Vashon Island

Yesterday, Tim and I took a day trip to Vashon Island. Neither of us had ever been there. At other times in the past, one or both of us have taken a ferry to Bainbridge, Bremerton or Kingston.

The ferry to Vashon is a little more out of the way. We had to drive all the way through West Seattle, which really wasn't so bad on the morning of a day after a holiday that was the second day of a four-day weekend.

We had no particular plans beyond driving into the "urban" core of the island.

On the ferry, we picked up a tourguide magazine, which informed us that there was an old lighthouse on Maury Island, which is actually kind of a misnomer, because Maury Island and Vashon Island are connected by a narrow isthmus.

Anyway, we did drive out there. Who doesn't like to see a lighthouse?

Also, on the way down to see the lighthouse, we passed a grassy area that featured this:

Not entirely sure what it is supposed to represent, but it attracted our attention. Actually, the path to the lighthouse is at the far end of the lawn in the photograph. The boulders are closer to the path, and the sculptured pieces farther away.

The lighthouse was situated on a beach that had a lot of driftwood washed up from past storms. It reminded me of the tidal flats we used to drive by in the East Bay back in the late '60s when I was a kid. People used to go out there and make sculptures from the driftwood; it was very cool — you never knew what you would see when you drove by.

After we saw the lighthouse, we headed back to Vashon town. On the way, we stopped at a boutique distillery we had spotted on the way out toward the lighthouse. At first, it appeared that no one was around, but just as we were getting in the car to leave, a fellow came around the side of the building and let us know that, yes, the tasting room was open.

This is a very new operation; they only began selling their product last December. We came away with two bottles of herb-infused gin, one bottle of vodka, and a fourpack of blood orange soda. Still in development is a coffee liqueur that we tasted — very good, not so sweet and syrupy as Kahlua.

Back in town, we had lunch at the Hardware Store restaurant. A good choice.

After lunch, we did some shopping. Among the places we visited, was the Island Quilter. For such a small community, this was a really impressive establishment. All I can say is, I wish it was on my side of the water and I didn't have to get on a ferry to visit it. Extensive inventory, well organized.

As I like to support the local economies of places we visit, I purchased this fat quarter ten-pack:

I don't know what I will do with it (yet), but I will figure out something!

Vashon Island on Dwellable

Getting Ready to Paint

On my summer To-Do list is "Paint the Spare Bedroom."

When we moved into this house four years ago, one of the bedrooms had been occupied by a teenage boy and was painted a dark forest green.

In our eyes, not pretty. But since it was rarely occupied and functioned mostly as a storeroom, not high on our list of home-improvement projects.

Now, however, that I am not a full-time student, I determined that it was time to remedy the situation. Thus, earlier this week, I removed all the boxes and furniture, except for the bed. I had thought I would leave it there and cover it with a sheet, but I may reconsider if I think working around it will be too troublesome.

There are a variety of small holes that need to be filled, but the instructions on the container of patching compound said that the surface should be clean. I took this to mean that I should wipe down the walls with a damp cloth, which I proceeded to do this morning.

In the course of doing so, I discovered a few places where the green paint had chipped away to show the previous paint color — a dark blue. I suppose in the grand scheme of things, more attractive than the dark green, but maybe not by much.

The color we chose is called Blue Mist. It is a light blue which should coordinate well with the quilt that lives on the twin bed in the room. It also will go with the color I eventually hope to have on the outside of the house, which will match the color of the shed I painted last summer.

Squash Blossom

This morning when I went out to water the garden, one of two blossoms on one of the zucchini plants was fully open.

It remains to be seen if a zucchini will develop there.

Last year, we planted zucchini, but the output was not what I expected.

In the past, I had learned that I would get an overabundance — along with everyone else I knew who had zucchini in their garden, to the point where you couldn't give it away.

Instead, last year's harvest was downright pitiful.

Even where a fruit would chance to develop, it would frequently shrivel up and drop off while still a fingerling.

Only a few grew to harvestable size, and even then they were pretty small. I could tell that if I didn't pick them, they too would shrivel and die.

I hope this year is better.

Raspberry-Apple-Maple Crisp

Two weeks ago, my raspberries were just starting to ripen. Now, they are at their peak. I can pick about a cup each day.

They are very small, and it has been pretty rainy the last week or so, so they are not as firm as they might be. When I am picking, some are so full of moisture they fall apart at the slightest touch.

I like to eat them for breakfast with vanilla yogurt and granola. But I think my favorite way to have berries is in a crisp.

I usually use the recipe in my Better Crocker book, but today I wanted to find a recipe that didn't use butter and did use maple syrup. An internet search turned up this recipe.

I made a couple changes, because the berries I had on hand didn't amount to 24 ounces. So I diced a Honeycrisp apple to get close to the amount of fruit specified.

 

Now, if I only had some vanilla ice cream. . . . 

Ocean Shores, Washington

Last week, Tim and I took a short vacation to the Washington coast. We have visited the Oregon coast a few times. I did not expect the two to be so different. I wonder what different influences have shaped the different geographies.

Where the Oregon coast has narrow beaches backed by cliffs and the distinctive sea stack rocks just offshore, the beach at Ocean Shores was broad and flat. Also, cars are allowed on the beach, which I had never encountered before. In one of the publications targeted at visitors, an article warned about getting stuck in the sand or trapped by an incoming tide, and provided the number of the local towing service.

On our first walk down to the beach, a deer was grazing just off the side of the road. When I saw it, I exclaimed "Deer!" and it raised its head and gazed inquiringly at us.

In addition to the usual gulls, we also saw a bald eagle, a lazuli bunting and an Eastern kingbird.

The latter two I identified with the help of the Birds of North America website, whatbird.com.

The other notable wildlife siting occurred while we were driving up to the Hoh Rain Forest trail head, when a group of five Roosevelt elk decided to cross the road several dozen feet up ahead.

 Lastly, on one of our walks along the beach, we chanced on a wooden pallet that had washed up on shore. It was covered with barnacles, and even though the tide had been out for several hours, they were still out of their shells.

I think they were goose barnacles. They looked more like this, rather than this.

Ocean Shores on Dwellable

Carlyn's Sox

Three down, one pair to go.

These are the socks I knit for my niece Carlyn . . .

. . . and here they are, being modeled.

I think they took only about a month to make — much quicker than the pairs for her brother and sister. I'm not sure why it took less time.

The yarn was a skein I picked up in Friday Harbor last year, at Island Wools. It is a hand painted yarn made by the store's owner. This particular yarn is Bamboo Bliss, colorway Tropical Dreams which I do not see on the website.

It was fun to knit up, and to see how the stripey pattern developed.

I've begun knitting Dave's pair, but he may have to be patient. I finished the quilt top for my next Craftsy pattern, and I'm working on getting it quilted so I can publish the pattern.

Flutterbyes and Flowers and Fruit, Oh My!

 This morning when I was out watering the garden, a butterfly was flew by and landed to sun itself in the laurel hedge.

It seemed content to hang out there, so I took went inside for my camera. When I returned, it had obligingly stayed put. It took a few minutes before it opened up its wings. Not the most spectacular colors, but a nice pattern on the wings. If you look close on the right wing, you can see a ragged edge.

As long as I already had my camera, I thought I'd take some pictures of what's blooming in the yard.

The raspberries are coming along nicely. I've picked a couple, and they were quite tasty. In a week or so, there will be good picking.

Elsewhere in the backyard, there are two varieties of lavender.
This kind . . . 

And this kind . . .

Over by the fence, some poppies and pansies appeared on their own. I don't know where the pansies came from, but the some poppy seeds may have made their way over there from some I had in a pot last year.

I had never notice before, that the bloom pushes the green bud casing off the end.

Also, peonies . . .

And roses . . .

There is also this flowering shrub, but I don't know what it is.