more of pender

I can't resist posting a few more shots of Pender Island, and also of an incredible high tea at the Ellice House that we enjoyed while in Victoria (which altogether pales in comparison to Pender (aside from the delicious tea!), but does offer civilization--the merits of which I am still debating).

our time in the land of the heart-shaped stone . . .

We just returned from a blessedly wonderful week on Pender Island. Here are the things I brought home with me:

--the sound of a butterfly's wings (like crepe paper)
--the taste of rose petals (a little like mint)
--the warmth of stones baked in the sun
--the chill of morning
--the blood-like taste of iron in the water
--the knowledge that our world is both infinitely large and infinitely small
--the iridescence of a peacock's back
--the feeling of breaking shale
--the way my sister's hair falls across her face
--a burnt scalp

What an impossibly beautiful place it is.

sunsets, sunflowers, and late nite walkies

Midsummer here is not nearly so unbearable as in town. It cools off when the sun sets. The breeze picks up, and it's altogether a pleasure to be outside. We have been walking the new gravel roads in our community, where some nasty developer is hoping to make his/her fortune. They are terribly beautiful right now, though, just trees and dirt and sky. We hope the economy collapses and those roads remain our own private abandoned trails.

the new yorker is funny

OK, so the New Yorker is copyright protected and I can't post a very big image of this cartoon, but it is one of the funniest in a while. It is a shot of a baby kicking its mama in the face with the caption "I can feel the baby kicking." That's where we're at right now with Laurel. She is crazy active and ready to be on the move.

the view from up top

We have been spending a little time in the evenings on our upper deck, and have noticed that we have a family of deer who come to visit our dry pond bed, where they nip off the tender grass shoots. There are FOUR fawns! They frolic about and are really darling. (And they make me happy that our yard is privacy fenced, because I'm sure they would take advantage of any and everything edible up here.)

lazy days

It must be summer when a trip to the grocery store constitutes your main event of the day. (Or maybe that's just family life at any time of year??)

I must confess that the other tremendous weakness (and time killer) I have succumbed to recently is shopping for farm sinks on craigslist and e-bay. I may come up with the perfect one yet. Here is a shot of one of my recent lovies. The problem with the apron-front jobbies is that they are a booger to mount and incredibly heavy to boot. I may just do a 50's style with double drainboards and a high back. I think that would work nicely with the stove, and would allow us to do a drop-in installation, which would be a lot easier.

I have been pestering handymen about installing a new window in my kitchen (the one we've got has a broken seal). You wouldn't think it would be so hard to get that kind of simple task done, but it seems to be significantly more challenging than launching a space-ship.

festivities

We have returned from a four day trip to North Carolina, where it is very very HUMID! We were there for a family reunion (my father's side). It was quite a bit of schlepping, but my Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Richard and Aunt Lea had never met Laurel, so I think it was really important. Aurora loved getting to play with Carsten and Hunter, we went on a trail ride and went "gemming" (polished stones salted throughout a bucket of sand and then seived in a man-made stream), and within a few moments of arriving at the resort my behind was soaked as a result of a canoeing adventure with two of my younger cousins. Tim busted his butt zip-lining through the forest and Uncle Will fell out of his whitewater raft twice. Fun times to remember. We failed to bring along any of our multiple cameras, so I will just include a few shots of Rainbow Lodge, where we stayed.

This area of NC, in the Smokies, is actually a temperate rain forest and receives 80 inches of rain a year!

a little taste of heaven

If you ever have an opportunity to purchase some Fowler's Texas Cream Honey--DO IT! The stuff is unbelievably delicious. From bees outside of San Antonio.

It has rained. Thank goodness.