We love Scotland!

November 16, 2025 By Wendy Ellen Thomas in Writing 1 Comment

This is going to be one LONG post of our 2 week trip we did in September! Yes I know that was 2 months ago!

Once we got off the ground, it was a smooth trip (we started with a canceled island flight and delayed Seatac flight and left a day later.. but resilient are we!…). We got a hotel in downtown seattle for the night and enjoyed our time. We were also able to lock in the time shift transition (I tried out time shifter app) and went to sleep at 8pm and woke up at 3.15am. It helped being in a hotel room with no distractions.

On to Scotland. All the time spent planning and studying the map paid off. I mean you can only see so much in 2 weeks but I certainly have a much better understanding of the lay of the land. We began in Aberfeldy just 90 minutes north of Edinburgh with 6 days in a gorgeous estate house. We were invited by friends and joined them and 5 others. Plenty of room to share space as well as retreat. This small town was a good base to explore the Birks of Aberfeldy, The Hermitage, Perth, Pitlochry and visit a popular and new to us bakery, Aran. And the House of Bruar 10 minutes north of Pitlochry was a blast. Think Scottish country living. Or like where royalty go to buy their attire for their weekend in the country, fishing and shooting things in rain, sleet, snow but still with fashion in mind.

First day walk to and through the Birks of Aberfeldy, and a really good meal in town at Fika, a scandi brunch spot.

Brunch of avocado toast and smoked Salmon; full Scottish breakfast

A few shots from the house where we stayed in Aberfeldy….

View from the back patio!

We had a beautiful walk at The Hermitage– Black Linn Falls, Ossians Hall (last image is a stock photo retrieved online) and the cave.. beautiful poisonous mushrooms too….

Perth was a nice town where we saw Branklyn Gardens, a 2-acre hillside garden which was begun in 1922, using seeds collected by plant hunters. “It was developed by John and Dorothy Renton in the early 1920s after they built their Arts & Crafts-inspired house. It’s set on the side of Kinnoull Hill, overlooking Perth. The couple were keen to have a garden that featured rare and unusual plants and flowers from all over the world. Thanks to the seeds collected by renowned plant hunters (including George Forrest and Frank Ludlow) and due to Dorothy’s remarkable gardening skills, the couple’s wish was granted.“.

And we were lucky to have a beautiful heather display just down the road.

Another day took us to Dunkeld, another charming little town on the Tay River only 25 minutes from Aberfeldy. I glanced through a beautiful pastry book called ARAN at the House of Bruar and who would have guessed it was in our hood! We arrived just before the crowd and sat in two of the six seats available with a gluttonous selection of delectables. First off though was a kimchi cheese toasty:) Everything was perfection and I don’t through that around lightly.

A sweet farm we visited in Aberfeldy set up for tours. Cause we don’t get enough at home! Cows, horses, sheep and pigs were all slow growing heritage breeds.

We drove from Aberfeldy through Speen Bridge where we visited an old friend of Ollie’s.

And onto the Isle of Skye…. otherworldly depth of nature.

Quairing…..

Fairy Glen

Portree, breakfast at The Birch Cafe, fish and chips from the last place in town. Very full town- no vacancies and booked restaurants…sound familiar (uhhh Orcas island)

We snuck in a day in Inverness, the northern most major city in Scotland where the river Ness runs through from Loch Ness to the Moray Firth.. It was brief and deserved more but so glad we got the night. We lucked out with an early dinner at McBains. Breakfast at and a visit to Leaky’s bookshop. We even found a juice bar!

So long Inverness and hello Findhorn Bay. Here we finally had a chance to kick back and chill. We were ready. I became aware of Findhorn about 30 years ago when I read about the community and the magical gardens where Dorothy McClean communicated with the plant devas to learn how to create happy soil and thus a productive garden. The eco-village has seen its ups and downs and keeps on going. Another reminder how things change and we must learn to evolve.

We had a lovely cottage on the point surrounded by water… the bay and the beach. Stunning to see unpopulated beach front. We got a lot of sun, wind and a rainstorm all in just 3 days. The Bakehouse just a stone’s throw from our cottage provided organic grocery, hot drinks, takeaway and pastry

Got a kale tofu kimchi fix. I need my dark leafy greens! There was also the Phoenix Rising market at the Findhorn ecovillage.

Beach walks every day.

Dinner at the Kimberly Inn– best fish soup under that house made roll, and the salmon all through Scotland…. 🙂

We LOVED the Bakehouse Market which was just around the corner from our place Nana’s Cottage. Great coffee, organic goods, pastry and deli. Just amazing.

Time for the long haul back to Edinburgh. I’m joking. North to South (not quite to the border) of Scotland was less than 4 hours. My expectations of the city were open. So maybe I didn’t have expectations… It was vibrant, international and just a flipping cool ass city. History, architecture that made me think Harry Potter- I ask myself what was my reference to this feeling prior to the movies? We stayed at Ten Hill Place in the Surgeon’s corner for 3 nights.

Great first dinner at the Devil’s Advocate. They were booked but we got a table outside undercover with heaters… and wind. Good meal though. I really tried to get my fiber in… avo toast with spinach, pea shoots and egg. Always working the menus! A shot of the entry of the Witchery. That’s as far as we got.

Our last day I did get my scone, jam and clotted cream. I saved it till the end!

And how lucky were we the last night. We just passed by this Jazz club after we got off the BIG red bus. They host a 17 piece big band every Monday night. Great way to end our trip.

And then it was time to go home. And that also made us happy ….. and Maple too.

Can we do this some more?

September 1, 2025 By Wendy Ellen Thomas in Writing Tags: blog, blogging, books, hello, life, welcome, Writing 6 Comments

Wow. A blog post. I started this blog in November 2011 when there were definitely people doing it but not like they are now. It was exciting when I had the first 3 likes on a post and boy when someone left a comment… I smiled ear to ear. To be seen. a miracle.

I recently read there was a 40% drop in reading for pleasure. A study by the University of Florida and University College London “found that daily reading for pleasure in the United States has declined by more than 40% over the last 20 years — raising urgent questions about the cultural, educational and health consequences of a nation reading less.” I imagine they mean books but I think magazines and blogs could be included. In an ever increasing fast pace world, reading just takes time we don’t think we have. OR it’s not a priority OR we don’t have the attention span. A lot of distractions.

My point with this is it could make one less inclined to write. Who do we write for? Ourselves? our peers? the ones who aren’t reading anymore? How can we change that? Maybe we are overwhelmed by the amount of information there is to read and don’t know where to start or stop. How do we downsize our information load? We need filters, boundaries, and to ask ourselves why are we scrolling, clicking and going down the unconscious rabbit hole. I’ve been there. It usually has to do with health or gardens. I’m less distracted by food blogs these days.

If you’re still reading…. HELLO! I’d like to re-introduce myself. I’m Wendy and my husband is Oliver and we live on Orcas island located, about 90 minutes north of Seattle. I discovered the San Juan Islands in 1993 and it’s been my home base since with a couple forays living in Paris, France and Hamburg, Germany where Oliver is from. I probably need to revisit my intro page…

I’m reconsidering this platform because I love to write and share musings, inspirations and what I learn. I still love to cook (at home now). I spent many years in the food service industry leading to years of gaps in this space. But who cares really! I recently earned a Masters in integrative nutrition from my Alma Mater, Bastyr University. I love how food, mood, behavior, movement and lifestyle choices set the stage for our wellbeing or lack thereof. I love gardening, nature and her cycles. I would love for all people to become aware of their circadian rhythm and the fact all beings with DNA have them.

Have you gotten this far with no photos?

We love the land we tend on Orcas and want to share the happenings of our life here. So if you want to stand out from the crowd and take up reading again and learning the old fashioned way from a ~~mentor,~~ ~~book~~, blog, I hope you’ll join me and see if I can figure out WordPress’ upgrades and actually do this!

The light begins- January

January 10, 2019 By Wendy Ellen Thomas in dinner, Gluten Free, Grain, Lunch, Salad, Vegetables, Wild Island, Writing 6 Comments

The light remains a little longer each day and it feels good. In my early days on Orcas Island, the dark lingered longer but in a good way. It was a time to rest and regenerate. Winter in times past truly began for us after the holidays. The last of the tourists and part time residents fled the rainy, cold dark and save for a scattered showing in the spring, they didn’t return until Memorial Day. Without internet like it is today, the dark was filled learning and reading off the screen, creating, sharing food. Potlucks were popular as was craft night, “stitch and bitch”. We spent guilt free time binge watching Northern Exposure on VCR tapes recorded by friends and did I mention the crafts. I learned to spin wool (not very well), knit and bought a 4 harness cherry wood loom. It’s something I’m still holding onto. The weaving went well enough that I made and sold chenille scarves at our still thriving, local art cooperative, Olga Artworks. Keeping the wood stove going and the pipes warm was also a priority. Early garden planning was always a joy as it still is. But now we don’t mark up catalogs, call in and verbalize each item number. And we don’t wait patiently for seeds (or anything) to arrive 10-14 days later. And so it was.

Twenty five years later looks different for us and the island as a whole. We are just short of five months at Wild Island. Many restaurants still close in the winter for a few weeks and as long as ten weeks. A shift has slowly occurred and people are much more active than the times mentioned above. Locals are out and about. Busy. Folks are visiting more in the off season to avoid the crowds. Our local Chamber of Commerce has done a bang up job creating festivals and parades and putting Orcas Island on the map. Businesses like Girl Meets Dirt are doing promotions like this one that share the bounty of our island. We’re even in NYTimes top 52 places to visit in 2019. This change of pace requires an adjustment. It means attempting a steady pace year round versus the summer blow out and winter restoration theory. It might require a few more morning baths!

We enjoyed a few days off over the holidays and we now are staying open through the winter. Winter to me primarily being January and February. We’ve seen smiling faces walk through Wild Island’s door these first two weeks of 2019. People come for a quick stop on their lunch break, or they’ll call in an order for pickup. I love too, when customers, a majority at this time of our community and friends, come have some food then stay and feel the comfort of our dining room. It’s intimate and conversations jump between tables. One of my favorite dishes we’ve had on special that I hope to get on the daily menu is a warm kale salad.

I finely cut kale- a variety is nice but you use can use any single variety. Give it a little massage with a dash of olive oil, lemon and salt. I top the kale with warm quinoa, roasted squash (insert any root veggie), mushrooms and chickpeas, It’s seasoned with salt, olive oil and lemon and topped here with red kraut, avocado and cilantro. I’m thinking a nice tahini, green goddess like dressing could be nice here too.

Happy January!

Wendy

A morning bath

December 10, 2018 By Wendy Ellen Thomas in My life, Writing 4 Comments

It was a long week. Yesterday I was on the couch for two hours dozing on and off with my husband and plain spacing out. I had to tear myself off the couch to go to a lovely, monthly workshop where I cut images from magazines and paste them to a card. I also get to spend time with good people there. Yet it felt overwhelming. I walked away from that not sure it was the place for me to be yesterday afternoon except that I read the magazines as much as I cut and pasted. And I may take a break on Oprah and subscribe to Vanity Fair. I took away Bianca Jagger’s morning ritual of a hot bath and warm lemon water and threw in a dry body brush. It’s not going to happen everyday. But it hit me that taking that time to care for myself, when I feel most overwhelmed and unable to accomplish all that needs to be done may be the highest priority to be effective. Taking a brush to my skin and moving it in long sweeping strokes from the extremities towards the heart while drawing a bath, boiling water and squeezing lemon into it and then just sitting there in hot water, just sitting there and taking a few breaths and feeling grateful, that was important.

Joy, appreciation and abundance. That’s what I’m thinking about today. I’m at least trying to roll that in with picking up the produce, prepping at the restaurant, shopping for dad, picking out a wet christmas tree, decorating enough to remind us it’s the holidays, working on the logo and business plan, re-evaluating our health insurance, making time for friends and so on, etc etc. Far more tasks than time available so I pull out the time sensitive priorities and do the best I can. Don’t get me wrong – many of these things I love doing – they just require time. I’m also simultaneously working on delegating, giving myself a pat on the back for what does get done and realizing/ recognizing this day will have a beginning, middle and end, no matter what I do or don’t do.

That’s all for today! No pictures even… imagine that.

wendy

ps… changed my mind. This is the card I made at Soul Collage yesterday afternoon.

Wild Island Wild Life

December 5, 2018 By Wendy Ellen Thomas in My life, Wild Island, Writing 10 Comments

It’s been a year of food no doubt. Recipes and menus galore. Cooking everyday for home and business. The year began with Star Route Kitchen and is ending with Wild Island Restaurant. Photos were taken on a regular basis and posted on FB, Instagram and sometimes tweeted but sitting down to write a blog post obviously didn’t happen. I came to peace with it. For the most part. Though I missed/miss the writing time, it never made the cut. This led me to reflect on the presence of my blog and others. How the platform has shifted. How we have even less time to read posts or less attention span. Am I speaking only for myself? There is just so much information available to us 24/7. Wonderful and exhausting at the same time.

I’ve made promises to myself to write regularly and they stuck about as long as a New Year’s diet. I also turned 50 this year which I have a couple draft posts about. I even thought about “catching up” and filling in this last 8 month gap. Why? Because I think in five years “people” would be reading the history wondering well what did she do from March-Dec 2018? Yeah- I let that one go.

So that brings me to now. What do I want to write? What do I have time to write? What’s relevant to a reader here and/or what moves me to write despite who reads it. Does it keep a personal edge, does it stay strictly business, do I shut it down, do I change the name… etc. As of this date, I’ve cycled through a few life chapters since starting this blog in the fall of 2011 in Hamburg, Germany. And it’s all here to peruse. How bizarre is that?

Have I already lost everyone but my family? There’s no enticing pictures yet:)

I’m going to stop here. I might write again soon and start the Wild Island story. I’d tell you about it being my favorite restaurant since it opened in January 2017. And how several years prior I started plans for an organic juice bar. I’d tell you that on August 8th 2018, it was on the front porch you see here that we were presented with the possibility of buying the business.

cheers, wendy

The Broad Museum LA

March 26, 2018 By Wendy Ellen Thomas in LA, Travel, Writing Tags: contemporary art museum, Jasper Johns, The Broad 3 Comments

Exploring under the sun and feeling its warmth was, I must say, overdue. The first day however, was pouring, which in Los Angelos led to bus accidents and road closures. We had the good fortune of holding reservations for the Jasper Johns exhibit at The Broad.

The paintings below struck me enough to take photos. Can one honestly articulate why in an abstract? I might say the vibrancy of the colors drew me in. The first photo here was the last that I sat with. Really sat with and looked at while waiting for Ollie and Chloe. It was a good reminder as to how many details can be seen when one sits, gets still and, observes.

And my favorite- the hanging NO

One large, simple NO.

LA to be continued… x wendy

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Super buckwheat brownies

February 4, 2018 By Wendy Ellen Thomas in Chocolate, Cookies and Bars, dessert, Gluten Free, Nuts and Seeds Tags: #ilovebrownies, almond butter, brownies, buckwheat, cocoa nibs, dairy free, dark chocolate, gluten free, goji berries, valrhona 9 Comments

This brownie recipe grew from one I read at Cutterlight.com. These two write and cook from Alaska- beautiful images, stories and recipes.

New year mode for me does mean less sugar , wheat, dairy blah blah blah. So everyone that eats my food also gets less sugar, wheat and dairy. At least till I want to start eating them again. No problem cutting out processed foods- we literally don’t eat them… except mayonnaise and maybe store bought condiments like kimchi I want to test out. I don’t see wheat and sugar as villains per se- I just see them piling up calories. Eat them in moderation- what a great idea. But generally I don’t. Dairy will be back in full force in a couple months when our four does kid and we have goat milk and cheese coming out our ears. Our cow, Else is ready to be bred. I’d so like to have fresh cow milk and mostly butter. I am trying to make a clear decision about time, energy and focus. I can’t decide if it’s something on my bucket list that should be tried for a year or if that’s not where I want my time and energy to go. She will likely produce 2-3 gallons/day (and that’s once a day milking)! Honestly, I want cream and butter- cow milk makes me a little congested. I must be nuts.

Back to the brownies.

I LOVE HOW PRETTY THIS IS BUT THE BITS ON TOP MIGHT BURN!

If you cook them at a lower temp- 325° with no convection fan they might hold out. These photos were taken before they went in the oven.

I manipulated Cutterlight’s brownie recipe to be GF with buckwheat flour and coconut sugar. Yes- it is still sugar and sweet and maybe a notch less on the glycemic index. Works for me.

I used Valrhona cocoa powder and their 70% Andoa Noire feves and Guittard’s organic 74% wafers. Both lightly chopped. I buy my chocolate by the kilo from Chocosphere. The base is buckwheat flour, almond flour and butter, eggs and oil (I did coconut, avocado and sunflower). You’ll likely want to fold in the nibs and goji berries so they don’t burn. You can mix everything but nuts, chocolate and berries, up together in one bowl, then fold those in.

Spoon into your cast iron or baking dish and bake. COOL THEM before cutting and eating. Brownies are easy but can trick you into thinking they are over or undercooked. They sort themselves out if you let them cool down. DO NOT judge until they are room temp. In this sense they are not a quick go to in my book. Stick with cookies if you need to bake and EAT immediately.

Our hens are laying again. HOORAY! I really miss having a steady supply of eggs. We have 28 hens of varying ages and 1 rooster trying to keep them all safe and in order. I actually tagged them last fall- we’ll cull the older hens for stew meat (we’ll probably let them go till around 4 yrs old or so). We bought 12 chicks Labor Day weekend 2017 from the farmstore- no shipping costs! They started laying little eggs this week as well- did you know they start smaller? It should be a good year for eggs. And goat milk ice cream!

super buckwheat brownies

Servings: 10-12pc
Time: 1hr
Print

*Note: Add superfood & nuts as desired!

Ingredients

½ cup buckwheat flour
¼ cup almond flour
¼ cup almond butter
½ cup coconut sugar
⅓ cup cocoa power
pinch of salt
½ cup- mild oils – I use sunflower, avocado an/or coconut
2 eggs
1 T brandy or bourbon (what you have on hand)
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup dark chocolate chopped but I like it chunky or chips
½ cup pecans chopped
¼ cup cocoa nibs
¼ goji berries

Directions

Easy way- Mix all ingredients in one bowl – add chocolate chunks, nibs and goji berries
For double, triple or more batches- Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately- Then add chocolate chunks, cocoa nibs and goji berries.
Bake at 350° for 18-25min.
Remove from oven and allow to cool! Brownies need time to settle and adjust to the atmosphere!! I find they often seem undercooked or overcooked and then hours later they self adjust.
Remove from baker once cooled.
We eat straight from the mini cast iron pans till gone (hopefully they last more than 24 hours)

Now go make some brownies. And if you are so inclined #starroutekitchen – let me know if you do any recipe tweaking and how they turn out.

x wendy

SUNRISE: 7:37 AM SUNSET: 5:15 PM
Length of Visible Light: 10 h 44 m
Length of Day: 9 h 37 m
Tomorrow will be 3 minutes 5 seconds longer

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Finding beauty in January

January 25, 2018 By Wendy Ellen Thomas in farm animals, farm time, Livestock, My life, Nature, Orcas Island, Photography, Star Route Tags: #StarRouteOrcas, daydreaming, farm animals, farm life, nature, Orcas Island, rain 18 Comments

It’s easy to feel a little low energy on these gray January days despite the increasing 1-2 minutes of light each day. I needed to bring in a little positive vibe and motivation so I took my camera around the property on a little discovery tour. January can be beautiful too.

I started in the garden. Kale trees in the rear. Chard debating whether to start growing again. Red cabbage planted out in July, I’m hoping it will overwinter and grow cabbages in spring.

I’m hoping the broccoli, also planted in July, will put off early spring shoots.

This little broccoli head stopped growing a couple months ago but is still strong and green. Any chance it would still form a head? (Not a rhetorical question!)

Overall view of muddy, wet garden just for winter reference.

Moving to the pasture…Irene is tired of the mud I’m sure.

Else loves pumpkins and doesn’t appear to even notice the mud.

Sometimes they share…sort of.

On to the barn…This barn we are loving was built by Drew Reed on Orcas. It’s high and dry. One day I’ll post the project in full. We started in a very wet March 2017 and finished Sept 17.. tbc

down below the barn the goats eating leftover veggie bits from Star Route Kitchen.

On up and around to the backside of the property to the pond.

The pond overflows this time of the year…

And creates these beautiful forces of water.

I met with friends this week and took away ideas, support, motivation and some good laughs. One thing in particular we talked about, around planning, was scheduling in time to just think and daydream- like Socrates and the Greek philosophers did. They weren’t just sitting around doing nothing. They were only creating the basics of our modern philosophy. I know I need this time as well and it’s hard to prioritize it because you aren’t “doing” – you’re not even meditating. I think it’s something missing for many, as even the short free moments, in the elevator, filling up the gas tank, or waiting in lines, we are plugged in. I’m going to sit and stare out the window- at least a few times a week and channel some greek philosophers.

Any suggestions or thoughts on how you like to daydream? And keep it nice!

Want to hear a fantastic podcast? Tom Hanks on Beautiful Writer’s Mind.

Winter! Do your work- for the money and the soul (maybe you’re fortunate enough that it’s the same thing), your tasks, your yoga, your meditation, your care giving, your workouts… and remember to make time to just daydream. You’ll like it:)

Lighter shades of gray for just a little longer each day now. Weather Underground

SUNRISE: 7:50 AM SUNSET: 4:59 PM
Length of Visible Light: 10 h 17 m
Length of Day: 9 h 08 m
Tomorrow will be 2 minutes 42 seconds longer

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Shitake sesame kelp noodles

January 18, 2018 By Wendy Ellen Thomas in Asian inspired, dinner, Fresh and healthy, Gluten Free, Lunch, Pasta Tags: #kelpnoodles, kelp noodle, noodles, seaweed, sesame, shitake 4 Comments

So what’s up with these kelp noodles.

I see references and recipes as far back as 2012 on Elana’s Pantry but they didn’t hit my radar till this past year and I still had only tried them a couple of times. I put them on our Star Route Kitchen menu last week and to be honest, when I first pulled them, out I was a little nervous.

Continue reading →

Welcome 2018

January 14, 2018 By Wendy Ellen Thomas in Intentions, Orcas Island, Writing 2 Comments

Happy New Year!

Within the chaos of the world we are living, I am striving to move forward with love, compassion, high vibes and knowledge. I am striving as well, to stay informed, conscious and aware. On the east side of our wet, green, island, stands our slice of land where we can grow food, breath clean, fresh air, and drink safe water. I am grateful each day to be here with someone I love creating a space where people can come enjoy nourishment, nature and the love of animals.

This time of the year we are feeding the critters just after daybreak and just before dusk. I’m noticing the light of day is expanding now, no longer contracting. And I feel the same in myself. 2017 brought various joys & challenges and led us into 2018 with a lot of strength, relief, encouragement and determination. I’m setting big goals and this year and I’m working on breaking them down into bitesize tasks. I’m also scheduling in free days, social days and appointments when possible. And I’m working on my feelings along side those tasks and goals. My truth, alignment, following my gut. Yes that. It works for me and it might for you. I feel fortunate and grateful to have the choices I do. I’ve always been a planner and a list maker but I’m taking it up a notch. At least that’s my New Year’s intention:) I’m on board with the idea of how do I want, or how do I expect, to feel when I have accomplished xxyy and zz. And to support these efforts, I am using this Soul Planner.

I’m reading from things like this- NYTimes, Gabby Bernstein, and Danielle Laporte. As well as Mind Body Green, Modern Farmer and Chalkboard Magazine. I love podcasts from Radio Cherry Bombe and Beautiful Writer’s And another online publication I’m really inspired by is Fine Line Mag. In these and others I sift, collect and process. And last thing… I AM GOING TO BE 50 YEARS OLD IN APRIL. I’m going to not just embrace but celebrate!