sometimes...

... your backyard can be the perfect little getaway.

... this rain that i often wish would go away surprises me with the beauty it leaves behind.

... a single afternoon can take all the stress and worry that's been cluttering up your brain and put things back into perspective.

... i just need to stand very still and quiet, take a deep breath and get swept up in the good.

stormy weather.

jake's family lives on a small farm in washington and we love to spend time there.

this weekend we had plans to go and have a calm, relaxing few days together, just take 

it easy because a few of us were feeling a little under the weather...

speaking of weather, ours has been on the erratic side of care recently and we woke up sunday

to impressively strong winds. watching the trees move was kind of exciting at first and then

unsettling once you realized just how much and how fast they were moving.

an hour or so into watching the wind, jake went outside to bring up some wood for the stove

when he saw that one of the giant locust trees in the backyard had fallen over on top of 

the chicken coup. this is the part where our calm relaxing day turns into a lot of hard work

and a house full of exhausted people. so, not exactly what we'd all had in mind, but

it was still a pretty great day, no people or animals were harmed and the damage to the coup 

is so much less than it could have been if the tree had fallen a few inches differently than it did.

as far as falling trees go, we got pretty lucky.

and in the next week or two, we've got a LOT of wood to cut and stack!

a little adventure

we chased the sunset last night...

trying to get a photograph, but we were stuck on the highway

and by the time we made to a place we could stop and see past the trees...

it was gone.

i hope others were able to enjoy it.

i have never seen a sunset with colors as intense as these.

what a talented and beautiful sky we have.

{photo: i stuck my head out the window of our very fast moving car, almost lost my phone forever and sadly only captured the right edge of the sunset} 

dear mosquitos,

you are the worst. the actual worst.
you ruined our movie in the park.
you bit through our clothes and defenses.
i'm pretty sure that is against the rules.
we are covered in aggravated red bumps of all shapes and sizes.
on our feet and hands and shoulders and FACES. faces are off limits.
we've been itching for days and there's no relief.
you don't play fair. you pick on children. you are not appreciated.
i have considered procuring enough bats to cure portland of your evil.

you've been warned.
sarah

things we found on our walk tonight...

... the most beautiful flower in the history of flowers,

and this other flower that is made from tiny drops of sun and makes you shrink if you eat it,

and the place where all the bad tractors get locked up,

and dirt that turns into magic dust but only real princesses can do it,

and succulents that used to be roses when they were babies

but now that they're grown up they look like this,

and this terribly prickly creature that grows to 17 feet tall after the sun goes down,

we didn't wait around to see it for ourselves, too risky.

oh, we did see one more thing that i didn't get a photo of... we walked right past the queen's house. did you know portland has a queen? it does. evidently all the states do and ours lives in portland. her name is lisa. lisa the queen of portland and she lives between my house and trader joe's. sweet d had lunch with her just the other day. they talked about regular stuff and queen stuff and portland stuff. she's totally nice, recycles and didn't waste any of her lunch. maybe someday i'll get to meet her.

imagination rules.

two things i like a lot...

... umbrellas & succulents.

p.s. the dainty squid is hosting a giveaway for a handmade hoodie from MungoCrafts, these hoodies are seriously cool. i would wear the crap out of them!! check it out.

let's pretend...

... i didn't disappear for nearly a month. this way i won't have to come up with a good excuse for my bad behavior.

i like this.


i don't like allergies.

any good tips and/or tricks and/or remedies for a gal suffering {seriously suffering} from allergies? i've considered head removal... seems like it'd do the trick.

it is G O R G E O U S outside!!

i'm gonna go play outside with the ladies...

... aren't they purdy?!!

what are your plans for the day?

abby try again

abby powell is a self-taught photographer who uses thrifted film cameras and captures the most beautiful, whimsical images. she is relocating from portland to austin {sad for portland, hooray for austin!}
because of the big move she has recently put every item in her shop on sale!! the sale lasts through may 9th, and then her shop will be closed for a few weeks while she moves. go look, time is running out.

wanna see what i got?

so pretty. 

Let's get fresh...

... {wink}

tonight i was treated to a screening of the film FRESH at the hollywood theater here in portland. it was wonderful. informative. inspiring. important. made me wish i had a farm of my own. 

the film is about the importance, do-ability and economic sustainability of making our food system work better for humans, animals and the planet. it focuses on solutions and possibilities, highlights farmers, innovators and thinkers across the country who are bringing positive change to the table {a little pun for ya}. it was empowering. i could be doing more, and it matters. every little bit makes a difference.

the film will be showing tomorrow evening at the hollywood theater, 7:15 and 9:30 pm, tickets are $8 and if you can go, GO! the director of the film, Ana Sofia Joanes, is attending the screenings here which is very exciting. she stuck around and answered questions after the show tonight, and i imagine she'll do the same tomorrow.

if you're not in portland {click here} to view possible screenings near you.

visit www.freshthemovie.com for loads of great information.

today was like, whoa...

... in mostly an "i might ralph at any moment due to stress/anxiety/frustration/worry/tension/heartache" sort of way...

... but there was good found in simple, beautiful things...

... and an extraordinary almost 5 year old...

... and an artistically experimental roommate...

... and chicks...

*deep breath*

cuss!

i don't have a television, and that's never been a problem for me. i love to watch movies and catch the occasional show on my computer while i'm trying to fall asleep at night, this suits me well. but right now, i can't stop trying to come up with ways to get a tv and cable service in the next 24 hours just so that i can watch this new Life series on the discovery channel. it premiers sunday and i want to watch it. cuss!

aren't you glad to be alive?!!

it's a spectacularly beautiful spring day in portland. one of those extraordinary days where the air smells sweeter and the colors are brighter and people are radiant... the best kind of day. i went for a walk/jog to the hardware store to pick up a paintbrush and on my way home i was stopped by a lovely and rather petite elderly woman. she was walking slowly in one direction, i was walking quite quickly in the other. she reached out for my hand and said to me with more more excitement than a small child on christmas morning, "aren't you glad to be alive?" in that moment, she made all of the sad and hard and stress go away and i looked at her with the most enormous smile stretched across my face and replied "YES, i really am!!!" then she smiled, and we both continued walking. i'll probably never see her again, but i'm certain i'll never forget her.

a day in the life...

it's not really about the birds and the bees...

... it's about lots and lots of fried stuff with cheese!!!

this morning the squirrels were asking if i could have a baby. they really want a new baby around and practically everyone else we know is having or just had one... so we had this conversation:

6 year old: hey momma, are you gonna have any more babies?
me: nope, i have all the babies i need.
6 year old: but we reeeeaallly want to have a baby...
me: I know, it would be a lot of fun but i can't have any more babies.
3 year old: well, you know momma -- if you eat a lot a lot a lot of food, then your belly will get very very big and THEN you CAN have a new baby!!!
(if only you could've seen the excitement on her face after sharing her marvelous idea with me... it was a priceless moment)

so there you have it, how babies are actually made.

also, i've been crocheting more, this is a work in progress and another gift... i'll post more photos once it's done!!

i found this adorable tiny creature in my front yard this morning, hooray for spring time!!