Taken Away

Last weekend, hubby whisked me away again for a night away.  It was completely by surprise and completely at the last minute Friday.  We really enjoyed ourselves, and had some short, but well worth it, relaxation.  We brought some flowers along this time.  As parents, we are spending more (serious) time giving ourselves time away.  This stress stuff is serious and we are taking it seriously now more than ever.

I think we relax so easily, due to the quiet surroundings, peaceful sounds of the waves, and the lack of clutter around us.  Not to mention lack of kids sniveling and arguing, and lack of electronics and noise pollution.

This little strip of shops is basically downtown.  The island is only about 4.6 square miles. 

Our favorite coffee on the island.  Mmmmm!  The owner bakes all the baked items herself.

Our secluded retreat.  No people, no traffic, no nothing.  Just a few birds, waves and a few boats in sight.

It was island-wide garage sale day, so we decided to drive around and see what people had.  We were delighted to find an antique, round butter dish for only $2.00!  What a deal.  This works perfectly for the hormone free butter we buy.

The garage sale day allowed us to drive down private lanes and drives that normally are off limits to tourists.  We saw some very nice homes by the water's edge (and very expensive also).

We also found this green melmac bowl for $.25 and a set of blue rose plates (also melmac) for only $.75.  These will go in our wall tent or trailer/camper in the near future.

Hubby, being a goofball. Ha ha ha!

Although we had the luxury of cooking in our room, we try one new food each visit.  This trip we tried Plantain Nachos.  We enjoy this restaurant, with it's outdoor seating.  The nachos are delicious.  The chef slices plantains length-wise, bakes them out, and does a quick fry in duck fat.  They are crispy and thin.  Then the chef tops it with black beans, corn, green peppers, red onion and mouth watering spices (spicy).   It's topped with a bit of sour cream.  Maybe on the next trip, I will get a photo to share. 

An islander shared with us, another special treat to try on our next visit.

This week?  Back to deep cleaning I'm afraid.  However, when it's all done, it will be so nice and refreshing.  We may even be wood splitting this week.

Fall Cleaning ~ Bringing the House to Life

The lighting was bad, but the second photo is much better on showing the true colors on this fabric.

I'm fall cleaning in a big way right now.  I went through my fabric pieces and found this one.  It's a find from Goodwill and was only a dollar.  It's about 2 yards maybe and will soon be an apron.  Sometimes a farmgirl needs help from another farmgirl, and she'll soon be getting my fabric to sew me an apron.  Goodwill doesn't sell too many good deals anymore, not in our area anyway.  This was one more clutter item put to good use.


I am completely out of laundry detergent, so I grated goat's milk soap is melting in a pot of water as I type.  I'll be starting the day with laundry and more fall cleaning.  

I organized my cotton thread by using an accordion style, vintage wooden rack.  I found it at a garage sale for $.25!  Can't beat that.

I thought I would need to add longer pegs, but the cones hang on these nicely.  I haven't had one fall one me yet, and this is mounted on the inside, and above my bedroom closet door.  Not sure if they will get dusty in the closet, but I plan to use these threads over winter.  Either way, these are off the floor and not in a container, so I can see what stock I have.

Our billy goat is already in the rut now.  P-U!  I can smell him from the door.  

I better start tackling an area to clean.  It's bringing new life to our home.