Withywindle Wanderers

Love, Cosette, Megan, Eowyn and Benjamin! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Coco chose this picture for you Auntie Rachel!! This is the circular monkey bar at her school, and Coco holds the record for the most go-arounds!! We love you and are sooooo excited to give you a hug (and a birthday facial and massage!) Today I had a pedicure with my good Canadian friend Beth, and my toes are orange with Thanksgiving Turkeys and Cornucopias! It is dark and very cold and rainy and very windy here. The door just blew suddenly and violently open, wind whistling in! There are still stunning golden fall leaves on many trees, though the trees in our garden are bare. It is lovely eating the plum jam I made from our plum tree, now that its leaves are all gone.

My good friend Karen took me tonight to a lovely marble bar and bought me a delectable chocolate volcano cake. Inside it, the hot lava was gooey, warm, delicious chocolate. As a chocoholic, the experience was rather heavenly for me. The addict within was yelling 'YIPPPPEEEEE! GIMMMMEEEE GIMMMMEEE GIMMEEEEEE'! I rather enjoy my love of chocolate. It adds dimensions to life - chocolate, the 6th sense! The problem is that now I cannot sleep. With the volcano cake, Karen had a hot buttered rum cocktail, and I a 'smores cocktail. I think there might have been, all together, quite a lot of sugar. So I am having a 2am hot bath...

CONGRATULATIONS ANITA, TOM, EDDIE, SEBBIE & ROO! We are thrilled about your little baby-on-the-way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am very proud to be Auntie to my first NIECE! Love Auntie Megan! Coco is learning about dinosaurs at school, and drawing fabulous pictures of teradactyls and bracchiosauruses  Her class made a volcano, and here she is making it erupt! We have quite a few volcanoes on our horizon here in Seattle - Mt Rainier, Mt Baker, and a little to the south, Mt St Helens. (Ask Benjamin about his Mt Vesuvius story!!!!!!!)

Eowyn, Coco, Laurel and I went sledding on the slopes where I learned to ski last winter! 3 of us had a wonderful time, and the smallest of us was very cold and sad... Meanwhile, Bens was in hospital today having a tonsular abcess drained. He's home now, poor love. We are using the Father Christmas countdown until we leave, and it's 21 days. I am feeling numb, in terms of grieving for the loveliness of living near my close friends here. It is an achy feeling in my belly. the loveliness of seeing family and living nearby more than half of my Jones family doesn't seem real yet. It's hard getting rid of lots of things which are of sentimental value to me. We just get 8 suitcases full and our carry-on, we've decided not to ship anything as it's too expensive. We love you all! Thanks for reading this blog!!!!!!!!

I love the way Dar Williams sees what it was like for me.

Photograph compliments of the wonderful Nathalie!!!!!!

I love the girl bathed in light in the left foreground. Growing up, I always imagined I was that girl, small amidst all the big people. I have been thinking a lot about art, as I am giving an art lesson in Eowyn's class on Monday. I want to teach them that whatever their response is to a piece of art, it is as significant as that of a famous art critic, because each viewer is part of the painting's story! Bens' 35th party was tonight. I have just washed up, and feel very pleased with the nice clean house. It was a lovely party - our last Bag End party. I am very thankful for our lovely friends here in Seattle, and shall miss them immensely.

creating a gingerbread house! Happy holidays!