Garden of Life

"Friends are the flowers in the garden of life". The lovely sign on Susan's porch was so fitting because Janine and I met Susan earlier this year in a 10-week Master Gardener class. We had all struggled through reading, printing hundreds of pages of on-line information, taking weekly quizzes, going to class in person one day a week, and wondering what the heck we had gotten ourselves into. Susan and Janine really are gardeners. I was a wanna be and probably still am. (That's proven by the fact I just had a senior moment and had to ask my husband the word for the cultivation of plants. Horticulture! All I could think of was hysterectomy. Having had one this summer is my excuse).

Today Susan invited us to lunch at her home in north Tacoma. It's a beautiful craftsman style house built in 1924. Susan was trained as an interior designer and her husband is an architect. What a pair! They've been remodeling the home for the 12 years they've spent there with their son, Jack, and a later arrival, Maggie, the dog. 

We were given the grand tour. The hard wood floors have been exposed; the upstairs with vaulted wood tongue and groove ceilings was turned into a wonderfully warm office space; the full basement was completely redone into work and play spaces and a room no larger than a small closet was turned into another bath on that level. The sink was only about 10 inches wide from the wall with the faucet on one end. The door into the room was swung wide open and at first I didn't realize there was a sink behind it. They had also installed a toilet with a motor to chop up the goods so they can be flushed up hill from the basement and into the house's plumbing system. (I'm sure that's not the technical description, but you get the idea).  

Lunch was terrific. Susan is also a great cook. She made a delicious pasta. Janine brought the wine which helped us start and end the meal. Perhaps that's also why it took us four hours to eat! 

On this bright beautiful day, I couldn't have asked for more - good food, good conversation and best of all - good friends. www.BonnieKingPhotography.com