Insta-sista

I was in Mom's car this week and happened to notice this curse word cd title. I was thrown for a second...until, that is, I recalled making her a Rufus Wainwright mixtape titled Rufus, Bitches. No surprise it's one of Mom's faves and mine too...

Previously, in Christine's life...

When I last wrote, I was getting ready to move from Spokane to Tacoma. Remember how I was shirking my blogging duties so much? Well, that move happened. This picture was my last view of Spokane as I drove off down the interstate. Oh, it makes me a little sad looking at it now!

I do miss my Spokane apartment and people quite a bit, but I don't regret the move one bit. Sometimes you just need a change...even if that change isn't so much of a change as it is a leap back to your life at twenty when you lived with your mom and were trying to figure things out...

Home & Away: Tacoma

Even though this is a winter bee, it was definitely starting to feel like spring when I was in Tacoma a couple weeks ago. While Mom was at school, I wandered around the yard, taking in the sunshine as well as the flora and fauna. It was all SPRING, GLORIOUS SPRING! And I do admit to having a moment of twitterpation. Not exactly what happens in Bambi when all the loopy birds fall in love with other loopy birds, but more like I was falling in love with the backyard and everything in it. Twitterpated...

Home and Away: The I-90 Corridor

You might think there's a whole lot of nothing between Spokane and Seattle/Tacoma. Well, let me assure you, you are mistaken. One of my favorite things about Washington is the amazing landscape from the east to the west side. I don't even mind the 4.5-5 hour drive all that much because it takes me from grassland and prairie to dense forest and mountain range. Also, because driving relaxes me. Yes, just like Ms. Miller in The Chipmunk Adventure. I think about her way too much. Please tell me you know what I'm talking about...

Home & Away: Tacoma

It just so happens, Tacoma counts as both home and away. As I've said before and I'll say again and again until I move back to the west side of the state, my poor little heart is split in half when it comes to Spokane vs. Tacoma. I've got one chamber assigned to the west and one assigned to the east. So here are a few of my favorite things from Tacoma...

instaweek

disco light

first tomatoes

in the meantime

I feel like us inundating you with about a million vacation pictures, most of which--let's be honest--will be from the two days we spent inside the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and National Museum of Natural History, is way rude. Not that those pictures aren't awesome (oh, they are), it's just that we realize not everyone wants to get the blow-by-blow of someone else's vacation. I mean, I do--but that's mainly because I'm a super-creeper and I want to know what everyone is doing all the time always. 

WAIT. Did you hear that? I think someone's out there. Oh wait, it's only me...lurking around your business. Shh, just pretend you don't see me. 

Anyway, I think vacation pictures will come at you in glimpses, every once in a while. It's much more manageable that way, don't you think? If you really want to get all the gory details, you could always take a spin on our instagram feeds.

christinesuzanne, monikajane, and cnic

And since I'm currently waiting for hot glue to dry--rushing it would be a mistake...as I already learned once this morning--I thought I'd post a few totally non-vacation pictures from Mom's in Tacoma. As Robert Goulet would say, Nature! Goulet.

When I hung my new chiffon shirt out to dry, this little mothy showed up. Total moth imposition.

The garter snakes are back in Mom's flowerbeds. It's so exciting! These two little BFFs are making a sleep snake heart.

This snake was left out of the cuddling. So sad. 

One of the other garter snakes, not pictured here because he or she slithered away when it saw me, has a couple of cloudy eyeballs. Do you know what that means? It's almost time for the shed! I have Mom on patrol because I have quite the collection of snake sheds building up. Let's just say there's going to be a pretty sweet shadow box in my near future. Something for us all to look forward to, right? Yes indeed. 

instaweek

Bruno Jenkins woke long enough to look incredibly cute. 

Catherine graduated from her Masters program! 

The Mister and the Master heading home from Evergreen. 

Mom and I stopped at the Hess Bakery and got delicious bread. 

Signs at the European deli. The dude looks like he's drunk walking.

And the lady looks like she's posing for a career woman magazine. 

I rubbed this sweet clover all over my wrists. Instant perfume!

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fresh from the field

Well, fresh from Mom's anyway...that is, they were last week. 

Still, these puppies are going strong on my desk and coffee table. I can't wait to pick more. 

Visiting Mother

I made a quick trip to Tacoma this weekend. I'll give you a moment to roll your eyes and think, Awesome, now I get to hear all about that. Pssh. Other people's weekends. Sometimes you just need to go home, right? Well, I'm sure you'll be interested to hear that we didn't do too much--Mom and I ran errands and puttered around the old homestead and went to a hoarder's estate sale. Uhh, yeah we did. We also visited Catherine and Nick in Olympia, ate pizza and carrot cake, and went to see The Hunger Games. (Oh, Hunger Games...why are you such a disappointment? Actually, I know why. I have a mental list, which I compiled during my drive back across the state, but let's not get into that now.) 

Part of the errands was to get Mom a new camera--her old camera stopped working after getting hit with too much sea spray on a whale watching excursion--and even though we had to go from Puyallap to Federal Way to Tacoma, we accomplished that mission. Here she is delighting herself while conducting a bit of a test run. 

Poppies are my favorite. They used to grow on the hillside across from our house in Bad Kreusnach, Germany. Monika and I
used to find baby snails amidst the poppies and let those little snailies crawl on our arms. True story.
Mom's poppies were closed when I arrived, but a couple opened Monday morning! 

I'm fascinated by the poppies' bud casings. They're like little animals! I petted this shed casing for quite a while. 

That's a C-17 Globemaster flying over the house. 

Mom spotted several robins while searching for a subject on which to test her 20x optical zoom. Dang.

A pair of woodpeckers is working away at one of Mom's trees. Doesn't this one look annoyed? I see it in his beady bird eye. 

I look forward to pictures of cats, birds, and flowers, as well as terribly unflattering shots of me and my sisters. I can only assume it's a mother's duty. Don't worry, Catherine, I took it upon myself to erase those pictures from Sunday. You're welcome, sister. 

new plant best friend!

I made Mom accompany me to Watson's Nursery in Puyallup because I wanted another tillandsia.
And isn't it lovely? I don't know if it's evident in the picture, but this tillandsia has a wonderful fuzzy coat.
New plant best friend!

Small Town Saturday Night

I was very homesick this weekend--yes, again--so I risked a trip to Tacoma. I knew there was a snow situation in Snoqualmie Pass, but I thought I'd be able to sneak through unscathed. Unfortunately, as I neared the pass conditions worsened and I finally resigned myself to either turning around and heading back to Spokane, or finding a place to stay over. Thus, I ended up spending the night in Cle Elum, WA.

At the Traveler's Inn. My room smelled like horse dust. From a very, very dusty horse.

I had to buy a bunch of necessities, like contact lens solution and toothpaste and beer, all of which I didn't have with me because I thought I'd be at Mom's house by 6:30. Obviously, I wasn't prepared for the possibility of weather delays. What a terrible former Girl Scout I am.

But the weather was fine on the eastern side of the state. See? Columnar basalt cliffs along the Columbia River. 

Here are the wind turbines along Ryegrass Summit on the other side of the Columbia. Doesn't everything look promising?

But the pass was all "compact snow and ice and multiple accidents due to adverse weather." Boo. This is entering the Wenatchee National Forest the next morning. 

And heading up the pass. Pretty, right? But let me tell you, the roads were not pretty. 

I tend to allow myself to get really worked up when my plans are foiled. It's annoying for others, I know. Usually when my plans go awry due to weather conditions, I attempt to get myself back on a reasonable track by thinking about Lewis & Clark or fur trappers dealing with similar weather. Something along the lines of: I could be in this exact situation but with a mule train. More often than not, this little exercise puts things into perspective. 

Still, I regret nothing! 

And I rediscovered my Hal Ketchum cd. 

Washington, my home!

In the pasture, mosses and lichens huddle on stumps.

Found beneath the leaf litter. Don't worry, I replaced its cover. 

Out by the barn, ice in a bucket.

Some places in our pasture do seem sort of Texas Chainsaw Massacre-y. 

Auba's mane is long and straight. I'm a little jealous.

Blue skies over Snoqualmie Pass.

And every other color over the Columbia River. 

Wherever I may roam, I'm always happy to come back to my minty green home on the West side. 

homeward bound

I was super-homesick, so I made a quick trip to Tacoma after work on Saturday to see mother dear and sister Catherine. And Peanut and Nicholas. Catherine and I had a craft summit in the basement. Peanut was the moderator. 

Here's to weekends!

Peanut is the best morning assistant. 

One of Monika's knitted ball mobiles. 

 A worm found me while we waited for Nick to finish his half-marathon. 

Manta ray on the wall of The Clipper in Olympia. 

Catherine and I had dueling fro-yo from LIMEberry.

Good night, embroidered pillowcases!

zoobilee zoo

We went to Zoolights at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium tonight. It was so much more awesome than the last time I went to Zoolights, which was probably in the 8th grade. Kudos to you, Point Defiance Zoo, for the stellar display.

If you're in the Tacoma area before 1 January, we definitely recommend it. Magical!