Cottage Holiday ~ A few Snippets and Tidbits...

Cottage Time is so relaxing.

We find that we cocoon and relax and by the time we leave we are completely rejuvenated.

I suppose that is what holidays are all about.

We see the most beautiful boats sail by Quarterdeck Cottage.

This sailboat moors in the bay.

We watch the boat as the owner manoeuvers it out to sea and hoists the sails.

On this day there was a full crew aboard...

they were out for several hours enjoying the breezes.

We watch as the ferries pass by the cottage.

We play a game...

Ferry Yahtzee.

If there are 5 ferries all in view we call out Yathzee!

Our two weeks at the cottage seemed to fly by...

Our son and grandchildren were at the cottage for the first week.

Lots of fun activities and games.

The pool is still very much a favourite with all of us.

Meals were kept simple

desserts were served

we nibbled on snacks ~ chips and popcorn

ice cream cones were almost a daily thing!

Once they all departed it was almost TOO quiet...

My husband walked his 6 km island route in the mornings.

I puttered in the kitchen, planned our meals and shopped at the market.

Read my books, knitted on the Miriam Sweater, perused some magazines.

My walks are focused on the beaches nearby

I went to the end of the road and wandered down to the beach...

the tide was way way out!

Two fellows were fishing off the rocks but I had the beach to myself.

I took a leisurely saunter back and forth looking for sea glass.

Not much was found but I had a pleasant time walking.

The current jar is almost full...

I have quite a few jars full here in The Humble Bungalow.

Found an antique Lenox dish at the thrift shop.

The details are so pretty ands the porcelain is so luminescent.

Smooth and delicate, too dainty to leave at the cottage.

Blue label indicates that the dish is pre 1930.

We invited friends over to spend the day.

I don't think that they had ever been to Pender before. 

They arrived early on a direct ferry around 9:30

so I made The Barefoot Contessa's Apple Tart to serve with our morning coffee.

If you don't catch a direct ferry you will be on board for several hours while the ferry visits many of the Gulf Islands!

For lunch I made what we call a "Picky Plate" 

in case you are curious 

a picky plate is an assortment of foods mostly finger foods.

Cheeses, olives, breadsticks, crackers, salami, hummus, pickles, spreads...

Dinner was a strawberry spinach salad and lasagne.

Dessert was a blackberry pie with ice cream.

(my husband picked the berries)

We had a lovely day.

Drove around a wee bit, went to Hope Bay, Browning, The Driftwood Centre

 then we stopped in at Renaissance Antiques to look at the art.

Our friends Keith and Michelle,

 purchased an antique table with a marble top!

There were large full moons at night.

I love the way they sparkled on the sea...

I read that they were referring to these moons as Full Sturgeon Moons.

Can you see the moon at the top left?

This book is so good that I read late into the evening...

I highly recommend Friendship Point by Alice Elliot Dark.

I need to stay hydrated...

drinking low calorie or no calorie beverages is my goal.

Bubly water comes in many flavours and it is thirst quenching.

NO CALORIES!

I've been buying it by the case.

Found a lovely trench coat at the island Thrift Shop.

Banana Republic

I am excited to have found this classic coat 

which BTW I have been looking to add to my wardrobe for several years.

It is in perfect condition and was at a giveaway price!!

I am wearing Black!

I know it is odd to wear black in the heat of summer 

but this Cut Loose cotton dress is cool and airy.

I feel a bit like an Italian Nonna...

black capri tights, sandals and the dress.

Popped the hat atop and away I go...

met a friend for coffee at the cafe.

California Poppies are glowing up on the Ridge.

They capture the sun and reflect their beauty.

Simple Joys 

are found in everyday life.

I seek out these marvelous surprises that are just waiting to be discovered...

When I first started collecting Sea Glass I found mostly white.

I put the pieces in a vintage sealer jar and that my friends was the beginning of 

this very addictive habit that continues to this day :-))

I love a blue sky with puffy white clouds...

This is the biggest piece of amethyst glass that I have in my collection.

My husband found it for me on Pender Island.

Amethyst, cobalt blue, deep shades of green and aqua are the most difficult to find.

We are back home now and settled into our Humble Bungalow routines.

I've been busy getting in some groceries and my husband has been tidying up the garden.

Hope that your summer is ticking along nicely.

Abraham Darby

Thank you for stopping by The Humble Bungalow Blog.

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Fast forward to February

 

I find it hard to believe that we are already in the month of February.

January felt like it flipped by so fast...

The crocus are showing us some much needed pops of colour.

Our snowdrops are in bud but not quite ready to fully open.

Many gardens in our area have masses of them 

naturalized in gardens and they look so beautiful.

I am of the opinion that one can never have too many snowdrops or roses!

Chester, our younger cat is 10 years old.

He's been losing weight these past couple of months and we had him to the vet.

She diagnosed him with early onset renal failure.

He's on a specially formulated kibble and we tried the canned food but he's not a fan.

It's better that he eat the canned food that he wants rather than lose more weight so we press on...

I am offering him small portions of canned food at several times each day.

He doesn't seem to have an appetite for the usual portions.

This situation is turning out to be quite stressful.

He is after all a big part of our family.

He's the cat with the biggest "in your face" personality...

We fondly call him...

"Chester the Pester"

and

"The Troublemaker"

Coffee by candlelight and fairy lights...

much appreciated and needed warm twinkle lights to ease the dark early mornings

Soups are currently the "go to" lunches here in The Humble Bungalow.

They are a great way to use up leftovers...

This soup is called chicken pot pie soup!

A store bought rotisserie chicken served us well.

Two nights of chicken and salads...

then soup for two lunches.

Economical, yes, indeed!

 I saved the carcass bones to make the rich broth.

The Boat Pond along the Victoria seafront.

We saw a group of fellows playing with their boats on our walk.

I stopped quickly and snapped this shot.

My husband is waking oodles of kilometres every day...

8 km at least.

I tag along for 5 or 6 km then head back home.

10,000 steps are my current comfort zone.

When I walk much more, my body aches.

It would be wonderful to be able to walk farther and not be in pain...

perhaps I can work up to more or is it my age?

We've been fortunate with our recent weather.

Sunshine and warmer temperatures have been lovely for our walks.

So grateful that the ice and snow have gone.

Today I walked to town and met a friend for lunch.

I spied this lovely clump of crocuses on my way home.

The crocus would add to a future blog post and they were actually what prompted me to sit for a few minutes to write a quick blogpost.

My teatime and knitting await...

my reward for getting in 10,000 steps

so will close for now.

Thank you for popping by the Humble Bungalow Blog.

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Come along for a Walk...fresh air, scenery and some inspirational quotes.

My daily outing is a walk in the fresh air with beautiful scenery.

Serene looking intertidal area at the end of the beach.

Sea Glass is mingling with the rocks 

one only needs to peer closer to find some.

View across from Victoria to Port Angeles in Washington State.

Freighters in the distance are anchored and waiting 

for an opportunity to offload their freight or load up in The Port of Vancouver.

Many freighters anchor in among our Gulf Islands 

which has become a problem for many 

 they run their noisy generators.

The beaches are littered with driftwood from the winter storms.

Many people collect it and burn it in their fireplaces.

Some creative artists make things from the various pieces.

The BC flag flies on a tall pole at the edge of a cliff.

A heart of stones

Many families are seen at the beach

kids throwing stones into the ocean

moms and dads drinking coffee and reading books

dogs frolicking in the water retrieving sticks

people collecting wood

some, like myself, are searching for sea glass

some are constructing huts and shelters out of logs

Someone carved a face on the old roots of this vast tree.

Can you see the heart with wings on the tree stump?

On the way home 

I walked past a lovely garden with many whimsical accents.

The beds overflow with yellow daffodils and hanging planters are hung atop the fences

with cheerful purple and yellow pansies.

This face was attached to a tree...

In the quiet moments and a tea time

I've been thinking a lot about our current situation.

Staying home and staying safe.

Staying positive.

I reached out to some of our elder neighbours to see if they had enough food.

It turns out that they were running low on lots of things and had been trying to order groceries online for home delivery but could not log into the website.

Many stores are 2 weeks behind with their orders so I went to the grocery shop for them and dropped the bags on their front porch.

At the grocery shop we were directed to line up outside ~ a metre apart.

There were strips of green tape that indicated where we were to stand.

When people exited the store one at a time we were given a disinfected cart and allowed inside...

there were not many people inside and so we were able to grab the groceries fairly quickly.

We then stood on discs with footprints a metre apart waiting for our turn 

to put our groceries on the check out stand 

the clerks scanned our goods behind plexiglas partitions.

After each customer the check out was disinfected.

Some of you may be feeling anxious...

maybe you have been watching far too much of the grim news?

I only listen to two programmes,

the daily announcement from our respected BC Disease Control 

specialist

Dr. Bonnie Henry 

and the local evening news.

If I watch too much I go down a "rabbit hole!"

~ Self preservation ~

controlling my own reaction to things that I cannot control are key.

Sharing

 some inspirational quotes with you.

Soap on a bed of rocks

Wash your hands.

"You have power over your mind - not outside events. 

Realize this, and you will find strength."

~ Marcus Aurelius ~

"When adversity strikes, that's when you have to be the most calm. 

Take a step back, stay strong, stay grounded and press on." 

~ LL Cool J ~

"Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands - and then eat just one of the pieces."

~ Judith Viorst ~

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. 

You are able to say to yourself,  I lived through this horror. 

I can take the next thing that comes along."

~ Eleanor Roosevelt ~

Thank you for stopping by The Humble Bungalow Blog.

I'd love to hear from you and perhaps you can share what you are doing to keep yourself amused during these days and weeks of staying home cocooning.

(Please use a Google search engine as Safari no longer allows comments.)

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Snippets from Quarter Deck Cottage

Our week at Quarter Deck Cottage has rolled around again and despite the snowy weather we decided that we would go...

We can look up from our books and (me with my knitting)
gaze out upon The Salish Sea between the flurries...

There was a weather warning which made us sit up and take notice but we were easily able to drive on the roads, visit the florist to grab our flowers and provision at the Driftwood Centre.

The snow is not as deep as we were led to believe by the forecast...

it's just a dusting here on Pender Island.

Easy Peasy dinner

Homemade Chicken wings and deli salads

I love to cook but at the cottage our life takes on a slower pace and a relaxed rhythm.

We indulge in our books, go for walks, watch the boat traffic... 

 I knit.

You can see the snow on the hills across The Salish Sea on Vancouver Island.

The ferries run regularly...

Plying the waters to and from 

Victoria

Vancouver

Salt Spring

Pender

Mayne 

Saturna

The tulips have opened up quite quickly in the warmth of the cottage.

The Lacy Batkus scarf...

this is a free pattern on Ravelry.

I used the Shoppel sock yarn from Germany.

Such cheerful colours!

This is the same yarn that I knit the socks out of...

the socks that turned out to be too big so I ripped them out!

I didn't want to waste such pretty wool.

Waste Not Want Not!

We are loathe to waste a sunny afternoon so we are going to head out for our walk.

I must close for now.

What are you up to this weekend?

Are you reading a great book?

Knitting a fabulous project?

Cooking up a storm?

Decorating?

Shopping?

Crafting?

Thank you for stopping by The Humble Bungalow Blog.

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Quarter Deck Cottage week 2

Cottage holidays are busy and full to the brim with adventures and family fun.

Visiting the seashore and beach combing with the 3 grandchildren, "seeing it anew through the eyes of the children" is refreshing and the sheer thrill of discovery is contagious.
Their enthusiasm upon finding baby crabs under a rock or spying a jelly fish floating near the beach, picking up and collecting sea shells in a bucket...
simple joys.
Rowing in the dingy with Grampa...swimming in the pool, eating ice cream cones, colouring, playing games...it's all packed into our days.

We spend a lot of time on the deck looking out to The Salish Sea.

Ferry watching

From sunrise to sunset...

Bird watching...

Gulls, eagles, herons, hawks, purple martins, flickers,

robins, pigeons 

Our son bought a boat and had fun speeding over from Sidney for a visit...

he's at work this week.

 After he left our DIL's mom came over to  the cottage

so we have 3 grandparents to share in the fun!

Today is our 43rd wedding anniversary...

these are my "fun rings" not my wedding set 

and you can see Mr. HB is in the background!

Happy Anniversary to my life partner.

A kind, gentle and caring man...

his support and love mean the world to me.

 I must close now...

 there are laps to swim in the pool and plenty of fun waiting...

I will not be posting very much for the next week or so here on the blog but I will be active on Instagram.

Seaside planters at Otter Bay are filled with colourful flowers.

Hanging baskets and lush green lawns are fringed by weeping willow trees and the native arbutus.

Thank you for stopping by Quarter Deck Cottage...

Hope that you are enjoying your week.