• Jack Johnson's C.D., from the film "Curious George"
• New, wider bike lanes
• Pink flip-flops
• Our signature water carafe in guest rooms
• Summer freckles on our children
• Blanc de Coulbert double white rugosa roses on the beach
• My new, red Malibu cruiser bike from Mother's Day
• Our 2 new baby bunnies: Miss Clover & Miss Mopsy
• Simple salad of sliced avocado, and fresh farm-stand tomatoes, sprinkled with diced shallot,then drizzled with olive oil & sherry vinegar
• Strands of baroque sea pearls wrapped around your wrist or tied loosely around your neck
• Jazz at Tula's in Seattle 3rd Tuesday
• Grandpa Bill's old Starcraft boat with 5-horsepower Johnson outboard motor
• Our new crab pot
• The large sea lion sunning himself on the channel marker
• Our new "Summer" drink: tonic, splash of gin, organic blueberry nectar and 1/2 squeezed fresh lemon in our Natural History Alphabet glassware
• Silvery moonlight on the bay
• Dr. Haushcka's sunscreen of essential oils, all biodynamically grown
• Fresh raspberries from the garden, dipped in crème fraiche and brown sugar
• The sound of quiet on a foggy morning
• "The Egg Game" — Around the evening bonfire, everyone has a spoon. An egg is passed from right hand to right hand, via the spoon, then left to left, via the spoon, spoon in teeth, between knees and so on
• Our new card collection of local landscapes by watercolor artist Pamela Otto
• Driving down country lanes, with the top down, all lined in wild hot pink sweet peas
• Summer hay stacked in newly mown fields
• Children jumping the surf
• Our local gas station now offering bio-diesel
• Our locally crafted skim boards
• The Kingfishers on our sailboat mast every morning

These pleasures and joys are blessings for which we are deeply grateful and which we do not take for granted...
Don't let your summer slip by without joys of your own. Time is fleeting hold the warmth and happiness of this time.

Check out the Great Piece in the Everett Herald
May 21 , 2006

The busy season is off to a busy start, with old friends coming in to the shop and new friends being made overchatter over chats about curtains, aromatic Island Teas, and a good chowder. One such new friend, Sarah Jackson, came in with a camera and did a wonderfully splashy piece in the Everatt Herald Sunday Travel and Leisure section which captures our heart and style perfectly. Even without her colorful pictures, the piece is a fun read: http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/05/21/100tra_tl16finds001.cfm. We've been featured in Seattle Magazine and Seattle Bride as well, so check back for a press page showing you what's catching editorial eyes!

Progress is Messy
February 15, 2006

Friends...For those who care, I want to thank you for your patience with this journal, which I have not updated for some time but which is dear to me and will be featuring frequent new entries as we move into spring. The winter has seen me running around, trying to take advantage off the off-season doldrums on Whidbey island to create many new offerings for you. The Island Life Bath Collection is complete and ready for sale, for instance. It took a lot of thought, and time with sleeves rolled up and hands in vats to make it just right. The first blush of the signature scent used in almost all our Bath Collection is rose. Rose notes are wonderful, embracing, and fresh, but if they stay too strong without stepping back and becoming part of the chorus, well, it's just not what we had in mind. So, many hours and much experimentation alongside our aromatherapist/wildcrafter/mystic have given us full confidence that our Bath Collection is the most luxurious, exquisitely balanced, and divine stuff around. We hope you agree!

At the Mercy of the Elements
February 12, 2006

Last week found us huddled around our oil lamps and candles, ferreting around in the gloaming for crackers and a knife to slice apples and cheese. It was a blackout, a none too rare occurrence here on Whidbey Island where the wind runs roughshod over our somewhat flat terrain as it comes in from the west.This time, though, it was a little different. Thanks to the intense amount of rain we've been experiencing this year (our wettest since '53) the ground is saturated and the water that comes in with a seaside storm became something of a moat around our darkened house, and the hardy gardens got a good soaking in saltwater. We were "rained in", on house arrest until the water susided and the roads were passable.

It was inconvenient and thrilling, an opportunity to think about what's important. And, it was an opportunity to think anew about the horrors of Hurricane Katrina and the Indian Ocean tsunami that preceded it a little over at a year ago. That so many hundreds of thousands of people, many missing loved ones, are still struggling to rebuild lives that will never regain their old shape is a thought that is staggering and something that is contemplated with a heavy heart. That in the face of these disasters so many people worldwide, from the most humblke to the most grand, opened their hearts, their homes, their pocketbooks to help the victims is a flickering light of hope. Another flickering light of hope is the tremendous fortitude shown by the victims who despite unthinkable loss are looking to the future, rebuilding families, homes and a way forward. This is what we were thinking about as the storm raged around us and we found comfort around the flame of a flickering candles in the cold, dark house.

Strange, coincidental tie-in:

A Trip Back in Time
February 12, 2006

How often in this mapped-out, stressed out, populated world do we get to experience the joy explorers felt as they discovered new lands and the wonders they contained? Recently, a team of scientists in indonesia did just that, discovering a primitive but human-friendly egg-laying mammal among other curiosities.

Sustaining Winter Food
December 27, 2005

A dear friend introduced us to this recipe which he found on Epicurious a few years ago and loves almost more than life itself.

What better was to follow the rich over-indulgences of the holidays than with a deeply traditional and fortifying vegetarian stew from the Steppe?

Besides being absolutely delicious and open to your own touches, it is a wonderful way to nurture understanding of our Middle Eastern and Central Asian friends in this troubled time. Simply put, it's peace food.

CENTRAL ASIAN RICE AND BEAN STEW
The word mash means mung bean in Farsi and Farsi-related languages like Azeri and Tajik, as well as in Turkic languages such as Uzbek and Uighur. The word kichiri is like the Hindi word kitchri, a name for rice dishes made by cooking rice together with other ingredients. (The British took the idea and the name and turned it into "kedgeree.")

We like this satisfying meal-in-one stew we learned in Tajikistan. Potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes give variety of taste and texture to the main event, a spiced combination of mung beans (yellow dal) and long-grain rice. Mashkichiri is quick and easy to prepare once the mung beans have soaked, and all too easy to eat in large quantities when accompanied by plenty of yogurt. Serve it as a simple meal in one, or serve with kebabs and a side dish of something crunchy, like sliced cucumbers or radishes, or Persian pickled radish.

The winter version of this dish would have no tomatoes, and would use more carrots and onions instead. Winters in Central Asia are harsh, and there are few fresh vegetables to be had. Root vegetables, which can be stored and used when other vegetables are available, aren't an important part of the winter diet.

3 tablespoons vegetable oil or rendered lamb fat
2 cups coarsely chopped onions (about 3 medium onions)
2 medium potatoes, cubed
2 medium carrots, coarsely chopped
1 pound (about 4 medium) ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin seed, ground
3/4 teaspoon dried chile pepper flakes or crumbled dried red chile
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 to 3 cups boiling water or mild stock
1 cup mung dal, soaked overnight in water to cover
2 1/2 cups cooked long-grain white rice (or 1 cup uncooked rice, cooked while mung beans cook)

Garnish and accompaniment:
Sprigs of mint (optional)
2 to 3 cups plain yogurt

In a large heavy pot, heat the oil or fat until very hot. Add the onions, lower the heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly golden, about 10 minutes. Add the potatoes and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes, then add the cumin, chile, salt, and pepper and stir well. Add 2 cups of the boiling water or stock and bring to a boil. Let boil vigorously for several minutes, then stir in the dal. Once the mixture has again returned to the boil, lower the heat, cover, and simmer until the mung beans are tender, 30 to 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so to prevent sticking. Add more boiling water or stock if necessary.

When the beans are done, stir in the cooked rice. The mixture should be moist; add a little hot water or stock if necessary. Taste for seasoning. Serve hot, garnished with sprigs of fresh mint (if available) and accompanied by plain yogurt.

Alternative: An Uzbek version of this stew includes lamb: Cut 1/2 pound lean lamb into small cubes. Add the meat several minutes after you begin sautéing the onions. You may wish to increase the salt and pepper.

Serves 4.

Seductions of Rice
Artisan
October 1998
Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid

Note: Going back toreview the recipe on Epicurious, we found that it had been reviewed/rated by "A cook from Whidbey Island" (review follows); Our question is, as we are residents of beautiful Whidbey, ourselves: which neighbor is it who is also enjoying this wonderful dish?! Do tell!

A Cook from Whidbey Island, WA on 07/16/03
A very hearty, unfussy meal for vegetarian guests (sans lamb, of course). I really enjoy this recipe and have prepared it maybe 15 or 20 times now. Necessity and curiosity have caused me to experiment with it, but each time it turned out at least pretty good, if not downright excellent. I usually make it extra spicy and use the yogurt for relief. Black-eyed peas work even better than mung beans, and you can use frozen beans if you haven't been planning ahead. The mint is important.