Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Adopted Motto

"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Monday, June 2, 2014

Island Time ~ Another Marriage Getaway ~ Balance



Last Friday, I did not don my grubby garden jeans, nor pull my hair up into a bun and don my garden hat.  No siree.

I donned a nice top, let my hair down, wore make up, put on some jewelry, and even painted my fingernails.  Yep.  I even changed purses, taking my hot pink and black "out on the town, date-night" purse. 



Hubby and I finally got a weekend at the island.  Oh boy, was it fun!   I love the ferry ride over.  It's so much fun and makes me feel like I'm going far away, but not really. 

(view from inside the yurt looking out through the screen door to the deck)

Once again, Hubby did his sweet talking and got us a yurt for just two nights.  You have to rent these for a week, but no one had rented them when we called.  

We love "island time" where there are no rules (other than to keep your golf cart on "paved roads, as Hubby learned last time). He he! 

While packing my bags, and gathering my journals, I decided this trip was not going to involve any type of handiwork.  It took a few self-talks to do it, but I did.  A few years back, I tried knitting on the ferry ride over, and messed up an entire knitted block (basket weave pattern).  I've learned to let things sit now. Nope.  All handiwork was abandoned.  Books? Those were allowed. 



The breeze was fantastic.  The yurt was secluded and very quiet this time.  The view was spectacular.

Hubby got up Saturday morning and actually watched the sunrise, and boasted about it all day and all weekend, ha ha!  He didn't know what he had been missing.

(photos of this would not download off Hubby's phone, nor email, so I resorted to taking a picture of the picture on the cell)

After the sunrise, and getting some breakfast, Hubby an I took our lawn chairs down to the water's edge, on the beach.  We even took a small table.  There we sat, reading books for an hour or so.

(view from the entrance, kitchen table to my right, bunk beds to my left, kitchen straight ahead, and bathroom past kitchen and to the right)

When 10 o'clock arrived, we noticed the Kayak lady was not there yet, so we headed to town and bought matching shirts and swim trunks.  

When we arrived to the beach, the "Kayak lady" thought we were a rowing team approaching her.  Ha!  Little did she know, but soon found out, that we were inexperienced at kayaking.    

(photos of this would not download off Hubby's phone, nor email, so I resorted to taking a picture of the picture on the cell)

Imagine two tall, and not so thin people getting into a kayak without experience.  Balance is everything, and hitting the waves in the correct direction is so important.  There's that word again - balance (remember our camper episode, ha ha!)


"Kayak lady"  held onto Hubby's phone, and set us out onto the lake.  For a while we did okay, but I kept feeling Hubby's weight shift and often went into panic mode.

Then it happened.  

FLIP!  Over we went.  We laughed so hard we couldn't swim back to where we could touch the bottom.  "Kayak lady"  was ashore, taking photos of our demise on Hubby's cell phone.  She laughed and rowed out to rescue us.  We got it flipped over, and she put us back on the kayak.  

The folks on the beach were all watching and loved the entertainment. 

Twice "Kayak lady" had to help us back in the kayak.

We laughed, and we learned to do it correctly without falling overboard.  

Next trip, we will get single kayaks. A woman at the local store told us the double ones are called "divorce boats" and know I know why.  I blame the lack of balance on Hubby, ha ha!


After surviving kayaking, we celebrated at our favorite restaurant and enjoyed local "island" iced teas.  These are a bit different from "Long Island Iced Teas."  The include elderflower liqueur in them. 



Getting a go-kart rental, we cruised around the island, stopping to enjoy views here and there.  We drove down the tree covered road. 

Of course we had to stop at the winery and enjoy a Sangria.
By evening we were back at the Yurt, and another campfire.  The wind was pretty wicked, so we headed inside early.


Sunday morning came too fast.  After breakfast we spent time in our chairs, enjoying the lake, the sounds, and soaking it in enough to last until our next "marriage getaway."

Check out was 11am.  We stayed on the island and pittered around, making any excuse to stay just a hair longer.
 

There are cattle on the island, as well as horses, and farmers.  The cattle looked so content with their grazing field almost as tall as them.


Hubby and I were happy to see farmers at work on a tourist filled island.

In desperation to stay even longer, we stopped here, and popped in a quarter.  Down below.....

....lurked a black water snake.  We were alerted about fox snakes and black water snakes on the walking trails, and hiding under rocks on this trip.  Just below that ledge we could see one single black water snake swimming along (the tail end of it is where the arrow is on the photo).


We had a wonderful time, and extended our stay to enjoy one last meal at the local brewery (and to try a local "Island Devil" beer). Hubby took a photo, but that one suddenly has disappeared off his cell (his phone is acting up).



I had to take one last photo at a dock.  "Don't Give Up The Ship."  We had to laugh.  It felt sort of like our homestead motto right now.

On our drive home, Hubby joked about renting a different unit to stay longer, but soon we were back home.  Dirty laundry was washed and dried and on the line before dinner time.  

Storms were expected today, and work was back to greet us too soon.



10 comments:

Willow said...

This is great ~ so glad you had fun on Island time !
I would love to stay in a Yurt.
Kayak time ~ had to laugh!!

EMMA said...

Sounds like you had a blast! I would have been terrified if my kayak flipped over!!!
Love the hot pink purse!

Kim said...

I am so glad that you got to have Island time. It sounded like a great time was had

Carolyn said...

That looks like a fun and relaxing getaway. How nice for it to be close enough to enjoy....and still feel like you're on a "far away" island :)

Kelly said...

How fun!!!! Looks like a beautiful place :))))

Susan said...

That sounds like my kind of vacation - sans the kayaks, as I have a dread of water sports. What a wonderful, fun, relaxing time. Something so very important for homesteaders...

Liz said...

So glad you two did a get-away!! I have never seen the inside of a Yurt. Sure looks like a great time. The beach and a book, sure doesn't get any better than that!!!

Unknown said...

Great place to relax!

My Garden Diaries said...

This post brought a smile to my face! Everything about it was beautiful! All too often we don't take enough time to just soak it all in and enjoy ourselves and that is exactly what you all did! So glad you had a great time....and what a stunning place! Happy week to you! Nicole xoxo

Mama Pea said...

I give the two of you soooo much credit for doing what you have to do to get away by yourselves now and then. (Not often enough, I know.) It's something we don't do using the excuse of not enough money, not enough time, etc. We really, really need to take a lesson from you!

I'm really late getting my comment in here (and more recent posts) but I sometimes CANNOT get the "read more" parts of your blogs to appear for me. So frustrating! I finally got through today after about three days of not being able to. Computers . . . ya gotta love 'em!