Almost Spring

I enjoyed a lovely bike ride last week, and along the way saw a few beautiful signs of spring approaching. I captured some photos during my trip, and when I got home, took a few more.

Daffodils emerging

Heather in bloom

A bed of primroses

Plum tree buds

Bluebells sprouting up through a mulch of leaves

First crocus in our front yard

Bicycle Photo Fun

The good people at EcoVelo are having a bicycle photo contest this month. Their site "celebrates the beauty of the bicycle and the joys of everyday bike riding." I've enjoyed reading their posts, and the photos are terrific, so I thought it would be fun to participate by submitting a few of my own amateur bicycle photos. My favorite is #2, Gardening with an Xtracycle.

You can see all of the entries here. Feel free to post all kinds of nice comments about my photos. Thanks!

Small Grocery Trip with Flowers

Happy Valentine's Day

Young love, 1984

Grandpa Hoot

Good memories. Lots of love. We'll miss you, Grandpa Hoot.

Happy New Year

New Year's Eve Party at Our House:

16 young adults + a few older ones
Drums, guitars, bass, and piano
Games, computers, videos, and movies
Pizza, ice cream, pop, and lots of little oranges
Time to play and time to talk
Hours and hours of pure fun!

Happy Winter Solstice!

We're enjoying a wonderful, snowy winter solstice. We've got 6-8 inches of snow in the front and back yards, and everything is covered!

Plum tree

Lonely swing

Back yard

View from the deck

Pond, what pond?

Happy dog

This Week in the Garden

More snow!

First Snow

Last night we enjoyed a really beautiful bike ride around town during the first snow of the season. It was quite chilly, but we bundled up and used our human-powered engines to keep warm. We started with a couple errands, to get a movie and a few groceries just up the street. Then we kept riding to enjoy a tour of all the pretty Christmas lights decorating the neighborhoods. Of course we wanted to participate in decorating the darkness, too, so before we started our ride, Don rigged up some battery-powered twinkle lights on the bikes. All the people we passed seemed to enjoy our festive lights. By the time we got home, it was snowing quite a bit, and we were ready to go inside, build a fire, and warm up. Happy first snow!

First-Class Farmers

I just finished typing up a lease for a new farmer we'll be working with next year. He's a really nice guy - the neighbor of the farmer who has been farming our land for the past couple decades. We've used this same lease with farmers for our family wheat farms for a long, long time. My favorite part is this:

"The Lessee agrees to perform all work necessary to carry out the terms of this lease and to farm said premises in a first-class farmer-like manner, planting the same crops in proper season, according to the standards maintained in the community..."

First-class farmer-like manner! It doesn't get any better than that. I'm keeping this clause in the lease until someone makes me change it. It reminds me of my grandpa, a first-class farmer himself. Here's to you, TR. We love you.

Climbing

Remember this cute photo? Yes, Ben is very high up. Really high up.

Well, we just found another photo of the same tree.
Ben's friend Dan is at the top.
Very big tree.
Lucky for me I hadn't seen it before.

But wait...pull back with the camera.
Oh my.
See that speck at the top of the tree?
Yes, that's still Daniel.

Some things a mother just shouldn't see.
Never should have let him start climbing trees at age two.

* Photos by Ben & Andy

Winter Blooms & Berries

A few garden flowers and berries still seem happy as winter approaches.


Lavaterra

Calendula

Candytuft

Nasturtiums


Evergreen Huckleberries

Frisky Yoga

We just found a couple more fun photos of Ben and friends from camp. They worked for several days together learning yoga from wonderful staff member Abbi, the yoga goddess. You can tell they're having fun demonstrating their new skills, as well as their strength and concentration.


* Photos by Andy & Emily

Buy Nothing Day

Join us for this wonderful annual celebration: Buy Nothing Day!

*
Relax,
sleep in,
avoid the stores,
contemplate simplicity,
spend time with family and friends.

Enjoy the day.

One-Car Family

Goodbye, RAV4.

Hello, Xtracycles!

Well, it only took us three seasons - spring, summer, and fall - to decide that we no longer needed our second car. So we said goodbye to the RAV, and we're doing just fine with our one other car and our bikes. We haven't really driven the second car for months, so we thought it was time to let it go.

It's easy to cycle in the summer, but we wanted to test our resolve during the colder, rainier months of autumn. We still love it. There are plenty of days when it's clear or just a little rainy. We bundle up a bit more and pedal on our merry way. We're also learning to enjoy bus rides along the many routes available to us all around town. Next fun challenge: snow!

Hooray for no more insurance, gas, and repair and maintenance for an extra vehicle! Hooray for cool autumn days, riding along streets with pretty fallen leaves, warm clothes, and rain gear!

Life is good.

Important Uses for a Dining Room Table

Planning and adjusting parts of the bass neck

Rough-cut bass body lined up with the neck

Fort Worden

Last month, we went to Fort Worden for the weekend with a small group of homeschooling friends. We had fun exploring the forts, the trails, and the beaches of Port Townsend. A friend took this cool picture of Ben.

Northwest Harvest

We love volunteering at the Northwest Harvest food warehouse with our Seattle Homeschool Group. We have been helping there every month or two for the past couple years. We're never quite sure what foods we'll be helping with on any given day, but it's always lots of fun. This month we helped sort and pack about 4,000 lbs of soups and tortillas, and 1,000 pounds of coffee. These items will be distributed to area food banks all across Washington state. As you can see, the teens are all clustered together, working side by side. The parents are there too, just at the other end of the tables. We all enjoy working and chatting together.

Here they're sorting and scooping coffee into smaller bags.

A few of them finished early and are waiting for their next task.

Yes We Can

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place
where all things are possible;
who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time;
who still questions the power of our democracy,
tonight is your answer."
President-Elect Barack Obama