Painting over Mother's Day

 'A Season to Dance'

 

A blissful weekend of painting
Interspersed with some serious mowing at our beach house

Escape to the island for a day

My girlfriend and I raced up to the 'Beach House' yesterday to bring up furniture, meet with our site contractor, spread straw for erosion control - need I list any more excuses?

Over the weekend 2 bald eagles swooped around our house picking up straw for their nest and today a pheasant sauntered across the property quite unconcerned with the hammering, skill saw and 2 women stalking him with cameras.

A gorgeous day - clear, crisp, cold in the shade, warm huddled against the house on our new deck! The sunroom so inviting... a cup of tea, a cozy chat...

We could hardly pull ourselves away.

Landscaping and Muddy Feet

Photo of our lot as seen by our neighbor above, Nancy

Our new beach house is located in an area known for wild winter storms and high wind. And we got it over the weekend! 75 mph gusts, thunder and lightning, torrential rains, even hail. Our neighbor captured the sunny aftermath of water flowing across our property.

While the builders make their final touches on the house, I am designing berms and paths and planting schemes. Our mission: only Island County native plants, self sustaining, no maintenance, let the grasses grow wild, protect from deer, and make it look natural. Bonus boulders are unearthed and plopped on top of the berms. Perfect perching spots for kids and dreamers.


In contrast to Kenda's elegant purple pumps... here is what my feet are up to!

"We have a House to Catch!"

my son said as we raced after it in our car. Our stick frame house was built by Timberland Homes in Auburn Washington, then dismantled and trucked up I-5 and across Deception Pass bridge to our Whidbey Island property.

I took the kids out of school, my husband left work and some friends joined us to watch as the house parts were trucked in, jacked and rolled onto the foundation.

My dear friend Joie celebrated the whole process with us!

On the 3rd day, we were able to walk through the home that we designed with Timberland and could hardly contain our excitement (as you can see, I didn't) at how roomy the little cottage feels, how the windows frame the views of water and farm and how cute it looks nestled into the tiny patch of trees on our lot.

Envisioning arbors of honeysuckle... surrounded by Island County native plants

Even the wildlife welcomed us - fresh deer tracks traversed the mud every morning and bald eagles, great blue heron, ducks, geese and songbirds all swirled overhead.