Greetings from Duvall

On a warm and sunny Saturday, we drove to Enchanted Farms in Duvall for their Picnic With Alpacas, at which several families of humans eat first at their covered picnic tables, then at least 20 alpacas (mostly females with a couple of male crias) are released through the fence and the people get to feed them! We had our fingers nibbled and our bowls of food knocked around, and we got to pet many alpacas. Afterward we also went to see the farm's pygmy goats, donkeys, sheep, ducks, and bunnies, most of whom we got to feed as well (and many of whom attempted to munch us, hee).

 

Saturday was also a Pokemon Community Day, so after visiting the animals, we went to Redmond Town Center, where we got fancy drinks and I spent a couple of hours catching and evolving Popplios, plus stopped at the Bath and Body Works Labor Day sale. We got home in time to see most of the Orioles game, which was miserable, not only because they lost the game, but because several players were injured, including Dean Kremer who's my favorite pitcher. We ate leftover Indian food from Kanishka for dinner, then watched the first few episodes of Terminator Zero, which are really excellent!

Greetings from Monroe

Paul only had to work half the day on Friday before the long weekend, so after lunch we went to the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe. It's not as big as the Washington State Fair in Puyallup, but it's easy to see most of the animals and exhibits in one afternoon, so we got to watch duck races, goat judging, newborn calves, lots of local produce and crafts, the Western Heritage Center, some fair shopping, and lots of food though we were good and skipped the fried stuff -- we only had sno-cones!

 

We got home in the early evening -- Kate kept us up to date on the Orioles game and ultimate victory -- and ate an early dinner. Then we watched episodes two and three of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power with Cheryl, which I thought were great; will miss the character who died because the actor left the series, but I love the visuals and what's happening with the characters. Now we're watching the end of the first season of Ridley; we'll see if the second season is less depressing.

Poem for Thursday and Snohomish Antiques

Journey's End 

By J.R.R. Tolkien 

In western lands beneath the Sun

The flowers may rise in Spring,

The trees may bud, the waters run,

The merry finches sing.

Or there maybe 'tis cloudless night,

And swaying branches bear

The Elven-stars as jewels white

Amid their branching hair.

Though here at journey's end I lie

In darkness buried deep,

Beyond all towers strong and high,

Beyond all mountains steep,

Above all shadows rides the Sun

And Stars for ever dwell:

I will not say the Day is done,

Nor bid the Stars farewell.

-------- 

Summer returned on Thursday with temperatures in the high 70s. We got out to enjoy it in the afternoon; I spent the morning working on a cataloguing project which then sent me on a wild goose chase looking for a book I haven't seen since we moved out here and can't figure out where it ended up. I had my Thursday chat group after we got back from the beach. 

Cheryl started watching the second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power with us, but her power went out, so we're going to pick it up tomorrow night. The Orioles lost to the Dodgers, so now we're watching Ridley, which remains intense and depressing. Some of the finds we found at the antique stores in Snohomish last weekend: 

Poem for Wednesday and Bellevue Glass

Indian Cooking 

By Moniza Alvi 

The bottom of the pan was a palette–

paprika, cayenne, dhania

haldi, heaped like powder-paints.

Melted ghee made lakes, golden rivers.

The keema frying, my mother waited

for the fat to bubble to the surface.

Friends bought silver-leaf.

I dropped it on khir–

special rice pudding for parties.

I tasted the landscape, customs

of my father's country–

its fever on biting a chilli.

-------- 

Wednesday was a bit warmer, but still a lovely day. I chatted with Hildy and Kay in the morning, then Asurion came to repair the front glass on my new phone, which arrived with what I thought was a tiny distortion but turned into a larger crack -- at least now it's fixed! After that and lunch, I watched the second half of Deadpool 2 with Kristen and Laurie, and walked to the park with Paul. 

Kay's son was talking about Indian food when I was on chat with them, so I convinced Paul to get Kanishka paneer and veg for dinner with naan and gulab jamun, which was delicious. We watched the excellent end of the Yankees game followed by the unfortunate end of the Orioles game, and now we're watching the third episode of Ridley. Glass at Art at the Garden from Bellevue Botanical Garden:

Poem for Tuesday and Snohomish Block Party

Honestly, 

By John Ashbery 

we could send you out there

to join the cackle squad,

but hey, that highly accomplished,

thinly regarded equestrian—well there was no way

he was going to join the others’ field trip.

Wouldn’t put his head on the table.

But here’s the thing:

They had owned great dread,

knew of a way to get away from here

through ice and smoke

always clutching her fingers, like it says

to do.

Once we were passionate about the police,

yawned in the teeth of pixels,

but a far rumor blanked us out.

We bathed in moonshine.

Now, experts disagree.

Were we unhappy or sublime?

We’ll have to wait until the next time

an angel comes rapping at the door

to rejoice docently.

(I know there’s a way to do this.) 

-------- 

We had cool weather for most of Tuesday -- it was in the 60s by mid-afternoon when we walked to the beach, but I was chilly at my desk all morning after we chatted with younger son and his fiancee, who have both started their new jobs (and who went to the Guardians game tonight, though it was rained out after the 5th). We only saw one frog, one turtle, and one eagle today, but we had several hummingbirds visit. 

My Voyager group minus Carol, who was visiting her grandkids in Canada, watched "Nightingale" -- an episode I did not remember at all -- then we watched the late west coast Orioles-Dodgers game, which was tense but ended gloriously, and now we're watching the season premiere of Only Murders in the Building, which I have missed! Some of the shops and entertainment at the Snohomish Block Party last weekend:

Poem for Monday and Bellevue Dahlias

To Dahlia 

By Paul Verlaine 

Translated by Walter Wykes 

Lovely harlot

With your hard black eyes

And your soft budding breasts

 

Shameless flower of the damned

Your aroma overwhelms my senses

 

I am driven to possess you

But you scarcely feel my flesh

I make no impression

 

Bland on your bewitching tongue, I have no taste

You exhale my desire like smoke

Incense sacrificed to your unyielding beauty

-------- 

Monday was mostly a chore day around here, though some of them were fun. We went out to pick up Blazing Bagels and a couple of outdoor pillows at World Market, which means we also got to look at the fall and Halloween decorations. It drizzled a little while we were out, but had stopped by the time we finished lunch, and after the laundry was done, we went for a walk and saw a couple of herons, osprey, and red-winged blackbirds. 

We got a jar of the delicious tomato and basil soup at World Market, which we had for dinner with grilled cheese, then we watched the delightful end of the Mariners-Rays game (much better than the unfortunate Nats-Yankees game). Now we're watching Ridley, which is well-written, well-acted, and depressing -- reminds me of later Endeavour and Wallander. Here are some of the dahlias at the Bellevue Botanical Garden from yesterday:

Greetings from Bellevue

Sunday was a gorgeous day, high 60s and sunny. We had planned to go to the zoo to see the tapir before it leaves for a zoo with another tapir, but it turned out that the zoo was closed for a private event. So instead we went to the Bellevue Botanical Garden for Arts in the Garden, which had a bunch of local artisans showing and selling their creations among the plants and flowers. It was a gorgeous day to walk the woods trail and to see the glass and carvings in the sun -- we felt badly for the people who'd been there in the rain on Saturday.

 

Since we were in Bellevue, we stopped at Fred Meyer for food and to look at household items (why is it so hard to find an inexpensive hanging mirror?), then we came home and walked on the dock, where it was a good day to see turtles. We saw the unhappy end of the Orioles game, ate dinner, watched this week's Snowpiercer (finally Wilford and Layton working together, even if barely!) and now we're watching the season finale of Orphan Black: Echoes, in which I guess we're not getting a Tatiana cameo so I need to hope for a season two pickup!