Saturday, 7 December 20 2013, part one
Snow Postscript
Susie Goldsmith of The Boreas Inn sent me three photos of the garden in snow, too late to go in yesterday’s post.

Boreas, looking west from the end of the garden

Boreas, looking east toward the hot tub room. The garden has disappeared.

Boreas southwest deck
Looks like the snow caught Susie by surprise with the pillows still out there!
Thanks, Susie!
We began our day with a quick stop at the Ilwaco Saturday Christmas Market just to get some photos for Discover Ilwaco.

I noticed that the newly painted house just south of Tom and Judy’s (that has recently been remodeled with a view dormer) almost matches a house further up the hill.

houses of blue in our pretty town
We stopped by Olde Towne to do a compost bucket switch.

Luanne made this tree of mussel shells…collected when she visited her daughter in Maine.

She’s also spray painted these Alliums I brought her some while ago from the boatyard garden.
I still did not have time to stay and celebrate staycation at Olde Towne, as we had to get on to…
The Peninsula Gift Shop Tour
I am not much of a shopper (except for the garden), so when I find a little gift shop that I like, it is special to me. I had been asked by Karyn Zigler of Home at the Beach to take some photos of their Saturday gift shop tour which included some of my favourite places. The shops on this tour were not the kind that just sell “Long Beach” t shirts and other tourist mementos.
The weather caused me dire suspense because I do not like to go out in snow and ice at all, at all, at all. If I had not said I would take photos, I would not have set a toe into Long Beach. (The sidewalks and roads in Ilwaco, in contrast, had already lost their slick cover.)
Allan humoured me by finding parking spots that allowed me to get into the shops without walking on anything white. It was rather an embarrassment when, while inside the shop Beautiful Things, I saw a car park and two ladies more elderly than I get out and walk sure footed over what to me had been impossible ice.
Here are some of the lovely objects that I saw.
Home at the Beach
618 South Pacific Avenue, Long Beach

home decorating display room
Owners Kathy and Karen have a business of interior design, as well, with flooring, window coverings, and whatnot. I love the floor in the room above. It’s about $3 more per square foot than what we were thinking of using, but the pieces are sturdier and I like the pale colour and the realistic grained texture.

clear crystal decor with snowy background

Here is an excellent motto for staycation!

sandpipers
Kathy and Karyn once explained to me once the difference between nautical and coastal, or beachy…

This is nautical, with red and blue, and boats, and flags.

Most of “Home at the Beach” is more blue, white, sandy, and pale grey.

These guys are just a touch too silly for me!

Lots of happy shoppers turned out despite the weather.

treats
Outside, the city planter, with its annuals removed, lay under a smooth blanket of snow.

Note the scary icy street!
Beautiful Things
Two doors north, a new shop has just opened.

Beautiful Things

Karyn of Home at the Beach with Jude, the owner of Beautiful Things

The owner does this skilled upholstery.

I like the artificial tree.

white on white

crystal with snow backdrop
The Wooden Horse
I like the stuff in The Wooden Horse shop at 311 South Pacific so much that I picked it to be the January ’14 cash mob location.

The Wooden Horse…I like the pallet shelving

kindness and celebration
The shop is owned by the men who also own Inn at Harbour Village in Ilwaco (and Stormin’ Norman’s kite shop) and who bring us the annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner.


treats

Wooden…pigs

Hello to Linda, in red, a regular reader of this blog.
As we left The Wooden Horse to go to the next shop, we encountered the Ilwaco “Epic Echo” Glee club just heading our way, so back into Wooden Horse we went to listen to them caroling.

Glee!

caroling


glee club
M & D Designs
Just a few doors north at M & D Designs:

M & D Designs

This shop of local arts and crafts will be the February cash mob site.

delicate pine needle baskets

stained glass, backed with snow
Allan had got a photo of the Fifth Street Park one block to the south:

the clam squirting control device is coming along!

the scary icy sidewalk areas he helped me avoid

one of the planters we recently redid is completely smooth.

Next to it, an old planting of shrubs in one of the planters that we want to re-do.
NIVA green
Our very favourite shop of all time came next on the tour: New, Vintage, Inspired, Artful, and environmentally conscious with lots of artistic upcycling.

NIVA green at 104 Pacific North

We recommend our friend Sarah’s children’s fantasy series, The Marble Game.

paper lamps


a shop full of colour and fascination

bird feeders


Owner and artist Heather Ramsay makes string tins with scissors:

one of the best presents!
and lamps out of tins:

Heather’s lamps
Heather had some wonderful cookies from the Danish bakery in Astoria. As always, I found a few good presents to buy AND we got a nice bar of soap as a door prize.
Stylin’ Consignment Shop
I honestly thought that because of the weather, we would not make it any further north than NIVA green. Earlier, Allan had expressed some concern about not wanting to wreck our nice van. And yet…we heard the roads were better the further north one drove, so we decided to test out the conditions a wee bit further north at Stylin’, 600 N Pacific.

Santa was just about to drive off, heading from Stylin’ to NIVA green

The shop is a in cute little cottage.
The blue, clear sky is the culprit for our cold weather!

It amazes me shop owner Jan finds such nice items to sell on consignment.

This picture frame caught my eye.

We decided to be very bold and head all the way to the two shops in Ocean Park. I had been so sure we would not get to all the shops that I had not even gotten myself a “passport” at Home at the Beach. Allan had one, and if he got a stamp from each shop, he’d get entered into a raffle for some sort of prizes. We both would have had a good shot because the weather was keeping the north enders mostly at the north end and the south enders down here! Oh well! So on to Ocean Park.
Allan had lived in colder climes, Spokane and Idaho, and has experience driving in worse weather than this.

the road going north
On the way we talked about our fortitude in going out in such weather to support local shops with picture taking, if not a lot of buying, and wished that more than 23 people had come to see our garden on the Edible Garden tour! When the weather was lovely! Of course, the shop keepers can’t because they are always working during the various garden tours. Linda from The Wooden Horse guarantees she will get garden tour Saturday off next year. (We can’t complain about attendance when we were on the BIG garden tour, Music in the Gardens, as we had more than 500 people come through that day.)
Beach Home Old and New

On Bay Avenue, Ocean Park

Beach Home Old and New


wintry scene

If I didn’t already have too many little things, I would have to have these.

garden decorations
These are said to be sturdily assembled, unlike others some friends have purchased elsewhere that have disintegrated in short order.

pink, with a little teapot

sunlight and snow

local photography
Sweet Williams on Bay
A few blocks to the west sits Sweet Williams, one of the original fine gift shops on the Peninsula.

Sweet Williams on Bay

in the front window

east side window

Just across the street I saw a seasonal vignette at Adelaide’s Coffee: a Christmas tree in a car.


Owner Katie Williams loves Polish pottery
Our client and friend Mary of Klipsan Beach Cottages is close friends with Katie AND collects Polish pottery, so we have had a good look at many of these gorgeous pieces and have gotten some as cherished gifts over the years.

Katie also carries of an assortment of delicious truffles.

Sweet Williams

Now for the drive back south. Allan would definitely get his passport completely stamped!

heading south to Long Beach
Long Beach Pharmacy
Allan popped into the Long Beach Pharmacy gift shop.

Long Beach Pharmacy

a display by our friend Artist Don Nisbett
I looked at the icy parking lot from across the street and delegated the photo-taking at the pharmacy to Allan while I entered the last shop of our tour.
Deux Chapeaux
I’ve always found Deux Chapeaux to be a good place to find a greeting card, bubble bath, and elegant soap for a present.




Shop owner Sharon has excellent taste in cards and exquisite taste in women’s and children’s clothing.

cute children’s clothes

The cutest!

I have rarely had children in my life (since being one). I wonder if children themselves get as much of a kick out of adorable little clothes like these as the adults do who dress them up. I hope so.
The women’s clothes are richly coloured and gorgeously far removed from any sort of life I have led. I think this is the only place on the entire Peninsula where one could find garments this lovely.


The blue one really speaks to me!

Sharon’s shop

Deux Chapeaux
When Allan joined me, he completed his passport.


With 45 minutes to spare before the end of the tour, we slid back through the streets of Long Beach where the ice remained worse than anywhere else.

driving south near Fifth Street Park
We only had one scary sliding moment when trying to stop for a pedestrian who wanted to cross in the middle of the much icier block by Dennis Company; he saw we were not going to be able to stop and just waved us on.

Fifth Street
We now had about an hour and a half before the big Ilwaco event of the season: The lighting of the Crab Pot Christmas Tree.
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