I adore you, Port Gamble!

30 miles further up the Kitsap peninsula from my home is the enchanting little historic town of Port Gamble, Washington.  This morning was our first trip to this town, but it will not be our last.  As we strolled down its main street (which is literally one block long, goes in one direction, and has a 10mph speed limit), I had visions of characters reminiscent of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. It reminded me of the river towns of my youth due to its position of sitting on a small hill overlooking the mouth of Hood Canal, which is part of greater Puget Sound. The little town is preserved and pays homage to its history in the logging industry, and it’s filled with cute little shops, antique stores, and even a museum and cafe. Take a look at this cutie-pie town – there is a reason it’s on the list of US National Historic Landmarks!

Historic homes everywhere! Now they're being utilized as businesses and tourist attractions.

Historic homes everywhere! Now they’re being utilized as businesses and tourist attractions.

Continue reading

Re-purposing old furniture into a vegetable “Victory” garden

I’m impulsive and driven by nature. Once I get an idea in my head about something I want or need to do, it won’t leave my brain until it’s either in my hands or it’s done. We’ve recently undergone (and are still undergoing) a lot of changes to the house we bought six months ago.  We’ve painted the place, gutted and rebuilt the front porch (which is now beautiful and needs to be shared on my blog), demoed out our deck and finished off the privacy fence, and our outbuilding is currently being re-sided with fiber cement board.

Demoing the old, rotten deck was great, but it left us with a problem – what do we do with the 16’x16’ patch of dirt where the deck used to be?

Continue reading

Let this indoor girl OUT!

As Jack Dawson described Rose DeWitt-Bukater, I, too, am an “indoor girl.” Historically, if I had to choose an outdoor activity versus an indoor one, especially in the heat of summer, I would always choose the activity that let me sit in the air conditioning and avoid mosquito bites.

I vividly remember our brief, brief foray into camping a few years ago. We were living in our little rental house in Acton, Indiana and we suddenly (and inexplicably, now that I think about it) decided that we were “camping people,” so we went out and bought all the stuff, and I mean all the stuff.  Tent. Sleeping bags. Lanterns. Matches. Bug zappers. Bug spray. Bug netting. Collapsible camp table. Everything we could possibly need for a night of tent sleeping in our own backyard.

Continue reading

My dining room is complete!

Slowly getting this new house decorated.  Ever since I bought the vase now sitting on my new dining room table, I envisioned a maritime theme for my dining room.  I went to Olde Central Antique Mall down the hill in Port Orchard today and came home with the decorations I needed to complete my theme. I love it! Next to finish is the guest room, which will be done in a Pacific Northwest theme.

Come check out my dining room!

Continue reading

Back from my hiatus – and as a homeowner!

We are officially homeowners for the first time in our lives, and after almost ten years of marriage!  We closed on our lovely little house in Port Orchard, Washington on 10/27, took possession the next day, and moved in Thursday.

Our new town!

Our new town! When we’re standing in our driveway, we can hear the seals barking down on the waterfront (of Sinclair Inlet, which is part of Puget Sound), which is about a 1/2 mile away.

 

Continue reading

My favorite food on the planet

I’ve been a salmon addict ever since I first started coming to Seattle for training and would eat at restaurants where I would get perfectly seared salmon filets.  I relished the flavors – wood/fire smoke, lemon, that crunchy bite from the caramelization – bursting on my tongue. It was worlds away from the canned salmon patties I ate while growing up back in Indiana. Now that I live here in the Pacific Northwest, where fresh fish is in abundance, I’ve become absolutely addicted to Steelhead Trout. (And no canned salmon will ever get within 20 feet of my lips again!)

Continue reading

Not-wordless Wednesday – White River along Chinook Pass Scenic Byway

The thing I love most about living in a new area is that we get to be explorers.  Especially here in Washington, where hundreds of miles of untapped wilderness is just a very short drive.

My schedule is different this week because I’m working the “late” shift (12p-9p), but I’m working from home, so my mornings are free.  We decided to explore and we ended up down on the Chinook Pass Scenic Byway.   Continue reading