A Little Bit of Sweet for a Great Day

Awhile ago someone noticed that I bake for comfort... well tonight I decided that worked for me. I had a wonderful day, went to a friends house and a couple of her friends came over and I had my first pinochle lesson. It has been a long time since I sat around and played cards with friends. This is a game that I grew up watching my parents play with their friends, which makes me now feel like I have grown up since I am playing it. I had physical therapy this morning.. she worked me pretty hard this morning and we tried a couple of new things, one of them was not a good idea. I am hurting tonight, sore muscles and sore shoulder. So I baked!

I follow some amazing bakers on Facebook. Java Cupcake always is posting amazing recipes that I love to try. One of the other people I follow is The Piecycle who I think is just amazing. They make pie and deliver them at night on Friday and Saturdays. You just call or text your order to them.. $3 a slice or $20 a pie. Some night I am going to go find a parking spot in their delivery area just so I can order some and have it delivered. I think it is a great idea... and I LOVE pie! Until then.. I will make my own pies.

Mini Black Berry Pie Bites from Berries my son Picked

I Love Getting Mail

I was so happy to get the mail today, I had a package in there :) I knew it was coming and I couldn't wait to open it. Wrapped up so pretty!

Let me back up here... awhile ago there was a giveaway on a fun blog called Lavender Rabbit Hoppenings to win this beautiful necklace called Pearl. I found this blog because it was advertised on my blog in the project wonderful ads over there ----> on the right hand side. I have found some of the best blogs and shops because they advertise there. I signed up to win and spent some time exploring her blog and reading about her rabbits, they are so cute.

I am guessing you have figured out I won the necklace "Pearl" Turns out Dot picked my name *thank you Dot* I wonder if Dot knows how much I love the beach and all the time I spend down there... I have yet to see an octopus but now I can always have one with me!

Thank you! Necklace is on and I plan on wearing it a LOT!

Supporting each other Locally

The Crab Cracker is a local magazine that comes out every couple of weeks here on the island (and in Stanwood too) I am always in line waiting to get my copy, I love it. It covers all the things going on locally and has the typical classified stuff. Has an Artist of the week, local tide table ( love this ) stories from the community and so much more.

This last one.. has one of my stories in it! The post I wrote here a couple of weeks ago about the Gray Whales, they saw it and asked if they could put it in the Crab Cracker and I could not say yes fast enough. I know the little Crab Cracker is not like a big national magazine... but to me.. it is even better. It is local and about all the things that are important to those of us who live here. I feel so honored to be included. Thank you!

The Crab Cracker ~ Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

There is another amazing local site that I have been on. They added one of my recipes from my other blog Coffee Tea and Recipes the Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies. This site is Camano Community. They are very active on twitter and also have a FaceBook. They are all online and another wonderful resource for what is going on locally and who is who and they also have a lot of stuff from local people. I am really enjoying getting to read about and talk with local people and business that I am connecting with because of this site. The guy that runs it is super nice and friendly. Thank you!!

There is a new blog starting up that is a lot of fun Snohomish County Blog Girl ( she includes Camano ) She is out and about shopping and eating and enjoying the area and sharing her reviews of places.

There are so many more wonderful local sites and blogs. I have started a list on the right hand side of this blog of all the wonderful ones I find. I am looking forward to the list growing and growing! The Rely Local is a great site too, all about supporting local businesses. This one is in the Arlington Marysville area, but that is not too far for us on the island, since Dave works in that area I consider it very local for us.

Thank you to everyone who supports me in any way, in what I make and what I write and in who I am. I am grateful for all of it and hope to be able to share more than I receive. Support is a wonderful circle to be in.. the more you get the more you seem to have to share! Thanks!

Low Tide and Sunshine

Headed to the beach today at low tide.. it was way out there too... almost a -1 .. I had not been to the beach when it was this far out for awhile. Today I just mostly walked.. and watched the water for whales.. did not do much treasure hunting. Found some Big rocks covered in Lots of shells and barnacles.

Lots of people on the beach, some clamming some walking and some just sitting watching. I did some visiting with some of them. I learned that years ago it used to be that when someone on the beach would see one of the whales that they would ring a bell on their porch and that you could hear the bells ringing down the beach as the whales swam by. I wish they still did this.. makes me want to get a big bell and ring it when I see a whale.. though with the luck I had last time I am just hoping to hang onto the camera long enough to get a picture when I see a whale next!

I am not sure what this is... I thought it was a cup cake paper someone had thrown on the beach so I bent over to pick it up and take it to the trash.. and it felt just like a star fish... but all one piece, no tentacles and it is the size of a cup cake paper. It was also pretty stinky.. well.. beach smelling.. so I just left it alone and took some pictures, will look into what it might be.

Today was a nice relaxing day on the beach, the news had said we would be aiming for 60.. but according to my house we made it past there and to 65.. I know it was
t-shirt weather at the beach today and I Loved it!

Spring Cleaning the Blog

I follow some really awesome blogs... and have a lot of favorite sites, but trying to find the one I am looking for when I need it in a timely fashion has become a joke. So I have decided to do some house keeping in my blog. I have a million bookmarks.. and folders full of them.. and that works pretty good for a lot of sites when I am home on the computer.. but I am not always on my computer. So I am going to be putting the ones I use the most and want to be able to find onto my blog. I am also weeding through and deleting blogs that no one writes on anymore or ones where there is NO interaction. I do not expect 110% interaction... but every once in awhile a little something sometimes. I do not mean that I am only going to follow people who interact with me.. I do follow blogs and comment on them when they do not even follow me... what I mean is that if I have not read a blog in 6 months to a year and I am not interacting with them, then chances are we have gone in different directions, which happens regularly with all of us I think.

I am going through the blogs I do follow and I am putting them in categories on the right hand side. There will be local sites and blogs, food ones, Rv'ing and traveling ones and I am not sure what other categories there will be as I am still sorting and working on this. I am hoping this will help to find what I need.. and to share with my readers places they may like too. I know for myself when I do not have to weed through stuff I have no interest in... that I love exploring things I do find interesting.

These are the first flowers to bloom in my yard every year :)

I would love any feedback on this, I would also love to see more comments. I have taken off all the anti spam stuff and you do not even need to be signed in to leave a comment. I know this is something I am going to be working harder on doing myself. I read a lot of blogs and often do not take the moment to leave a comment. I am going to try to leave more comments and go back and see what is happening on the posts I enjoyed. I am thankful for the blogs I read, for the information, ideas and encouragement that they share and I want to make sure they know that and keep writing.

New Shop Update

The online woodworking shop is going to take an extra week or two to get up and running. We are getting orders coming in a bit faster than we had thought we would to start with so before we get going too far we decided to remodel the inside of the shop.

Made these three black boxes for a customers tv room, each box holds 30 dvds or games, now they are thinking they would like a couple more to put in there to hold more stuff!

As it was we were having to push the tools, table saw, router, sander, miter saw and planer into the middle of the shop so we could use them.. and since it is a very small shop... we would have to step over cords and move things to get to other things and it just was not working as well as it should be. We were making it work but, we have always known we would need to do something to make it work a lot better. What we would like to do is to build a new shop... for woodworking only... a huge one.. well not too huge but the size of a 2 car garage... with a different place to park the jeep. That will not be happening though so a remodel of what we have has been started.

The plan is to build custom cabinets for each tool. Right now they are on stands that roll around... but our goal is to have them in cabinets that stay put along the wall. Dave designed cabinets for each tool... they will hang on the wall.. and have drawers and cupboards for all of the tools that go with that tool. The sander will have a drawer under it for all the other sanders ( we have about 6 of them ) and a cupboard above that will have all the different papers in it. The router will have drawers in it for the router bits and tools needed to change them. Everything will have a place. This should save a lot of time, not having to go back and forth across the shop for things.

We are adding a bunch of storage and making things a lot easier to use. Getting rid of a lot of things that we just never use and won't ever use, making room for things we need. We learned when we did the house that a place for everything and everything in its place really works well. If it is something we want or need then we need to make a place that is for that item... and then keep it in the place. If we do not need or want it then it needs to go. Makes everything work so much better.. a lot less clutter and mess.

We are keeping this shelf and the pegboard here, took everything off of it and cleaned it up and now giving it a coat of white paint to clean it all up.

This wall will have a counter top, the miter saw, the router and the sander. I am just going to once in awhile give a little peek, because I am so excited about it all... I can't wait to get it all done and take a lot of good pictures to show it off.

~Michelle

Anger at the Beach

Today I took no pictures on my beach walk, today I gathered no treasures. I walked along the shore and I cried. I thought of the families who are missing, the damage and the pain and hurt that is in Japan right now. I prayed and I cried and I prayed some more.

I had to make myself go to the beach today, I thought I was a bit afraid... but I knew when I got there it would be ok... and yet it wasn't. I am not afraid of the beach, I am though angry at it. Which sounds weird.. but the beach has been my safe place, my place of therapy, and watching the news this last weekend and seeing all the damage that was done I feel like I just found out someone I love and trusted turned evil.

It is sort of weird writing this, feels childish. My head gets that the beach itself did not stand up and decide to go hurt people and destroy lives, and by admitting that I am angry at the beach shows that I have been thinking of it as something with thought and feelings. Yes I spend much time walking along the shore talking to the waves and letting them help me sort things in my head. It is a lot cheaper than therapy and seems to work as well.

Today I sat and I cried and I yelled at the beach while throwing rocks at it and into it. I then walked along the shore, crying and praying and thinking of every person who is missing.

*update* Today is a better day, for me. My heart still hurts for every person going through all of this... but me being angry at the beach is done... that won't do anyone any good... I am sure I will be down there throwing some more rocks at it and being upset... how can anyone not be when they see and hear all that is happening these days. Like i said earlier... the beach is my therapy.. so throw rocks, cry, pray and scream gets done there often.

Dangers at the Beach

I love the beach.. everyone who has read here knows that... every once in awhile I get a little reminder that I need to be aware and be careful when I am at the beach.. and today was one of them. In the past I have bonked my head on low branches... even made it bled one time... I get so busy climbing over logs and looking for treasures that I have to pay attention and watch for low branches... since the last head injury I have been very careful. I also have to be careful because the logs and the rocks are slippery. I have not fallen yet *knock on wood* but I am sure my day is coming.... often I am sure if anyone could see me they would be thinking I was a drunk. I am not sure if it would be different if my shoulder did not hurt... possibly then I would be a bit more secure but at this time if I start to fall I will landing on my face or backside as no way I would be able to use the arm to stop myself. Also I have learned that animals live down there... I knew that birds and clams and crabs and what not.. but I had never thought about animals like raccoons or sea otters or snakes.. or any other animals living that close to the waters edge. Almost found myself in an animal den last summer before it dawned on me that something else was in there.....that the cool hole was a door. Slow and steady and carefully I enjoy many hours on the beach.

Today it is windy and stormy and raining a bunch. I had planned on heading to the beach first thing this morning.. but then it started just dumping, so I waited until it was only raining hard and the wind was only blowing a bit and I headed down. It has warmed up so it was not too bad down there.. I headed down the beach... saw a new landslide.. just a small one.. some mud came down the hill and a tree is laying over onto the beach a bit. Not a huge deal... as it was just the start of the high bank area...a bit further down there is a big tree that fell a little over a year ago, most days that is the turning around point... but today I climbed over it... I stayed pretty close to the low tide line... just because the bank starts to get unstable here... and only a little further is a big slide from last year... a dozen trees and lots of mud slid down the bank.... now it has been thinned out over the year and you can climb through the trees ( at low tide ) I was peeking through and thought I could see a couple more new slides so I decided to go for it and climb through the trees... it is not hard at all.. you just go under one and then up the bank a little bit and across another huge flat one ( easy walking on it ) On the other side I do see a new slide so I head down the beach to it... looking for sea glass and listening.. listening for mud falling.. trees cracking.. anything that might not be safe or normal... first I had the beejees scared out of me when I bird comes flying out of the bushes almost taking my head off.. then I see a perfect piece of green glass.. I am reaching in for it.. and I hear something, almost feel it... a big thud.. so I look up and step back and then take a lot more steps back as a big chunk of the bank comes down and makes a big muddy splat right on top of that green glass..it was a huge feeling... almost more than a sound that the slide made... but looks like a huge dinosaur just walked up and pooped on it.. no way I am getting it now. Then it dawns on me that even though it would not have been life threatening if that mud had fallen on me... I was still in a bad situation and was not being smart or careful.. I was very lucky that was not a bigger slide and that the tree just hanging there had not fallen. I decided it was time to march myself to the low tide and get home.. or least to low bank beach.

Big Slide I climb through

Big Tree at top of Slide that is just waiting to come down


The Green Sea Glass I wanted is under that pile of mud

~Michelle

Spring is Springing

little daisies filling up the grass...which already needs to be mowed :)

Little flowers my dad gave me last year ( I think they will be blue )

Mint is smelling so good

Rhubarb is coming up

Need to weed out the whole front garden area, I want to plant another salsa garden this year.. we had a lot of fun with that a couple of years ago. ( picture below)

Gray Whales are in Town

I spent a lot of time sitting here watching for the whale today

Last year I saw my first whale ever, not sure what kind it was.. I was so excited I dropped the camera and think I scared it back across the water. I kept hearing something.. and it was a sound that was not normal at the beach in the few months I had been visiting there regularly. I find I "see" more with my ears than with my eyes while I am on the beach. My eyes tend to be filled up with the sea glass and the rocks and what not. My ears have learned to listen to the water and the wind and the birds and critters, and now the whales. I kept hearing this sound and looking up and seeing nothing.. finally I stopped... and just sat on a big log and watched the water.. I knew something was out there. He came up and spouted ( that was what I had been hearing ) and then back under the water. I was just in shock.. I had no idea that it might be a whale. He was so close to shore.... I was so excited.. I stood on the log.. got the camera all ready... and stood perfectly still.. watching and listening.. up he came... so very close to shore I was so amazed that I just stook watching and forgot to click the button for a picture. So I stood awhile longer... and then when he came back up he was almost to Whidbey (island that is 4 miles or so across the water from where I am ) and not a good picture... I stood there forever.. another lady came by and I told her what I had seen.. she said it happened all the time and was not a big deal.. again my jaw dropped in shock.. how could it ever not be a big deal.. if you saw it everyday it would still be an Awesome site. To each their own I guess!

I have lived here for 6 years now... only starting spending time on the beach a year ago... I had no clue that whales visited here.. and regularly.. like yearly. Since I saw that whale I did some reading and I am so looking forward to seeing some whales this year and am going to do my best to keep my calm and get some pictures :)

Just heard that the first one of the year has been spotted. A bit south of me... but I am still watching the water just in case he/she it comes this way. I follow The Orca Network on twitter and on facebook so I can watch where they are.

You can find all types of information on The Orca Network, not just about the orcas but about the Grays too :) Click here to learn about the Grays

Here is an article published today on the South Whidbey Record about the first whale of the year being spotted and about the "Welcome the Whales" celebration

Just an Update ~ Hot Tub and a Shop Vac

This last week has been a good week. We had a bunch of snow last week that carried over to the weekend... we went to the home show last weekend.. got some information about getting a windmill at the house.. can generate our own power.. and with the wind we get we could keep the block in power I am sure. Also found our dream hot tub... the infinity wall one.. when everyone gets over it has a spill over.. goes through the filter and then waterfalls back into the tub... so even though we do not plan on being large forever... it is still a problem when you get in the hot tub the water overflows and then when you get out the level is too low and it sucks air.. ok.. this may not be with ALL hot tubs but with the one we have now that is the problem. Well with the new one the over flow goes back into the tub... so you do not have to add more water or chemicals or anything.. plus it gives you that feeling of being in a huge tub that appears to just flow on forever.



We are still working on our boxes and getting a shop and blog all set up for them :) Finishing up another order this week and have another one next in line :) Having a lot of fun with these projects... it does involve a lot of cleaning in the shop... which is ok.. I am good at it. I love using the shop vac to clean up any sawdust that does not go into the dust collector.... I just love the shop vac... and the other day after cleaning the shop I noticed some particles I missed were having a party under it after I was done.. it was sort of cool to watch. ( so I thought I would share )




This week is more of working on the new shop and new blogger.. and looking for new ideas and more orders. Also have a bunch of doctors stuff going on.. same old crap different day for that... another MRI scheduled and more physical therapy. I am not looking forward to either.. yet.. if either of them help then I am more than willing to give them a go :)

~Michelle