Seabrook, A New Beach Town--Founded 2004

Seabrook is an experiment in a planned community.  There are 175 homes here so far, and the retail district includes a restaurant, a bakery, coffee shop, grocery store, dog boutique, a home goods store, and a candy shop.  It is about 1/2 mile from the town of Pacific Beach.  You can walk everywhere here, and there are beach cruiser bicycles to ride. We love this place, and enjoy it each time we visit.

One of the neighborhoods

New Red Velvet Bakery

Town Hall decorated for Chocolate Event

Beach Music at Seabrook

We have probably stayed in about 20 homes here at Seabrook since 2008, and Beach Music is one of our favorites.  It has two large bedrooms, two baths, a sun room, a side yard with Adirondack chairs, and a lovely living room and big kitchen.  Here are some shots of the house.

More Chocolate on the Beach!

Here are some additional pictures of the chocolate events.

Lots of pirates!   Arrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Captain Savvy Jack

Mix and Match Chocolates

Chocolate at the Beach Festival--February 26-28, 2016

We are so excited about going to Seabrook again, and for the opportunity this year of attending the Chocolate on the Beach Festival!

There is over 10 miles of chocolate and chocolate activities, from Ocean Shores to Pacific Beach, Washington.  We have our map, dates and times of the activities, and we are ready to go.

We left home early Saturday morning, and made the trip to Seabrook by 2 p.m.  Since we can't check in at Seabrook until 4 p.m., we stopped at Voss Acres to pick up fruit for our stay and visit with the owners.  Then we headed on to Pacific Beach, and arrived at the chocolate 'headquarters' at 3 p.m.  We spent the next hour perusing all of the wares from the 70+ vendors there.  There was everything from chocolate to nuts to clothing and jewelry.  I got a great T-shirt, lots of candy for my friends and students, and had the chance to sample lots of great chocolate!

Chocolate Map!

Chocolate Vendors

Yummy chocolate apples!

Mason Orchard Bees

Today, we headed to Woodinville to Crown Bees.  It's time to buy our Mason Orchard Bees, put them in the frig, and wait until March's warm weather to put the larvae outside in little paper tubes so they can awaken.  It's quite a process, and we've been doing this for the last 10 years.  These bees are pollinators, and pollinate everything within a half-mile from our property.

There are 20 bee larvae in each box

Crown Bees is 5 minutes from home

Look at all of the "bee condos" available!

Skimmia and Primroses in the Front Yard

The skimmia has lovely red berries on it now, and I've updated the planter boxes on the white picket fence with new primroses in the front yard.

The daffodils have just started to poke through the mulch and up into the light.  Soon the yellow blooms will be visible.

"Daffodils, that come before the swallow dares,

and take the Wind of March with beauty."

                                     ---  William Shakespeare

Rhododendrons Are Blooming

We finally have some beautiful pink hues in the yard with our hardy rhodies.  Now with the primroses and the rhodies, the yard is waking up, anticipating spring.

Also, in the early evenings, we are serenaded by one-thousand frogs singing in the pond near the farm behind us.  It's music to our ears!

Chocolate on the Beach Festival February 26-28

Don and I are so excited about our trip to Seabrook next weekend!  It's also the weekend of the "Chocolate on the Beach" Festival, with restaurants, hotels and vendors providing 10 miles of chocolate from Ocean Shores to Seabrook and Ocean Crest Resort.  Doesn't this sound wonderful?

We are staying in one of our favorite houses at Seabrook called "Beach Music".  We liked this house so much over the years that we named our travel trailer after it!

Here is a flyer for the event, and some pictures of "Beach Music". What a perfect way to celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary.

In the Lily Walk Neighborhood of Seabrook

Spacious Living Room

Sunroom (we spend a lot of time in here!)

Time to Order Seeds from the Catalogs!

I've been collecting my seed catalogs for the last few weeks, setting them on my workbench and perusing their colorful, glossy pages, dreaming of my vegetables and flowers that will be growing everywhere in a few months.

It's so difficult to choose what I want to order--I need more property to fulfill all my seed dreams!

Here's a sample of what I'm looking at in the next few weeks.  Once the orders are sent in, I'll be waiting by the mailbox for them all to arrive.

Next steps:  get the raised beds and flower beds ready.  This involves the following:

1)  Turn over soil, and "double-dig"

2)  Mulch and fertilize soil

3)  Add compost from bin

4)  Finish weeding

5)  Plant seeds after last frost date

New Blogs I'm Following

Every so often, I find new and intriguing blogs that I'll list on the right-hand sidebar of this site.  You can share these fun sites with me, and see what I am following.

If you have some suggestions for interesting blogs, let me know!  My favorite new blog is "The World Needs More Pie"!

Decorating the House for Easter

Easter comes early this year (March 27), and I usually decorate the house the day after Valentine's Day.  I put all of my red hearts and candy away, and got out the bunnies!

I love this time of the year as we are anticipating Spring and Summer and time to get outside after the cold, dark weather.

Here's my start on the easter theme.  What do you think?

Elsie's silver service and my tulips

Bunnies and eggs in the dining room

Bunnies on my vintage drop-front desk

Bunnies upstairs!

Winter Day at Blyth Park

Don and I were getting cabin fever last week, so we grabbed Polly and jumped in the truck and took off into the sunshine.  We didn't have far to drive to Bothell, and took the back roads along the slough.

I hadn't been to Blyth Park for more than 20 years, and it hadn't changed much at all.  It was really wet and boggy, but we soldiered on and walked down to the water.  Polly was really tired when we got home.  She's been spending way too many hours in front of the fire!

Spring is coming soon!

A Cup of Tea

Before my piano lessons begin each day, I stop by my studio coffee shop (aka 'the pantry') and begin to brew my Chai Tea Latte on  my wonderful Verismo machine.  It's just like having a barista brew my specialty drink!  My barista training at Starbucks certainly comes in handy as I craft custom drinks for my 25 piano students.  Melissa loves her Americano, Jessica can't play the piano without her mocha, and Sequoia needs her brewed Pike Place Blend after coming off of a long shift in the ER at Evergreen Hospital.

 I'm a full service studio!

Chai Tea Latte

Verismo Coffee Pods from Dionna

Cups from Dionna

Mom's 87th Birthday

Mom celebrated her 87th birthday on February 2nd, Groundhog Day!  The family met at Red Robin at Northgate for a great lunch and a fun time together.

The Birthday Girl

The Kids

Choices, choices!

Paradise Lost

We have lived here in Maltby almost 15 years now, with our home facing Paradise Lake Road.  Many times, we've traveled this road, looking for its namesake.  We've never been able to locate it,  even on a county map.

On a recent ride back from Duvall, the stark winter landscape gave us a tiny view into our long-lost Paradise Lake!!  It's back from the road quite some distance, and there does not seem to be any public access.

I hiked back along the shoulder-less road to get this initial shot of the lake (the quality is poor, but it's better than nothing!).  It's it lovely?

Paradise Lake

Ferns Growing Out of a Mossy Tree

Polly's Trip to Duvall

Once a week, we get into the truck and drive to Duvall for lunch, antique shopping, and a walk along the Snoqualmie Valley Trail. It's Polly's favorite trip!

Here's Polly contemplating the river and the Meaning of Life.

Weekday Breakfasts at the Maltby Cafe

It's wonderful to walk across the street during the week and have breakfast at the cafe who wins the "Best Breakfast in Washington" award year after year.  The people are so friendly, and we often see friends and neighbors there.

I was taking pictures of Don when a woman came up to our table and said we were such a cute couple that she'd like to take our picture.  We had a nice visit with her, and then resumed our breakfast.

What a great way to start our week!