Bookish (and More than One Photo of the Week)

This was going to be my photo of the week more than a week ago, and somehow it never got posted. That's Mr. D, in a wonderful used book store, Eclipse Books, in the Fairhaven neighborhood of Bellingham. And what were we doing there? I was an attendee at Booktopia Washington, and Mr. D was there to hike and hang out with me when I wasn't in Booktopia sessions.

Booktopia is the brainchild of the two hosts of the Books on the Nightstand podcast, Ann Kingman and Michael Kindness. They have been podcasting about books and the publishing industry since 2008, and in 2011 they scheduled their first retreat for authors and podcast listeners at the amazing Northshire Books in Manchester, Vermont. Last year, they changed the retreat name to Booktopia, and they added two more locations, one in the middle of the country, and one in the west. This year Village Books in Fairhaven was the West Coast venue, and I was lucky enough to get in.

Here is a photo of Michael and Ann, about the only one I got of the two of them together:

Village Books was a super place to hold an event like this! It is a wonderful book store, with a friendly and welcoming staff. They really care about their customers, including those from north of the border:

Here is Booktopia Central, Village Books:

Attending Booktopia were seven authors, who presented in individual sessions during the day on Saturday and at the book signing event on Saturday night. They were: Peter Clines, Jonathan Evison, Ru Freeman, Caroline Leavitt, Rhonda Riley, Jan-Phillipp Sendker and Maggie Shipstead. Prior to the event, I read Evison's, Leavitt's Sendker's and Shipstead's most recent books (and earlier books by both Evison and Leavitt) and I attended their author sessions. It was wonderful to hear them discuss their books and their writing process and to have an opportunity to ask questions. I also had an opportunity to get a photograph of Caroline Leavitt's very cool boots!

The Saturday evening session was also wonderful, and it gave all of the attendees a chance to hear the authors whose sessions we didn't attend. I found Rhonda Riley's talk about her book, The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope, so fascinating that I bought it and had her sign it. I'm reading it now; so intriguing! I brought home a few other books, too, as you can see:

To sum up, I had a fantastic time at my first Booktopia, and I'm hoping that there will be many more in my future.

Photo of the Week: Knitterly Love

139/365: Knitterly Love, a photo by jchants on Flickr.

Last Sunday, my three knitting friends and I were in Bellingham on the annual Puget Sound Local Yarn Store Tour, and I spotted this wonderful example of yarn bombing in front of Northwest Handspun.

Walks, Hikes and Wanders #6: Fairhaven to Bellingham

On March 7, one of the few sunny days we have had this month, Mr. D and I headed north to Bellingham. This is a favorite day trip of ours. It's only about two hours away, and we always find something interesting there to explore.

We started out in Fairhaven, Bellingham's fantastic historic district. We have spent a lot of time in Fairhaven on other visits, so this time, we deviated from our usual pattern and did not browse some of the  unique shops and galleries there. Instead, we almost immediately started off on a walk on the South Bay Trail, a 2.5 mile bicycle/pedestrian trail which connects Fairhaven and downtown Bellingham. Part of the trail extends out over Bellingham Bay, and and it was there that I spied the wonderful lines of this ramp:

A little further along the trail we stopped to enjoy this sculpture of a dancer perched on a rock:

It was a cold day, but we did see some beautiful spring flowers blooming alongside the trail.

Once we arrived in downtown Bellingham we found a Mexican restaurant and had an excellent lunch. Afterwards, we headed to Lightcatcher, part of the Whatcom Museum, and spent a fascinating hour in an exhibition of the photographs of long-time Bellingham Herald photographer, Jack Carver. I wish that I could show you some of the museum and this exhibit, but sadly, no photography was allowed.

When we finished exploring Lightcatcher (they also had a small but interesting exhibit of art made from recycled materials), we headed back to Fairhaven. I wasn't planning on taking any more photographs because we were just retracing our steps. But surprise, surprise! We came upon my favorite photo of the day: this old abandoned building that I hadn't even noticed when we walked by it in the morning. Sometimes the best things are the most unexpected.

Farmer's Markets

I love farmer's markets. All those veggies, flowers and fruit, not to mention the food and crafts. It's a  feast of color!

I've been making pictures at farmer's markets for the past couple years. Here are some of my favorites, from the Bellingham Saturday farmer's market (tomatoes); the Pioneer Courthouse Square Monday farmer's market in Portland (berries and bread); the Edmonds Saturday market (the market scene above and the poppies and hand-painted silk scarves); and my local farmer's market, held on Sundays in Lake Forest Park (sweet red peppers).

Let's go to the market!