Goodbye February.

College basketball.

OMG! I just watched one of the most exciting college basketball games of the year (so far). Washington State University hosted the 14th ranked Arizona State Sun Devils. With two seconds left in overtime and down by one, Taylor Rochestie hit a three-pointer for the win 51-49. It was the final home game for the Cougar seniors making this overtime win even sweeter! It was so awesome. Congratulations Cougars.
And oh, the Huskies won too, beating U of Arizona 83-78.
I'm ready for March Madness!

Farm Chicks Giveaway.

The wonderful Teri and Serena over in Eastern Washington a.k.a. The Farms Chicks are having a giveway over on their blog. Here's one of my favorite posts. And don't miss their new book!

Beautiful notecards.

I make mostly all of my own stationery, but here is a notecard I could not resist buying. Is it not beautiful? Designed by Linnea Riley of Linnea Design and available at Paper Products on Bainbridge Island.

Italian Paper.

Look at these gorgeous Italian papers I found at the NW Flower & Garden Show on Friday. Italian Country Home & Kitchen from Woodinville had a booth there....sometimes it's these unexpected vendors that are my favorite.

Northwest Flower & Garden Show.

After three weeks of working forty hours a week for the first time in ages, I'm exhausted. But, I really wanted to get to the Northwest Flower & Garden Show in Seattle on my day off today. I was there when they opened the doors at 9 a.m. which was such a good plan. It was very crowded by the time I left just before noon. There were so many photo opportunities and they can be found all over the web (like here), but I just wanted to share one of my favorite exhibits of miniature gardens by Two Green Thumbs. These dolls are about the size of a Barbie. Maybe it's because my husband is a modelmaker that I appreciate these so much, but they were amazing!

My favorite big garden was the Gathering Fabric display that incorporated gardens and quilting...two of my favorite things! After the garden show I got back on the ferry and drove to the Kitsap County Fairgrounds for a quilt show! I took pictures of my favorites, really gorgeous and inspiring quilts, but don't want to share them without owner permission. Here's the info if you can get over there by Saturday.

Pink Chalk Fabrics.

Ooolala! These fabrics from Pink Chalk Fabrics are so chic. I am so planning a new quilt and putting bright pinks and oranges with them. There is a sale going on through tonight, get the details on Kathy's fantastic blog!

Assemblage.

A photo of my daughter's feet on the beach in Mexico one year ago and some rocks from our beach here. The rocks are pretty small so I was able to glue them on with a glue gun, but figuring out where to put the hook on the back so it would hang right was not easy.

Chai Chai, the cat.

Our 11-year old cat, Chai Chai, who in the summer will not stay indoors, but in winter "just find me that sunny spot in the window."

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Chinese Lanterns.

I absolutely love the look of this wedding reception I saw on another favorite blog, Elements of Style. The photos were taken by Winslow Martin.

Valentine.

A lovely Valentine from my dear friend Debora in Sweden....she is so talented! When she lived here on Bainbridge we would always do our Valentines and Easter eggs together. We miss her lots.

Grapes.

I buy organic fruit and veggies as often as I can, but there have not been any organic grapes at the store lately and I was craving some. So I bought the non-organic ones and upon closer inspection I pondered...are they green or red grapes? They were not very tasty...more reason to buy in season.

In circles.

This is how my head feels right now....a million thoughts circling my brain....parents, money, job, kids, house, clean house, snow, time for art, no time for art, groceries, garden, spring break, Obama, auction donation, dog needs walking and on and on. Today I strive for simplicity and a moment of meditation.
I made the plate at Dancing Paintbrush on Bainbridge which is now closed, victim of this ecomomic downturn I'm guessing. :-(

A little brag.

The New York Times had a little article and photos about Bainbridge Island last month. We are lucky to live in such a beautiful place. I struggle a bit in January when the days are so short, but already sunset is coming later and later everyday.
Photo: Michael Hansen for The New York Times

Gift box.

A little box full of positive quotes and affirmations for my mom!

Feels like springtime.

The last couple of days have been absolutely gorgeous here in the Pacific Northwest. This is when I get the urge to go out and plant things much too early. Daffodils and tulips are beginning to peek out from the dirt. My shirley poppies have MULTIPLIED. There are buds on the tulip magnolia. And lots of foxglove are appearing....they grow like weeds and I love them.

I'm off, I'm off, I'm off to weed the garden!

Washboard.

With Valentine's Day approaching I thought I'd share a little story about my Great Aunt Gert. When she died in the early 70's she was still doing some of her laundry on this washboard (maybe even all of it). She was my dad's aunt and when it was time to clean out her house my dad's sisters took most of her belongings, but asked my mom if there was something she wanted. All she took was this washboard. It was the 70's so she stained it, painted the design and hung it in our kitchen. After a couple of months this perfect heart appeared on the washing part right around Valentine's Day....Aunt Gert's birthday!

More tea please.

Another tea bag post, but aren't these lovely? They are from Bailey Doesn't Bark.

Back to work.

I started a new job this week. The first three questions they asked me were: 1) What are my two favorite colors? 2) When is my birthday? and 3) What is my favorite kind of cake? I think I'm really going to like this place!

Answers: 1) blue and green, 2) 9/17, and 3) chocolate

photo: Lia Ballentine, happyworker.com