Pretty Kitchens

The kitchen in my apartment is quite small and I like to daydream of one day having the perfect kitchen; one that is airy and light, with pretty colors, and all my favorite kitchen elements in one place. All these kitchens from Country Living Magazine are beautiful and have many elements that I love.

Turquoise as a pop color!

I love how the old cabinet has been
turned into a stand for the sink.

I must, must, must, have an apron front
sink, and if it is a huge farm one like
this, even better!

These pictures inspire my daydreams, and I hope they inspire you too!

Maybe Not So Upside-down After All....

So apparently, the story we were told about the upside-down tree, which I related in the last post, was not correct. It is just a legend that one tree was turned upside-down and the roots grew into branches. However, part of the story was true! The tree does consist of two trees: the top of one grafted to the bottom of the other. The top tree is a unique breed of Scottish elm, which is why the branches look all twisty like roots would. Even though it is not actually upside-down, the tree is still rare and on the historic register!

This weekend I was out of town again since I had to go to a wedding in Bend. Driving over the pass, some of the trees were just starting to change color for fall and it was very appropriate since the wedding was fall themed. The flowers were all red, orange, and yellow and there were branches with fall leaves on the tables. Even the dinner was fashioned after a harvest feast with roast vegetables and chicken pot pie!

I thought the fall theme and the color palette were very pretty, fall is my favorite season, but I would probably pick something more muted if it was for me. I found this image at Saipua and it is pretty much exactly the color palette I would want.

Saipua Bouquet.

I really love all the arrangements they do at Saipua, but this one is my favorite! This and some lilacs and I am good to go.

Ever Heard Of An "Upside-down Tree"??

Our trip to Port Townsend was very short notice and since the Historic Homes Tour was going on, the place where we usually stay, the Bishop Victorian Hotel, was booked. Most other places were booked as well, but luckily the Holly Hill House B&B had just had a cancellation. We had never stayed there before, but one look told me I was going to love it. I took lots of pictures of the house and the gardens. I have posted quite a few here, but if you like what you see you can check out their website for more!
*Disclaimer: My camera sucks so I apologize in advance for the quality of some of the pictures.

I could just tell by the outside that I was going
to love it!

I adored these prints of Victorian Ladies, this
is just one, but their was a set of four.

I wish I had a picture of this table when it was set for
us for breakfast, it was amazing, but my
camera ran out of batteries!

Our room as you can see was very flowery and feminine,
perhaps too much so for everyday, but for vacation
in Port Townsend it was perfect!

I love, love, love, this chair.

The gardens were just as pretty as the inside.

Ok, so I had never heard of an upside-down tree, but this house had two in the gardens! The trees were two different species, but both had been grown "upside-down" which apparently is when you buy two of the same tree, plant one in the ground and cut both the trunks, right in the middle. Then you turn the unplanted tree upside-down on top of the planted tree and match the two cross-sections of the trees up exactly. Eventually they graft together and the roots of the second tree, which are up in the air, sprout leaves and grow into branches. Talk about identity issues! The tree which I am posting a picture of here is actually on the historic register!

This is looking up under the foliage at the roots

turned branches.

This is the tree from the outside. Growing it in
the upside-down manner causes the droopy
dome effect.


Isn't this little guy cute?

All in all, it was a wonderful place to stay. I even discovered that they do Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas dinner, and a murder mystery dinner on New Years Eve! I would love to go to the murder mystery dinner, so much fun!

I Love Old Houses And Tea, Don't You?

I spent my birthday in Port Townsend, which just happened to coincide with the Historical Homes Tour. Old houses, especially Victorians, are one of my favorite things so of course we went on the tour. We weren't allowed to take photographs inside the houses (which is a shame because I would love to share some of the rooms), but I did take some pictures of the facades, which were all stunning.

This home was not actually on the tour,
but I couldn't resist when I saw it.

It was raining a bit, so afterward we visited Dame Agatha Twigg's Tea Room downtown on the waterfront and had a cuppa to chase away the cold and damp.

I love the mis-matchedness (is that a word?)
of the furnishings in the tea room.

I was quite peckish so I had the yummy
Ploughman's Platter.

The whole tea room is lovely and there is also a gift area which has all sorts of delightful things. The lady who runs Dame Agatha's is British which just adds to the charm of the place. This wasn't the first time I had been there and it definitely won't be the last!

Botanical Gardens

After visiting the boat on Friday we went to see the Seattle Locks. Access to the Locks is through a botanical garden and I simply could not resist taking some pictures of the pretty flowers.

I always think that Foxglove looks like little
fairy hats.

I wish I could post smells on this blog because this
rose smelled so sweet and strong.

Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers.
I love how delicate the colors are.

I think this is as Passionflower?

Ok, this isn't from the botanical gardens, it is just
an old picture to celebrate the beginning of fall!

Happy first day of fall yesterday!

Our New Boat

This weekend I went on an adventure. Friday I went to Seattle with my parents to see their new boat. Then Saturday, which was my birthday, we went to Port Townsend which is possibly my favorite town ever, going there was actually a present from my parents since they know I love it. For the rest of this week I will be writing about my trip and posting lots of pictures so stay tuned! To start here are some pictures of the boat. She is a 43 foot Selene which my parents have named "Island Gypsy."

Here she is!

The pilothouse.


The galley.


The whole interior of the boat is done in
beautiful woodwork. Here is a picture of the
table in the salon, gorgeous!

Blog? More like Blaaaarrrrrg!

Avast ye scurvy dogs, it be International Talk Like A Pirate Day today so I hope ye have been speakin' piratical like, or I'll have to have yer guts fer garters! (September 19th really is talk like a pirate day, go here to check it out).
So I just started this blog and there is a lot more to the whole set up process than I expected! That is why it is still rough, but hopefully it will get better with time. So this is my first post, just to say hello, or should I say, Ahoy!

P.S. Yes that is me in the pirate costume