It’s official. I am 44 years old. And for the record, I am very much enjoying my 40s. Living, loving, working, exploring, cooking, laughing, learning (always learning), being . . . it all seems to just get better with time. I am also much smarter than I was in my 30s, 20s, etc. Thank goodness.
My boys are good to me on my birthday, always have.
“Honey, what would you like to do for your birthday?” hubby asks . . .
“I’d like to go and visit our Airstream and spend the weekend with her,” I replied.
Road Trip to Leavenworth
Campsite By The Lake
Warm Summer Days
Wild Flowers Galore
Icy Cool Margaritas
Majestic Mountains
Catch and Release
Coal Miners Cabin
Lightening Show
These words briefly describe my recent trip with hubby, B and Oliver to Leavenworth, Washington and then further onto our little piece of property in Roslyn, Washington where my silver girl now waits for my return.
Just one more week now, until we hit the road to Idaho for two full weeks of adventure. I can hardly, hardly wait I tell you. Until then I motor on working hard in corporate America and enjoying sunsets like these. That’s Seattle there in the distance. The sky, isn’t it amazing? This is only one picture out of about 50 I took that night. I couldn’t get over the colors.
Thank you for being here and I am sorry I have been so absent ❤ I have been working extra hard in corporate America and then I was dealing with a spider bite on my leg, which now, thankfully is healing.
My spider bite, if you want to see:
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As sure as the autumn leaves are to fall, my Etsy shop will eventually, forthcoming have its very first shop update.
Next Tuesday, around 9 am I will be stocking my shelves with a few travel inspired jewellery pieces I have been happily working on these past few weeks. Continue reading »

A long, long time ago,
I can still remember how those apple trees used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance, that I could make some apple jam (or pies, cakes and more !)
And maybe they’d be happy for a while . . . Continue reading »

Fall is upon us now and the other day, it suddenly dawned on me, that last summer — a lot of cooking had been done in my silver kitchen which never made it onto J5MM. Pouring over all my photos I took of my culinary creations made me realize also — what a beautiful, gloriously long summer we had here in Washington. The warm breezes continue to blow, even now in what should be a chilly October. We have our funny days where temps reach 80! But today will be a nice mid 60’s October day according to the weather woman. I’m ready for warm sweaters in the upcoming season and exhilarating early morning hikes where the frost graces the edges of the creek near my home. Continue reading »

As sure as the summer sun sets and the big moon rises, my heart is drawn to this river that runs just beyond our property. I call him Mr. River (and I love him). Hubby doesn’t seem to mind.
It is here where I feel most at peace. It is here where most of my summer is spent fly fishing, writing, crafting and frolicking about with Oliver. Mr. River flows not only through the windy channel he has carved out, but also through my heart. Our hearts. I feel my brother is here too.
To get to Mr. River, we must travel through gravely back roads. Only a few people know of this and I feel proud I can navigate when I do come here alone.
To begin our days spent with Mr. River, we enjoy early mornings on our property with simple breakfasts . . .
Mr. River’s friends, the tall trees that live along his banks, give B a gift of a bark puzzle. He is mesmerized by it.
Some days I fish and other days I sit alongside Mr. River and create. Sometimes I come with hubby and B and sometimes I come alone. I dip my toes into the water and make sage bundles. I listen to Mr. River gently talk to me as I craft. He tells me that when I am here, with him, everything in the world is right. I love him.
The days spent with Mr. River are warm and when we come back to camp, the wind picks up with a slight chill to it. We make ourselves at home and I prepare a pot of comforting chicken stew. I love cooking in my silver kitchen.
I make Mr. River Earrings. They serve as a reminder of him and my summer spent here. The blue stone is for his rushing waters, the chain symbolizes his swiftly flowing movement, the red is for the wild berries that grow alongside his banks and also the strawberries that live alongside my coalminers cabin. The brown agate stone reminds me of the spotty skin of his trout, or the slippery stones I carefully and gently walk upon — and the pink gem reminds me of the sparkles that radiate off his waters.
It was a whirlwind love affair I will never forget ♥

When hubby and I first met, one of our very first trips taken together was to the Bennett cabin which is located next to the Wenatchee National Forest. I’ve heard a lot about this cabin and how it took many, many years for the Bennett family to build, by hand — all themselves. No machinery here, just pulley systems and lots of muscles to get the logs one on top of the other. Continue reading »