Christmas

We left the island haven that is our home. We traveled to our daughters area. We found a lovely place to stay with a water view. The decor becomes simple but the things most meaningful. This helps ease the feeling you are left with when you leave the island. With me came the velvet stockings...made years ago.....Handmade with red velvet, white velvet cuffs, beaded "icicles hang off the edge, an iridescent snowflake is hand beaded on each one and my cursive writing done in a flourish of embroidery. Our tree is adorned with mainly seashell ornaments and few others. A lovely gilded ribbon, silver and gold is wrapped around the tree going down from the top around and around to the bottom.....colored lights this year bring it all to a brilliant sparkle. A large silk pine wreath is entwined with this silver and gold gilded ribbon ending in a big bow.... The gifts were carefully selected to be personal, many handmade..... Great food, family, friends and the love of time well spent together..... To all who celebrate the birth of Christ....that is how I experience this day....grateful for the gift of life to give to others. Faith is the chain that keeps you ashore in every storm, we cherish every moment in life.

Sparkling Seashell Ornaments!

Hat Island Seashells and Christmas Ornaments!

Our first Island Christmas, we didn't have our ornaments in our cabin home. We cut down an island tree and made the ornaments out of seashells we gathered. The result was a nautical tree that had such deep meaning. The tree smelling so fragrant, the sparkling shells and lights shimmering off of them. It was a lovely tradition we do to this day!

As we walk the beaches on the island where we live, we look for these sought after shells. The elusive Moon Snail finds a delectable clam and drills a perfect hole in it's shell to harvest it. With searching among all the others, we find these clam shells with the holes in the upper part. We take them home, brush the sand away to reveal their natural beauty. We adorn natures perfect treasures first with glitter and then we draw a lovely ribbon doubled through the hole, carefully knotting the back and drawing the ribbon back through the front. We tie a nice bow and you instantly have a secure loop to hang the lovely shell on your tree. We adorn each shell with silver and gold glitter in fine lines, some golden threads.

The Spiral Shell is found on the beaches above. The sea snails leave their shells as they grow larger leaving the shells to be tossed and lightly smoothed by the waves. We select only the complete spiral shells. We gently turn them to add one color of glitter in fine lines on the curves. They sit overnight before we add the second set of lines. After they set a second night, we select gold, silver, red, blue and other varieties of satin ribbon with metallic edges or simply lavish metallic ribbon with loops to hang them from and secure it to the back of the shell.

The Cockle Shells, the lovely lines engraved down their shells, so very pretty to collect make the larger ornaments we cherish. These shells are the ideal gifts adorning a package or hung on the side of a stocking. They become a focal point on a Christmas tree!

The sweet Steamer Shells have the curves and the contours that once decorated are the traditional ornament to hang on your tree, or a wrapped gift as an elegant decor!

The Horse Clam Shells are the big shells we seek to make our soap dishes, that special little nautical touch for the holidays. Always a favorite of the kids who visit.....

Below is a pic.... just a hint.....like a whisper of things to come!

Shell ornaments you may desire.....simply write....I answer every email from my island home!

romysrealm@gmail.com

Island Bonfire!

It began as a favor to help someone with a very big job. The charming home sits on the beach, the deck clear to the water's edge and the job...... There was a lot of shingles and construction materials left over from the renovation to repair the damage done by a flood. Yes it had been a high tide, ripping currents. waves washing over the backs of the beach homes and this one....the water came in the first floor and washed away the lovely condition of the home. They transformed the home into a modern beach home with some of the rustic remnants from before. A massive fireplace with a miners ax embedded in the rock. A ships porthole made into a mirror from a ship wreck long ago...... We spent hours and hours clearing and arranging the bonfire supplies from the non burnables. What an amazing sunset saluted our bonfire as we finished the job smiling at the soft breezes, calm waves deceptively so and the solitude we felt. The island drums were silent but we were back in time on the beach with the smoke and fire.......not a sound but the soft waves touching the shores......

An Autumn Rose, a perfect Tea Rose with the droplets of water shimmering on the petals. With the cool days, torrents of rain, hard driving winds and the fading of all others......she blooms. The Tea rose is the last blooming rose. She graced my table with crystal and delicate china, the perfect centerpiece on my anniversary. As the rose held my gaze many times over those brief days, I said my goodbyes as it wilted away. Another storm front, 40 to 60 mile an hour wind gusts, more torrents of rain and as the sun came out, clouds floated away to reveal......the budding tea roses yet undaunted, their last two buds opening for one last embrace from the sun.

A cool Autumn Day....

The air is crisp, the leaves all changing colors, you smell the pine scents and you feel the chill. It is out to the woodshed for an armload of wood. Oh I will clean out the ashes again later, putting in a bit of paper all squished up, some kindling and a piece of split wood. You light it up and it crackles as it takes blaze, and quickly the door to the woodstove is closed. A radiating heat comes gently into the room as you sip that fresh strong coffee. The time is taken to revel at the views of the overcast sky framing the water from above. Breathe in deeply and begin the day!

Skyler!

It is a dream come true! A grandson who just turned one. One look from his soft melting golden brown eyes evoke such deep emotion! Family is always and will be the treasure that keeps our lives complete!

Happy First Birthday Skyler!

Love Island Grams!

The New Inhabitants! Yearly visitors! The day!

It is that time again, the little black sugar ants come marching in! Although cute and tiny, they are not a welcome guest. This is their yearly visit and they like to stay. With organic growing methods, well water and living on an island....pesticides? That would be a resounding NO! My husband tried the ant traps and light counter sprays to no avail despite my objection. Then I found the magic of plain ordinary and very cheap white vinegar! Yes, it worked beautifully! They are gone and they don't die, they just go away.... One day you see them, a light vinegar spray on counters, seams and corners, then they are gone!

With the Fall approaching and the spectrum of vibrant colors all around.....come the dampness of the Pacific Northwest! Our wood burning stove does a nice job of warming the air and drying out the moisture. For those huge picture windows, single paned, the last to be replaced, they get small amounts of mold on the window sills! It is simply a fact that the wood framed windows with all the wood in our home gets this, unavoidable or not? That would be yes! Cheap white vinegar sprayed on the windows and frames not only removes this light mold beautifully but prevents the recurrence! The glass really sparkles afterward!

For the spiders that come visiting, we simply grab a broom. After they are swept up, we shake it outside. The mosquitoes are here for such a short time, midsummer, it is of no real consequence. We do burn citronella and that Avon Skin So Soft is an excellent treatment for your skin to prevent the bites!


Canning the applesauce, pears, marinara and doing up preserves is coming to an end. The fragrant blackberries have found their way into my freezer and the jars that adorn my pantry shelves. Was summer really that short this year? Where did the time go???

Oh the day has opened up to display shining water, a warm inviting temperature from open sunshine, time to finish up some gardening! Taking a moment to look out over the sweeping water views to see the boats sailing by from above. It could be our last great day before it cools down. Time to embrace and enjoy!

Island Living!

When you arrive on the island, the boat ride alone has you exhilarated! You approach the small private marina, docking can be tricky if the waves are kicking. The dockmaster greets you as you disembark. You walk up the dock and find the old car or golf cart, perhaps you continue walking "home." The beaches extend the perimeter of the island, on a low tide easily walked around. At this time it is not a low enough tide. On the unpaved roads you move along, views at every turn. The houses, cabins and modest sheds are often concealed in the trees and bushes. They range from breathtaking works of art to country style homes to log cabins. A lone quality golf course adorns the center of the island. A fishing pond, is found on main through way road just up the steep hill at the marina. A simple tennis and basket ball court is just past. As you wind around these roads, you may see the owls, a swooping eagle suddenly floating on the winds above. Bunnies run into the road, causing concerned smiles. At the top of the island, you look down below to see sweeping water views, Mt. Baker, Saratoga passage, Camano Island Head and Langely. The Grey Whales have stayed so their breaching and the showing of the tails are magnificent from this angle above! There are the seafood feasts, family and friends. The gathering of the island sounds. Just when you hold your breath at the beauty of it all, the sun begins to set and the show begins! It goes on for immeasurable time, ending in a streaked darkened sky still stained with color. The moon and stars light up and the night sky pulls you in.

Organic Purple Striped Heirloom German Garlic

This Hardnecked Garlic is as ornamental as it is strongly flavored. Simple to grow and very hardy, this is an ideal table garlic, or for braiding in decorative shapes to hang in your kitchen to dry! Each Purple Striped Garlic plant produces Scapes, which can be used to make pesto or sold! Being a hardnecked variety, they dry the best and last the longest once dry. The top of each one produces a cluster or head of bulbils which you plant like seeds! Currently my garlic are producing an average of 50 bulbils or more from each one! Why not plant your own garlic? They are edible from the bulb underground to the top of the Garlic Scape! They require very little space and can get through some pretty unreliable weather unscathed! If you are interested in trying out this unique garlic, sunkissed and organically island grown bulbits/seeds just click here.

Purple Striped Garlic is known to have cleansing and anti-oxident properties. I recommend this type of Garlic highly for those Homemade Chickens Soups and Stews so healthy for winter fare.