Summer breakfast

My favorite meal right now:


Sprouted grain toast with almond butter and smashed backyard raspberries, with a side of greenhouse cucumber.

Love, J

WAY cooler than Build-a-Bear

Name: Garbage
Designer/creator: G
Reason: More fun than playing Bananagrams with me for the 50 millionth time. (This month.)
Materials: Old t-shirt scraps; thread; buttons
Time from inception to completion: ~ 3 hours
Admirer: Me

Love, J

PS ~ Bananagrams is fun.

Art for the Animals Recap & Thank You

The first ever Art for the Animals auction was hugely successful in both ways that count: it raised a bunch of money, and it was a really fun night. Check and check.

I call this: Volunteer with Goat

This is Kit.
Kit runs River's Wish with her husband Pete.
Kit gets stuff done.

My BFF knows her wine.

Truly this photo is too blurry to be posted.
BUT, it's the only one I have of a very cool lady:
the animal control officer who rescued our sweet Sarah.

I award this pair two prizes for the evening:
Traveled the Farthest
&
Best-Looking Couple

And I call this one: Did I Win the Genetic Lottery or What?

And for the grand finale, Aunt Micky came up to me at the very end of the night with a neat little square package and informed me that after a bidding war with her, Grandma & Grandpa won Aunt Mary's painting and wanted to give it to the hubs and me. So now I have a new favorite thing ever.

Boo yah.

Thank you to everyone for donating and/or attending the auction. This is one charity that I know does incredible things; I've seen it. And they really do appreciate the bucks and put it toward very worthwhile work!

Love, J

Some great local rock

Earlier this summer, we hit the final Spokane concert of Joyfield (formerly known as "Siege of Cranes.") We went because I used to babysit the lead guitarist when he and his brothers were little, and because the concert was on a beach.

Oh. My.

They are all kinds of great, and I'm so bummed I didn't catch on to that fact earlier, because now they have moved down to CA hoping to make it big.

This song's my favorite:



I'm normally more of an angsty-boys-with-guitars type, but this is some good, good music.

They really ought to make it to the top, but before they're super rich and famous, I'm gonna need them to come play our summer party - maybe next year?

Love, J

A sister got married!

My goodness, this was a great wedding. Beautiful day, beautiful people, beautiful fun.

Aunt Sue, I followed your orders to take a lot of pictures. Then I even stole some from other cameras, so scrolling through these should be practically like being there.

(Towards the end, feel free to crank up some "Journey" for the dance pics, just to get the full effect.)





















In the last picture we have with all 7 sisters, G is about 2 years old, so this little series is both very special and long overdue:











Love, J

PS ~ I notice the groom is not in many of these photos. I have some more really good ones of him visiting with guests outside before the wedding. However, a certain uncle who avoids being photographed somehow wound up featuring prominently in these pictures, so I cannot post them here, lest he disown me. And I'm probably already on his list for participating in the 7-niece flash mob that danced around him while he ate his cake.

(Participating, but not instigating. It was Beth's - very good - idea.)