Lately I’ve been reading All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot. It’s a wholesome diversion from election anxiety. And what a gem! It’s the sequel to beloved All Things Great and Small, which I’m familiar with but hadn’t yet discovered. James Herriot is a country veterinarian for small and large animals and gets himself in and out of the best scrapes.  He has a charming way of recounting his patient adventures and coupled with his outlook on life, he cultivates a strong practice of gratitude. His style recalls another one of my all time favorite books Sailing Alone Around the World by Captain Joshua Slocum. They can both nonchalantly sum up some pretty extreme adventures and call it all in a day’s work!

Us, we had a pretty relaxing day walking around town, all things considered. We spent time in Gasworks Park, Fremont, Wallingford and Greenlake. We Lindsed around Greenlake in remarkable 21C weather. Autumn gorgeousness! All of the dangers are in my mind, nothing real like being crushed by bulls (Herriot) or whales (Slocum).

I love you Lake! You are such a joyful spirit. Thanks for keeping me grounded today.

A perfect day, I’m glad I spent it with you, mon cher! We enjoyed the balmy weather today for walking-errands wearing our matching French stripes. Now on the eve of this historic election, I turn to what soothes my soul of anxiety: family and phõ. 

Lake loves a ferry ride! He’s a true Washingtonian. He’s a regular frequenter of the Washington State ferry system by now. Yesterday we look the bus then the light rail downtown to the ferry terminal. It was raining a deluge as we left our building so at the last minute, inspired by Lake’s rain suit, I ran back inside for my snow pants. I was so glad I did. I ended up being so cozy in the wind and the rain, we were able to go up on deck. Here we are reveling in the Seattle skyline from the Bainbridge Island ferry. 

We traveled out to Bainbridge Island for the weekend prompted by our nephew Benny’s third birthday. Auntie Kendra and her two boys are visiting from Ketchikan, enjoying the amenities of the lower 48. They come down at least once a year to stay for a few weeks with Grandma Julie and Grandpa Greg at their Bainbridge Island forest estate.

We had a lot of good times. Michael got to spend some cherished sister time. The grandparents, auntie, and cousins all got a good dose of charming Baby Lake. Benny was well fêted and we had a perfect three year old family birthday dinner of “soup and bread”, his favorite. 

Family fun:

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​All the merriment really wore Lake out! So during nap time Michael and I took the opportunity for some beach and forest time around the Rolling Bay Area while Grandma watched over her little flock of sheep. And then all too soon the weekend draws to a close and we are back at home tucked into cozy beds there. Meanwhile some of us are now a whole year older. Congratulations Benjamin, thanks for including us. Congratulations to father as well who turned 71 today! Quite a slick accomplishment to fit into the span of a weekend! Steady on!

This morning we were having a good time playing on the bed. I said

Today we are going to the zoo, Lake!

And he said 

B… b…. b….

in the sweetest way, like a baby bird peeping. And gave me a look that said it all (the zoo?!).

Then, (btw I’m so happy right now! I looooove you mummy),and looked like pure joy, but it sounded like this

[maybe a cat fight]

At the zoo today the stand out animals were definitely the zebras. Not only do they really stand out, and their coloring pops against the bright green of the grass, but they were also hilarious. One zebra took to herding the three or four resident ducks around the pond. 

It was fun to laugh about it with our neighbor Laura. A zebra kind of day. 

For all you who have been reluctantly enjoying or avoiding my blog altogether for fear of missing out (FOMO), here’s one for you. I’d heard of cat diarrhea, and what a mess it could be, but I’d never experienced it personally until today. Mr. Cat was the perpetrator and Lake’s and my olfactories were the victims. Blech! I was the lucky one to get to clean it up!

So we did the only thing to do, we went outside into the rain to get some fresh air! Then when we returned from our walking errands a little damp, Lake did his happy dance. Thumper, Grandma Julie named it. 

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Okay cat diarrhea makes it a bit of a stretch (FOMOs can be glad it wasn’t them for once), but when you have the Thumper happy dance?!? It really does become A Perfect Day… I’m glad I spent it with you!

The lake was particularly quiet today. A fine example of a very fall day. Some more rain and even a sunbreak. Grandpa says now is the season the lake is returned to the waterfowl. The jet skiers, water skiers, wake boarders and recreational motor boaters are all staying in town on the weekends these days. There remain just a few lingering late season hard core retirees getting ready to winterize their cabins and prepare their water systems for freezing temperatures. 

Lake on the other hand, is still in the springtime of his development, rapidly growing and changing every day. Just this week he learned to really laugh and giggle. Today he couldn’t stop smiling!

And who could blame him? With all this great fresh air and plentiful grandparent time! And Nana walks! 

At the end of the sun break this late afternoon, which bled into dusk and last light, we nabbed a little hike up into the nearby McKinsey Conservancy. 

It’s a beautiful ridge walk around and above our end of the lake. We looped around and made it back to the beacon of a beachfront campfire Grandpa had built to welcome us home. We made it in without cougar sightings, only a few groups of deer and some coyotes’ scat. We settled down next to the fire and took our front row seats to the amphitheater of a lone bat swooping and watched as night fell as coyotes across the lake created our soundtrack. 

I recently read a treatment of the Tiny House movement by fellow blogger Mama Zed’s Homestead. It’s true, I’ve been a devotee of small for many years. There are a ton of advantages to the smaller homes… up to a point! I am currently in the process of refining my personal ethos on this. I’m thinking that for us, that point is on a continuum relative to the number of household members. 

I have been very happy for nine years in my one bedroom 550 ft2 urban condo… high ceilings, a view, lots of character, efficient to clean. Upon getting married even my husband and I are happy living here together for more than a year. Now, however, we have our five month old sleeping in his custom loft crib in the walk-in hall closet and there is no room for relatives to stay over.  For us, this has become our breakaway point. Throw in an au pair and some visiting friends or relatives and our new Tiny is 550 ft2 per family member. And a fenced backyard for the felines!

 

We will miss our great neighbors though! Nine years of living across the hall… we have sure been through a lot together.

We visited our soon-to-be new home today to take some measurements and to spend some more time getting acquainted. It feels good to be there. Mary Durkan, our real estate agent, met us there; she is so awesome! She recounted her recent adventure coming back from Palm Springs with a humorous anecdote. It’s especially relevant given that today is Dia de los Muertos. She was bringing her mother’s ashes back home with her on the airplane and since the flight wasn’t very full, her mother got her own seat. Mary magnanimously gave her mother the window seat. Her mother always coveted that one, but couldn’t enjoy it on account of her bladder and requiring the aisle seat. What a gem you are Mary. And thank you for finding us our house!

Incidentally, we’ve been getting some record rains and the basement is happily still bone dry! Bye for now happy house! See you soon… keys in two weeks!

Happy November 1st friends! One of us got our new day and new month off to a “rabbit rabbit” start. Especially since the other one of us got up at 4am and had a chance over the course of an hour breastfeeding to slowly remember and tip the still-asleep one off. So this month I’m thinking the luck runs in the team approach. We are luckier together!

Well, and the big news is: we voted today! I liked President Barak Obama’s early voting call to action (available on You Tube). And this year we really appreciated the extra time, and the leisure of living room ballots, mail-in/drop-off, early voting. Voting was a big commitment this November. It practically took us a full day on Sunday, and that was after I’d been chipping away at it all week in between Lake activities. It was a lot of work to get to the point of feeling like I was able to make an informed decision: reading the voters’ pamphlet, discussing, and trying to sift through the complex initiatives and numerous strong candidates. Whew! We did it.

Now we pray for the success of our First Lady President and Prop 1: ST3 lightning fast light rail! 

Tonight we had what will likely be our last SupperClub in the CatFlat. Thanks to all who attended it was a rousing good time! All of us were crowded around the dining table jammed full of mismatched chairs and every sittable surface was being sat upon. I bemoaned knowing there’s at least one, if not two, more leaves for this table somewhere out there in storage. I vaguely recall thinking that in the foreseeable future, what with Lake and the cozy quarters, we really wouldn’t be likely needing more that the three leaves that are currently extending our heirloom wedding table. The Last Supper came indeed as a pleasant surprise. 

We enjoyed a modest three course meal with squash from Carver Farms as the centerpiece. I roasted the squash while sautéing garlic and onions and prepared it into a thick soup for the main course. It was delicately seasoned with Herbes de Provence, lavender, truffle salt, Spicy Salt and steamed kale for contrast. 

We have had many memorable dinner parties in this flat. One particularly special one was Christmas right after I bought the place in 2007 where my Grandmother, great aunt, uncle and cousins were all present. The theme was jewel tones and I recall peacock feathers capped the tablescape. Another very memorable dinner was Thanksgiving of 2009 which was beautifully plated and ended with a cheese course. My first cousins once removed brought the wine pairings so you get the idea of just how exquisite that feast was. Last year my uncle’s 70th birthday party was a jovially raucous affair, a champagne fête not soon to be forgotten! We look forward to continuing our family tradition of hosting memory-making dinners with Lake as migrate up the street to our soon-to-be new house in University Park next month. Meanwhile, Last CatFlat SupperClub was a night to remember!