I never tire of looking at the mountains. I often go about my day, working around the house or in the office, when something causes me to look up and pause.  The sun shines through the grey skies and catches me by surprise. Unexpected...

One of our days in France we stopped by this charming restaurant called Le Caillau. Surrounded by vineyards on all sides, the restaurant just seems to fit right into the countryside. After taking a look around in the afternoon, going back for dinner the next night became imperative. 

Je vais au marche...I'm going to the market! One of the things I love about visiting other countries is shopping at a local outdoor market. Perhaps this is a throwback to my childhood growing up in Brasil, where my mother shopped at outdoor markets on a weekly basis.

Moving into a home over 200 years old in a French village requires a certain je ne sais quoi...hard to adequately describe it. One must be comfortable with imperfections like cracked tile, imperfect plumbing, wavy floors.

Traveling by train from Paris to south central France last month, I was struck by the charm of the houses with red tile roofs and warm stucco or stone walls

Have you ever experienced a time when you were hoping and waiting for something to happen, with great anticipation? Things seemed to be falling in place and there were signs that your dream would soon be realized...

Opening my Facebook feed the other day, Facebook reminded me of this event posted a year ago. Yes, our son graduated from the University of Washington. As I looked at the photo, I recalled that day...the day I was surprised by UW.

Are  you a list maker? I mean, a somewhat obsessive list maker...like me? One of those people who will actually add something to a daily task list that you've already done, just so you can mark it off and somehow feel better...truth, sigh. 

One of the great things about having a good friend who grew up in another state is that over the years, you meet and get to know their old friends when they come to visit. And sometimes, their friends become your friends too. 

Once again I had the joy of hopping on a ferry with friends to get away to an island in Puget Sound. Don't you just love that in less than an hour you can be out on the water, smelling the sea air, with the wind whipping through your hair? All your troubles seem to float away, at least for the time being, and you are in awe of the beauty surrounding you. 

As May Day approaches, I always begin to think about what flowers I will plant in my flower pots. I tend to take a fairly traditional approach, partly because I like the simple look, but admittedly partly because I really don't know that much about plants. 

Venturing out to the tulip fields in Skagit County, two friends and I took a chance that we could catch this annual show of beauty before the predicted rains came. Being a Monday, the morning crowd was fairly slight...a good day to go. 

As I was baking bread last week, I could not quite put my finger on a feeling I had. Something felt so right...the faint scent of the yeasty raw dough, the flour that somehow escaped the mixing bowl, landing on the counter, and later the smell of bread baking...one of my favorite smells in the whole world.

One of the joys of hitting a milestone birthday is that the party often continues beyond your special day as your circles of friends celebrate with you. My friends have enriched my life. Beyond the good times of sharing fun experiences

The other night my sisters took me out for dinner to a charming little French bistro in Edmonds for a belated birthday celebration. Yes, that is a little glimpse of the sun that has been hiding for days here in western Washington! Can you see the Olympic mountains peaking over the clouds? Perhaps spring is just around the corner!

Sitting at New Life Church waiting for the celebration of life to begin, I glanced at the program and saw that his son was giving the opening remarks. Tragically, the father, a dear family friend, had recently passed away from a battle with glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer, at the age of 58. 

Sometimes hitting a "big" birthday...the decades old kind...is a little painful. You look at the number coming up and there's a part of you that just can't wrap your mind around it. Whaaaaat? I couldn't possibly be that old! Feels like just yesterday I was 25!