Coffee

Remember when I said I found a great little coffee shop that served the 'best' cup of coffee when I visited the opposite coast a few weeks ago? And that I thought it was funny to discover a small local (to my area) roaster all the way over there? Well...thank goodness I've found a similar place nearby that uses the same beans and makes the same good coffee! I met up with a friend there yesterday to catch up and here's what else I found: baked goods and gelato, wooden furnishings with character, a variety of seating options, a lot of windows (love that), friendly local owner. Great!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend,

Margaret

Comfort

I'm a bit under the weather today so it's a good day to stay home and do a few things. Not much however! There is something nice about sticking around. Doing laundry and putting things in their place. Listening to the washer and dryer do their thing. Curling up in a blanket with a book. Baking a batch of my favorite cookies. Mmmmm..........I don't do that often when the boys are away.

Hope you have a great day!

Unpredictable

I've had a chance to spend time with each of my boys lately. During the past couple of weeks they've all been home. Connecting with them is a bit different now than when they lived here full time. Face to face interactions are priority. It's a treat not to have to communicate by cell phone or the Internet. When they're around I clear my calendar to just hang out with them. When they want to talk, I stop what I'm doing to hear what they have to say.

Last night we took the two that are here this week out for dinner.  It started out as a typical spring evening, with sun drenching the pavement in between downpours. On the way home it began snowing so hard that it became difficult to see. Huge silver dollar flakes landed on the windshield and soon after we arrived an inch or more was built up on our patio. I have to say......I enjoy the unpredictability of it all.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend.

Approaching Venice

The general area that I live in is threaded with bodies of water, large and small, all of which ultimately flow toward the Pacific. It is not unusual in the span of a day to either cross over water or to follow along it's shore.  Both dwelling place and industry are built to take maximum advantage of what a section of waterfront has to offer. Sailboats, fishing vessels, canoes, houseboats, ferries, cruise ships, cargo ships and seaplanes are common sights. Streams tumble down westward slopes, merge into rivers and flow toward large lakes and the Puget Sound. Beyond the mainland waterfront, the sound is dotted with islands that harbor life for different reasons and at a different pace than in the city. We are all interconnected and influenced by our proximity to this tangled flow of water.

Even though bodies of water are a daily norm for me, I was still surprised and unprepared for the short time that we spent in Venice this fall. Its 117 islands, 400 bridges and 177 canals. Its age and color and beauty. Its richly woven tapestry of history. Its waterways that serve the same purpose as the roadways I am used to: Moving people in taxis and buses. Moving groceries and goods.

We packed whatever we could  into the day and a half we were there, making our way to the island of Murano to look at glass via a water bus. Pasta and a glass of wine for lunch. An evening gondola ride. It was warm and bright and sunny during the day and glowed with reflected light in the evening. The most impressive part of our visit, I think, was our arrival. We stood on an upper deck to watch the city grow large during our ship's approach from the Adriatic to the Grand Canal. It was colorful and thrilling...... and as I sift through my photographs, I remember what I felt: This is new to me. I am in a place I have never been before. I will get as much as I can out of it while I'm here.

The photos below are a set (in order) taken as a tugboat lead our ship toward Venice .

Where ever your travels take you today......I hope you enjoy them.

March: In and Out

March came in like a bossy lion who decided it would be OK to stick around for the rest of the month. That overbearing dictator plied us with never-ending bouts of wind and rain.....I'm sure scaring whatever lamb that was supposed to show up somewhere far south of here. There are flood watches in the lowlands, avalanche warnings in the mountains and fallen branches scattered all over the place. 

Throughout the gusts and pounding downpours however, blossoms have managed to stay put at the end of skinny tree limbs and my daffodils still stand upright. I'm thinking that lamb is actually out there disguised in the pops of color and new growth showing up against the gray and the wet. The light isn't bad for taking pictures. The rhubarb is up in my garden (although the picture is of my friend's rhubarb). The boys are in and out for their spring breaks. I'm pretty sure the weather will eventually calm down, but for now it's fine for baking and catching up and spending time with them. Yep....it's out there.

Wishing you a peaceful weekend.

Warmly, Margaret

A Few Pictures From Boston



The Granary Burying Ground where Paul Revere, Samuel Adams and John Hancock are buried. One grave simply said "Frank, Servant to John Hancock Esq lies interr'd here". Another, which visitors had placed pennies on the dirt in front of, was supposedly the grave of the original Mother Goose .







The Frog Pond



Detail from Paul Revere House, built in 1680



The kindest man. He stopped us on the street to let us know what was important to see in his neighborhood, The North End.



My favorite person to travel with.

Things I loved about our few days in Boston...a city I hadn't been to before:

The very old pressed right up against the very new. The food. The friendly people who knew everything about their city and wanted to share it with us. Watching sailboats and sculls practice on the river. That almost everywhere I turned some piece of history, art, literature or culture was referenced. Cobblestone and brick roads and walkways. Walking around the North End in the evening while it was snowing. The college students in the coffee shops. That you can follow the Freedom Trail by a red brick line in the sidewalk. Making mental notes about what we will do next time. That I think I could be in that city for a year and not run out of new things to do or photograph.

One thing I noticed is that there are sculptures everywhere that commemorate almost anything you could imagine. My favorites were George Washington on his horse, Benjamin Franklin, the frogs at The Frog Pond and the Make Way For Ducklings ducks. I also loved The Ether Monument, which commemorates....yes...the first use of  general anesthesia during surgery. And it is huge. And ornate.

Hope you have a wonderful week!

 Margaret