A lovely woman Sarah, who writes the food blog Snippets of Thyme, went on a college trip with her daughter to Vermont. She wrote a wonderful blog post about her stay at the Whitford House Inn and took some beautiful photos to share with her readers. We wanted to share it with our readers as well. The Whitford House is a bed and breakfast in Vermont that Amy and Katie’s mom Barbara runs. It was nice to read such a glowing review. You can find Sarah’s blog at rileymadel.blogspot.com, and her stay at the Whitford House can be found in the travel section. More information about the inn can be found at whitfordhouseinn.com. Thank you Sarah for letting us use your photographs.

Skagit Birds - Karen Percelle

Night Sky - Carina and Pedro - Portugal

Raku Cup - Martim and Carmina - Portugal

We hope you had a wonderful holiday season and wish you all a happy new year.

Katie and Amy’s trip has been successful. Good finds for the store and the barn sale in the spring. I look forward to their return tonight and am excited to hear more about their time in Portugal.

Katie and Amy, accompanied by their mother and Mason, made it safely to sunny Portugal. They are currently in Evora, just east of Lisbon. Finding inspiration and meeting with one of their suppliers Feliciano.

The artist reception for Kris Ekstrand Molesworth is tonight from 6-8 p.m. Her work is up and looks beautiful. Come join us and meet the artist.

With one of our beautiful salvaged pieces of mountain pine from the Philippines, Katie and Amy worked with a young couple to design and make this custom coffee table for their new shared home.

Bitters Co. is proud to present:

Kris Ektrand Molesworth
Skagit Structures

November 4th – 30th, 2011
Artist reception: Friday, Nov. 4th, 6-8 p.m.

Barn Shadow (2011)
Monotype, 30” x 22”

We have had the work of paperclay artist Carol Farrow up this month. Her work is beautiful, full of warmth and incredible textural character. Carol, a London based artist, has been working with paperclay for more than 30 years. She has won many awards and received much recognition for both her sculptural and wall hanging paperworks. You can find more information about Carol and her work on her website. We will continue to have her pieces in the store even as we focus on a new artist for October, so come in and see these sculptural forms in person.

First we came upon the new location for Gail Harker’s Creative Studies Center – located on Chilberg Road on the way into La Conner. Gail specializes in the art of stitchery. GAILCREATIVESTUDIES.COM

From there we drove to the corner of Route 20 and Higgin’s Airport Rd.. to visit the produce stand of Viva Farm. VIVAFARM.ORG. Viva Farms is a joint venture of WSU Extension & GrowFood.org, an international non-profit dedicated to recruiting, training and capitalizing the next generation of sustainable farmers. This is a magnificent program helping to maintain farming as a way of life  as well as the preservation of farmland.

Viva Farm's produce stand

From this corner we ventured to the new brewery in the area, North Sound Brewing Co. Delicious IPA, Red Ale as well as many others. Located on the angle road that heads northwest out of Mt. Vernon to Rte. 20 en route to Anacortes and the ferries. Pick up a growler to enjoy at home. NORTHSOUNDBREWING.COM

Next we visited Dunbar Gardens – the elegant and plentiful bounty of Steve Lospalluto’s efforts, exquisitely presented in the willow baskets created by his wife Katheirne Lewis. DUNBARGARDENS.COM. Their farm stand located outside Mt. Vernon is open 9-6, Fri. – Sun. The baskets can be ordered on line.

Dunbar Garden farm stand

Amy, Steve and the Bitters Co. bus.