{this moment}

Joining in once more with Soulemama (a day late! blogger was giving me trouble yesterday) for {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

*Surprise!*

Look what I found in the garden!  I was so excited, I just had to share. :)

Morels!  It's rare that I find them in the woods, and lo and behold they were right in my own asparagus patch.  I was looking to see if the asparagus was up yet, and found these instead!  I wonder if them came in with our wood chips...or maybe some fairies left them for us? ;)

Put a Nettle On It!!

In the springtime I go nettle bonkers.  They grow all over here, and I never know when I'll find another sweet patch of them, so I keep my gloves and pruners and an extra bag in my car at all times, so that I can hop out in between running errands and nab a bunch.  Right now I'm drying them under the stove (because even though it's spring it's as cold as winter this morning), freezing them, and keeping some fresh on hand for cooking.

My favorite dish this spring (because it tastes good and it's super easy) is potato-nettle soup...I make it like potato leek soup, but with a bit less leek and a lot more nettle. ;)  I'd share a recipe with you, except I don't actually have one with any precise measurements...I pretty much just sautee some leeks or onions with butter and olive oil, toss in some leftover potatoes from the bottom of the basket, add water, rosemary, salt, and pepper, and boil them. Then I toss in as many nettles as I can fit in there, cook them for about ten minutes, and then puree it.  It tastes great every time, but the time I added cream cheese to it, it was on a whole other level of awesome!  So, if you have some nettles and taters around, give it a try!  It'll fill you up and keep you warm on those rainy still-a-bit-chilly spring mornings...

Love ~

Kate

Spring in Bloom

Just wanted to share some of the beauty that is springing forth where I live.  These flowers are all native to the Pacific Northwest and are taking over my front yard where the lawn used to be. They just make me so happy!  From top to bottom ~ chocolate lily (aka 'rice root'), pasque flower, bleeding heart.  The pasque flower has mutated this year to an incredible velvety double bloom that is blowing my mind!  I've never seen one like it before...I've never seen a white bloom on a chocolate lily before, either.  Maybe there is some magic afoot here...

Springtime love to you all!~

Kate

{this moment}

Joining in with Soulemama for a Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

A Day in the Skagit Valley

My dear sister Kris recently came over from England to pay us a much-longed-for visit.  She has lived there seven years, and we usually see her once a year, in the Spring.  I always look forward to seeing her so much, and this visit was especially magical because we had a new baby for her to meet!  Opal hadn't been out much yet, but during Kris's visit our typical drizzly Cascadian Spring weather departed and we had a week of gorgeous, warm, brilliant sunshine.  It was time for some outings, and this mama was seriously ready!  Every day was dazzling, but I think the most wonderful was the day we packed up and drove over the Chuckanut Mountains to explore the magical Skagit Valley.

 The famous tulips were not in bloom yet, but the daffodils sure were. 

Seventy-five percent of the commercial tulips in the US are grown here, goodness knows how many daffodils...it's a strange beauty, the dramatic, unyielding swaths of color that make up these fields.  It's hard not to be captivated, and yet, this is monoculture in all its deceptive array.  So pretty on the surface, but beneath it's obvious something is missing.  Because these fields, left wild, support plant and animal communities that carry more majesty and mystery than any cultivated flower could.  Like the snow geese.

Mid-migration to the Alaskan tundra, the wildlife refuges and open fields in the Skagit Valley provide gathering space for massive flocks of thousands of birds.  The kids were awestruck.  My sister had never seen anything like this before.  The fields were blanketed with them - from a distance it seemed that the ground had been dusted with snow.  The air was filled with snow goose conversation as they chatted and chortled amongst themselves for acres and acres,  It was pretty amazing.

I wish we could have stayed there all day in that field, but hunger eventually called.  We stopped by our friends' farm stand up the road, a county treasure called 'Snow Goose Produce.'  They got a big box of my fairies to sell among their arts and crafts.  I was excited imagining all the people they will go home with this year!

 The farm stand is known for its 'immodest ice cream cones,' which is quite the understatement.  The things have about a pint of ice cream apiece in them.  It's freaky.  We stared at folks carrying them out and knew we'd be in for a disaster and a half if we attempted it.  So we went for the kids' cones instead, which were still plenty big for these guys, and Kris and I were happy to finish them off when they were full.  And of course we shared a couple San Pellegrino sodas.  (They were my standby during months of morning sickness, but they taste even better when I'm feeling good!)  Eli did NOT want to share.

The kids associate them with really special occasions (we let them have some at a couple weddings last year) so they knew this must be a pretty special day.  Wow, not only is the sun out, but even the juice is sparkly!  He let Emma have a drink after a bit of coaxing.

And yeah, check out the haircut.  Oh my.  Emma had chopped his bangs the week before!  Thankfully he didn't mind. ;)

Opal wasn't sure what to make of the sun.  She hadn't experienced it much before.  She didn't like it in her eyes so much, but I think she liked the feel of it on her skin.  I took her out of the wrap so she could wiggle around in the warmth.

We drove home tired and sun-kissed, our cheeks showing their first hint of color.  We knew that though the rains would return soon enough, Winter's time here was truly done, and we had all of spring to look forward to.

Thank you for the adventure and the wonderful visit, Kris!  We love you and miss you ~ can't wait to see you again!  May the sunshine follow you home.

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

*Baby Love*

*Snapshots from these past seven weeks with Opal...we are so in love...*

 

 

 

Hooray!

This last picture especially makes me smile.
Can't wait to see what the future holds...
*

~Hope you are all well and enjoying these new spring days~