New Career?

Susan, a friend, has gone to France, and I am in Portland living in her apartment and housesitting her three dogs, Mama, Papa, and Baby. I have a best friend who lives in Gresham, a suburb of Portland, and we celebrated my birthday together. We are old pals from back at Unity Church in Minneapolis.

Cindy really wants me to return to living on the farm. Debbie and Dan, my Snohomish friends with whom I stayed last summer, told me they selfishly want me to live with them, so I can petsit and they can travel.

Another friend named Michelle will be going to France in September. So I will be pet sitting and housesitting for her. She has a lovely wooded lot on a creek close to Bellingham.

I am having fun being a gypsy and tasting new towns and locations. My sister took me to Victoria, in Canada for my birthday. Love going on the ferry. This first picture is of me and my sister Susan.

Housesitting

While "jim" and Dave are in Scandinavia and then on to Romania as a part of the Chorus Tour, I am staying at their 'cottage' in the woods. Lovely place.

There's a cute bridge from the parking area over to the front door. These plants in the front are foxglove - which are all in bloom now.

jim and Dave built their home about 20 years ago after looking for a long time for property that faced south.


It's quite cozy. They have lettuce and spinach growing on their deck outside. The only downside to this sweet place is that we have been living through a monsoon this last month, and the lawn grew unbelievably high. Yesterday, I finally got it all cut down again.

I have another house sitting gig to get formalized, probably in late July through August 20. Debbie and Dan want me to come back to live with them, so that I can pet sit, while they begin trying out what it would be like to travel together after Kasie goes to college.

I don't know what I am going to do. I had a real yen to be a gypsy, and I certainly have enjoyed it. I do not enjoy the thought of finding a full time job to support a lifestyle of having a home and all the maintenance that goes with it. I'm living an alternative lifestyle and I like it. We will just have to see what will happen after summer. Living in the question. Living in the unknowing asks me to trust the universe, trust myself, and trust Source. I think I will practice the thing called trust. It calls to me.

Spring and Sprong

Hi folks. I have been living at a permaculture farm (a what?) for the last nine months. It was quite wonderful in many ways. Also quite rustic. No warm water, no shower, the toilet was self composting - and in another building. That was interesting when it was nighttime or when it was raining. But I am all the more hardy (smirk). Permaculture is a way of farming that looks at the relationships between the land, the plants, the animals, and the people, and all things that are involved in growing - weather, soil, water, etc. It was quite lovely to be woken up in the morning by the rooster, and create beautiful gardens this spring. So many incredible flowers and a whole fruit forests. Pretty cool.

I have this week, began a housesitting gig back down the river not too far away. It's a beautiful open cabin, with lots of windows and beautiful wooden floors. I find myself dancing in my stocking feet listening to the great jazz and swing music. My friends have gone to Europe for two months, and wanted me to stay and watch their home. It is very quiet, tucked into the woods.

Had a parttime job doing census taking which is coming to a close this week. Lots of changes in my life. It was quite interesting to knock on doors, and meet the people behind them.

Sprong is a writer that has interesting questions about spirituality.

I have a brother who loves to answer the phone "it's great here in paradise. How is it there in your part of paradise?" Spring here was magnificent. Hope all is well in your part of the world.

Amber came for Thanksgiving, and my sister came and spent Christmas with me. She was blown away by new very short hair cut!

My health is doing well. So different from last summer. Yahoo!

My caretaking job is quite interesting. Have harvested fruit, fed the pig his evening meal, herded chickens back into their pen, done some light weeding, some housecleanning, canning, career counseling, job consulting, been a companion, interior designer, and other fun and interesting activities.

We have quite a close knit community on this farm, and look out for each other. You would think that living on a farm might be isolating. Not! 3 families on this property. Cindy's daughter said to me just before they left for their Christmas vacation "What would we do without you, Anna?" Cindy's daughters are delightful. Cindy and I have become quite good pals. She is thrilled to have the support.

My living facilities are quite rustic, but I quite love where I live. It is cozy, cute, and getting alone time might be one of my bigger challenges! Here is Cindy doing some gardening right outside my kitchen window. You can see other pictures of my place in the next blog dated Dec 16.

While the essence of me has not changed. Many behaviors and ways of looking at the world have changed. I can't imagine having let myself be adopted by families in the past, but now is quite normal. All it took was getting ill, losing income, letting go of pride, and accepting the generosity of others.

I'll be going back to work in January. I am well enough to do that. I'm looking forward to the exciting developments of 2010. My your new year be blessed with new illuminations, and may you be refreshed spirit, body and soul.

Christmas 2009

Remember when I used to do Christmas letters? My last entry was about Christmas 2008, and now it is Chrismas 2009. It was an extraordinary year. It's just that some of it was unpleasant. I feel as though my life is undergoing a major wonderful quantum leap forward. (This picture to the right was taken by my sister the day after my birthday Jul 30 - do I look like I was only out of the hospital 12 days?)

Photographs are included to give you a visual sense of my life. I went to my sister Susan's town for a birthday celebration. then there are some photos of where I live now.

January and February were the toughest months for me, because I got so scared about money when the economy just seized up. I had lots of interviews for work, but the world of employers were afraid to make a commitment. Found a wonderful place I wanted to work, they loved me, but were too afraid of what unknown shifts the economy would take, so chose not to hire anyone.

So I worried and fretted, found two short-term positions, worked hard, made a difference - a big difference, and then got sick.

In June, Amber, Debbie, and another of Amber's friends came over, packed up our apartment (of which we took most all the furniture and big stuff on to Goodwill - to not have storage costs). Debbie stored our personal belongings in her garage.

I am recovering from a flareup of ulcerative colitis - that eventually ended up with me being admitted into the hospital on an emergency in July. I had become severely dehydrated. So little fluid in my body that my poor heart was working so hard that it scared my doctor badly, so little oxygen in my blood that my mind had lost lots of ability to discern and even recognize that I was severely and critically ill. I tend to be strong and healthy most of the time, and I just never had been this ill. It turns out that I have been dangerously ill for some time.

After a week in the hospital, I was a different person. I lost most of my hair. The scariest part of this for me was that I got dangerously ill, and couldn't tell. Who knew that low oxygen levels in the body severely curtail one's thinking and discerning capacity? I knew I couldn't think well, and that it was hard to talk and write, but I just didn't know how dangerously ill I was.

The hospital experience was so powerful, because I received extraordinary care. Turns out this hospital is one of the top 10 in the country, and they have a miraculous team of people who really rally together to work with critically ill patients, get the job done, be very optimistic and upbeat. It gave to me to see such a powerful, hopeful system.

It may sound pretty awful, and in ways it was. Yet in another most powerful way, this has been a quantum leap time for me. My hope in humanity has been renewed. My ability to try to control my life and future was reduced to nothing, so pride has fallen away, and I am receiving these incredible gifts from the universe through none of my personal efforts.

During the month of May, Amber made the connection that she came out here to make. She has become a working student of a person who is a fabulous trainer, has five unbelievable horses that have competed at spectacular levels and Amber gets to ride and receive training for free. . Lisa (Amber's boss) has a ranch in Couer d' Alene Idaho, and moved all the horses back there after the show season in early August. Amber moved with them. I was invited along but chose to remain in state.

In September, my new friend Debbie helped me move to an alternative farm about a half hour north of Mount Vernon. It's rustic, charming, challenging, and soothing. I have a loft over the community room, and trade out doing different activities - including being a caretaker for the property - for my room. This is a photo of the community building, my loft is at the top.


The farm is one using the practices of sustainability and permaculture. Primarily we grow fruit and vegetables. On the property we have developed a community. We look out for each other, give each other rides, gather round a night time fire, watch the stars, commiserate on the weather, celebrate the sun breaks, give each other hugs, hold hands when Maria was taken to the hospital for a perforated colon, marvel at the resiliency and the miracle of the human body, when now she is home and recuperating very well. I walk out to the self-composting toilet, and see Maria and Chris sitting outside on their backstairs with their morning coffee. Baxter comes running to greet me with his toy frog in his mouth. This is the view out my front door.

Pickles the Pig loves to chase the chickens and they are all great friends. Whenever I go out to my car, Pickles comes out of her house to say hello. I've watched her grown from little to very big. Rocky the rooster was very henpecked for a long while, until Chris began letting all the chickens out to do some free range. Then Rocky puffed up and shepherded his brood of five rhode island red chickens and became very proud.

Cindy who owns the farm has invited me into her family and friends. I've gone to her church, a canning party where I met some other women who sing in a chorus. They invited me, and I had a blast singing away Sept through our concert in December. It was so cool. The chorus has lots of activists in it, and sings lots of peace songs.

I love the singing. My heart just lilts with joy.

This photo is taken from the deck off the sun room in the building in which I live.

I am so grateful to be alive, and since I just brushed by death a little bit, the gratitude and feeling of aliveness makes me sing inside.

As the illness subsided, and the wide-eyed demeanor of getting a whiff of eternity has become more subdued, I am not as electric with aliveness, but I want to continue celebrating and cherishing aliveness.

Amber has left the nest, is doing very well in another state, has just received a promotion in the non-profit agency where she is working parttime, and she loves her life. It was a shock to both she and I to part so quickly, but it is a gift to us both. I am finding out who I am other than being a parent and a providor.

This road trip has branched out to being a discovery channel. It continues to be an adventure.

A Photo Safari of Mukilteo

On Amber's first day at work she was too ill to go in. We had driven from the blueberry farm down to Mukilteo, and when we arrived two hours later, she knew she wouldn't be able to work, so we drove down to the water, hoping for a place to just be. We found ourselves in the little town of Mukilteo where the ferry travels back and forth to the south end of Whidby Island. The Coast Guard has a working lighthouse here - with a huge fog horn.....

The lighthouse is the town's main symbol.
You can enjoy watching the ferry arrive while at the light house.


Or you can sit at my favorite coffeeshop up the hill, see Puget Sound and
watch the ferries come and go every half hour.

Mukilteo just finished a park right at the water's edge, next to the light house. This is where we came that first day. We parked right almost in the same spot as our black car in this photo.

Many a person drives here on their lunch hour, early morning, or sunset, to watch the water, the seagulls, the boats, the ferries, Whidby Island, or just to soak in the peace-
fulness. Along along this area of Puget sound, the land rises steeply and there are few area built right on the water.

In the park, there are fire pits for families to come and grill hot dogs. Many people enjoy it. We certainly do. There's a public dock where people can launch boats.

Along the water there are all kinds of driftwood. It is my under-
standing that it is not lawful to remove it from the beach.

You never know what you might see here.









Boats, planes, trains. From Tacoma to Bellingham, the train runs along the water's edge. In Mukilteo, it's right behind the park.

In July, I travelled to Portland via Amtrak, and saw breath-
taking views from the train. This view of the Sound was taken from the train.


On the way home from Portland, I saw a magnificent place. Later I discovered it is only about four miles from where I live. Picnic Point is a little park that you get to by driving down a long ravine, climbing up over the tracks via pedestrian bridge to come out a place you can walk along the water. From the ravine comes a stream of water that makes its way out to the sound. That's Whidby Island in the distance.

After all the snow and ice of these last four weeks, it was quite wonderful to go down to the park and watch the sun go down.

Christmas at our house

Merry Holidays.

Amber and I are beginning new traditions. We were too busy on Christmas Day to open presents, so yesterday we had Christmas. We loved it. It wasn't stressful, and we stayed in our PJ's most of the day.

We love soaking up the ambiance of our new nest.

Our apartment has some interesting neutrals - which we were having problems deciding what to do with. While in Texas, and having access to cable, we devoured lots of HGTV decorating shows. My favorite is Color Splash. So decorating our newest home was very important.
We also had a severely limited budget, but we found so many great deals. We came to love Oak, and Country style in a whole new way, as our home came together. Not our first choice - but we love it. Thought you might like to see where we spend our time. Our color inspiration began with our fireplace. In it we found some lovely rusts, and a whole color scheme emerged.

We love our sheers - they shimmer. Maybe we went overboard with Rust - but we love it. The kitchen is a u-shaped space - with the kitchen counter opening to the dining area. We can cook, and look out our window to the golf course, or into the mirrors and see the sunset or the pond. The fireplace is in the middle of the north wall, separating the dining area and the living area.

Our apartment is a two-bedroom, compact but with a nice layout for how we live. Do you like our table? We LOVE it. We wanted to have a pub style table because we like to sit up high, and we wanted the dining area to also serve as our art studio.

We made the table from two tables, and some extra boards. Amber came up with the pedestal, and so I searched Goodwill, after finding out that each table leg was going to cost about $20 from Home Depot. Salvation Army was going out of business so we got some incredible deals. The two stools next to the counter were $7. The table top (which originally was a low coffee table) was $5.00 The table that had that lovely wood pedestal was $10.

One of our biggest money purchases is the cute country buffet on which sits our loaches (fish). It matched a dining set that we were initially given, but the lady needed it back, but we still love the piece. The kitchen cabinets, and the trim throughout the apartment is white.
The sideboard here to the left of the table is my all time favorite find. Talk about manifestation! I really wanted to have a storage unit in the dining room to hold all of our art supplies. I found the dresser at my favorite value village on a Monday when anything with a certain color is $.99. Yep. I found this dresser for ninety nine cents (regular price $89.99)- and I cherish it every time I look at it. It came home on top of our car, and then we added the little hutch on the top. We use this area all the time. We ate our Christmas breakfast here, we opened our presents here. We love to look out. We spent many hours here creating the little surprises that we sent out to a few people. With the window, and the mirrors on each wall, we can see the pond, the golf course, the club house, sunsets, geese, little boys sledding, and it is very peaceful and quiet. Sirius loves the view both out of the dining room and from the living room. Yep that's snow you see there. Over a foot of it. If you live in MN - it's not a big deal. It is huge deal here. Very little equipment to deal with it. People can't get out of the parking lot to go to work in snow this deep unless they have snow chains, a four wheel drive vehicle, or the wonderful little Toyota that we have that is solid like a tank.

One of my favorite places - oh my gosh,- the sun is shining. Yahoodie. I just opened my blinds so I can see the sun. I love the sun. So far this winter in Seattle, I have not gone more than about 4 days without seeing the sun. I enjoy every minute of it.

I'm writing at my desk that my sister gave me. I bought a single bed frame from her, and she told me, you're not going to like it once you put it up and it takes up the whole floor. She was right, so I had to get clever, and I LOVE this bedroom office that I have. It is cozy, it is warm, it is a lovely place to be. I added a recliner (have fallen in love with recliners - because I slept in one in Texas all the time - my snoring kept my daughter awake). My daughter found two bookcases at different times by the dumpster, I got my $129 dresser for $5.00 at the going out of business sale at Salvation Army, along with the recliner. I think I spent a total of $32 on furniture. Two lamps - .$99 ea. My sheer drape was $6.00 I splurged on new bedding and pillows, but got each of them at incredible deals.

Our space was and is important to us. We got the apartment at an incredible deal as well. We chose to live here because we need to feel prosperous and not feel like we are living in survival. Working very well. In all these years as an adult, I have never gone about the process of decorating a space. And here, we just took the time and did it, and now it gives to us whenever we are home.

Hope you are having wonderful holidays. We miss our friends and family. And we are having a fabulous adventure. Amber's birthday is Dec 22. I gave her a piece of Franz pottery that she had fallen in love with. And the matching teacup and saucer at Christmas. She's displaying it in our wonderful $5.00 entertainment unit in the living room. It is a powerful symbol to both of us, the Phoenician flight. We are in our major transformation. But that's what we came in for.
May you have a blessed season and year.