Thursday, August 1, 2019

Two Crazy Peas in a Pod




A beautiful reminder from our Creator to take in the beauty of the world

Yesterday as I passed a colleague in the hallway at work, I casually asked if he was enjoying his summer, and his quick reply as he hurried along was, “nope, too much to do here”.  It made me sad and I can identify with him on some level. Life is busy with all sorts of things to catch our time - family, career, household/outdoor tasks and somewhere friends and fun hopefully fit into those few gaps in our lives.

For me (and I’ll bet this is your life too) it is a conscious effort to make time to slow down and enjoy life. And time away from daily stresses is nothing short but blissful.  Alert: If you run from friends “vacation pictures and recount of their vacation”… this is your time to run!  Lol    Just let me remind you to please take time to get away from your daily life to reconnect with you and to make time in the downtime mode to recharge your soul. If you are a gluten for punishment, well here is my take on our vacation. In my last blog post,  I recounted our time in Montana and now for the rest of the vacay story…..

And we're off to the San Juan Isles!
A couple weeks ago sweetheart, Rod and I got back from almost 2 weeks on the ocean puttering around the San Juan Islands as well as the Canadian portion too.  The days were filled with unscripted time and taking in the beauty of the area. Rod had carefully planned where we would be each day, but other than that, mornings were leisurely started with coffee and the days just flowed sweetly like molasses, slowly. Depending on the location, some were remote and we spent hours looking for sea glass to busier marina’s which were filled with walking around the area taking in the sights.  This time at the San Juan’s my love of rural quietness made me appreciate the smaller and quaint marinas as well as the bays where we hooked up to buoys.  I’ll put in my request with the captain for more seclusion for our next  trip… =)
This makes Rod nervous when the boat is lowered into the water
A collage of just some of the photos from the trip...



  
There was just one day that we had to be somewhere on time to pick up Rod’s daughter and boyfriend as they were flying in for a fun filled week-end with us on the boat. Rod and I looked at each other like what!?! we have to be somewhere on time???   Ugh it was a shock to our system as we were on island time… lazy days – but we made it on time!  The week-end with Chelsea and Dylan was enjoyable and easy as they are such a fun couple to hang out with.  A day spent at Butchart Gardens was filled with visual delight and made me want to go play it the dirt. We ate, shopped, enjoyed cocktails each evening and it ended with a comfort food dinner at a big ole mansion on Rosario Island before the kids flew back to Seattle.
This cute couple had to fly back to Seattle after a fun week-end
There we had also met up with Rod’s good friends, Melody and Jeff.  And it seemed the week kept getting better as the next day we joined them on Decatur Island, their second home base.  Their place has a special feel to it and invites you to just relax. It is also next to the small community garden that several families use for fresh vegetables.  That night dinner consisted of freshly picked greens for a salad along with homemade pizza on the BBQ (one of my fav dinners). Later we sat around their fire pit sipping wine and conversation flowed freely.  It couldn’t have been a better setting and I was happy to have brought along jeans and fleece as nights are chilly. The next day due to stormy weather, we opted to all head to Kirkland and stay with Melody and Jeff at their home on the mainland and then head home.  Unexpectedly we had an extra day due to a brake issue on the boat trailer.  Mel and Jeff are wonderful hosts and it gave me an opportunity to get to know these special friends even better along with their son, Ian, who popped in for dinner with us.
The perfect way to end the evening, friends, wine and the warmth of the fire.
 After that life sped up again as we rolled into Spokane at 5:15pm, I grabbed a dress from my duffel bag, and we drove to Moscow for my high school reunion cocktail hour. By the time we arrived back at my farmhouse, it was dark. Next morning, we took our coffee on the patio and neither of us could relax after being gone for 2 ½ weeks, the place was a mess – weeds, mowing and general tidying up were needed. Rod looked at me after we had been spraying weeds with my 2 back-pack sprayers (in our bathrobes) and said “there is something inherently wrong with us, we can’t even enjoy coffee with seeing so much to do!”  And he was right – we jumped back into the grind of being worker bees in a Nanosecond, and I told him that was why we were so perfect for each other, two crazy peas in a pod.
And as I finally feel like my farmette is all prettied up and tidy after the 2 1/2 weeks of no maintenance, I do understand the value on realizing the importance of a work/life balance.  And to be truthful, it's a daily battle to keep that balance in check. And then I think of moments like this.....
Another reminder to look back at the day as the sun goes down and relish this gift of today
As always, thank you for stopping by.   I hope you have or will be taking some time to get away from your daily grind and if you want to share your vacation updates, feel free to post a recap on the blog or  email me at swheatfarmlife@gmail.com. After all you endured my story!  Lol.  But seriously, please make time for you to recharge your batteries.  It’s all about life maintenance and taking care that you are running on all four cylinders.  Take care, all my best, Gayle 

P.S.  If you enjoy what I write, make sure to check out the Home and Harvest magazine that I write for. It is a growing regional magazine that I'm sure you will enjoy for it's wide variety of topics.

2 comments :

  1. My daughter, also named Gayle, and her husband and youngest son, were all invited to spend weekend before last on a houseboat in Lake Cumberland, KY, near Jamestown Marina. They drove in after work, arrived about 11:00 pm, and were invited aboard.. their own houseboat. The hosts have a houseboat up for sale and it Was refurbished and ready to show, next door to their newly purchased boat. My daughter, like the characters in Maeve Binchy's Ireland set novels, "works all the hours God sends." I was thrilled she would be away and relaxing for a weekend. My ten year old grandson was excited to be on a lake, staying in a houseboat, and, even better, one equipped with all kinds of water toys, jet skis, inner tubes, ropes, etc. All he took was his life vest and flippers. My favourite shot was my daughter's bare feet, polished toenails, propped up on the boat railing with sky and lake as the backdrop. No crowds, few boats out, and plenty of good coffee and great meals.
    Truly one of God's blessings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Betty Lou, I love your messages and stories about your life and those in it. And I agree, time away from crowds, people and enjoying the beautiful quietness of nature restores a soul and you appreciate God's blessings. Plus you realize you need to grab every opportunities to enjoy life making beautiful memories with family.

      Delete