Living a quiet life

What the snowfall looked like in the morning 

Garlic planting in October

I went and had dinner with a woman from work and her husband before moving, and also got to meet her deer, Lucky. She had rescued this deer on the side of the road one day three years ago, as a baby, standing next to the dead mama that had been hit by a car. Now Lucky is pretty well house-trained, though has been living in the wild for a while now. She smells like the wild, a bit gamey, and has a baby of her own. Lucky still remembers her human friends though. After all, she gets tasty treats from them. And she loves being massaged and scratched. She was so sweet and really didn't seem to mind the camera.

And then, I moved back to Washington.

Craig and I spent some wonderful days staying downtown for the first few I was back. We had fun walking around the streets, going wherever our hearts desired and eating doughnuts, coffee, and a late night run to the U-District for Phad Thai because someone was jet-lagged and could barely make it to a regular houred nice dinner that had been planned. But napping took over (even for non-jet-laggers!), only to wake up hungry.

Also, my sister and her Dutch boyfriend were in town, so we had some lovely days together, going for walks and hikes.

Then, it was my other sister's 40th birthday! We spent it eating yummy pizza from a local brewery and then bowling. Followed by presents and some delicious cupcakes made by mom.

The birthday girl. We also spent her birthday on San Juan Island. It was pretty much a week long celebration.

 The madrona trees are really amazing. As a fun little sidenote, I just learned upon needing to use the word 'madrona,' wondering if it was actually 'madrone,' since I've heard that before too, that, 'madrone' is used south of the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon/northern California,  and 'madrona' to the north. And in B.C. they're known as their Latin name, Arbutus. No wonder I've always known them as madronas! And the fruits are edible.

Then, I finally moved to my new place. My boy helped me so much. I've been stoking the fire all day while unpacking and arranging. I walked the property today and took some pictures.

Now it's all about country vs. city. I love both. I love romping around the land doing tasks and getting to know the plants. And I love getting vegan, organic donuts in the morning, Phad Thai late at night, taking the bus, and hopping in and out of shops all in the same day. Those things though, I've learned, I like as extras. I like first to live by the things that I want to study and do with my every day life. It's a weird tension, loving both country and city, that I'm going to have to learn to live with, and that could alternate back and forth.