blue manatee

Wow...how long did we live in Cincinnati...and we never knew about the Blue Manatee!? Granted, I assume we never stopped in, seeing that it's a Children's Bookstore and all, but they have an added on Coffee Shop with Organic, Fair Trade, and EXCELLENT coffee...especially when created by Cincinnati's own famous barista...Julia D!
I was so glad we had an hour (or two...or three) to stop by her work and hang out, catching up a little, in between watching her make coffee drinks for those crazy east-siders and their cute little children.
I (Andrea) love good friends. and I love good conversation with those good friends. That's why stopping by the Blue Manatee was a favorite stop for me on our 'drive-four-hours-to-cincinnati-and-visit-everyone-we-know' trip!

Me and my favorite barista, and friend, Julia



Julia, man-handling the espresso machine, making sure it creates the best espresso.
I think Julia is cool. She is passionate about many things, and when we get together, we get to talk about those many things, and that makes me like her more. I guess it's because we agree on a lot. and we disagree on a lot too...so we debate. I don't debate, unless it's with Julia.




Brooke (now sporting the winter beard) is completely impressed with Blue Manatee coffee. Not only do they have a good drink, but their logo is freaking sweet too.



Who knew that Brooke's favorite book, 'Blueberries for Sal' (AKA 'Bo Bo Dow') could be found outside the deep forests of Maine, where he bought his one and only copy, oh, so long ago!? Mom T....I could barely restrain him from reaching up and grabbing that copy that was on display!



I was just so happy to see my friend! Julia!...I can't wait for you to come visit out here...you will love it. Make sure to pack all that you need for your life...(which for you isn't much, I know) because you probably won't want to leave.
Thanks for good times, good laughs, and good coffee.
You're the best!!

snoqualmie river valley farm tour: last weekend

we know that this is a little late, but last weekend we took some time to partake in the festivities of the snoqualmie river valley farm tour. washington state university and a bunch of farms partner together to open the farms to the public for tours, demonstrations, edibles, music, and good-old-fashioned-family fun. we hit up about a half dozen farms and had a blast!

full circle farm is a certified organic farm that supplies a lot of the
seattle-area high-end restaurants with amazing fresh produce.

here you can read more about the historic hjertoos farm. the barn is
currently being restored and was opened for tours.

jubilee farm: nothing says fall like a wagon full of pumkins.

we looked out to the clouds, surveying the fields that surrounded us,
and quietly dreamed about how nice it would be to have this
area to wander at our leisure.

meet you at the market

every tuesday during the summer months, renton puts on a downtown farmer's market, bringing in fresh, organic food from local farms and orchards around the area. it is located right across the street from our apartment in the downtown piazza, and is something we both look forward to throughout our week.

look at this stuff! how can we resist?


peaches from a local orchard


a beautiful bouquet like this costs only $5, and the smell of those star-gazer lillies fills our apartment each week with an incredible aroma.


each new week brings a fresh performance. here: a men's choir.


an older gentleman picking out the perfect ear of corn.


a small overview of the hustle and bustle of this small town farmer's market...


...on a cloudless sunny day.


some seasonal veggies


jay here, working his 'pluot' madness. ok...who here has heard of a pluot? they're amazing. 50% plum, 50% apricot.....100% delicious! jay's father owns the tiny's orchard in wenatchee, wa. hopefully we'll make it out there for a 'pick-your-own' apple fest.


these have been the best raspberries i've had in my life.


more veggies


kids play in the (manmade) stream that cuts through the piazza.

why shop at your local farmer's market? here are a few reasons:
1. all the food tastes great!
2. helps support your local farmers
3. builds community
4. you have the opportunity to personally meet the one growing your food
5. a lot of times it's cheaper than shopping at your local grocer.
6. you're eating 100% healthy, organic, and sustainable food
7. have you heard about all the (non-edible) crap we take into our bodies when we eat crops that are grown conventionally? it will make you sick. check out Cindy Burke's, 'to buy or not to buy organic.' it's a great book.

click here if you're looking for farms, restaurants and stores that offer fresh, sustainable food in your area.

labor day weekend [pacific coast style]

labor day this year held no big plans, so we decided to take it day-by-day to see what might unfold.

friday: liz
we got to see one of andrea's good friends, liz. she was in town for a wedding and was able to stop by to hang out and catch up on friday and monday.

liz m.

saturday: 21 arces
we arose to blue skies and a world of possibilities. we have been buying a lot of our fruit and vegetables at the local farmers market [right across the street] and have decided to look more into organic and sustainable foods. through some studying we found a local organic farm about thirty minutes away that was open for tours and decided what better way to spend a sunny saturday then to walk through a farm!

the 21 acres community garden behind sits behind us.

andrea found a new good friend.
when we arrived back home we started browsing through craigslist for goats;
$50.00- $100.00 isn't bad at all!
can he survive on our balcony?!

total BFF!

strange bird house.

plenty of these guys.

sunday: harambee & matt & danelle
one church we've found that we really like is just a block away and looks like, from the outside, an indoor skateboard park! it's amazing. great people, great ministry. after church we grabbed some food and then hung out with our friends matt and danelle all afternoon. danelle and matt are getting married on friday. andrea and danelle worked on their programs and thank you cards, and matt and i listened to a lot of music, told stories about teaching, and checked in with mapsforus.org. [thanks scott!]

monday:
we woke in time to have an early lunch at a thai place with liz before she was off to return her wrecked rental car and to hop a train to portland. on the way home andrea and i brainstormed what our afternoon might look like. we decided to head for up the coast for bellingham, wa.

on chuckanut drive.
right after we stopped at samish bay organic cheese farm.
some of the best cheese ever!

san juan islands in the background.

found the above painted on an old building in fairhaven. one of our favorite towns.
history: i thought rainier beer was a cheep beer my dad would bay for $2 dollars a flat.
my family nicknamed it 'the slug killer.' boy was i wrong!

next to the rainier wall.

monday night: the world is too big for us to have bed times
what to do when you're two hours from home and it's seven pm? take all back roads. we knew right away that we'd make the trip again, so we didn't stop a lot for photos.

deception pass.
a bridge connects fidalgo island and whidbey island.

deception pass.

deception pass.

on last years trip we stopped by this place and bought a brown crock. some of you may remember it; it sat next to the bench in our house. although they were closed, we stopped out front to photograph steve's awesome building. it's sits north of coupeville on penn cove. steve, the owner, is a nice guy who graduated from calvin college in michigan. he told us stories of driving from grand rapids michigan to coupeville, wa in two days when he was in college! crazy.

we arrived home after hours of driving and a ferry boat ride, tired and in need of rest.