Tiny Dream Home.

My dh and I have a radio show every Friday afternoon and today we were talking about retirement. Here in Canada, you can retire at any age but our Country does provide pension funds and old age security funds if you'd worked enough years and contributed over time to the fund. We are also encouraged from a young age to set up a RRSP fund (Registered Retirement Savings Fund). The government provides tax incentives for contributing to your fund each year. We started ours when we were 18 and should have a healthy amount in it by the time we retire. One of our plans is to sell the acreage, our little cottage in the big woods, when we're retired and it becomes too much work at that time. We would then either build closer to town and smaller, or buy a new, small house, or buy a condo, or my favorite, a condo here and then build a tiny home like the one above out on our tiny island, overlooking the ocean as our final resting place. We also want to venture into living short term in a couple of locations around the World, like the U.K. or a tropical spot for a few months at a time. More than just a vacation but not a permanent experience. Lots to consider and we'll have to see how it all unfolds as we go. But isn't this the sweetest tiny house! Love the stone fireplace the long windows on either side. I'll try to see if there is a house plan that fits this model. 

Today, you guessed it, more snow! So tired of the white stuff. But I'd take it over earthquakes, torrential rain, giant spiders or powerful wind storms. At last snow is not deadly here. More of an inconvenience. We're pretty hardy here!

A busy day working at home in our little cottage.

A quiet night chilling at home in our little cottage.

~ Chy

Blogtober: Day 17.

When I dream of moving to our favorite little

island in the future, this is what I envision the

tiny cottage to look like. Maybe green though,

or a mix of colors. Small, serence and secluded!

~ Chy

Foody Books.

Yesterday was a crazy, busy work day. And today is the same. I don't think I have a quiet day this week until Thursday when it's a bit calmer. New programs this week starting up, new referrals for counselling, deadlines, etc. I'm starting to get super tired but working out each morning and the weather is helping. Pushing through and getting it all done. Feels good once I get to the other side and the to do list is smaller. The rest of Spring should be a slower pace for work. Not life, as we have some grand landscaping plans this year but work will be quieter. I am thankful each day that we both still have our jobs through this Pandemic and that we enjoy what we do. When it's super busy, it's very tiring. 

Our kitchen island looking all forlorn. No food being prepared. No one sitting on a stool working on a project. Just an empty island, waiting patiently for the next user to come along. Do you collect cookbooks? I started with one given to me at one of my bridal showers. And over the years, I've collected a few. I have a stand to hold the book when its in use but sometimes find using my laptop works well too. Those are all my sweet "foody books" on the bottom shelf. Just enough to give us inspiration for trying new things. 

All for now, my blogging buddies.

Wishing you a peaceful day. Namaste!

~ Chy

Daydreaming ....

I've come up with a least a million and one ways to

stay calm and focused. Okay, maybe a "few" ways!

One is to dream about building a tiny cottage on our

favorite tiny island one day. Before we retire, as a

spot to head to on weekends, or to fully live there.

Above are 2 pics I found online of the size and look

that we'd love to capture. Can you imagine being

able to garden all year long? I love where we live

but would love a warmer climate once we're ready

to end our careers, in time, down the road. For now,

it's been a great way to calm my overthinking brain.

Do you spend time daydreaming to calm your mind?

~ Chy

U.K. Edltion.

Now I know we could seriously move here.

Because LOOK what we found at the local

bookstore. Not the vintage one, but the other

one that we love just as much. Yes, the is

the U.K. Edition of Country Living. Sadly,

they don't carry The English Home but

they do the The English Garden. We also

get Coronation Street on tv, so now I'm set.

Move here, build a cottage overlooking the

sea, read my books and magazines, watch

my show and live amongst a garden that is

blooming all year long. Truly, this is Heaven!

~ Chy

Ferry Ride.

To get to our little island, we have to take a Ferry.

There are several choices but we have a favorite now.

We used to drive to Vancouver and then stay over

with family, getting up super early the next day to

catch the Ferry, which would take upwards of at

least three hours to get to our destination, after a

number of stops. So it would literally be at least a

two day trip to get there. So we looked for options.

Discovered with Airmiles, we could fly to Victoria

in an hour, hop the Ferry there and be on our island

less than an hour later. A much faster travel time,

though we do miss visiting our family in Vancouver.

Less travel time means more time to spend

exploring the island and truly relaxing on

our visits here. Less cost with the flights

vs. driving and we are less tired once we

arrive. Lots to do here and now we have

more time with less travel. Our little haven.

~ Chy

The Sea.

We've not been to our little

island for a couple of years. 

There are so many things we

love about our special place.

But the sea that surrounds the

whole island is a favorite for us.

The waves, the smell and all the

things that wash ashore are amazing.

Vintage Book Store.

Have you ever watched the movie "84 Charing Cross Road" or read the book? It's personally one of my favorite old movies. My cherished scenes are the ones in the book store. So much to look at in such a small space. If you haven't seen the movie, I encourage you to do so. And to take in these shots of the book store we love to visit.

My favorite spot in the local book store on the tiny island is the tiny windowed office that the  store manager uses for bookkeeping and the daily duties of her job. Upstairs, the other manager was very busy making new dust jackets for books that were waiting to be placed on the shelves. They were talking about a recent visitor to the store who was in to drop off her resume for an assistant manager position within the store. I would hire her on the spot as one of the first comments out of her mouth was "I love the smell of old and vintage book stores. The books tell their story but the smell speaks of history." Perfect new staff member for this vintage book store.

In the Clouds.

When the air gets misty and clouds form,

up on the mountain, we can get disoriented. 

We are used to looking at the side of the

mountain but with the clouds low, it's gone.

First Things First.

 

The accounting of our holiday continues. We arrived on the island just after noon and headed for one of our favorite restaurants. Because it was Sunday, brunch was still being served until 2:00 p.m. so we indulged in brekky instead of lunch. I had a raspberry margarita and eggs benedict with a green salad full of curly beets, carrots and pea shoots. Soooo good! And filling. It took a while before I was ready for dinner. We had time for shopping first.

Everything on the island is homegrown and organic. There is no commercialism and customer service every where you go is amazing. Hospitality and the arts are the two ways islanders carve a living on the rock. Businesses are created out of ideas and needs. People come from all over to experience the magic here. Many come over each weekend on the Ferry to shop and explore the Saturday Farmer's Market. We're looking forward to our walk through the market this coming weekend. Until then, we have a ton of exploring to do and a great deal of unwinding and rewinding on our agenda. 

What are your plans for this week and the weekend?

Do you finally have Spring happening in your region?

Ferry Crossing.

After scraping off our car and warming it up, we

headed off to find the Ferry to take us to our island.

We were the second in line, a victory on a warm Sunday

morning. Second in line means we were second one off.

It was a pretty smooth trip over from the big island to

the little one. Not too many waves to rock our boat.

Have you travelled on a Ferry?

Would you live on an island?

Dreaming ....

.... of our upcoming trip to our favorite place

on Earth. Our cottage is booked, the flights

are set, we rented a car and now we just

need to finish up work here so we can pack.

Not going for a few weeks but I'm so happy

to have this in place .... go away Winter!

Missing the Sea.

I'm missing the sea so much right now. Wishing

I could hop a plane and head straight to our tiny

little island on the coast. But deadlines loom,

many tasks are waiting and my to do list keeps

getting longer and longer every day. I'm working

through it so I can get to the sea as soon as I can.

On the Ferry.

Part of our trek out to the tiny island is a trip on

the ferry to get us from the mainland to the cottage.

Not a huge ferry but then it's not a huge island!

Ferry exhaust as we chug along 

and a steam horn warning.

A final goodbye to our beloved island.

Pretty fall colors and the last of the morning fog.

A tiny white rental car is just ahead of the big truck,

beside the ambulance that brought someone over

and they did a transfer right at the docks. Once the

patient was handed over, they got back on the ferry.

Interesting growing spot!

Churning water as we move away from the dock.

So sad to leave. Can't wait to be back.