“The soaps were a big hit, and it grew from there to include salves, oils, creams, lotions and more,” explained Chris. She dove right in, making some soaps for the Artisan Faire that winter. He found a book on handmade soap at Darvill’s and gave it to Eliza as an anniversary present. “This was before the internet was a big thing and recipes were available online,” said Chris. She had been making herbal salves and medicines as a hobby and was intrigued with the idea of making soap. It is so amazing how quickly time has passed.”Įliza started Island Thyme in the mid-90s as a wintertime extension of the herb and flower farm she was running at Rainwater Farm in Olga. “Now our kids are teenagers, practically ready to launch on their own adventures. “But it definitely is a big shift as anyone who has become a parent knows,” Chris said. Chris says their time alone together prior to having children gave them a solid foundation from which to raise kids. One of Chris’ uncles was so impressed by him that he asked if Mike had a congregation back on Orcas!” remembers Chris.Įliza gave birth to Linnea in 2002 and Buna in 2005. “We wrote the ceremony with our friend Mike Weaver from Orcas, who was the officiant at both ceremonies. The couple said their vows under a giant chestnut tree on friend Kaj Enderlein’s property and in New York in Chris’ parents’ backyard under an arbor they built with Enderlein and Loren Dickey. We decided to get married in 1998, and had our ceremony in August of 1999, but we were basically married since we got back from the cross country road trip in 1993.” “We were a team and shared everything from that time onward. “Fortunately, after a few cold months there we found a fantastic house on Pioneer Hill Road in Olga where we really settled into our life on Orcas,” Chris said. When the two returned to the Pacific Northwest after half a year on the road, they settled on Orcas, first landing at George Orser’s property in a renovated barn with no insulation. We took a cross-country road trip several months after we started dating and have been together ever since.” “It was full of hard-to-find Beatnik titles and I thought to myself, ‘I want to meet this person!’ It took a few years for fate to cross our paths properly but after our first date, we never looked back. “But I knew Eliza was special from the first time I saw her book collection, by chance, when visiting her roommate’s house in Olympia my first summer in the Pacific Northwest in 1990,” he said.
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