Ballard on Syttende Mai

Ballard used to be parodied on the local skit comedy show, Almost Live, as a neighborhood in Seattle full of old, cranky, Scandinavians. My favorite involved the Ballard driving school, where you must have your blinker on at all times and your seatbelt hanging out the door to get your license. Today it's more often referred to as a quaint little drinking village with a condo problem. There are plenty of bars and plenty of condos. Some people wonder if it's lost its original charm.

However, on Syttende Mai, the 17th of May or Norwegian Constitution Day, everyone is an honorary Norwegian. And dresses accordingly.

Check out the socks on that guy! I am impressed. The tassels, the turned up collar, he is pulling it all off splendidly.

A whole boatload of Norwegians! So very blonde. I love the way the sun is shining on them despite the grayness of the sky. The sun is funny like that here, it sneaks up on you sideways.

It just wouldn't be a parade without a drill team. (You know what I'm talking about Opie.) I love the color combination used for their uniforms and the pom poms on their socks. A parade with such wonderful socks must be good.

Not to mention a Viking Robotics Team. Yes, a Viking Robotics Team. Top that.

Well, a hundred small children on unicycles is pretty cool. Let's call it a tie until next Syttende Mai.

RoozenGaarde Tulip Garden

Recently, yesterday in fact, I visited the RoozenGaarde display garden in Mt. Vernon.



The Roozen family have been bulb growers in Holland and the U.S. since the early 1700's. They ship bulbs all over the world. I loved seeing the variety in color, size and height.



And people come from all over the world to see their display garden. I could hear German, Spanish, Hindi, and many other languages being spoken.



I'm lucky because their garden is only a few hours north of Seattle and this year my Mom wanted to see them.



We thought we'd show them to Walter too.



The place was packed! It was hard to get a photo without other people in it who were also trying to get a photo without anyone else in it. But it was worth it, to see so much color.









I hope we can return next year, so he can run wear some rubber boots and play in the mud. That seemed to be where the action was really at.



What a way to celebrate Spring!

Multnomah Falls

In February I had my first trip away from Walter. I think it was for about 36 hours. But to be a whole state away from him at 7 months old was a feat for me and for him too, I think.

Luckily my knitters just wanted a quick trip to Portland and I always want to go to Portland.

For the first time I made it to Multnomah Falls, something I'd been wanting to do for a long time.   It was a blustery day. You can even see some white caps in the photos.

Despite many trips to Portland, no one else I'd ever been with had wanted to stop before.

I can't imagine why not, it's a beautiful place.

I hope to return again, and maybe next time I'll show it to Walter.

The New Normal

Today was starting to feel like a normal day.  The kind of day where I manage to get a few things done.

I made some brown sugar.

It's pretty straight forward. You add one teaspoon of molasses to one cup of white sugar. And mix it up.

Then put it in your prettiest jar and you're done. I only made one cup because it turns out I was down to the very last bit of my molasses.

I knit a little bit on my newest hat, Fenimore by Jared Flood in his Shelter yarn, colorway Nest. Not many stores have Shelter yarn yet, but Churchmouse Yarns does, so whenever I go there I end up with a little in my basket. It's the colors that really get me. And I'm partial to mousey ones like this.

It's meant to be a loose cabled tam, but because I'm knitting it it's turning into more of a beanie... here's to hope and blocking!

I also made some granola, did some laundry, took a walk, really ordinary things. But they felt amazing because I was able to do most of those things while someone else slept.

I won't say who though.

What a nice combination of genetic materials you have there!

Where does the time go? I can't believe my newborn is a month old already! Walter Felix Chapman was born July 3rd, 2011 weighing 8 lbs, 14 oz at 20 inches long. Our labor together took about 30 hours and was started quite dramatically by my water breaking on my massage therapists table!

I didn't know what to expect from labor, despite taking a birth class and reading many books on the subject. All the research added up to the fact that you really don't know until you're in it.  For me it was something I was able to do one contraction at a time.  Trying not to think of the hours stretching in to days. Working through the back labor I was so very much hoping to avoid altogether. Spending lots of time in the tub. Laughing inside at some of the crazy noises I was making. Feeling utterly secure in the team I had chosen to be in the birth room. Being so very thankful when it was over.  We're all very glad he's here.  My gratitude to Jesse and Amanda for helping me bring him in to this world is immense. I will never forget the hours they spent laboring with me.

This month has really flown by, but it wouldn't have been half as easy without all the support we've received from friends and family. This is a time when people really reach out and I can only begin to say thank you to all the people who've knitted blankets, prepared a meal or stopped by to visit. As much as I love the little guy, he isn't a great conversationalist (yet) and it's really great to have people come over. I can see how parenting can be isolating and I feel lucky that I have quite a network to tap into when needed. Or as his Great-Grandma Stella said: Walter's lucky already. Lucky to have such warm family and caring friends. I know because I'm lucky too.

Happy Mothers Day!

This is my Mom in 1981 with me and my sister in Guam. 

Since my Mom was traveling this Mothers Day I spent the day at a Birth Fair and lecture by one of the most revered midwives in the U.S., Ina May Gaskin.  It was a lovely, enlightening way to spend the day. 

Being on the verge of motherhood myself, I'm not sure I've ever appreciated my own Mother more.  She was the Girl Scout leader, the classroom assistant, the maker of Halloween costumes, and so much more.  I hope I can follow in her example.  I love you Mom!

It's On

Just 3 years ago we had a little chant to welcome in the New Year. It went something like this:

We won't procreate in '08!

And we didn't. But then a few years passed and we decided we would.



So far so good. We are open to name suggestions. Although I have my secret favorites. Shhh.

A Year with Chickens

It seems like yesterday they were just cute little chicks. I was able to fit all 3 in my hand at once!  Raising them in the house was an interesting experience, I'm not sure if I'll repeat it or not this spring when I add to our little flock.  Being able to see them grow every day was amazing, but they need a lot of care and the house is empty most of the day.



Eventually they were large enough that we definitely didn't want them in the house. Man they poop a lot!  But they still liked to wander in when the weather was warm enough for me to leave the back door open. We'd named them Zizou, Oksana and Sarah.



I was pretty excited when the first egg finally came! It was brown and warm and perfect. Hearing the hens lay for the first time was an eye opening experience, I'd thought they were being attacked!



I could hardly wait to eat that first egg. When I cracked it open I saw it was a double yolk! I considered that lucky. Even if both of them barely added up to one of my grocery store eggs, the yolks were a much brighter shade of orange. You can see the comparison above. They were delicious!



The chickens even played a part in the scavenger hunt this year. We got points for "picture with a barnyard animal."  Thanks to Sarah!

Unfortunately it wasn't all rosy pictures and fresh eggs. We lost Oksana, the one I named, to a raccoon attack  late at night a few months ago. They took her right out of her coop, after a heavy rain the boards were loosened, they pried them open with their tiny hands and pulled her out.  It was a shock to wake up in the morning to a trail of feathers and 2 confused chickens. Eventually the neighbors let us know they'd found her in their yard. The raccoons had drained her blood but left her mostly intact. I thanked her for her short life with us, shed a few tears and let her go.

I definitely felt I had fallen down on my part of the bargain. We had a tacit agreement that she would provide me with eggs and entertainment while I would feed her and keep her from harm. With that in mind we began construction of a bigger, better, hopefully more raccoon-proof coop.  As a birthday present to me I was able to get my Dad and Jesse to pitch in.



It took awhile, as none of us are particularly handy. Dad had all the power tools and kept mysteriously taking them home with him, making it slow going on our end without him. But it's done and it's huge! I don't feel like this picture even does it justice, but I insisted Jesse be in it to demonstrate scale. We call it the chicken Palace. Come Spring we hope to add three chickens or so to the ladies. A proper flock with more eggs please!

Scavenger Hunt!

It's nice to have an excuse to hop into a tub with 4 people.



Or have someone else brush your teeth for a change.



And go down a big slide as a foursome.



Thank goodness for scavenger hunts and Ms. Emily's 27th birthday! It was a lot of fun!

Pickles and dresses and weddings

Meeting Emily after wearing her clothes and reading her blog was lovely. She has a very present spirit, you can tell she's really listening. I think she summed up the evening quite well on her blog.  I had a wonderful time myself, which doesn't always happen when you're hosting. (Is that one of those things we're not supposed to admit?)  But this time I had a chance to slow down too and try on more than a few pretty dresses myself, and even keep a couple.  Thru the powers of exchange and barter I also acquired some freezer jam and homemade pickles, delightful!

I had a chance to wear one of the dresses right away at my friends Nicholas and Ursulas wedding.  Who knew I'd start to like pink?  Borrowing one of their Bella Umbrellas was part of the fun.























Jesse cleaned up very nice as well in his all purpose grey suit. Too bad no one took a picture of us together as we partied the night away at the Daughters of the American Revolution mansion.

A beautiful start to Nicholas and Ursulas married life!

Filly Trunk Show and Jam Exchange

I've been so remiss in not posting this earlier! 

Please come to my house tomorrow, September 16th for a Filly trunk show and Canned Jam Exchange!

More info here and here. I have a lot to do for tomorrow! I hope you come and bring some Jam or other home made tastiness to trade if you have some.  The bounty of summer! I'll be making the last batch of Vanilla Bourbon Peach Jam tonight. 

I've been perusing the new collection from Filly and I'm really excited to try it on soon! Hope to see you there!

Governors Island

Functional Beauty

When Manhattan becomes too hectic and you think to yourself, I'm on vacation I want to relax and stop sweltering in the juices of the city. Ewww. You're in luck! There is a respite and it is almost completely free.

Depart from the Battery Maritime Building, a historic ferry terminal near the Staten Island Ferry terminal.

Hop aboard with someone you want to spend the day with. Especially if they're a good storyteller.

In the middle of a story

Watch the skyline.


Enjoy the ferry ride. Especially if you don't get out on the water enough.

It's a short trip.

A Visit to Purl Soho

Inspiration Wall

I was worried about finding Purl Soho in their new location.  But it wasn't difficult, just a more bustling area than the last one. However, the moment you step in the door it's calm.  This wall of projects greets you with cozy felt pillows, hand embroidered dolls and knit houses.

Hand-dyed Cashemre

Maybe it's the walls of yarn that insulate the store, but a kind of hush falls over people as they enter. They whisper politely in a dreamy state of project planning.

In love with Liberty

I fell into this state myself. A whole wall of Liberty Fabric! It was gorgeous.

A rare photo of Jesse without a book

Jesse was more into reading The Corrections, but he was very patient with me and the hours and hours I spent shopping at Purl.

And when it's time to go they'll ring you up at this lovely counter.  I showed some restraint, buying one ball of road to china yarn and a spice felt bundle. I couldn't choose amongst the Liberties!  Next time.

Beat the Heat

When the city gets too hot you can do as the locals do.  Find a shady park, preferably one with dolphin fountains, and splash about. Ahhhh.