Junuary = January in June, waterfalls, and clam digging

It's Junuary here in the Pacific Northwest. No, “Junuary” is not a typo: It's June, but it feels like January... rainy, dark, gloomy, when people drink more coffee (or in my case, eat more chocolate) than usual, trying to get their spirits up. April fooled us with summer weather – we swam in the pond two months ago, stored away our winter sweaters, gave winter the finger. Now, I feel like wanting to light the wood stove because I am cold, and my bones feel damp.

The only day of semi-sunshine was last Saturday, and since Steve had been working non-stop, and I also hadn't seen my sons for a week because of Gramma camp, I dragged us all out on a hike to bond as a family. The boys were pouting at first, because they missed their friends and were completely sleep deprived, but after ten minutes of hiking to the sound of waterfalls, they perked up to their usual delightful selves. I chose a hike famous for its waterfalls and old growth forest. Spending the day immersed in this kind of beauty and immersed in the company of my tribe felt refreshing for all of us.

Eva looks like she has a halo.  The ones of you who know her will laugh at that...

See the spiderweb?

Never ending fun: stacking rocks, and then trying to knock them down by throwing smaller rocks at them.  It's a boy thing.

A few days ago, the male members of our family went clam digging. This expression is a fitting metaphor, I think, because clams and geoducks (pronounced gooeyducks) look like... well... you know... a male member...

When Steve dug geoducks a couple of years ago for the first time ever, and came back with several buckets filled with what looked like giant elephant penises, I just about fainted. I told him then in no uncertain terms that there was NO WAY I would eat these things, no matter how expensive geoducks are in China. There, they sell for as much as $150 per pound. But here, in this sandy, filthy bucket, proudly presented to me by my husband, who had spent hours digging and pulling them out via hard physical labor... $150 per pound be damned, I would not touch these things. Only after Steve had cleaned them, rinsed them and pulled the skin off (shall I tell you about their resemblance to condoms?), did I look up a recipe for clam chowder. After all, Steve had made a huge effort hunting and gathering these bizarre offerings. The least I could do was to honor his manly demonstration of being a provider and cook these things up. The clam chowder turned out delicious.

Talking about providing food: My garden is producing a lot of food right now. Every morning, I harvest a big bowl full of spinach, swiss chard and kale for our breakfast. I then go over to the duck pen, collect their eggs, and scramble them into the greens. No wonder my immune system has been so great lately with all these vitamins and antioxidants! The kids are eager to help harvest our abundant peas.

This is the entrance to the veggie garden.  Blooming clematis and climbing roses.

One last piece of shameless self promotion. I am not very good at marketing my products and services. I am told that I offer great things, but how to get the word out there, and where to sell them? (Let me know if you have any suggestions.) So for now, I will show you my newest offering here, since so many of you commented on the pictures of me wearing my hand knit sun hat. I knit another one and now offer it for sale in my Etsy store here.