London’s Kew Gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage Site containing the “largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections” in the world, was so vast we couldn’t see it all in one visit. Fresh off a transatlantic flight, we meandered and marveled for several hours and then decided to see the rest another time. We wandered … Continue reading Snippets of London in July: Kew Gardens, Do Ho Suh at the Tate Modern, Hadestown in the West End| Island Ashley
My parents are celebrating their 50th anniversary this summer, starting with several days spent with family in Idaho as a nod to their Yellowstone honeymoon all those years ago. Four of our five were able to make it, and we traded off driving as we made our way east. We stopped at Lake Coeur d’Alene … Continue reading Mariposa Lilies in Idaho| Island Ashley
Day 1: S’s car is all packed up for a move to medical school in AZ and we’re off for the first day of driving southward on I-5. The Ashland Springs Hotel and their farm-to-table Lark Restaurant is really lovely. Day 2: Driving from Ashland, OR to Palo Alto, CA. We stayed and ate at … Continue reading Mother-Daughter Road Trip| Island Ashley
K’s here this weekend and this was our cooking project–I’ve long wanted to try baking pureed camellia petals into something. They hide themselves very well in this quick bread/cake, with an almost completely neutral fresh smell and taste. Next, I want to try baking camellia blossoms into a strawberry-rhubarb pie, without pureeing them at all. … Continue reading Camellia Blossom Strawberry Cakes| Island Ashley
March into April 2023: A visit to Arizona, S studying for the MCAT, the Seattle Opera, keeping cozy with Tasha. May into summer: house remodeling projects, a combo of DIYing what we can and employing talented craftsmen where we can’t. First order of business: taking down the protective shed around the old heating oil tank, … Continue reading 2023 Retrospective| Island Ashley
This has to be one of the best ways to re-see the relatively bleak February gardenscape—as a potential treasure trove of raw materials brimming with interesting texture. A friend and colleague showed me some of the gorgeous gel prints she’s recently done and lent me her supplies. After a whole-family painting party on Sunday, today … Continue reading Gel printing| Island Ashley
S’s post-baccalaureate studies involve a biology lab in our basement. If you’re down there to hang laundry to dry, etc, she’ll give you a running commentary on what she’s doing–torturing eggs, using IKI solution, learnin’ stuff… The garden kept producing this year clear into late November! C made the most amazing special marshmallows for Christmas: … Continue reading November into December 2022| Island Ashley
This trip’s purpose was to settle A in at St Andrews, and we also spent a bit of time exploring Dundee. The V&A Dundee museum of design is gorgeous–we were so excited to visit Charles Rennie Macintosh’s Oak Room, a tea house first built in Glasgow which has been reassembled in the heart of the … Continue reading Scotland in September| Island Ashley
Overall, these two weeks in June were two of the richest, most joyful, most heart-bursting-with-parent-pride weeks I’ve lived through, full of catching up with old friends and meeting new ones, hiking, traveling by rail (nipped in just before the strike), seeing, walking, listening, learning.| Island Ashley
One of our resident wild bunny family sunning himself this morning. Elsewhere in the garden: The gorgeous green and white solitary tulip is nearly open. I wonder who planted it, and how long ago? R…| Island Ashley
I am reading a book out loud to the family. It’s a biography of a Scotsman, a surgeon who came to Rawene in 1914 with his bombastic personality and big ideas about how to practice medicine, and eve…| Island Ashley
