Friends, Pottery, Wine- Painted Plate

I have a lovely group of gals in my circle. When I first moved to Olympia to take job and cohabitate with The Handsome, it took time to connect with other women who shared my love for the simple life. Enter these fabulous women; strong, witty, and compassionate. Love them! We try to get together for a drink every now and then just to catch up. This time I thought we could throw a little art in the mix. The Painted Plate in Olympia was our choice, and boy did it deliver with three hours of wine, food, laughter (…dancing too), and painting.

The Painted Plate offers great little appetizer plates, a minimal but satisfying wine list, and all the white porcelain canvases you could ask for! Projects range from $6-$60 although all of us found something great in the $20 range. In the mix was a magnet, a few travel mugs, a soap dish, and a popcorn bowl. The food offering is simple and tasty. We were under the care of Molly, who was more than welcoming including great project suggestions, quick service, and even a change from the less than desirable pop/country Pandora station to something a little more our style.

Our projects were all finished in the evening and were kindly gathered for glaze and firing. The turnaround for a finished project is about 5 days. I can’t wait to see the finished projects- of course, this was our first time, so there will be more gatherings like this in the future.

Jun 8

Boys will Be Boys

I love family photo sessions, have I mentioned that? I especially enjoy “kid only” photo sessions, as they allows a little bit of goofing off, lots of sitting in the grass, and silly jokes for real smiles.With a new little brother in the mix, the Mom & Dad of these three have their hands full.

May 15

Cliff Garden

There has always been a point of curiosity for me on the end of a high, steep cliff in Central Washington. On my way anywhere near Wenatchee, I would drive by and wonder why is that part of the cliff covered in beautiful green against the rugged brown stone elsewhere. The answer is Ohme Gardens. This place is spectacular and well worth the $7 admission. My only regret was that my work day had run longer than scheduled, and I only had a few moments to wind my way through. This is a pack a picnic, sit and enjoy kind of place. Started in 1929, by Mr. & Mrs. Ohme, the little lush space was mastered. It is loop of twisted (and steep) stone paths overlooking the Columbia River and the town of Wenatchee.

Here are a few shots from my quick trip through the garden in what can only be described as a poor shoe choice for the adventure.

May 6

Brave NW Gardening

For some, May seems like the absolutely appropriate time to start a garden. Here in Western Washington, things are a little different. Tomato plants shiver thinking of frost, beans wither just by the sight of cold dewy mornings, and gardeners unite in one brave move to get their plants in the ground at the first sight of sun. The Hubs made another planter box for me this year, since the last years have proved the need for more room. It has been unseasonably warm this week (today we were the hottest state in the country), and the weather offered the perfect window to get my plants started. We’ll see how they do, I have a lot of travel scheduled for work this summer, so if half the plants survive, I will call the garden a success. (also, I am not a magician, the Hubs also helped to take photos)

Apr 28

Downtown Zen

Olympia was a flutter this weekend with Spring ArtsWalk. Yet, this morning, downtown was quiet and freshly drizzled due to a quick little set of morning showers. I zipped down to the Yashiro Japanese Garden because I felt like getting a few photos in that didn’t include faces. It was me, the rain, and this sweet tiny garden.

Apr 28

Spring Photography Special

It’s that time of year!

Spring Photo Sessions are in high demand, and to celebrate the sun coming back, I’ve decided to promote a Spring Special!

If you live or are willing to travel to Olympia,WA and book a session by May 1st, you can take advantage of this deal! Please go to my contact page or facebook page to get started!

Here are the Details:

Special Ends May 1st

Special Valid May 1st through May 30th

$35

1 hour session

up to5 people

10 images on disk

Apr 14

Homemade Weekend

I have been feeling extra inspired in the kitchen. With help encouragement from my long-distance kitchen companion, The Natural Ginger, I gathered needed supplies and made the following according to some of my favorite blogger recipes:

Fresh mozzarella Cheese- Ree Drummond- The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Strawberry Chipotle Jam- Mavis Butterfield of One Hundred Dollars A Month

Finn Bread- My family recipe featured here

I had an excess of strawberries after an over zealous trip to the produce stand. This posed a dilemma, I decided to freeze them. Then decided to make a new jam. Not being a spicy girl, this was a stretch, but I made 4 jars, two have already been doled out to my favorite people.

The bread is a given with cheese, so it was a quick throw together.

The fresh mozzarella cheese was a personal challenge. I’ve wanted to try my hand at cheese making for some time, but needed the encouragement. After a phone conference with The Natural Ginger, it was TIME to give it a shot. I spotted some fresh (as in milked yesterday fresh) milk at the Olympia Farmer’s Market and figured it was fate. A trip to the local co-op, and I had all the ingredients necessary to attempt cheese.

Here is what is needed:

1 1/2 teaspoons of citric acid powder

1/4 teaspoon liquid vegetable rennet

1 gallon of whole (raw) milk

2 teaspoons salt

In a large stock pot, dissolve citric acid with 1/4 cup water.

Pour milk in pot and stir.

Put pot on Med/Low heat until it reaches 90 degrees.

Take pot away from heat, add rennet mixed with 1 cup of water. Mix slowly from bottom to top of liquid.

Let sit for 5 minutes.

In 5 amazing minutes the texture is soft but solid.. remember GAK? That is what this feels like. It is weird.

Cut into 1 inch cubes in the pot with a long knife or spatula.

Heat on Medium until it reaches 105 degrees. Remove from heat and use a drainer spoon to separate the curd substance into a collider. The less whey the better.

Drain in collider, until the least amount of liquid whey is present.

Take in your hands and gently squeeze remaining liquid out.

Put in microwave-safe bowl on high for 1 minute. Take out and squeeeeeeze.

Back in the microwave for 35 seconds, remove and squeeeeze.

One more time for 35 seconds and squeeze/stretch until smooth. Knead in salt to taste.

Roll the cheese into itself to make a perfect little ball.

Drop into a bowl of ice water once totally cool, it is ready to eat.

This was delicious and has totally created a monster, I can’t wait to try again next weekend including adding my own special ingredients.

Apr 7

April Showers

There are stark differences between last weekend and this weekend. Last weekend it was sunny, cloud free and 70 degrees. This weekend, it is dark, rainy and a cool 55 degrees. I’m glad I listened to my intuition and didn’t plant my little tomato seedlings outside just yet. They are happily growing in their atrium perched on the kitchen window. Luckily, the outside plants have started to bloom- weeping cherry trees, magnolias, as well as my pansies and primroses. Here is a tour of our backyard blooms.

Apr 1

Fun & Games

Just because we don’t have children of our own yet, doesn’t mean we don’t have the opportunity to enjoy all that spring has to offer in the way of kid activities. As a kid, I loved our hometown easter egg hunt, and loved to find treats hiding in the grass. Now that all of our closest friends have kids, its the perfect opportunity for fun. This was the third annual Easter Egg Hunt at our house. We stuffed and hid 200 plastic eggs filled with spring surprises for our favorite 5 kids to find. This year was particularly fun, since they are all kindergarten to 3rd grade, the perfect amount of competition. We also had a gunny sack race, three-legged race with the dads and a shoe kick competition. I was so concerned that the kids would be bored at our house without having all the kid things they are used to, but it turns out they just wanted to hop our little back yard fence, color with chalk, and play ball. What a perfect way to welcome spring.

Mar 24

One of the few

Today I spent some time in Puyallup, Washington taking in the last of a dying tradition. Puyallup Valley used to be known as the premier place to grow bulbs for tulips and daffodils. The street signs in town clearly indicate a proud herritage of Daffodil Farms. I visited one of the last two daffodil farms in the area, which has decided to call it quits after generations (90 years!) of farming. The area is sprawling and the farm will most likely be purchased for futher development. When walking to the main storefront of Van Lierop’s, many extra things are for sale above and beyond flowers. I managed to pick up 3- 80 year old bulb boxes. They will gain new life as garden boxes for my greens gardent this summer. Plows, buckets, wheel barrows and miscelaneous farm equiptment have hand priced tags.

The fields are still blooming. When I romanticize about fields of flowers- I see rows and rows of golden yellow blooms. This is not the case at Van Lierop’s, as the flowers are picked before they bloom. I managed to find a small batch that had survived the daily cut, that are tucked in rows of green overlooked by Mt. Rainier. I will get my fill of endless blooms in the coming weeks up near Mt. Vernon I suppose.

Although an era is ending for Van Lierop’s Bulb farm, they take pride in their flowers and are clearly loved by the community. Perhaps who ever purchases the farm will continue the legacy…

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