Summer Pottery Sale

For the third year Susan generously opened her house to several of her pottery pals for our very successful summer sale. (combined sales just over $3,200) Every year I promise myself I will make some new items, and every year I end up selling my old stock. I'll have to make some stuff eventually or else I won't be able to participate. I did all right this year (considering my very limited inventory) and have tucked the money away for an extruder I hope to buy next year. Here's some pictures:

Susan's packed dining room.

That's my table with the blue tablecloth.

And I had a few pieces on the second's table.

Charan chats with some customers.

The heart of the operation! Jill tallies up the sales, Kazumi wraps the purchases, and Susan keeps the music going.

Jill's Barney needs some loving.

I was surprised how sad I was to sell the very first mosaic I had made.

Time to relax!

Blind Wine Tasting Tonight!

I'm very excited for tonight's Wine Pundits gathering. We'll be meeting at Rick and Heather's for a blind wine tasting. I think they're really interesting -- tasting wine without the visual signals from the color, bottle, label. Should be an interesting night.

Heather selected a Tapas theme for the evening, which should be fun. I was going to make stuffed dates, but I'm having trouble finding them. I haven't given up yet so maybe it'll still happen. Just in case I've started roasting some garlic and red peppers for my hummus, but who knows? Maybe I'll get lucky and bring two dishes tonight!

Take Me Home Country Roads

Today I had lunch with someone I have not seen since June of 1979! Dawn and I first met in the 6th grade. She had moved to Puyallup from Alabama. We became friends, and even performed in the school talent contest together singing "Country Roads" with Cindy accompanying us on piano. Anyway, we were friends through junior high school but lost touch in high school as friends sometimes do. Dawn joined the Army after graduation, and I found employment as a secretary first at an office supply store, and then a construction company -- eventually moving to Seattle to attend an art school. Dawn contacted me first through Classmates.com, and then Facebook. It was great catching up with her, and I found out she lives in Spokane with her husband and two children so we made plans to meet during our annual trip through Spokane to and from Pend Orielle.

It was wonderful to see Dawn, and I recognized her right away. I swear she hasn't changed a bit except for losing her accent. She claims it can come back in an instant when her sister visits. Paul sat patiently as we commiserated about the usual aches and pains of growing old, losing memory and mobility, and the few odd (in her case) or many (in mine) pounds that have stuck to our bones.

I had warned Paul that she might tell a story. It's one she and I have discussed several times over the last few months. I know she tells it to express her gratitude for a kindness received when she needed it, but I'm usually left with this squirmy feeling that I should have done more. It was in the 7th grade, and I'm not sure why but for some reason Dawn started coming to school without a lunch. Somehow or another I noticed it, and started sharing the odd piece of the lunch my mom would pack for me. Dawn remembers how on Friday I got to buy my lunch, and I would share a slice of bread from my lunch plate.

Dawn did tell Paul the story, and as she was showering me with compliments all I could think was I wish I did more. I wish I was more aware of her situation, and I wish I had shared more. I wish I had invited her over to my house for dinner or to spend the night, and I wish I had made more of an effort to stay in touch.

It was wonderful to see her today, see her smile, and hear her laugh. I'm glad she's happy. And this time I'll stay in touch.

Time is just flying by.

This summer is just flying by. After returning from our trip in early July I've been running around looking at chicken coops (I really should write about that), going to rally's to stop a berm, trying to design a tile insert for a city street, book club get together at my house, artists' receptions, dinner invites, and visiting family members. Next week I'll be in Idaho and Spokane, and then I have a pottery sale to get ready for -- I'm just exhausted!

This morning was the kick-off breakfast for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. It was a great turnout, and very inspiring. If you'd like to participate by donating or joining our group of walkers click on this link .

Okay, got to go now. I have to make sure the puppies are happy, then go to my friend's house and check on her kitty and close some windows, and then I'm off to meet a friend for lunch.

Time just flies by!

Memorial Day Weekend

Some people like to get away for the holiday. Others plan gatherings and barbecues in the comfort of their decks and yards. Paul's plan was to bring home the laptop to prepare for the financial meeting he has tomorrow. Luckily I was able to steal him away for a few side trips.

Saturday was busy, tiring and fun. We rode our bikes down to the Proctor Farmers Market, about a five mile ride. We could have bought one of everything there, but luckily we remembered we didn't bring the car and settled on some cheese, asparagus, and baby bok choy. After we dropped off the groceries we headed to Tacoma Wine Merchant to pick up our wine club selections (and a few other bottles too). The weather was so glorious we didn't want to go back home so we headed off to Dukes for a late lunch and some water gazing. For dinner Paul barbecued a couple steaks along with the baby bok choy we purchased that morning. Then Heather and Rick surprised us with dessert which we enjoyed after a game of Scrabble (Rick won). They brought a growler of Oatmeal Stout (please correct me Heather, I know I didn't get the name right) which we had over vanilla ice cream -- a grown up (root)beer float. It was yummy!
Sunday we met Lynn for breakfast, and then did a "photo shoot" around the Bostwick Building. You'll hear about that later. Then we stopped at the Swiss to leave a card and some flowers in memory of Gayl Bertagni. When we returned home we set to weeding the front bed and building a small retaining wall on the side of our porch. Later that afternoon Kevin, Laura, and Jessica came over for a barbecue. We had shish-kabobs. It was a lovely day, but believe me I was ready for bed!

Monday started off slowly as we relaxed over coffee and pancakes. Paul decided to continue with the weeding while I started knitting some washcloths for Kevin. Then Paul set out to Salmon Beach to visit with the kids at their mom's house. I did some shopping, and we met up in time to throw together some dinner. We spread the last bag of mulch over the front bed and called it a day. Now all we need a vacation to recover from the three day holiday.

Downtown Farmers Market

Today Heather and I attended the opening day for the Tacoma's Downtown Farmers Market. I love farmers markets. So much fun to roam up one side of the aisle and down the other admiring the artfully arranged produce, tempting bakery items, ice chests filled with frozen meat and fish, and free cheese samples. Flower merchants whip together beautiful bouquets to adorn your tables, crafters proudly display their wares, food vendors from your favorite restaurants, and the people -- what better place to watch people?

Let's back it up a bit. First we must fuel our bodies so that we have the energy to shop, and so we stop at Satellite Coffee. Luckily for us Zachary was the barista on duty, and he quickly whipped us up our morning lattes: 12 oz Mocha with Soy for Heather, and a 12 oz Mocha with Hemp Milk for me. Since it was a special occasion we splurged on a blueberry scone, and a snicker doodle -- yum!

Fueled and ready for the day we arrived at the market to purchase our goods. Heather scored some lovely plants, spinach, green garlic, and rhubarb. I admit that I don't like rhubarb. I don't understand why it's good to take a hard stringy stem, add a bunch of sugar, and cook it to a gooshy-pulp to spoon on ice cream, or bake in a pie or cake. And why must strawberries be sacrificed to this gooey mess?

I copied Heather with the green garlic from Zestful Garden and spinach from Terry's Berries (we both read the Orangette blog on green garlic and spinach soup -- I'll let you know how it turns out), some cows milk blue cheese from Willipa Hills Farmstead Cheese, smoked Alaskan red salmon from Rolf's Choice, and Lime-Riesling Chimichurri from Sound Bites Sauce & Spread Co. My best purchase of the day however was several skeins of reclaimed yarn from the Smart Monkey yarn lady.

Such a fun day, but I was happy to take my treasures home and put my aching feet up for a rest. Can't wait till next Thursday.

What a Lovely and Busy Day

Phew!! Yesterday was a wonderful whirlwind of activities. I had decided to incorporate a daily walk into my exercise routine, and Paul figured no time to start like the present so off we went. We walked down to the local shopping center, stopped at a chain restaurant for some breakfast, and then off to the bank to make a deposit, turned around and stopped at the drug store for a few items, and then home we went. All in all maybe 2.5 miles 3 miles -- not a bad beginning.

I had just enough time to shower and have a cup of tea before I picked up Heather for the Chicken Class. On the way back we stopped at Watson's Nursery where Heather picked up some veggie starts and ladybugs, and then The Chalet for a cool drink before heading home.

Rick had invited Paul and I for dinner, which I had accepted quite happily (Rick is a fantastic cook). Paul brought some bread, cheese, and a bottle of wine, and Rick whipped up seared Ahi on toasted baguettes with mango salsa for our appetizers -- yum! Then it was off to the deck for some ceviche made with shrimp, scallops, and Ahi, homemade guacamole, and Tacoma Boys blue corn chips. So delicious and refreshing especially with the Rose they served. Afterwards we opened the Zinfandel that Paul picked up at the liquor store, and when that was done we opened a 1998 Hedges Cabernet Sauvignon that Rick won during a bid at the Tacoma Wine Classic .

The sun was going down, the air was cooling, and Derek and Whitney called with an offer of Apple-Pear Crisp which we happily devoured! Such a nice ending to the day.

Thanks to everyone for such a happy, busy day.

Tacoma Wine Pundits

Last night's gathering of the Tacoma Wine Pundits met at Rosewood Cafe. Paul and I found Jennevieve and Trevor already seated, and we quickly called the meeting to order over a bottle of Famega something or other verde (sorry Jennevieve) from Argentina (I think). Wait a minute, wait a minute...okay, just googled it: Famega Vinho Verde, a 2006 wine from Portugal. It was light, crisp, brisk, refreshing, and...white. I'm not a fan of white wines, and this wasn't going to pry me from the dark side but it's always good to try something new.

Heather and Rick arrived just in time to finish off the Famega, and dig into the "peasant plate" appetizer. Heather and I went to the wine racks to pick our next bottle to sample and decided on a 2006 Clos LaChance Meritage Red.

Jennevieve and Trevor selected the next bottle, a 2006 Cuillin Hills Columbia Valley Red Wine called Riff-Raff.

Dave arrived as we were finishing off the Riff-Raff and opening a bottle of Pont 21, a 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon from Coates Winery , Tacoma's first winery recently featured in The Tribune. We ended the evening with another bottle of the Meritage Red, which was voted the favorite wine of the evening.

It was a fun night, filled with some good food, friends, conversation and of course wine. I can't wait until next month. We're going back to Pour at 4 where they are kindly putting together a wine tasting night for us.

There's always another chair we can pull up to the table, so let us know if you're interested in joining us!