It was a hectic week and there was nothing more peaceful than sleeping in at my childhood home,waking up to Mom's coffee and a peaceful walk in her backyard.
Her lettuce and dill are thriving in the raised bed. 
I love the combination of flowers in this container. 
Noel took time to pose in the corner of the backyard.
I also love the combination of the pale yellow petunias and the sedum.
My nieces added some pazazz to the yard by decorating the walk with sidewalk chalk.
This week I am facilitating and learning side by side with a group of teachers at the Northwest Inland Writing Project. Each participant today decided to start a blog as a form to show thinking, share writing, and provide a way for the rest of us to experience their words plus add comments. As we listened to class members share original poetry today it was a treat to return later and read the words again on a blog. My new blog can be found here.
Filling the Vase
Writing is wandering through the
garden path harvesting morning flowers.
Gathering leaves, finding fillers,
snipping blossoms as they begin to open.
Pausing to reflect and even observe
while paying attention to the smells.
Gold, chartreuse, and deep red become the wondrous words,
thorny stems phrases which cut too deep.
The combination of textures sort the sentence variety
overpowered by the sweet scent of similes.
The violet vase is the vessel of form
Aligning the sentences, arranging the words,
Taming texture with attention to audience.
Place the bouquet on the farmhouse table,
or away for a spell to let the contents settle.
June 24, 2008
"God almighty first planted a garden. And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures."-- Francis Bacon
JEJ grabbed his camera again and caught some delightful photo images of his vegetable garden!
I can't wait to taste the first ripe tomato.
The grapes almost hide one end of the garden fence. Each week the garden changes and we say good-bye to some plants and hello to another harvest. This week I loved picking fresh peas off the vine and eating them in the garden!
A couple of years ago I did a post on the Roger's Bar Community Church located south of Inchelium. You can find it here. With our company last week we stopped for a visit during a road trip around the area. I love the way this church sits as a beacon on a hill next to the road. The view of the lake from the church is beautiful. Once inside the stained glass window, the natual light through the window, and the rosary were all reminders of the spirit of this Catholic church. Enjoy a tour of this landmark.
To celebrate JEJ's birthday today we spent a lovely evening at dinner at lovitt restaurant just south of Colville, Washington.
Wanting to try this local restaurant for awhile, it was a perfect summer evening for gazing at the beautiful view of the Colville Valley from the restaurant window. 
We enjoyed entrees created from scratch using produce and food products from around our area prepared to perfection by the owner and chef Norman Six. 
His wife Kristen served us and answered my questions about how they pickled the rhubarb for the salad and where the gorgeous black and white photos on the walls came from ( the center room featured students' photos from Colville High School while others were done by a friend).
After JEJ enjoyed steak barbecued out back with fruit wood and I dined on tasty pasta primavera with homemade spaghetti and local goat cheese, we decided we had to try the desserts. 
Who has ever tried creme brulee topped with huckleberries? JEJ decided to try it while I had the cherry rhubarb shortcake with homemade honey vanilla ice cream. No regrets on our choices.
Now I have had homemade ice cream before, but this frozen delight made right there by the chef was by far the freshest, creamiest, tastiest ice cream I have ever had.
If you haven't tried lovitt restaurant and live in the Inland Empire, it is well worth the drive. You can visit their website here and learn about the restaurant, directions to get there, and read reviews from the Spokesman Review, Sunset Magazine, the Inlander and other publications.
For an added pleasure I was able to capture the mountains by Kettle Falls as we drove Highway 395 just before sunset.