Ballard Farmer's Market

I finally got to the Ballard Farmer's Market .  It is one of my favorites and I have been wanting to go for weeks now but we have been so busy that it took awhile to work it in to our weekend plans.  The assortment of goods is simply amazing.  Here, just a few shots of my take from the day.  

The $10 market bouquet

One of my big reasons for wanting to get there was to buy some "shrubs" from by far my FAVORITE vendor, Sweet Caroline's Jams and Jellies.  These aren't plants, they are drinking shrubs. (look them up on wiki for a detailed history. It's quite interesting) The flavor combinations are amazing and it was difficult to pick just one, so of course, I bought 3!  Mixed with a little Perrier and ice they are incredibly refreshing.  You can also use them for a mixer with alcohol....more on that later!  The jams also combine fruits and flavors that are unusual.   I'm sure before the summer is over I will have tried them all!

That's right, made with vinegar!  

Colonial Era...Don't you love it!?

I also bought a marionberry lime vanilla jam~ yum!

Do you have a farmer's market nearby?  What's your favorite thing about them? Besides all the produce, flowers, meat and baked goods, it's always fun to see the musicians, the people and of course the dogs!  There were so many dogs at the market today.  That would be a fun post in itself sometime.... 

MEOW

"Flame", one of the adoptable kitties. My daughter thought Flame looked like Jim Gaffigan....

What kind of people go to Cat Cafes??  People like US!  Back in March, my kids had spring break but we were very busy and didn't have a lot of time for a vacation.  Soooo, we did some local trips, including a visit to Seattle's first cat cafe, Meowtropolitan.  

What is a cat cafe?  Well, it combines coffee and cats.  Quite a simple formula really!  While they are very popular in Japan and other Asian countries, this is the first one to open in Seattle.  Appointments are made online and you have one hour, ten minutes or so to get your coffee and then 50 minutes to enjoy interacting with the cats.  The coffee house is separated from the cat room by double doors to prevent escapes, (and also because of health codes).  There were about 20 cats on the premises, half of which were available for adoption.  Overall, it was a wonderful experience!  The coffees and pastries are cat themed of course.  I had a "Meowcha" and an adorable chocolate macaron with a kitty face on it.  There were about 15 guests including us and you know what??  EVERYONE had a big smile on their face!  It was a very happy and relaxing experience!

Is there a cat in this basket??  Yes!

Lots of structures for cats to climb on, or just sleep!

If you ever get the opportunity to go to a cat cafe, do it!!  The cats are lovely and it's a terrific way to spend an hour of your day.  I will certainly go back and visit again!

Mae's Day

Will ya look at this lucky dog?  Will ya look at this gorgeous weather?!  Today we are celebrating Mae's first birthday.  She's 1!  And she's out doing her favorite thing, running around on the mountain!

We've been blessed by absolutely perfect weather this week and still have enough snow on the mountain to skin up with our split boards. It's been great.  Mae is learning to just run ahead of us, which is terrific, because her herding instinct, trying to keep us together, doesn't make for very good snowboarding. 

I think this is a great way to spend a birthday, don't you?

Cats and Lilies

Hello!  Happy Spring!  (well almost)  I noticed Easter Lilies in the market recently and have been wanting to post a reminder that CATS and LILIES do not mix!  Lilies are quite toxic to cats and very quickly, if ingested, lead to fatal kidney failure.  My brother-in-law lost a cat this way a few years ago and last week, a cat came into the clinic where my daughter works .  He had eaten a little bit of a lily petal and sadly he didn't make it.  So please, if you have cats, leave that lily in the store!  

Luna would like a catnip bouquet

Signs of Spring

Dirty snow, broken sleds, holes opening up everyhere and soft, wet snow…these are our local signs of spring.  I’m excited that it’s March 1st!  February was rainy with two weeks straight of rain that really melted our snow pack.  But then we had some great sunny days and my husband and  I were able to get out and take a few runs together one day last week. It was gorgeous!    I can always count on him to get some great action shots.  Like this one:

That’s right, I’m tightening my boot!  But look at all that sunshine and nice snow!  Then there’s this one…..I’m actually SIDE SLIPPING.  Is it my first day on a snowboard?  NO.  Ha ha ha, but maybe he was looking at the view, and not at me.  In my defense (yes, I feel like I need to defend myself)  just out of view to the right was a group lesson of tiny skiers!  They were so adorable!  They make huge turns and I was trying to let them get ahead of me.  Well, that didn’t take long for most of them. Gosh they are fast!

It was a beautiful day out there.  Since then we have had more rain and are losing more snow.  There are holes like this one opening up all over the place.

But it’s all good.  We can ride around them!

Happy March!  In just a few weeks it will officially be SPRING!  Hooray for that!  I’m certainly looking forward to it.  Aren’t you??

Blue Sky, Bobcats and UFO's

It's been a busy week or two here.  We've had some beautiful weather and warming temps which have resulted in spring snow conditions.  My husband and I have been able to get up on the mountain, skinning up on our split boards with Mae along of course. 

Just LOVE a blue sky day!

We had two very interesting "sightings" this week.  One was real....I happened to look out the window one morning to see this kitty. It took me a few seconds to realize what I was seeing and when I grabbed my phone to get a photo, well, it wasn't a good shot!  The birdfeeder got in the way, but that is a bobcat!

The other sighting was a bit more dramatic and unreal....ufo's! My husband went out to walk the dog and came back in yelling for me to come outside, there were LIGHTS IN THE SKY!!  Unidentified of course...

a ufo sighting in the mountains

I want to believe!

We watched them for about 15 mins.  There were 5 of them in a line at first, then they changed formation.  We couldn't tell what in the world they were! They were silent, moving together, would disappear and reappear. Other people on the mountain reported seeing them.  Well, it turned out that a group of people staying in a mountain - side residence had let off several Chinese lanterns....I was so disappointed!!  ( Now I know how Mulder feels) It was a lot of fun while it lasted though.

The weather has returned to fog and rain, a bit of snow. It may be awhile before we have another blue sky day.  We are planning on going to a few Seattle Breweries tomorrow for Valentine's beer, I mean Valentine's DAY.  I hope your holiday weekend is a great one!  Did you get outside? Have an adventure?  I hope so!

Morning in the Mountains

No one would ever describe me as a morning person.  But when you wake up in the mountains and get outside to such incredible scenery, well, it certainly wakes you up!  Had a very enjoyable morning walk around the mountains with Mae.  There was sun, blue sky and fresh snow.  A few photos....

The fog is starting to roll in now, which is fairly common here, but we will get out again later for some more snow fun!   Hope your Groundhog day is going well!