some of these myself.

So what to do on a drizzly day? We decided to abandon plans to go to Lopez Island due to both the weather and ferry schedule not allowing us as much time as we knew we’d need to get back to Anacortes by 6:30 to catch the last ferry off Whidbey Island and get home without driving around (ah the trials of being at the mercy of the ferry schedules). We hadn’t been to little Mitchell Bay so decided to drive back to the West side of the island and explore that area further. It was charming and the cabins were right on the beach. We decided to put this area on our list for a future visit. Then it was on to Pelindaba Lavender Farm as it was still raining lightly the majority of our time was spent in the gift shop where we bought a few items before heading back to Friday Harbor to get into the ferry line as it was recommended that we get there by 1:30 for the 5:00 ferry. One can then walk around town, have lunch and shop, just be back by 4:30 or so.

I had one more bookstore to hit, Boardwalk Bookstore. It’s a sweet little store and had changed location since the last time I had visited. I ended up with two books The Place You Love Is Gone: Progress Hits Home by Melissa Holbrook Pierson and in my quest to get off my non-fiction and memoir kick,The Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot. John, who although is a big reader, isn't as big a book buyer as I am actually found two books at this store as well, Dungeness Crabbing by Scott Haugen a book all about how to catch and cook crab including some great recipes and a lovely book called Diving the World, a Guide to the World's Coral Seas by Beth and Shaun Tierney (perhaps ideas for future vacations?). I also ended up buying a nice canvas bookbag to carry my purchases in.

If there is anything good about getting into the ferry line so early, it means we have a decent parking place for downtown Friday Harbor (which otherwise suffers from a lack of parking). By this time it was time for lunch and both John and I were anxious to go to an old favorite, The Front Street Ale House. Perhaps we were spoiled by the truly wonderful meals we’d had the last few days, because it couldn’t be because they were too busy. They were out of the lager I had ordered, the fish and chips were absolutely abysmally horrible including the worst tartar sauce I had in a long time, and John’s burger was horrible was well. Neither of us were able to finish our meal. Everything was so greasy and tasteless. The service was terrible. There was absolutely no excuse for this. We won’t be returning.

This experience and the weather both served to dampen our spirits, so we spent the rest of the time reading in the car. I ended up sleeping from San Juan Island to Lopez Island and was barely awake when we got to Anacortes. We were hungry again by this time, pulled into the Taco Bell drive thru and their computer broke down so we sat in line (again!). When we got to the ferry dock in Keystone, we found that the 7:30 ferry hadn’t arrived yet, so it would be a two-hour wait until our ferry arrived! Not only that, but they added an extra ferry due to the fact that they are on a one-ferry schedule between Whidbey Island and Port Townsend (one of the 1930s era ferries is broken down) so we could have, after all, spent more time in the San Juans. Oh well. We ended up spending over five hours in ferry lines. Next time we may fly up and rent a car.

All in all though, it was a nice little trip, although a bit disappointing to see how the millionaires and billionaires have taken over the island – the shoreline dotted with dozens – no probably hundreds of multi-million dollar mansions. The islands I have dreamed of living in since I first stayed there when I was 15 years old (first visited when I was seven) are now out of reach. And it makes me sad.

San Juan Sojourn - Day 2

The next morning came early and breakfast was served at 9 AM. The Kirk House is famous for its award-winning granola. This was served in a parfait glass topped with vanilla yogurt and strawberries – quite yummy. We were also served coffee, orange juice, apple strudel French toast, and a sausage patty. Our tablemates were a nice couple from Portland, both professors at Portland State University. John isn’t as familiar with the B&B experience as I am (I having stayed at many B&Bs in the UK and Ireland and the last time being in Savannah) and have always enjoyed it. He's preferred boutique hotels and renting cabins but now I think he's coming around to B&Bs with this experience and all the amenities.

After breakfast we were off to some sight-seeing toward the southern end of the island. Our first stop was a very lovely little flower farm called New Day Flower Farm where we found some very sweet little gift items. Then we traveled on to American Camp, a place I remembered from my Washington State History classes over 40 years ago and the famous “Pig War”. We stopped several places along the way to take pictures. At one pull out I saw what appeared to be several whale watching boats, having been a passenger several time I know that when you see the boats in a group, you are likely to see whales. I got out the binoculars. Sure enough, there they were, the magnificent animals – the Orcas. There weren’t a large number of them in this pod, not like two years ago when Quinn and I took PS Express out of Port Townsend and were fortunate to run into a “Superpod” of 3-4 pods and over 30 whales. We found out later that we were very lucky to see whales this day as most of them were out to sea, very few people on land having spotted them.

We traveled on down to Cattle Point, enjoying the lovely day, drove around the island a bit enjoying the luxury of having our car on the island and plenty of time to drive at our leisure without a ferry to catch today. We then drove back into town for a light lunch before embarking on our real adventure, a hike to the McMillin Mausoleum. Yes, the very one that Les had photographed in her blog a few months ago. After seeing her pictures I knew this once a place we just had to see. Despite having visiting the San Juans for over 40 years, I was unaware of this amazing piece of architecture hidden in the woods. No one I have talked to since has ever heard about it either. I was very excited to see it. and it was more amazing than I had ever imagined. The mile round trip hike took us past an century-old cemetery then through the woods on a narrow trail that dropped down to a service road leading to the mausoleum called Afterglow Vista. I wasn’t prepared for the magnificent structure in the middle of nowhere. It was sad to see that it has never been kept up, but that just added to the mystique. John and I had the place all to ourselves for the half an hour or so we spent taking pictures from all sorts of angles. It was unbelievable to me that there weren’t scores of people visiting this structure! In fact, our car was the only one in the parking lot. We only met one man as we were walking to the mausoleum and a couple as we were walking back – and this in the middle of the afternoon on a lovely Saturday summer day.

After our adventure it was time to go back to the B&B to prepare for our dinner. This time we had made reservations at arguably the best restaurant on San Juan Island, Duck Soup Inn. We had heard so much about this restaurant out in the woods, about its chef who uses local food and food from her own garden, sort of the Chez Panisse of the Pacific Northwest, that we made reservations several weeks before our arrival. The rustic décor belied the magnificent gourmet meal we were about to experience. We knew we had chosen the right place when they had free “Peace” bumperstickers to give out to their customers. Again, John had the lamb (he says to compare to the night before) and he said it was even better than the previous night. In fact, the best lamb he has ever had. This is really something coming from him as lamb is his favorite food. It was a difficult decision for me, I almost ordered the scallops again, but decided to have the prawns. I am still in heaven over their wonderful flavor, sautéed as they were in wild blackberries! We had wine, an appetizer (twice baked corn soufflé with goat cheese), soup, salad, and desert. It was a true epicurean experience that took two hours to slowly appreciate. It was almost an orgasmic experience. It is worth a special trip to the San Juans just to go to this restaurant. Be warned though, they are closed for most of the winter, and one needs to make reservations. We saw one couple turned away as we waited for our table. The service was as good as the meal. This was indeed a very special dining experience and we almost hated to leave.

We're All Here Because We're Not All There

Port Townsend residents, like those in many small, liberal towns, like to advertise their feelings on their bumpers, fenders, trunks, and elsewhere on the vehicles they drive. John and I are no exception. The mainstay of the Port Townsend local is the popular, "We're All Here Because We're Not All There" bumpersticker. It's the first bumpersticker I bought when I got my new car. I was able to move my "You may say I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one" bumpersticker from my other car because I had it taped in the back window. My other stickers include "Obama 2008", "Another Mother for Peace", "PT" (signifying a Port Townsend resident, I noted in Friday Harbor they have SJI), and the simple "Peace" sticker I picked up at Duck Soup Inn on our trip to the San Juans earlier his month. On my old car I had a sticker that said, "He's not MY president" I got a lot of comments on that one (all positive) ranging from simple thumbs up, to several people saying, "He's not my president either." It's all a way of expressing my freedom of speech -- on the highway, in a parking lot, or in my driveway.

San Juan Sojourn - Day 1

Kirk House, the 100 year-old home, now a B&B we stayed at while on San Juan Island















The Madrona Grill at Roche Harbor where we ate Friday for Lunch















A sailboat passing by the ferry (where we wished we were)


A birdbath crafted by our hostess, Debbie -- this is now in our front yard :-)

The Hotel deHaro in Roche Harbor at the NW corner of San Juan Island

We like to get up to the San Juan Islands at least once a year. We can see them in the distance from North Beach, which is less than a mile from our home. Every time I look out to the distance I yearn to be there instead of here. Last year we visited Orcas Island with a brief stopover at Lopez Island. This year we decided to go to the more populated San Juan Island.

Getting there was fairly easy. We took the 8:00 AM ferry - we left the house at 7:20 to be there by 7:30. The ferry took us over to Whidbey Island and we drove up the island and across the Deception Pass Bridge to Anacortes to the ferry dock there in record time, arriving there by 9:30 for our 11:00 ferry which got us in Friday Harbor by noon. The sun was shining and we were so glad to have a nice weekend. Since there were a lot of walk-on passengers we knew the restaurants in town were going to busy and since we couldn’t check into our B&B until 3PM, we decided to drive up to Roche Harbor to have lunch.

We enjoyed a fine lunch overlooking the marina, then walked around the beautiful Roche Harbor resort. Soon it was just about time for us to return to Friday Harbor to check in to our B&B, the lovely Kirk House , a 1907 Craftsman home. Our room was the “Trellis Room” and we couldn’t have been more pleased with our accommodations. Our gracious hostess, Debbie showed us around the lovely home and grounds and even provided us with an afternoon snack. The big king-sized bed was just too inviting and we decided to take a bit of a nap before embarking on a bit of a shopping trip in town.

One of my goals for this trip was to visit all four bookstores in the little town of Friday Harbor. I am proud to say I met my goal. I bought books in three of the stores. My favorite of the three was Griffin Bay Bookstore , a wonderful little store that has all the bestsellers and is a member of Booksense. This store also has a little coffee shop. It also has the good sense to be open until 9PM Friday and Saturday evenings! Here I purchased two books: On Rue Tatin by Susan Herrmann Loomis and The United States of Arugula by David Kamp. Then it was over to The Serendipity Bookstore, the used bookstore in town and what a charming store it is. Housed in a Victorian home it could almost be missed if one wasn’t looking for it. I was specifically looking for a nonfiction book by Laurie Colwin. The proprietor was familiar with the book, checked the inventory and didn’t have a copy, but she showed me where other similar books were and, of course I bought two, MFK Fisher’s The Art of Eating and Let Us Eat Cake by Sharon Boorstin.

Now it was getting on toward dinner time, but as we were looking for somewhere to eat, I saw that there was still an “Open” sign on the wine shop and they were advertising wine tasting. Well, it didn’t take me long to decide where we were going next. The fact that the third bookstore was in close proximity didn’t hurt either. After a bit of wine tasting (and some purchasing) we took the stairs to the third bookstore, The Harbor Bookstore. Now while this is a lovely little bookstore that I have visited several times before, most recently two years ago with my grandson, I couldn’t find anything I wanted this visit. It could be that I had more things on my mind, like dinner. We did get what turned out to be a fabulous recommendation for a restaurant from the clerk at this bookstore when she told us about The Backdoor Kitchen One would never accidentally happen on this gem of a place. Even when we were looking for it, we couldn’t believe there was a restaurant in the back of this warehouse. We were glad we persevered because in spite of the cool weather (without reservations, we had to sit outside on the patio) we had one of the most delicious meals we’d eaten in a long time (John had the lamb, I had the scallops). We returned to our B&B with smiles on our faces knowing we’d found someplace very special that we’d be able to return to often.

THE ONE YOU FEED

Native Wisdom
A Grandfather from the Cherokee Nation was talking with his grandson.
"A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.
"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves."
"One wolf is evil and ugly: He is anger, envy, war, greed, self-pity, sorrow, regret, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, selfishness and arrogance."
"The other wolf is beautiful and good: He is friendly, joyful, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, justice, fairness, empathy, generosity, true, compassion, gratitude, and deep vision."
"This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other human as well."
The grandson paused in deep reflection because of what his grandfather had just said. Then he finally cried out; "Oyee! Grandfather, which wolf will win?"
The elder Cherokee replied, "The one you feed."

Review: Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

The title of Gourmet magazine editor Ruth Reichl’s third food memoir comes from TS Eliot’s Four Quartets and is courtesy Ruth’s husband, Michael but the reader doesn’t understand his reasoning for the quote until near the end of this delightful collection of tales of Reichl’s time as food editor of the New York Times.

Filled with stories of her life as a critic, reviews of New York restaurants—well known and some not as well known, as well as recipes, this book is absolutely unputdownable. Imagine, if you will, how Ruth discovers, on a trip to NYC that her photo is plastered on bulletin boards in restaurants all over the city and decides that that she’s not going to be able to go to restaurants as herself and fairly do a critique. Instead she devises a plan. She will go incognito. Ruth enlists an old friend of her mother’s who was an acting coach and with her help she becomes Molly, a middle aged woman from the Midwest; Brenda a vivacious and friendly woman; the sexy Chloe; Betty a plain elderly woman, and even Miriam her own cantankerous mother. As one can well imagine, these women get very different treatment from one another and VERY different treatment from Ruth Reichl, the food critic.

My mouth was watering as I read of Ruth’s experiences in restaurants that I can only dream of eating at in NYC (although I do admit that I will attempt some good sushi again after reading how it is properly eaten) and I know that many a fine eating experience will be enhanced.

I borrowed the three Ruth Reichl books from the library, but will be buying copies of my own for my keeper shelf. I am not sure if I will eventually try any of the recipes, but I sure want to. The only thing that disappointed me was that after reading these three books, one right after another, that there are no more Ruth Reichl books to read. I guess I am going to have to satisfy myself with a subscription to Gourmet magazine and hope she has another book in her future with which to entertain her legions of fans.

We're Eating Them Now

Our Tomatoes are Ready!!!! Not many of them make it to the table though -- many of the cherry tomatoes get eaten directly off the vine. Such sweetness I've rarely tasted. The "Early Girls" are tasty as well. My favorite way to eat them is to toast a piece of bread, butter it lightly, cut it into quarters, then top it with a slice of mozzarella, a slice of tomato, and a basil leaf. Mmmmmmmm.

One of my favorite Artists - Susan Rios

Susan Rios is one of my favorite artists. I have long admired her work and have a print of her "After Breakfast" hanging, appropriately, in my dining area (hopefully it will someday be in a breakfast nook). Check out her work here: http://www.susanriosinc.com/

Book Review: Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl

Ruth Reichl has done it again -- completely mesmerized me with a book I found hard to put down.

The current editor of Gourmet magazine goes from food critic a New West Magazine to the LA Times in this, the sequel to her first memoir, Tender at the Bone. How she reinvents herself from a hippie living in a commune in Berkeley cooking for her housemates to being one of the most respected food critics in the country is told with her usual candor, intelligence, humor, and poignancy. Her essay toward the end about her struggle with infertility left me weeping. An unbearable heartbreak for Ruth and Michael had me so emotional I had to put the book down at one point. But then an act of extraordinary kindness on the part of some of her dear friends several pages later made me sigh.

Thank goodness I had already read her bio and knew that in the end things turn out well for her, but I was struck by how hard it must have been for her to write about some of these episodes and she addresses this in her acknowledgements at the end of the book.

I enjoyed the stories she shares of how difficult it is for one to open a new restaurant and was particularly interested in the story of Wolfgang Puck's wife Barbara (who we met briefly at her now-defunct Seattle restaurant several years ago).

Another excellent read from Ruth Reichl. Her third book, Garlic and Sapphires is next. I can hardly wait!

Trip to the Book Store

We went to the bookstore yesterday and true to my current memoir kick, checked out the biography/memoir aisles. I had even more books in my hands but sat in the cafe and went over them, deciding what books I just had to have now and what could wait, writing down the titles for later - purchase, library reserve, or paperpback swap request (although one I did check out and then bought from Amazon when I got home). I think we spent at least two hours on a sunny Saturday afternoon in the bookstore. It was uncrowded though and usually one has to fight for a table.

What I bought:

A STRONG WEST WIND by Gail Caldwell
Caldwell is the chief book critic for the Boston Clobe and she won the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism in 2001. This book is about growing up in the Texas Panhandle during the 50s and 60s as the liberal daughter of conservative parents (hmm, I wonder why this appealed to me :-))

THE HORIZONTAL WORLD: GROWING UP WILD IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE by Debra Marquart
Marquart grew up in North Dakota in the 60s in a small farming community where her family is descendants of Germans from Russia immigrants who settled there in the late 19th century. As my parents grew up in North Dakota and my father's parents were both first-generation Americans of Germans from Russian heritage this really sounded interesting. I've read a couple of essays already and am anxious to read more.

JAYWALKING WITH THE IRISH by David Monagan
About a man who relocated his family from the US to Cork,Ireland in 2004.

SHE GOT UP OFF THE COUCH by Haven Kimmel
Sequel to a Girl Named Zippy, on my TBR pile for several years and highly recommended.

Guidebooks to The San Juan Islands and Portland, Oregon for upcoming trips

The book I ordered from Amazon is THE GOOD PIG by Sy Montgomery - we nurtured a little piglet runt a couple of years ago and thought this sounded interesting, read some reviews and decided I wanted to read it sooner than later.

Others that look good and titles I made note of for later:

SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS by Laura Shaine Cunningham
THE SOUL OF A CHEF by Michale Ruhlman
FEEDING A YEN by Calvin Trillin
TURNING THE TABLES by Steven Shaw

Ah, so many books, so little time. . .

A Painting that Tells a Story

Meeting on the Turret Stairs by Frederick William Burton was painted in 1864 but one would think upon first glance that it was done several centuries earlier. I loved it from the first time I saw it and have a large print hanging in my hallway (the original is in the National Gallery of Ireland). One of my favorite places in the world is County Clare Ireland and I just this evening discovered the artist was born there in 1816.

I have often wondered about the story. It wasn't until tonight that I came across this:


‘The Meeting on the Turret Stairs’
Watercolour, 95.5 x 60.8 cm. (1864)

‘The Meeting on the Turret Stairs’ is one of the better-known works of Frederic William Burton. The theme comes from a medieval Danish ballad which describes how Hellelil fell in love with Hildebrand, Prince of Engelland, one of her twelve personal guards. Her father orders his seven sons to kill him.

They stood at the door with spear and shield:
‘Up Lord Hildebrand! out and yield!’
He kissed me then mine eyes above:-
‘Say never my name, thou darling love’
Out of the door Lord Hildebrand sprang;
Around his head the sword he swang.

Hildebrand kills her father and six brothers before Hellelil intercedes to save the youngest. Hildebrand dies of his wounds and Hellelil herself dies shortly afterwards.

Burton did not choose a violent episode and instead freely interpreted the story, placing their farewell on the turret stairs and leaving the reason for it to the imagination. His invention of the kiss on the woman's outstretched arm and the lack of eye contact adds to the poignancy of the painting.

Where I've Been - Look Carefully for Fiji :-)

Labor Day

It was wonderful to spend the day with my son at his waterfront home. Despite the weather he barbequed -- hand-ground sirloin - and these were gourmet burgers like no other. He had leftovers from the restaurant (he is sous chef at The Four Swallows on Bainbridge Island) consisting of chanterelle mushrooms. I am in LOVE!!! Such gastronomical ecstasy! It was almost a shame to put it on top of a beef and between a bun. Eating them a lone as sauteed to enjoy their full flavor was just a delight. Even more of a delight this day was spending time with my most favorite person in the world, my four-year-old granddaughter Kyra. She is truly grandma's girl and we had such a wonderful time together. I got to bring some of the extra chanterelles home for later; I wish I could have packaged little Kyra and brought her home for a few days as well, we just don't see her enough. But where we are now, seeing her every 4-6 weeks is so much better than it was two years ago when we couldn't see her at all, that I am, if not completely satisfied, grateful.