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| Driftwood, Beach Stones, Oyster Shell Antiqued Brass Chimes |
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| Natural Beach Stones Copper Wrapped Glass Antiqued Brass Chimes |
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| Natural Driftwood and Beach Stones Copper Wrapped Sea Glass Antiqued Brass Chimes |
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| Natural Beach Stone Zen Chime |
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| Not Exactly Crowded Beach Sunday, Sunshine Coast, BC
Being Fortunate enough to live in a very beautiful area, the summer attracts a lot of tourists. Going to downtown Gibsons or Sechelt any day of the summer, but especially on weekends, you would think it would be impossible to get away from the crowd. Not so!
Yes, if you just park your vehicle and expect seclusion, you will likely be a little disappointed. But pretty much take a five minute walk along the shoreline in any direction, and more than likely you will be away from it all. The entire shoreline is public property, so don't fret that you may be trespassing, because you are not.
Yesterday, Sunday, possibly the warmest, most beautiful afternoon yet of the summer, I zipped down to the closest bike rack near the beach, locked up, walked past the dozen or so people who did not want to walk for five minutes (or who don't mind a bit of a crowd) and around the corner found this lovely stretch of sand and pebble beach with not a soul in sight. I spent two hours reading, dreaming, swimming, sunning, and no one even walked past. So peaceful, so enjoyable.
This is my primary way of taking my summer vacation. No driving for hours, no hotels, no tents, just a relaxing few hours each sunny afternoon. I get up very early and work for around six hours, take my break, and then perhaps work for another hour or two. Rinse and repeat. As I said, most enjoyable.
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| Fireweed Blossom Picking Sunshine Coast BC
My job is a pleasure. But I do enjoy some time off. All year long, I make a point of going for a walk or hike during the day, just an hour or so, which is refreshing, especially in the winter rains! But really I am waiting for summer, with blue skies, warm ocean. My holiday time is a couple of hours each nice afternoon, walking or biking down to one of my favourite beaches, sprawling out with a good book in the shade, taking dips. Lovely.
Some good, long hikes are also always a preferred summer time-out. Lately we made several trips up to a large fireweed patch we had our eyes on. The first couple of trips, the flowers were not quite open. The last time was perfect for picking, and we got our ten cups for fireweed jelly (see below).
I first stumbled across fireweed jelly somewhere on the internet-- perhaps Instagram or Pinterest, and it immediately caught my eye. This was several years ago, and it has been on the to-do list ever since. I am so pleased to have finally accomplished the making of this treat, as it is absolutely gorgeous. The color is so intense, it almost looks artificial. However, nothing could be more natural.
While trying to steel a couple of hours a day for my 'break,' I feel the pressure of attempting to keep my stock of wind chimes and suncatchers up, and, indeed, increasing stock for the fast approaching Sunshine Coast Art Crawl. That's all going okay, but I need to keep working really hard to get to where I wish to be. It will happen. Even with my daily mini-vacations.
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| Fireweed Jelly |
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| Kaleidoscope Wind Chime at Coast Chimes |
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| Looking Back at My Summer Afternoon Swimming Beach Gibsons, BC, Canada
As a self-employed artist, one thing I learned very early is that discipline is important. It is all too easy to get sloppy, start later, finish earlier, read one more chapter. Then you end up not getting things done that need to be done, and it all slides downhill from there.
Before going to sleep at night, I typically make a little list in my head of what I will start with the following morning, what I will accomplish during the day. It helps a lot for getting going in the morning, and for sticking to it during the day. If I fall short of accomplishing all that is on that list, it's not the end of the world, but I feel a bit bad and resolve to work harder the next day. This works really well for me.
During the summer, Gibsons / the Sunshine Coast is the place to be. Not too hot, but hot enough to have a swim that feels great. Blue skies. It is very tempting to take a lot of time off. And I do take some time-- everyone deserves some holiday! But the summer is also the time where I do a lot of my main work, because the wood I work with is dry, the glass can be handled more easily, and there is a long list of things needing to be finished before the October Sunshine Coast Art Crawl, and Christmas rush.
The way I handle the urge to toss everything and spend the day at the ocean reading and swimming is to make that list in my head, and finish it before taking off. But almost every nice day, I do walk down to the local sandy beach (10 minutes stroll, and just happens to be one of the nicest ones on the Coast). It is a wonderful incentive to work hard and finish up: a treat, and it doesn't cost a dime.
If visiting Vancouver, or Vancouver Island, I highly recommend you take a side trip to the Sunshine Coast. Enjoy the slower life style, pick up a Purple Banner Guide of artists' studios and galleries (available on the ferries and in the tourists' bureaus). Make sure to drop by Coast Chimes (directions)-- I'm here everyday working (except for when I am down having a swim!) and would love to show you what I do.
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