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Katy Ball

@thekatyball

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Sometimes, like when you go to a far-flung place like the Grand Coulee Dam, you stop at a place like @hornsbarandgrill, where lunch is uncertain. It was a Sunday afternoon and the place was packed with Seahawks fans; my parents were mystified (and also beguiled!) by the free, self-serve chili dogs.

The staff were so fantastic. Camilo and my mom ate the last of the broasted wings and thighs. That came with jojos. Which I had to explain to my mom 3 times (she hated them 😅). And my mom brought her own (double sided!) bib.

Minor mayhem aside, having my parents visit is a gift and I’m so grateful for being able to take them anywhere on account of their curious and almost aggressively positive takes on new experiences.

Also Electric City is very cool. by @thekatyball

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a month ago

Nisqually River + Wonderland trail, lousy with waterfalls and *darling* bridges.

Also it is officially too cold to camp above 3k ft, even bundled in down and fortified with top ramen and boxed wine. taken in Cougar Rock Campground - Mt. Rainier by @thekatyball

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a month ago

Kayak mornings and hiking afternoons and we are home now after 3 days.

Slowly paddling the Cone Islands yesterday with a mercifully empty kayak, we saw harbor seals - drug eyes and plump comma bodies - and sea stars (whose color vary based on their diet) and walked trails where sword ferns car-washed our calves.

Took post-paddle inspiration from the seals to bask in the sun at the Pelican Bay beach campsite, lounge in the hammock, and admire the very flat, rectangular stones, perfect for skipping and building mini ziggurats on bleached picnic tables.

Lowlight was Eagle Harbor where low tide mud made me fall twice and reek like shellfish death. In spite of a fetid mud landing, my cuts were healed with the aloe-like goo inside rock weed pods! (See video of Camilo infuriatingly *not* falling in.)

Also learned from our guide that kelp is full of protein which helps with apocalypse planning as to what bodies of water to be near 😄 by @thekatyball

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2 months ago

First day of kayak camping on Cypress Island has been beautiful and relaxing in a type 2 fun ‘light’ kind of way.

We made it from Anacortes to Pelican Bay in 3 hours with the currents in our favor, set up camp, ate a turkey havarti sandwich with cherries and potato chips then did a quick but steep hike up to Eagle Cliff for some pretty incredible views of Orcas, Lummi, and Blakely islands.

Grateful to @anacorteskayaktours for getting us here safely and feeding us so well.

Please send good wishes for curious whales joining us tomorrow or Wednesday. taken in Cypress Island by @thekatyball

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2 months ago

Happy belated birthday to @camilo_septimo, whose strangeness and sweetness and beauty I’m still feeling out and makes my life richer every day.

May you continue to do what you love like making elaborate home-cooked meals and watching soccer and find new things that bring you joy like growing starters from seed and finding reasons to use binoculars daily. It’s beautiful to cry on a ferry when you’re frustrated, feel fabulous in your outfits, steal my Bob Mackie shirt dress, interrupt friends to hold forth during the World Cup, and get bullied by sheep.

Everyone should have someone who asks low stakes, thought-provoking questions (how awful does it smell when you live in a bird nest) and knows how to soothe and stimulate, tracing a path through a regular day’s challenges and wonders.

There’s nobody I’d rather share 2 bodies with, my love. Stay with me. Play. Fight. Learn. Rail against circumstances. Gawk articulately. Become more you. by @thekatyball

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3 months ago

Between World Cup semi-finals, SeafoodFest (poke tacos on crispy nori! Built to Spill! Epic Fleetwood Mac cover band!), a riotous summer p-patch garden, and the last Ballard FC game of the season, I am WIPED. And joyfully sorting through so many conversations.

To the photos: it was a double-basket, double wristband, double fisting, double ‘mysterious translucent weed tuber’ weekend. I am grateful for such wonderful friends, and a little woozy from the prescription cough syrup for my finicky lung. by @thekatyball

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3 months ago

Scallion pancakes! To use our first harvest of Apache scallions.

I had vaguely imagined the delicate flakiness came from rice flour or something but no: it’s a laminated dough!

You pour hot oil onto flour (and a little salt and 5-spice) to make a roux that’s layered onto the rolled-out dough. Sprinkle with scallions, roll up tightly, then roll into a spiral (like an edible trivet).

A lot of steps - two rounds of rolling out - but not hard. The dough was thrillingly un-sticky and the end result felt true to the versions I’ve had and just delicious.

Great recipe @andyliang89, thank you! (On @thekitchn) by @thekatyball

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4 months ago

1. Old timey undersea exploration pod? The two smokestacks are from an old oil refinery in Moss Landing
2. Wharf buckling in slow motion under the weight of many, many sea lions
3. Succulent nursery in Castroville, a stadium-size cavern of cacti, euphorbia, and other heat-resistant beauties
4. Fairy tale Carmel seen from a public garden tucked away among houses, Lester Rowntree Native Plant Garden. The founder was a self-taught botanist and writer who saved a rare manzanita bush, “garnered it ghoulishly in a gunnysack.”
5. Seagull nest
6. Nasturtium season: so 70s, so Squirt
7. My Dad thought these buoys were melons
8. A raft of sea otters in Elkhorn Slough. We got to watch them eat white-shelled clams
9. Coffee plant shop The Power Plant hung with top notch sea leftovers art taken in Pacific Coast Highway - Route 1 by @thekatyball

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5 months ago

What a glorious day of manhandling/loving animals with friends.

We were lucky to be there just days before the alpacas and angora goats were shorn, when their fur was at its most dense and luxurious. taken in Duvall, Washington by @thekatyball

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5 months ago

Did you know that you can walk from Golden Gardens to Carkeek Park at low tide?! taken in Ballard, Seattle by @thekatyball

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5 months ago

The flowers this time of year feel almost garish and unseemly in their beauty: that fresh spring pluckiness of buds and petals goes vivid and overripe in late April. I look at the yards and public spaces and get excited about the photo there - the big color and abundance maddeningly hard to capture for being so obvious/present/ ‘there.’ Give me those Kool-Aid pinks and oranges! by @thekatyball

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6 months ago

A rainy tidepool day with supermodel seaweed (I did style them), the deepest rock holes, chitons, mussels and gooseneck barnacles we tragically could not collect for dinner, and of course: flashy anemones. (I swear I didn’t mistreat them more than I could resist. 🤠) taken in Botanical Beach, Port Renfrew by @thekatyball

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6 months ago