Sea Ray Summer ~ Roche Harbour

Roche Harbour is located on San Juan Island in Washington State.
Just south of the 49th parallel across Haro Strait from Sidney, BC awaits a picturesque marina with all the amenities. It's a lovely spot to tie up our SeaRay for a few days.
It also is the permanent home to many US boats.

Modest boats mingle together with vast opulent yachts sharing dock space while the owners are free to enjoy the Resort. Boaters are an extremely friendly lot. It makes little difference that you are cruising on a 70 or 100 foot yacht or a 25 foot runabout...you are "out there" on the ocean having fun.

We observed two families sharing a "very compact" boat, which was probably about 25 feet...4 adults and 6 children..can you imagine the logistics? The sleeping and cooking arrangements would require immense planning and precision.
They were having a fabulous time and there was lots of laughter and some good natured competition.
Racing on paddle boards, floaty toys, kayaks and a sailing dingy and when they were not having races they were swimming at the pool...I imagine that they were exhausted by the time their heads hit the pillow!

Roche Harbour Resort has a swimming pool, assorted shops, a spa, cafe, bar, restaurant, The Hotel de Haro, beautiful gardens, a church and tennis courts. At sunset the flags are lowered in a precision military fashion accompanied by music.
This is known as the "Colours ceremony."

I snapped a bunch of pictures to share with you...

Here we are tied up on the guest dock in front of the church.

The Hotel is a popular spot for weddings.

The historic Lime Co. building houses the grocery, clothing store, the washrooms, laundry, showers and a post office.

Crab Season opened and many boaters were setting their traps.

The cook pots on the docks were boiling away in no time and people were enjoying their haul.

The Lime Kilns.

The lovely Classic Chris Craft "Paloma" formerly known as Destiny.

She has just been professionally and lovingly restored.

Her new home port will be San Francisco, California.

We met the proud owners who had just taken her out on their maiden voyage and were cruising with their friends aboard the classic beauty "Rialto."

These beautiful Chris Craft wooden boats in "just out of the box" immaculate condition require a lot of hard work, TLC and VERY deep pockets!

The grocery store is well stocked with an assortment of food...

they carry all kinds of things that mariners might have forgotten to pack!

Wines from Washington, Oregon and California as well as imports are available.

White roses

White wedding gowns...

a perfect pairing.

It was hot weather and we needed to make shade on our boat which was quite a challenge.

We used towels and a blanket to help keep the midday sun off our lounge.

I was most surprised to see Starbucks working out of one of the kiosks in the square.

There are many local artists and artisans selling their work out of these kiosks and by the amount of people milling about I think they must do a pretty good business.

The Kayak rentals were always busy.

We took the shuttle into Friday Harbour one day to explore.

Stay tuned...

I'll show you some more of this idyllic destination...

in the next post.

Hooray!

we have had a downpour of rain this morning and we really need more to help douse the forest fires that are raging in our province.

The gardens are parched and there are water restrictions in many municipalities...

I'm praying for rain.

Hope you have a great weekend.

The Humble Bungalow Below the stairs...

Greetings from The Humble Bungalow.
I took a very short blog break and I'm back...

In a recent post on wall treatments I showed pictures of the original dark wood interior of our arts and crafts home.
Stephen Andrew mentioned that he'd be tempted to paint the interior of our Humble Bungalow white and I have to admit that if it were up to just me I'd be wielding a white paintbrush.

Architect, Milo S Farwell designed our small home over 100 years ago...
it is a modest, small and very humble abode.
There is a historic value in these wee arts and crafts bungalows and many are being demolished in favour of larger homes. So restoration and preservation, with a nod to the integrity of the period seems appropriate...we updated the kitchen and bathrooms in the style but with new fixtures and appliances.
Our home is on the Heritage Registry which means that it can never be demolished.

We must take care to maintain the home and can apply for grants to help with big projects...
we did this with our roof and plan to apply for a grant to help pay for the painting that it so badly needs.

The interior of the living, and dining rooms of our home have also been designated heritage...
so I would not be permitted to paint them white!
In our basement it's a different matter, we went with white white and more white!!!

The quartz counter top in the laundry area.

Vintage enamel bread tin and colander.

The tools are black and white too...

this duo sports a touch of lime.

The bench by the door with an oar...

The LG washer and dryer are pewter grey and the floor tile is a mottled black.

(my goodness! I spy tan lines from my flip flops)

A basic black bamboo dress hangs to dry.

This hall would be very dark if it was not for the white walls.

You can see the guest room at the end of the hall.

The bathroom has a white tiled floor with black accents.

The bathroom shelf which I purchased at HomeSense.

Vintage mirror that I found on the boulevard...

Someones trash is someones treasure!

I threw in this picture of a black and white pillow that we have on our linen slip covered sofa in the family room.

I bought a new Cut Loose white top at Roche Harbour Resort .

We recently cruised to San Juan Island in Washington State, for a few days aboard our Sea Ray.

(Isla, our darling grand daughter is the artist behind the picture)

BTW grand baby number 3 is due any day now...

I am excited to meet the new little girl.

I'll be putting together a pictorial post of Roche Harbour sometime soon...

it's such a pretty spot and I'd like to share it with you.

In case you didn't know it's a destination for weddings.

Apparently there are over 120 weddings held in the garden every year.

While we were there for 5 days we noted 3 weddings were held in the gardens.

Loved the dreamy white gowns that the brides wore...

one wedding had 4 brides maids and they all wore white gowns and carried bouquets of white roses they looked so elegant...

It's time to relax and brew a pot of tea.

Until next time...

thank you for stopping by.

Walking and Working...

Walking has taken a back seat to working...in the garden.

The Piano that sits at Turkey Head on the walkway by The Marina in Oak Bay.

On a recent walk, 

Mother and my Sister sat down to play a duet!

I think this is a native plant.

Pretty in Pink.

Here's the wee lending library box on Clare Street.

I walked around the area and loved the friendly greetings that I got from the people in their gardens.

The houses are a mix of old and new and there are lots of patios and porches and beautiful cottage style gardens lining the streets.

It's an old fashioned neighbourhood...like the kind I grew up in when I was young.

There are only so many hours in the day and I have been consumed...
(probably more accurately "obsessed" with a few of our problem beds.)
The ones in particular where the dog violets have gone from pretty flowering plants with dainty purple blooms to non flowering seed bearing maniacs!
It must be the hot summer that has them thinking reproduce or die!

The first bed has been weeded, dug and covered with the help of a young woman who lives across the street from Our Humble Bungalow...
I am taking a short break from the blog and will be posting on Instagram.

The Humble Bungalow arts and crafts interior...a requested post.

It's taken me a long time to get around to doing a post of the various papers and wall treatments in our arts and crafts bungalow. I humbly apologize, and hope that the reader, whose name escapes me at this moment, has not disappeared because she got too tired of waiting and stopped reading my blog!

Stencils in the dining room.

I made drapes for the Humble Bungalow dining room using this fabric by Sanderson.

There is a lot of dark wood featured in our tiny bungalow...

it's old growth Douglas Fir.

We use this china cabinet to hold our crystal glasses.

Bradbury and Bradbury period arts and crafts paper in the living room.

Repeated in the wee hall with the border

between the den, the bathroom, our bedroom and the dining room.

In the entry hall space that opens up to the living and dining rooms.

We opted for the border in the den.

The kitchen has the same border treatment as the den because they open up to each other.

There are wood cabinets in the kitchen in the same style that mimic the built ins in the dining and living rooms.

The living room of The Humble Bungalow.

Hope you've enjoyed this wee tour...

I needed to sit for a bit, and writing this post helped me rest up after a busy day of gardening.

I think I'll brew a pot of Mariage Freres tea that I purchased in Paris and sit on the couch and watch an episode of the Real Housewives of Melbourne.

My future Son In Law showed us how to record them and this show has become my latest "guilty pleasure!"

OOTD ~ Boots!

Today I wore boots and the weather is sunny and hot...
boots were required footwear as I spent the better part of the day mucking about in the dirt.

I just finished rinsing them off as they were caked with mud.

Did I mention that I am a really messy gardener?

There is no way I can stay clean...dirt smears on my face and arms.

I wear gloves but I somehow still get dirt under my nails...

I clean up fine afterwards when I come inside.

I often wonder what the neighbours who walk by and stop to chat must think.

They must be amused by my state of dress.

I garden in Yoga Capri's and a Tee shirt.

Socks and Boots!

I worked out front of our Humble Bungalow today...

I was focusing on a bed that has had a massive cull of weeds...

well they are not weeds exactly they are just behaving like weeds.

Invasive euphorbia and dog violets.

Both are on my "naughty list."

This bed is a bit of a mixed bag...

once the weeds were removed and a few random pieces of slate there was a lot of bare spaces.

Original plants are:

Japanese Red Maple planted in a pot

Eryngium (Sea Holly)

Lavender

Giant Rudbeckia

Boxwood Hedge on one side

Rose (placed on the boulevard for free)

 Libertia

Anchusa

Lady's Mantle

Ground cover the name escapes me

pot filled with spurge and a hosta

New plants:

Blue Fescue grasses

 Bugbane

 Kniphofia (Red Hot Poker) with lime green flowers

a variegated spurge

Blue Salvias 

Russian Sage 

Yellow Rudbeckia

Limelight Hydrangea

All of these are reported to be deer resistant plants.

Eryngium

slightly prickly 

The bees love it!

Black Mondo Grass with a lime green rock plant.

Sum and Substance Hosta Boxwood in urn

Hydrangea and Gertrude Jekyll Rose in background.

Coreopsis 

Lily of the Valley (used as a ground cover)

McCartney Rose (on the left)

Jude the Obscure David Austin Rose (on the right)

Hydrangeas

Nerine Bowdenii

Limelight hydrangea

on pergola Constance Spry David Austin Rose

Area at head of the gravel driveway

Assorted Grasses

Hostas

Hellebore

Variegated Iris

Variegated Sedum

Potted Hens and Chicks

Crocosmia

Mr. HB printed off a garden plan and we have been discussing some of the options to reduce the time spent toiling in the garden in order to leave some time to actually sit and enjoy the space!

On his list is a green house which we plan to have installed so that we can grow tomatoes and a few veggies.

The overhaul of the lawn is probably the biggest job and will make a huge difference.

We plan to grass in most of the north side yard behind the gate in the back and fill in many of the beds and redo the entire back lawn and remove a few other beds.

Anyways those plans are a bit off in the future.

So I must content myself with small improvements that I can do by myself until I can find a strong garden helper.

I must close for now and prepare dinner...

I've worked up quite an appetite with all the digging and planting today.

We are indulging in a seldom served treat...

BBQ Beef Burgers with coleslaw.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog...

I appreciate you stopping by The Humble Bungalow.