Polly and the Horses

Behind our property, there are several large farms with farm animals.  Our favorite 'friends' for Polly the Dog are two lovely, docile white horses.  When we take our walk in the neighborhood forest, the horses see Polly coming along the path with me, and they hurry over to say hello.

Here are a couple of pictures showing Polly having a conversation with her friends.

 

 

Kaila's Piano Lesson

Every Thursday evening, I travel to Kaila's home in Bothell for her 5 p.m. piano lesson. We are just beginning her fourth month of lessons, and she is doing well.  In February, she will be able to read all of her musical notes in the treble and bass clefs, and the world of music will be open to her!

Here she is, doing her rhythmic warm-ups before her lesson, and also getting ready for our Dalcroze Eurythmics, which enables a musician to use physical body movements to enhance the emotional and intellectual experience of music.

 

 

The Seed Catalogs Have Arrived!

The best part about January is looking at the slumbering earth and then dreaming of the flowers and vegetables that will be appearing later this year in the spring.  The colorful, glossy flower and vegetable catalogs, while in direct contrast with the pale colors of the wintry earth, tell us to be patient as we wait for the earth to awaken again.

I sat down last Sunday in front of a lovely fire and made my way through all six of the catalogs that arrived in my mailbox these last few weeks. I've finally made my selections, and later this week, I'll go online and send in my order.  Now we have about six weeks to re-build our raised beds in the garden, bring in some improved three-way garden soil, and amend it all with a little sand and compost.

There will be fewer vegetables this year, and more flowers, especially dahlias.  I can't wait to get underway!

Winter Grilling

Even though it is winter, the sun was shining today, blue skies abounded, and the barbecue grill was beckoning!  We put a Chili-Lime rub on a huge piece of salmon, and dinner was underway.

Polly the dog supervised the grilling process, lying on the grass chewing on her ball.

The salmon was served with baked russet potatoes, salad greens and tomatoes from the Maltby Market, and of course, fresh-baked apple pie for dessert.  Yum!

First Tulips of the New Year

I love the brilliance of color and the wild abandon of tulips!  Here is my first bouquet of the new year.

Christmas Cookies

I didn't make many cookies this year due to our many pie orders for the Maltby Pie Company (10 for Thanksgiving and 10 for Christmas!), but we did take the time to make these wonderful sugar cookies and then paint them with frosting.  They are so festive and colorful!  The cookie cutters and ingredients (including food coloring) were from King Arthur Flour Company in Pennsylvania.

Holiday Greenery in a Yellow Ware Bowl

I loved the way my holiday greenery from my Christmas centerpiece from Liz looked in an antique Yellow Ware bowl!

More Christmas

...a couple more pictures of our family Christmas!  Everyone had such fun opening their presents!

Dogs love Christmas, too!

 

Kaila loves Disney!

 

Matt and his dad Don

 

 

Christmas Day

The big day finally arrived!  Mom stayed overnight Christmas Eve, and we had an early breakfast Christmas morning.  Since we were  having a buffet dinner at 1 p.m. in the afternoon, the morning went quickly.  Our sons arrived around noon, and we had fun visiting before we sat down together and shared our meal.

We all had fun opening the stockings that were a new tradition this year, and it was fun guessing what our gifts were!  It was a wonderful day.

Christmas Eve Church Service

Our neighbor, John, is a Baptist minister, and the church he founded several years ago meets one block away in the middle school.  They were having a 4:30 p.m. Christmas Eve service, so Mom and I drove down to attend it.  It was a beautiful, clear and dry evening, and there wasn't a single seat left by the time the service started.

It was a wonderful time of singing and hearing the Christmas story, and seeing our friends and neighbors.

 

 

Christmas Eve Brunch at Preservation Kitchen in Bothell

I picked up my Mom on Christmas Eve at 1 p.m. and we met Don at Preservation Kitchen in Bothell for their Christmas Eve Brunch.  The brunch is something new they are doing this year, and it was good to take time out of a hectic day and slowly savor a great meal.

Here's Mom and a picture of this beautiful Craftsman Bungalow, along with Gingerbread Pancakes!

 

 

 

 

My Birthday Lunch and Dinner

Being born three days before Christmas has its advantages--I get taken out to a lot of wonderful meals, giving me time for a break from my own cooking and baking!

Now that I am retired, I can go out to fancy lunches instead of always going out to dinner.  So, we went to lunch at Italianissimo in Woodinville, and had my favorite meal there--home-made ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese.  Don had angel hair pasta with chicken and asparagus, and the lunch was perfect in every way.

Later that evening, Dave and Kaila took us out to dinner in Mill Creek at Boston's.  We had a fun evening of food and visiting, and hearing about Kaila's two weeks in Hawaii (she just got back on December 21).