Exercise, Health, & San Juan Island

On the last trip to the house on the first day that I was alone my sweet neighbor invited me to walk with her ladies walking group. It is a loose organization of women that walk when they can and are all ages, shapes, and sizes. That being said, I am on the least fit end of the spectrum.

I have had the intent to get my arse moving and seem to manage to get to the gym a day or two a week which is just often enough to "say I am doing it" but not enough to make any changes with the bod.

Anywayssssss..... it seems like people on the island are for the most part quite fit and healthy. I walked twice with this group last trip and loved it but they are so far beyond my fitness level it isn't funny.

When you choose a place, like the island, that has world class sea kayaking and hiking, and healthy people wandering around and people that are growing and eating their own fruits and vegetables, it makes you take stock a little bit.

I DESPERATELY want to overcome my health stuff and become super active again. SuperMoto and I really would like to canoe and kayak together and my hand is challenging enough with the whole paddle thing, but come on, I need to make some changes.

I am saying it here to all of you because you know me and know my struggle with my health and well being. Some of you more than others for sure but, anyone who knows me knows that I have been spinning my wheels for a long time with this.

So, today, I am throwing it out into the blog ether that, I am going to put the right foot forward in terms of being active and in terms of what goes into the bod. I am going to be thoughtful of today and tomorrow and to all the tomorrows. I want to be able to enjoy all that the island has to offer without huffing and puffing my way.

To Happy Health!

Trees and Neighbors

I know you know we have a forest, but it turns out we have some trees on both the north east corner and the south east corner of our home that are very close to the home. The north trees are growing over the roof and in that specific corner are growing over the chimney. Literally over the chimney. Why on earth would someone leave a tree hanging over a chimney?

When I think of trees hanging over a chimney,

I think of...

What about you? What do you think of? So the logical next step was to down the trees. Downing trees is something we certainly could figure out how to do even though we know nothing about it. On the other hand, these trees are right next to our house and if we had some sort of little problem we would be in a world of hurt with a tree in our living room. Soooo... We decided the best thing to do is call someone who could down the tree and hopefully in the future bring in some equipment and excavate the land so we can build our shop and gardens.

I called a tree guy from California yesterday and as you would suspect, I found myself in a Six Degrees of Separation situation. The man who answered the phone was the owner of the business and as it turns out was our neighbor. His dad actually previously owned our property.

Not only did we discuss trees we also had a nice conversation about life and being good neighbors in general. I was thrilled to have such a positive conversation that we had with a stranger.

It made me so excited to connect some more dots. Another piece of the puzzle filled in.

He is going to evaluate the trees and eventually...

The Microwave: A Tale of Kitchen Woes

Not sure if you know but the kitchen design has been held up due to a lousy microwave. I thought we were on track to have delivery in September and then it smacked us in the face...We didn't plan a space for the microwave and there isn't much room for one. This kitchen is going to be fantastic but it isn't the largest space in the world. Mind you, it is FANTASTIC and I am NOT complaining at all, but it is a challenge to fit everything I want in a kitchen, in a relatively limited space.

We purchased our appliances already and are building the kitchen around them. I suppose that is a slightly unconventional way to do it but when you know what you want you know what you want and you have to do what you have to do to get what you want. So, we are designing our kitchen around our appliances.

I accept that this has been challenging for the kitchen designer. More than once she came back to me with suggestions of what might work better only to have me tell her, " Well, we already purchased it so it is too late to change it." She is a good sport but I am sure she is sick of it.

Back to the microwave... We purchased one that seemed like it would work and it turns out it didn't. We considered building it in above the double ovens, in the island, in an upper cabinet etc. We tried everything. I even considered not having one. The one thing I knew for sure was that it wasn't going to sit on the counter top. Counter space is a premium and it isn't going to be wasted with an appliance we only use to heat coffee in.

Finally we caved and bought a much smaller microwave and have agreed that placing it low in the island is the best option replacing the pull out recycle receptacle. This is a compromise, at best, as neither of us likes it low really but can't figure out a better space to put it in. It will be built in all pretty, but low.

We will be finalizing the order this trip and taking deliver around Thanksgiving. UGGH!

Delay due to microwave.... could be worse.

To Uhaul

So, having gone to uhaul and confirmed the measurements, we have decided to uhaul. We have a bunch of kitchen related things like the stainless steel cook top back splash and the stainless steel hood and the warming shelf. We have tons of junk in general that will be handy to take up there. YEAH, some more kitchen things. I have been struggling to live without...

a cookie sheet,

a Pyrex or two,

and a myriad of my usual items like wine bags, bows, ribbon, etc. We never expected to be social so quickly so I need to be able to be a good guest and without some of my usual fair I feel lost, out of control, afraid....OK, well that is a stretch but you get the gist.

We are going to haul up enough stuff to make living there for the winter more life like and not so rustic. Don't get me wrong, with no cable TV, and lots of power outages we should be in for a long winter. I have stocked up on books and DVDs that I can watch on the computer. The battery life is long so I can snug into bed and watch a movie while I am alone and especially if the power is out.

Sounds kinda fun hu?

I think so. I am looking forward to spending time there alone and with SuperMoto in the winter. I can't wait to bundle up dog in tow, haul buttocks over to the wood pile, load up the cart with firewood, trudge back to the house wet and cold, toss some logs on the fire, get some water boiling in the kettle and breath a deep sigh of relief.

City vs. Island #2 The Quiet

So another main difference between the island and San Francisco Bay Area is the Quiet.

At the house in California the early morning is the most quiet but you can still hear the highway noise off in the distance. The population sound is always in the air. I mean to say that the sound of the "buzz" of life is in the background of everything.

On the island outside of town it is so quiet and still. At the house you can hear the occasional truck drive by on the main road but that is rare. The sound of nature is all you hear. In fact it is so quiet when the heater or the fridge motor kicks on you look around and ask yourself, "what is that sound?"

Apparently our neighbors sometimes have a frog issue. I know what you are thinking, a frog issue? Well, apparently some seasons in some years they have thousands of frogs on their property. She said it can get so loud it is like the Cicadas back east. That sounds cool for about 10 minutes and then I might hang myself. Thank goodness we don't have a frog issue.

The loudest thing you hear around our house is the GeoDog barking and the yard equipment running. That chipper is the loudest thing I have ever heard. (personal equipment wise)

OK, so man made items aside, I have never been surrounded by such a blanket of lovely quietness. It is so wonderful.

City vs. Island #1 The Restaurant Situation

I have been meaning to talk to you about some of the differences between the San Francisco Bay Area and San Juan Island for a while but have been pretty wrapped up in our life lately. Today looks like a good day to tell you that there are some HUGE differences between the island and sfba (san francisco bay area). Gee, tough to figure that out, right??? LOL Here is the scoop.

In the Easy Bay, where we live, chain restaurants are all the rage. The biggies have chili peppers in their name, or a red bird, or a garden of olives, etc. There are some locally owned and

operated small businesses like our favorites...

Tavo's is, quite literally, the best pizza we have ever tasted. The friendliest owners. The most terrific staff. Great Service. Fun Atmosphere. Reasonable price for gourmet pizza. Terrific all around!

Then there is The Silver Skillet Restaurant.

This is the sweetest All-American Diner style restaurant that caters to local people who want a good meal at a good price.

The lady that owns the place and her daughter are so special. The food is good and they have the best pancakes and french toast I have ever hand. They are doing some new and exciting things with food and I look forward to taking that journey with them. They truly put their hearts and souls into this place and you can tell when you eat there.

Ok, so now you have an idea of what I mean by locally owned and operated in the SFBA.

The island is a statement in contrast. There, EVERYTHING is locally owned and operated. Lots of the fancy places get their fruits and vegetables from the local farms, everything is from scratch. The menus are diverse the proprietors are all friendly. We have never been rushed or urged to hurry. There are really only about 30 restaurants on the entire island, if that. Most of them are closed for the winter.

DID YOU READ WHAT I JUST SAID??????????

Yes folks, most of the restaurants on the island are closed for the winter season. Can you imagine?

I can because when we went to the island for our first visit we arrived the second week of November. Everyone gave us recommendations of where to eat but when we would call or go there they would be closed for the winter. Apparently it is icy and snowy in the winter and the town nearly shuts down.

Thank goodness, the place we can't live without seems to be open year round. I can't find and image of their place but it is called Mi Casita. The best Mexican food in the states I have ever had. They have the perfect half Margarita and unbelievably tasty enchiladas. The chips and salsa are so yummy. Their sopapilla dessert is heavenly. Thank goodness this place is there because it has already become a staple of our trips to town.

Of course, there is the Naked Bean, coffee jointery. Their desserts are like sin on a plate. If you have any heaven/hell concerns I wouldn't stack the deck against yourself! Make sure you don't go there and get one of those to die for Cinnamon twisty gooey plates of deliciousness. You really wouldn't want to risk the consequences if I were you.

The real issue is that with so few places open during the winter I am going to be forced to get it together and plan ahead and cook. I have a fancy schmancy new crock pot up there at the house just waiting for there to be no kitchen, a blustery day and a stew boiling in it's belly.

I look forward to when we are growing our own fruits and vegetables and using our own produce to cook our own meals and not rely on the grocery store or restaurants so much.

Hmmmm... I think I am hungry!

Baking and the New Kitchen

All I can think about today is the new kitchen and how wonderful it will be to fill the house with the smell of home baked cookies. I can't wait to roll my first batch of sugars or logs of biscotti on the island. I can smell the sweet scent of sugar and chocolate and Cinnamon. I can imagine cleaning up the light dusting of walnut remnants after hand chopping walnuts for my famous chocolate walnut cookies. I can hear SuperMoto's sigh of satisfaction as he sips ice cold milk with his feet up on the coffee table with a plate of chocolate chip cookies on his lap while the GeoDog is begging for cookies. I can imagine the scent of the cookies traveling down our drive in a dreamy cloud formation all the way to our new neighbor's house. They would slowly make their way to our back door in the classic zombie way following their noses to the plate of fresh cookies and fresh roasted bean coffee that is piping hot and awaiting their arrival. I think I need to make many more friends so that I have people to give fresh baked cookies to. I might even have to do the school bake sale or Farmer's Market just to satisfy the urge to mass produce delicious bits of sweet tastiness. I would send back cookies to Roy's previous office friends and to my family and hand them out to random people on the street like Mrs Field's did when she first got her feet wet in the cookie business. After that I would take a big nap and hope SuperMoto did all the dishes.

Ahhh to dream.

To U-Haul or Not to U-Haul That is the Question...

Well, here we go again. We are getting ready to head up to the house and have a bunch of junk to haul up there. Everything from the new hood to a bunch of winter clothes need to make their way this trip. UGGH! This part is never ending I think.

I need to catch up with some of you who haven't been on this journey from the beginning. We bought a custom made trailer. We had it custom made so that it would meet the height and length requirements for the cheapest possible ferry fare. The only thing is SuperMoto and I made a slight error in that we have the perfect size side yard to store the darn thing but not the ability to get it into the side yard because of a dumb planter and tree that make the angle not right to back the trailer into the space. ARRGH!!

Now that we are on the same page. . . . What we decided to do was leave the trailer up at the house and bring it down when we needed it only last trip we didn't have the right hitch at the house to bring down the trailer because the time before we accidentally left the hitch attached to the Jeep.

Are you seeing where I am going with this??????

Well, move ahead to today. We decided to rent a uhaul and bring up a load before winter but kinda, once again, didn't think about the height and length issue and the only uhaul we can take is the 4 foot by 8 foot one which is so tiny.

BUMMER!!!!

So, now we shall see. I am not sure what we will do about all this but I am sure we will figure it out. Just another snag in a really gnarly process I think.

What is it that talking train used to say, " I think I can I think I can..."

I think we can. I think we can. I HOPE we can!

Retirement and the Restless Wife

So how does one decide exactly when to retire? My husband has been saying 3-5 years. He has been saying that for 10 years. (giggle)

Seriously though, he really means 3-5 years but it is based on retirement $$, home values $$, if his parents are still living, what I am up to, etc. etc.

Although I don't know first hand, I think it must be like when you are trying to decide to have a baby. There is no good time, never enough $$ and so you just go for it. Right???

It is impossible to understand how all things necessary will come together at one perfect time so that he makes the decision to retire. He loves what he does for a living. I certainly understand that. His type of work seems to really stimulate his brain. I am so glad to see that. I would hate to see him unfulfilled.

I guess the answer is just wait until the opportunity presents itself...

When the moment is right...

Every cliche answer you can think of seems to apply here.

The real answer is when his heart is ready. I can't and won't and don't want to rush him. I am just excited for the next stage in our lives....