Escape from Seattle

Today was just what I needed, a fresh escape from the hustle and bustle of a city and into the serene yet busy Central Cascade Mountains.
This being the largest city I have ever lived in and with no car to escape it when I please, I was over due for a little peace.  Luckily some people I know were smart enough to bring cars here to retreat to Washington State's gorgeous natural features.
We had planned on doing a different hike but it ended up being further away than we thought so last minute decided to go to Twin Falls.  It is a fairly easy trail, and about 1.5 miles to the pair of waterfalls.
It was so nice to breathe fresh air again. It was not quite as nice as the smell when I first pull off the highway and head to Higgins Lake, but definitely comparable.  Their is an abundance of bright green ferns lining the hills of the mountains under the tall trees.  A river flowed nearby providing a tranquil sound even as kids walked by whining they were tired or needed new shoes.
I love water though.  Maybe more than others, maybe not, but I could sit for hours next to a river or stream and listen to the different sounds it makes as it passes over and around rocks and through the air.  The different spectrum of colors water can take on are endlessly appealing to my eyes.  I just want to jump into pretty much every body of clear water I see.  I love the idea that it is the staple of life and beauty, but each creature needs it in their own way.
Anyway the pair of waterfalls were a wonderful reward at the end of our trail.  Even though the view was from about 100 feet above and away from the actual falls, the mist from the crashing water still floated around.  The sounds of powerful water still tranquilly filled the ears.  All in all a lovely retreat that reconnected me with the natural world.  I can't wait to explore more of the gorgeous scenery out here and have a new adventure at each unique place.

A little off topic but of course necessary, I'm extremely pleased with the outcome of yesterday's Michigan Football game. It too in a way was an escape from a city as being in a bar flooded with Maize and Blue fans happily cheering and singing the fight song brings me back to Ann Arbor again.  And of course beating Notre LAME is fulfilling since they backed out of playing us in football.  Go Blue!

Until next time,

<3 Suz

Lavender Extravaganza 2

As promised, I wanted to write about the second use I played with for lavender.   June's Birchbox featured products nice for traveling, including, in the sneak peak, a floral face spray.  I decided to make my own face spray using my beautiful lavender buds. They use this spray as a nice facial refresher on a hot afternoon or during a day of traveling, but you could also use this to spray linens or as a body mist.
Here are the ingredients I used:

Bottle of Rose water ( you can usually find it at a health foods store)
a tablespoon of Lavender buds
1/4 teaspoon of lemon zest
distilled water

Then I also had an empty small jam jar and a spray bottle.
I put the rosewater in the jam jar and added the lavender and the lemon zest.  I let that all sit together in the closed jam jar for about a week, then strained out the buds and zest.

In the above photo, in the middle, is the concentrated floral water.  On the right is the purchased rose water and on the left is the spray bottle I am using for my floral water.  The floral water was a little strong for me so I filled my spray bottle about 1/2 way up with the distilled water and 1/2 way with the floral water.  This helped lighten the spray and will also make my concentrate last a long time!

Then give it a little test spray, on your arm or if you are daring, right on your face.  Right away you will feel so refreshed and cool!  Not to mention, it smells heavenly!  Or if you want to freshen up a room, you could spray this around a room as well!

I hope this was helpful!  I know I am certainly enjoying a splash of this in the afternoons with this awful heat wave sitting over Michigan!

I'm wondering what you think!

<3 Sue