Annual Christmas Shops Field Trip - Sky Nursery

Monday went on record as the darkest December day in nine years here in Seattle. The rain was heavy and persistent.  What better way to spend the day than in shops full of glitter and good cheer. 

We changed up our destinations a bit this year, dropping Molbaks and adding Sky Nursery.  We were happy with our choice. 

Jan, Mavis, and Colleen, retired teachers with whom we have breakfast on Fridays, and always up for a fun field trip. 

 One section of this large garden center was turned into a Christmas wonderland of treasures. 

 I loved these fat felt Santas and long legged elves. 

 Jars of jelly, Kitchen Aid mixers and pieces of pie. Oh my!

 And there were lovely plants too!

 I don't know if this bench is comfy, but it sure is cool. 

 I would love to be a container designer in a nursery where you could pick from such a large selection of plants and not have to buy them!

From here we lingered over lunch at Panera before going to our second destination.

A Little Christmas Fun in Lovely Langley

We spent this weekend at our family cabin on Whidbey Island with Jill and Isaac and Irene.  What draws us there at this time of the year is the funny little holiday parade in the village of Langley.

It's not much of a parade compared to big city parades, but it's fun and it gets us to the cabin for some family time and a change of pace in this busy season.

It was rainy and windy Saturday morning.  We stopped at a Christmas Market in the Bayview Grange Hall before arriving in Langley, where we had time to check out a few shops before finding our spot under the shelter of the marque of the old Clyde Theater. 

We were dressed for the weather, but it wasn't as bad as we expected.  It was nice to have shelter, though.

 We did hope the parade was "coming soon". 

The old Dog House and our favorite Chocolate Flower Farm were across the street. 

And here we go with the Langley Holly Jolly Holiday parade. 

We all love the bag pipe band that is featured every year. 

Kids wave and then scramble for tossed candy.

Other kids are in the parade. 

And animals too! 4H club animals. 

Orcas visit Langley, out in the Sound, and they take saving their whales seriously here. 

There are lots of small farms on the island, which is known for it's "island time" life style.

And there is always Santa!

That's all folks! Now we'll cruise a few more shops on Main Street. 

There was a store front decorating contest.  I don't know who won, but I sure liked this 12 Days of Christmas at this gallery. 

I liked this one too. 

The bag pipe band played on at Boy and Dog Park, and we lingered to listen. 

It even stopped raining! We ended up at Useless Bay Coffee Company for lunch, stopped at a few bazaars, and were back at the cabin for some down time and then time for playing board games. 

Today, Sunday, the Seahawks played the Vikings in Minnesota at 10:00, so after a big breakfast we enjoyed the game as the wind howled out on the bay. 

I walked over at half time to watch the waves crashing on the beach at high tide, kinda' like the Seahawks washed over the Vikings today! The kite surfers were loving it. 

We packed up and were on our way home by mid-afternoon.  It was a good break.