Just a heart shaped tomato, nothing more profound than that. Love is all around.
I kinda sorta didn’t want to eat it, but I did right after I snapped this pic, and it was DELICIOUS.
Growing a Heart | Love is Where You Find It
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Author Archives: Enchanted Seashells
Puget Sound Photos
Driving down the hill:
The view from Sunset Hill park overlooking the marina. How amazing to be in walking distance of this beauty.
Such a beautiful, warm picture perfect day!
Summer on Mt. Rainier
I didn’t actually take these pics. My son did on his solo hike, but they’re so beautiful. He had multiple bear sightings, too.
Lake Mowich
#Mt.Rainier #PNW #WashingtonState #Seattle
Famous (Almost)
So…sitting right behind me is a SEMI famous local personality who has a cooking show on community television. Somebody else recognized him and said hi or I wouldn’t have even noticed.
I really really want to tell him to include more vegan dishes, that there’s a huge demographic out there that would love him if he included cruelty-free recipes, but he’s totally self absorbed and constantly texting on his phone. Additionally, he’s not THAT famous or he wouldn’t be sitting in the cheap seats, right?
His style of cooking isn’t my cup of tea, but I support his “I’m just a regular guy” niche of encouraging everyone to cook with the ingredients already on hand in the pantry.
So far I haven’t annoyed him, but I’m not at all a shy, timid forest creature. I have zero problem approaching anyone. For any reason. No matter who they are.
On the other side of me is a young man wearing a Stanford Medical School sweatshirt. He’s starting med school in the fall. (I asked.) How awesome is that! I told him I was proud of him. I’m sure you might think…who am I to share unwanted praise, right? But I did. Bright children who follow their academic/life dreams need our support and encouragement. It takes a village, yes it does, and it only takes a minute to utter a few positive words.
I was trying to watch Curb Your Enthusiasm but for some reason I couldn’t get my phone to enlarge to full screen, so a kind stranger directly to my right (an obvious techie) took my phone and messed around with it until he figured out what the problem was.
As terrible as the stories are on the news, in spite of the violence and Covid variants and all the rest, there are still kind and helpful people in this world.
Not a bad way to spend 2 1/2 hours. Not bad at all, especially when I arrive to THIS:
And this:
The Art of Baking
Loved the book, loved the film, and can’t stop laughing. If you get it, let me know!
But is it vegan?
Gathering
I could have written these words. As I look around Casa de Enchanted Seashells, I see feathers and rocks and driftwood and seashells, so many seashells.
They are my true and stalwart friends.
In every room, I can touch and feel and recreate the time and place they were collected and lovingly gathered: local beaches, Anza-Borrego, Zion, Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Painted Desert, Grand Tetons, Pinnacles, Pacific Northwest–a weaving of memories.
And yes, they bring a smile to my face.
Looking Up
I received an email yesterday about the International Space Station:
Starting at 8:48 PM, if clouds and smoke permit, you’ll see the International Space Station over San Diego moving from SW to NE until 8:54 P.M.
I set my alarm for 8:45 to give me (hopefully) enough time to try and figure out where southwest and northeast IS, as I’m directionally challenged.
It was clear at 8:45 with a few planes and some stars just starting to sparkle in the not-quite-completely-dark sky.
I looked up, scanning all around because I still couldn’t figure out where SW was, even though I know the ocean is WEST.
Ahh, there it was, right on time, the brightest white light, swiftly moving across the sky, high above the other aircraft. I followed the trajectory of the International Space Station until it was too far away to see.
And that’s the kind of thing that make me very happy.
I learned a bit about the ISS from Wiki:
The International Space Station (ISS) is a modular space station (habitable artificial satellite) in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: USA, Russia, Japan, Europe, and Canada. The ownership and use of the space station is established by intergovernmental treaties and agreements. The station serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which scientific research is conducted. (Photo courtesy of Wiki)
Breathe
I don’t have any tattoos and I don’t believe I’ll ever get one, but if I did, I might choose this Sanskrit symbol.
Instead of a tattoo, maybe I’ll frame it and hang on a wall somewhere where I can be reminded to breathe, especially since I’m aware that I hold my breath a lot, almost as if I’m anticipating something dreadful to occur.
Breathe.
Sometimes that’s enough.
“Here’s What We Do”
Two children thump down the stairs like a herd of bison.
Very loud whispering…”OK, Charlotte, here’s what we do.”
“Every morning, we go into Grandma’s room and we say ‘Get up, Grandma, make breakfast.'”
“Like this…”
“WAKE UP GRANDMA! MAKE BREAKFAST!”
“Now you do it.”
“It’s OK, she likes it.”
“And then we jump on the bed; come on.”
“Char, you want me to turn the light on?”
He runs over to me, whispers in my ear, “Pretend to be asleep, Grandma.”
“Now you do it, Char!”
A very tiny voice says, “Grandma?”
I respond, “GOOD MORNING, you guys!”
And so my day begins.
Honestly, is there any better way to wake up than to be the first person two angels want to see every morning?
I think not.
GRATITUDE.
Serenity NOW!
My life’s odyssey doesn’t seem to be a straight line to bliss, that’s for sure.
The oven situation was NOT the easy fix I’d hoped for. It’s going to take a whole new electronic panel which’ll take several days to get here.
On the glass half full side, the technician helped me purchase the part online, saving about $100, so I appreciated his honesty. He didn’t charge for today’s visit and diagnosis, and the cost for his labor is reasonable.
As I bemoaned the horrible timing, he suggested I purchase a toaster oven. I had meant to do that a long time ago and forgot, so this was a great solution to my dilemma. I ran out and got one that day AND it was on sale, a fact that makes this Grandma very happy.
If every cloud really has a silver lining, mine is now pure gold with diamond sparkles. Charlotte’s new behavior is to run at me from across the room, jump in my arms, wrap herself around me and say, “Charlotte hug and kiss Grandma!” Over and over again. That two-year-old with the titian hair and her curly big brother expressing their affectionate and exuberant joie de vivre wipe away any and all angst about the oven.
Just now from Theo at 5:26 a.m., “Wake up, Princess Rosebud!”
Right behind him from Char at 5:27 a.m.,”Grandma, where’s apple pie?”
It might be a day late, but they WILL have their apple pie!
Have a happy and safe 4th, everyone!
Enchanted Seashells | Princess Rosebud 