Island Time

We did slow down. We went on Island time. 

After I posted my last post, we took a little drive up to Freeland to check out the beach and then pick up a few groceries. 

Holms Harbor dock. I was a little wobbly on the dock, but stayed upright.

Dinner was grilled brats, grilled vegetables, and left over macaroni salad. More strawberries for dessert.

We took a walk over to the beach in the evening and admired our neighbors flowers.

We sat on a beach log and watched the osprey fishing in the bay. Later I came back over to catch the sunset over the bay.

Tuesday night I had trouble sleeping, woke up at 4:00 and apparently was done for the night, so I propped myself up, turned on my Kindle, and finished my book. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingslover is the 2023 Pulitzer Prize winner. It took me on a roller coaster of emotions, and at times was very depressing, but I'm so glad I read it.  It was very insightful concerning the urban/rural divide in our country. I tried going back to sleep several times, but that didn't work, so I just kept reading and finished the book. I was tired and groggy on Wednesday, but kept thinking about that boy - Damon/Demon.

Tom did some work in the cabin garden. I managed to do two sessions of my PT. In the afternoon we took two bags of yard waste to the recycle dump then walked around Langley a bit before stopping at our coffee place for a treat.

We grilled hamburgers for dinner, and later finished the last of the strawberries and angel food cake. We went for a walk on the beach after 8:00 and sat to watch the osprey and terns fishing, diving "splash" into the water, then flutter their wings to dry them off. The bay water was like satin and it was all so calm and peaceful.

Mt Rainier was ghostly in the distance.

Today, Thursday, has been pretty laid back too. We are going home about 5:00 so we have packed up and cleaned up. We went for a walk on the dike so Tom could take some cuttings of the wild roses, Nootka Rose. He hope he can propagate them to grow for planting in our cabin garden. We are looking for better xeriscape low water plantings.

The Ocean Spray, Iron Wood, Holodiscus discolor, was blooming. It is rare to find it at this creamy white stage, since it quickly fades to a dirty white.

The last rose of spring. These are not summer roses.

I made it to my destination, the Madrone tree. 

This afternoon we visited our favorite nursery, just up the hill, just to enjoy the color and the beauty. Then we had coffee in their café.

This is what the Viburnum Walk, featured in my header, looks like now. 

The Flower House Café was a lovely place to sit in the shade and enjoy a treat, surrounded by flowers and bird song. 

Now our island time is winding down. The lagoon is finally filling with water - the tide has cycled - and the sun is shining.

It's time to load up the car and depart. I think I'll just transfer island time to my patio at home.

Busy Times, Slow Time

 It has been a week since I last posted here on my blog. When I look at my calendar it doesn't look all that busy, but whatever I'm doing seems to take twice as long now. 

Because we had guests coming on the following Monday, cousins from California whom we had hardly ever met and who had never been here, we needed to get busy and spiff up the garden that was beginning to look a bit raggedy around the edges. Between keeping up with my twice a day PT routine and yard work, I got a work out.

Thursday I had a long awaited appointment with my primary care doc, and she was a good listener. By the end of that day I had an appointment set up with my orthopedic surgeon for my hip, and a pending referral with neurology for my balance issue. I felt heard, and that's a good thing.

Our Friday morning breakfast was canceled because one of our friends had COVID, probably picked up from a large family reunion she had attended. She is OK, thank goodness. The plague still lurks, though. We slept in and then shopped for groceries and did more yard work.

On Saturday Tom attended an outing with our garden club. I stayed home because it involved a lot of walking and standing. In the late afternoon, evening, we attended a lovely outdoor wedding.

I didn't take any more pics, that wasn't my job. We had good visits with cousins of several generations in Tom's family.

Sunday we did the Monday chores; housecleaning, laundry, and some party prep - food, table set up, flower centerpiece. It was pleasant gathering flowers from my spiffed up garden.

Then we made a trip across the valley to our favorite produce stand, Carpinitos, to get fresh local strawberries.

Monday we were up and going to get things done. Tom picked up the fresh mini-croissants from the Safeway bakery that I had preordered. We had an assembly line building the little sandwiches: ham, brie, and butter lettuce; or turkey, cream cheese, and cranberry sauce. Completing the menu were macaroni salad, butter lettuce, avocado and orange salad with blue cheese dressing, and fresh cherries. My sister Laurie brought yummy shortbread cookies to have with coffee or tea. 

Laurie and my local cousins arrived early, so Laurie, Kris, Charley, and Dan toured the garden while awaiting our California guests. Cousin Rick, his wife Donnakerri, and their Seattle daughter Samantha completed the gathering. 

There was lots talking and catching up around the table. Laurie brought pictures and we shared some we had on our walls. We learned things about each other we didn't know. Tom and I have wonderful people in both of our families.

We adjourned to the garden for more touring and talking and then gathered on the patio for Strawberry shortcake made with the angel food cake I had made the day before and those wonderful local strawberries. There was lots  more talking. 

I was happy to have hosted a very successful gathering. I met a cousin and his lovely wife whose relationships I will now cherish. 

When we had time Tom and I had been packing. We had a getaway planned for Monday, so after our guests left we finished packing, had a light supper of leftovers, and we were off to Whidbey Island.

It was still light when we arrived, but the sun was soon to set.

We appreciated that previous visitors, younger family members, had gotten the dock back in the lagoon.

Tom got the new recliner we had brought with us up the stairs and installed in the living room.

All unpacked, we settled in.

This morning Tom raised the heritage flags aloft.

I have done my first round of PT, about the only work I plan do to for three days. 

The garden will soon be going to seed but we don't plan to do much with it during the summer.

As I have been composing this LONG post, the sky has cleared. It will be a warm, pleasant afternoon, which is actually well under way already. 

We will eventually get over to the beach. No hurry. 

It's s-l-o-w time.