Home Again

It's fun to go away and even better to come home, but oh so hard to get into a routine again.  We were both so exhausted from spending 12 hours (not including the time changes) each way either on a plane or in an airport and the time change is always hard but all in all worth it.  We started our trip in Seattle where we have family and friends. Seattle is beautiful this time of year - such a wonderful, eclectic city.

The Space Needle...

 And always on the lookout for trees (below) - there were some beauties. Everything almost a fluorescent green.  This might have to be part of a quilt; I love the moss and texture.

 Pike's Market is always fun to visit, lots of flowers and

 the the very popular "fish throwing" vendor. Someone will pick a fish and it will be thrown to someone behind the counter for cutting and cleaning. It's great fun to watch and they've been doing this ever since I've been going to Pikes which is over 25 years.

 We stayed with my friend Sandy who is a wonderful quilter and has an even more wonderful fabric collection. What you see is only half of what she has.

 And some of the wonderful quilts she's used in the 9 books she's written.

 One of the houses Sandy took us to was this one below - a tiny little house tucked in amongst tall apartments and right across from the water.  The woman who bought this, did so many, many years ago before it was built up and then purchased the one next to it. She has a passion for flowers and gardens and having a concrete front lawn, this is how she solved the problem.

 It's absolutely wonderful to see in person; I could have spent hours there.

 One of the highlights of Seattle was discovering my great-grandfather's house. My dad's family were among the original settlers of Mercer Island and I knew my great-grandfather was the first postmaster of the Island.  My step brother who's into geneology discovered this house and took me to see it.  The owner was kind enough to let us in and take photos - it was thrilling to see a little piece of my family history.

More to come, still tired but lots of good memories.