Oh good gosh, I hate it when Mother Nature takes me by surprise.

The weekend's forecast of "hot" and "sunny" does not fit the fashion vibe I've got going right now. You know, layers of sweaters over sweaters and the coat with a scarf and yes, gloves. I know, so Front Cover Vogue!

So, yikes, 85 degrees this weekend? And with no warning? I don't think I can possibly pull together an "outfit" in time for sunny Friday, Saturday and Sunday!

But, sigh, I'll do my best. Somewhere under the pile I know a pair of summer shorts awaits.

Here's where you may or may not find me this weekend, basking in the warm summery glow and slathered with SPF, a sweater stashed in my bag ready to go 'cause frankly, I just can't believe the forecast. Check out my present very favorite outdoor Island dining spot, along with my other very favorite outdoor Island dining spots. Stay cool!

Edna's Beach Café
4738 Lynwood Center Road NE
206-855-0820

Say hi to Heaven on the south side of the Island: Romance Alert! This original moody and mystical turn-of-the-century mansion is over the top luverly. You'll feel like you're walking into, uhm Wuthering Heights or maybe a Merchant/Ivory screenplay. On a hot sunny day like what's forecast for this weekend, you'll want to grab an umbrella-ed table outside so you can catch the salty breezes and views of the oh-so-green and forested Rich Passage--gulls will swoop and call and you'll even see the ferry coming around bend! Gurgling old fashioned fountains bubble away in the background, reinforcing the island's water vibe. The food is really good--I love the seafood chowder, the crab cakes and the bib lettuce salad. And the staff couldn't be nicer or more attentive. Make a reservation, stat! And no, I have no stake in this place and no relations work there! (My daughter does work at the vintage Lynwood Theatre down below from the restaurant so why not catch a show after lunch or dinner?)

More Fabulous Spots to Dine Outside:
Doc's Marina Grill: Great outdoor spot to enjoy the summery weather and terrific view of the Island's Marina. After lunch or dinner, stroll down and look over the yachts and boats. Burgers and salads rule! 403 Madison Avenue South | 206-842-8339

The Harbour Pub: Set in a historic Island home, this is a cozy little gem of a spot. The deck is the jewel you'll want this weekend. A terrific view over the Marina. Sorry, no citizens under 21. Burgers, fish 'n chips, and stellar margaritas. 231 Parfitt Way SW | 206-842-0969

Cafe Nola: Leave the car behind and walk off the ferry to this charming island meet-and-greet restaurant right in the heart of town. The fun part is shopping the shops on the way there--Pastiche Antiques is right next door and fabulous!--and the outdoor dining, tho on the street, is hidden behind cool dense bamboo. 101 Winslow Way East | 206-842-3822

Never want to go home after all the fun? Check out one of the Island B&B's.

Enjoy the weekend, Island Style!

Yikes! Call the sitter and book an Island B&B stat! This weekend on the island is packed full of fun. Throw your basic black in a bag and hop a ferry--and leave the car behind.

The Gallery Stroll, Friday night from 6 to 8, is an easy stroll from the ferry and the Winslow Way galleries are located almost right next to each other and there's plenty of nearby restaurants to enjoy later.

This Friday at Gallery Fraga, we're welcoming back Islander Beverly Gimlin for her fourth solo show with us. "Diary of an Island" explores the moonlight, nighttime, snow, ice, water. Beautiful!

Gallery Fraga
166 Winslow Way East
206-842-1150

Next door to Gallery Fraga, Roby King Galleries introduces "The Figure." Across the street, Bainbridge Arts and Crafts features Contemporary Baskets. And around the corner, The Island Gallery presents Woodfired Ceramic Critters and Objects.

Saturday morning, check out the island's Farmer's Market. It's right downtown and offers terrific pastries and fresh juice, flowers and crafts. Early risers can enjoy breakfast; latecomers can dig into lunch. There's something for everyone. 9:00 a.m - 1:00 p.m.



And for Saturday evening fun, don't miss "The Edge" Comedy Improv at Bainbridge Performing Arts, a quick walk from Winslow Way.

Okay, so are you ready to make it a weekend? Look for your B & B here.

Thanks Mother Nature for the perfect sunny way and day to begin one of the island's very favorite weekend events: our wonderful Farmer's Market. Shine or rain, there's always music, good stuff to eat, pretty things to buy, people dancing, dogs galore and always a chance to catch up on all the news with old friends and a chance to meet new ones!

For more info about the very special B.I. Farmer's Market, check out their website. (You'll probably find me lingering amongst les fleurs at my favorite flower stand: Farmhouse Organics, owned and managed by Anne and Peter. Absolutely stunning bouquets that I often claim as being plucked from my own garden! What's wrong with a little flower fib now and again?

Tess Gallagher is known the world over for her sumptuous poetry--her work has been translated into many different languages, but this time she takes a different spin with words. Her new book, Barnacle Soup, is a charming and wonderfully endearing "retelling" of the childhood memories of her partner Josie Gray's tales of growing up in Ireland.

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll want to enjoy the magic of Tess's storyteller's voice as she shares her magic during a special reading at Bainbridge Island's Eagle Harbor Books. Gallery Fraga, across the street from the bookstore, will host an informal reception for Tess with Josie Gray's new gouache paintings of Ireland on view. Reading begins at 3 p.m. Hope to see you!

Eagle Harbor Books
157 Winslow Way East
206-842-5332

Gallery Fraga
166 Winslow Way East
206-842-1150

You've seen Alan's films--Choose Me...Trouble In Mind...The Secret Lives of Dentists--now come see his art take a different turn: on canvas.

Rudolph's paintings are rich and colorful, each telling its own story in the frame. Molly Norris writes a wonderful story about this new work in this month's Art Access as does Bainbridge Island reporter Lindsay Latimore for the Bainbridge Island Review.

The First Friday Gallery Stroll on Winslow Way is from 6 to 8 p.m. See you there!

Gallery Fraga
166 Winslow Way East
Bainbridge Island
206-842-1150

We put out the lights tonight from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. to join the worldwide campaign to highlight the threat of climate change. The old 1905 Gazzam house--ancient Craftsman, dark and woody--has seen so many unplanned power outages that the thrust into inky blackness is not unfamiliar.

Think of it-- this house was built before there was electricty throbbing through its veins.

The return to candles and the soft glow of the flickering flames in the cavernous beach rock fireplace feels, as usual, familiar and comforting. But that's because we've lived through so many storms and, oddly enough, warm summer nights when the power flickered and failed and poof! the lights went out and there we were to scramble for matches and candles and firelight, leaving our tvs and our computers and our reading and our stuff to snuggle together in the rare light that we could share, somehow annoyed and magically exhilarated all at the same wondrous dark time.

So a bit of that tonight...votives and oil lamps lit, pretty and warm. We looked across the water to our Ilahee neighbors and saw a few had darkened their lights. It would've been quite magical if we had all gone dark, in it all together as one...maybe next year?

If you squint your eyes a bit--an who can't do that--this flake really sort of does look exactly like Bainbridge Island!! Isn't life so quirky and filled with miracles? I mean, whoever would've thought that we'd find a Special K flake that looks almost just like Bainbridge Island and we live on Bainbridge Island? Okay, let the bidding begin! (Oh yeah - and did you hear about the two sisters from Virginia sold their Illinois-shaped corn flake on eBay Friday night for $1,350?)

Just in, a Hoppy Easter image from a wonderful artist and friend Debora House. Check out her website. A few years back, when Debora lived on Bainbridge, coloring eggs became way more than pink dye and crayons. She always made it special! And continues to do so from her home in Sweden. Happy Easter! Tack så mycket, Debora!

Nationally known and collected Nathaniel Mather will be winging his way all the way from Tennessee to present his new body of work this Friday on Winslow Way. We can't wait! Nate's been producing colorful, whimsical, thought-provoking art for more than 20 years. He combines color and texture with his love of "telling a good story." Come on by and say hi. And if you can't make it to the First Friday Gallery Stroll--March 7, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., you can meet Nate on Saturday, March 8 at 1:00 p.m. at GF. He'll be chatting about his work and process.

As always, our good friends and next door neighbors on Winslow Way, Wes and Andrea at Roby King Galleries open their new First Friday show with Historical photos. Our across "The Way" friends, Bainbridge Arts and Crafts, celebrate March with a new show called "Doors" and around the corner from us, Island Gallery presents wonderful textile jewelry and wood pieces. Grab a bumbershoot and enjoy The Stroll!

Gallery Fraga
166 Winslow Way East
Bainbridge Island
206-842-1150

Look, we have a lot of pets here in the ole stone house on the Island: Two dogs, five cats, three bunnies, a parrot and two cockatiels and an escape artist Rat who goes by the name of "Monkey."

If you never read our escapades about trying to capture the little cute black and white "Monkey" after her grand break-out from the tidy and cozy little cage atop a well ordered tidy and cozy little desk, you might want to refer back to that previous post.

If you read that post and all the time have been wondering if we ever re-captured Monkey, we did. Aaaah. You can breathe a sigh of relief for us. And no, contrary to my worried musings if Monkey had met a "boyfriend"--big, grey with those overgrown yellow fangs that rats find oh-so-attractive--she did not and now remains quite calm, even at times cheerful, alone and well-fed, in her wire quarters.

So for that, we are grateful. Yet…was there ever a philosopher or Debbie Downer type doomsayer that said some quote like, "Don't be too happy today, 'cause your next second will be miserable?" Wait, maybe that was Mrs. Sullivan teaching my Sunday School class when I was nine. Anyhow, yeah, just when we have our pet rat resident under control, we have a new rat resident to think about. Right over our heads. At three a.m. In the attic.

Have you ever been annoyed by some wild partay a few blocks down (that you weren't invited to) and could not get to sleep? Not that I want to party with a rat but geesh, the munching and chewing and scrabbling and running and …what the hell are you doing up there? Can't you just go and get a piece of Christmas paper and quietly chew it up into a nest? Can you just dig into an old pillow that Aunt Sue made and gently and silently pull out the cotton? Why, oh why at 3 a.m. do you Mr. or Ms. Rat have to be sooooo loud!

So, yeah, I'm mad. And I'm approaching this two different ways. The "Have-A-Heart" trap has a piece of apple, a cookie dipped in peanut butter and a slice of cheddar cheese. Darn nice amuse bouches for a ratatouille ne c'est pas? As a side, we've provided "D-Con" a little lethal appetizer. And also, just as a pre-warning to the unwelcome Mr. R., we sent our best meowing mouser up to spend some time looking over the attic scene while we ran a few errands.

I went up tonight and checked out the old attic with the flashlight. I do not think it's the Ghosts that like to haunt the place, especially during storms. They're a festive bunch with lots of rustling and chatting and singing and distinct vocals like "yeah, I'll see you later!" I can listen in on them and be a part of their party. They're welcome anytime.

This new intruder in the attic is not.

Scratch scratch. Stay tuned. We'll keep y'all posted.