What have we done this year for the holidays? Not much. I did not decorate one little bit, because I did not want to give up reading and gardening time to put up a tree and then take it down again.
Oh, but wait. I did put out one piece of Christmas decoration, something I have had since 1977:
We have had enough seasonal festivity to make this Season’s Greetings post. (Soon, I will catch up on the reading and gardening news for December.)
Saturday, 15 December 2018
We had our holiday dinner at the Depot Restaurant early with Our Kathleen, because her schedule would not permit her to join us on Christmas eve. Our repast was so delicious that I must show you. Even though some people make fun of pictures of dinner, I know for a fact that some of you like that sort of thing.
bubbly, cheesy, flavourful French onion soup
the winter’s best wilted spinach salad
delicately prepared fish for Allan, with a lemony sauce
Kathleen chose the Thai calamari appetizer for her entree.
My favourite winter menu dish, the Cingiale Brasato
flan
sorbet duo
tiramisu
The Depot tree, decorated in a foodie theme, and in the window box, African daisies are still blooming
We decided to forgo our traditional Christmas crackers and exchanged presents without opening them.
Tuesday, 18 December 2018
My own personal mission was to not leave my property. However, we could not miss our holiday tradition of enjoying the Christmas Village display at the Hungry Harbor Grille in Long Beach.
a Christmas crab pot in our post office garden
On the way, we picked up more books from the library, where we found a Christmas carol gathering.
Allan’s photo
We drove to the end of the Bolstad beach approach to see how far up the massive, storm driven tide had come. Quite, far, with driftwood all the way to the picnic shelters. Allan acquired a bundle of kelp for compost bins, stuffing it into the back of the van.
a feast day for some gulls
in the planter outside, flowers still blooming in our unusually mild winter
even bigger than usual
I imagine myself in the idyllic scene, where the snow is not slippery and where everyone likes each other.
Each building is so detailed, one could spend hours looking in the windows. Pilgrim Pat, who first took us to see this village, used to take binoculars so that she could see the details of the far away buildings.
Below, I like the triangular building. It reminds me of Seattle. Behind it, by the window, it the apartment building with a roof garden which is my choice of where to live, on the top floor and with the garden as part of my domain.
Why I choose that instead of a house can only be explained by my fond memories of the year when I lived in the Gables apartments in Seattle.
The Gables would fit right into the village. My apartment was on the second floor off the central courtyard.
Allan went outside the restaurant and, through the window, got two side views of my apartment building.
Looks like we somehow got our heavy cement curved bench up to the roof garden!
I now might rather choose to live in the new little float house:
Allan’s photo
Allan’s photo; it is rather exciting that the TARDIS is there.
Allan’s photo
The village harbour has a multitude of lighthouses.
Allan’s photo
the ghost ship
Clang, clang, clang went the trolley,
Ding, ding, ding went the bell…as the trolley zoomed by the fish market…
…and the Long Beach Tavern.
The Clamshell Railroad was running, too.
As darkness fell, the carnival lights came on.
one of several lodgings to stay when you visit
If you would like to watch a video that shows the trains and the trolley, click here. It is rather noisy from other diners; just imagine that you are sitting in a popular café with a view of the village.
We dined on the pasta special and a Reuben sandwich.
Night had come by the time we left the village.
the lights of Long Beach
Allan photographed the Shelburne Hotel on our way home (with our van whiffing of salty kelp):
And he walked to the next block to get a photo of the Christmas lights at Lucy Dagger’s house:
a piratical Christmas
In the evening, I read a book about another village where (despite an alarming number of murders) life is cozy and friends are friends for life.
After that excursion, I did not have to leave the property for five blissful days. Every day is a holiday of reading, gardening, puttering, and projects. Skooter sleeps in even later than we do….
Monday, 24 December 2018
We had the pleasure of a visit from Mary and Denny, formerly of Klipsan Beach Cottage and now easing into their retirement in their new home in nearby Naselle. After so many years of being constantly on call at the cottage resort, Mary says she is going to have to figure out what she likes to do in all her free time. Mary and Denny were on their way to a late afternoon Christmas Eve dinner at the Depot, and our own Dickens Christmas Eve dinner came later at 7:30 PM.
The Depot Restaurant
Dickens dinner
The glory of Yorkshire pudding
Allan tried a new menu item of spice meat balls and hummus.
Window boxes still flowering
Egg nog flan
View from our table
On the tree
We opened our presents late in the evening and now, for us, the celebration is done and we will return to gardening, puttering, reading, and projects—one of which is to catch up with a few blog posts before going on another short blogging hiatus.
Tangly Cottage Gardening 