Category Friends
Raclette!
Nothing quite like a raclette dinner—all the melted cheese and potatoes and cornichons and other grilled goodies. It’s convivial and delicious and over the years has become one of my favourite holiday traditions. We had planned to do a raclette dinner with Amy and Carol for Christmas but got derailed when Carol received inconclusive results […]
Christmas party within the pandemic bubble
This is the darkest time of the year and we don’t have all the usual Holiday parties to fill the calendar and make it bright. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still be festive. The halls are decked and candles lit—it’s basically hygge 24/7 around here. And last night Amy and Carol joined us for […]
Another birthday!
When Amy proposed a picnic in Seattle to celebrate her birthday I offered my roof as a backup if none of the parks worked out. But then the lure of real furniture and a grill led us to scrap plans for the park and lean in to all the rooftop had to offer. Amy and […]
Beach camping
Beach camping on the Washington coast in August is very different from what I was used to in Virginia. Cloudy and cold instead of hot and humid. Crabs and sand dollars instead of wild ponies. Sunsets instead of sunrises. But Amy was still with me. We had had a yearly tradition of camping on the […]
Weekend in Denver
Visits these days are quieter than they used to be. No plays or museums or house parties. Instead we focus on the essentials: socially distant croissants and peaches in the park with friends, lunch by a waterfall and then a masked stroll through the boutiques of Morrison, a cozy night in with the kitties to […]
In the air again
Off to Denver for a quick weekend with Amanda! The airport is eerily (dare I say gloriously?) empty, and my heart is full of delight. Boy have I missed traveling! Consider: It has been five months since the last time I flew, which is the longest interval in at least three years. This summer will […]
This is what happens
Sometimes you run out to pick up a few necessaries for grilling with friends on the roof and realise before you even get to the condiment aisle that dinner-plate dahlias should have been at the top of the list. An oversight quickly remedied… 😉 These are no shrinking violets! Let’s just say it’s a good […]
A day off!
My first day off in seven weeks! I slept until nearly 9am, ate a bowl of muesli in the sun on the roof terrace, and picked Justin up for another trip to the garden center. We left two hours later with so many roses, honeysuckle, and clematis that I literally had to return a few […]
Flowers for Easter
Back in December my mother, sister, Scoutmaster’s wife, and a few strangers had a lively exchange on Facebook about their blooming cacti, and I — ever the joiner — wanted desperately to be part of the club. And now I am. Joy.
Sunset!
The natural beauty of Iceland never ceases to amaze. The sun was setting as we left our last waterfall and began the long drive back to Reykjavík. At first it was simply pretty—a rosy glow in the sky. But then the colours deepened as the sun lowered behind the distant Westman Islands, and it became […]
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 