Island Living

Island Living

Sunday Musings….

If trees could talk, what would they say? I often wonder that when I’m out on my walk and see them looking at me. Do they enjoy watching us live our lives in their midst? Do they fear our interference? Are they pleased to sacrifice themselves so we can build homes that we love? […]
Island Living

ISLAND CARS

Island Cars-The ultimate in Re-purposing and Recycling When visiting the islands, it’s easy to differentiate between the locals and the vacationers by their cars. Locals have an “island car” and part-timers have those pretty SUVs that are clean and don’t have a scratch on them. An island car is a vehicle that someone probably bought […]
Island Living

I Love the Water Taxis

When I started real estate in 1988, we only had small planes to provide us with transportation between the islands. San Juan Airlines was very busy and provided great service! In the early 1990’s, we got the Can Do….a small 6 passenger boat operating out of Anacortes once or twice a day, weather dependent. Now, […]
Island Living, Uncategorized

Coastal Grandma

I’ve just found out I’m a “coastal grandma”! Who knew such a thing exists? My kids announced to me last weekend, that I was doing it… Yep, it seems that the style icons have come up with a new label and decorative style called the “Coastal Grandma Style.” I find it hilarious to think that […]

Island Living Sunday Musings…. If trees could talk, what would they say? I often wonder that when I’m out on my walk and see them looking at me. Do they enjoy watching us live our lives in their midst? Do they fear our interference? Are they pleased to sacrifice themselves so we can build homes that we love? […]

Island Living ISLAND CARS Island Cars-The ultimate in Re-purposing and Recycling When visiting the islands, it’s easy to differentiate between the locals and the vacationers by their cars. Locals have an “island car” and part-timers have those pretty SUVs that are clean and don’t have a scratch on them. An island car is a vehicle that someone probably bought […]

Island Living I Love the Water Taxis When I started real estate in 1988, we only had small planes to provide us with transportation between the islands. San Juan Airlines was very busy and provided great service! In the early 1990’s, we got the Can Do….a small 6 passenger boat operating out of Anacortes once or twice a day, weather dependent. Now, […]

Island Living Coastal Grandma I’ve just found out I’m a “coastal grandma”! Who knew such a thing exists? My kids announced to me last weekend, that I was doing it… Yep, it seems that the style icons have come up with a new label and decorative style called the “Coastal Grandma Style.” I find it hilarious to think that […]

Horse Properties Horse Heaven As I sit here and look over my pastures to my three horses happily grazing, I’m thinking that this place is “horse heaven”! The islands have such amazing locations for horses and humans alike! Beautiful vistas, gentle rolling terrain, quiet tree-lined roads and photo opportunities everywhere you look…. When I moved from Portland, OR to […]

Island Living Getting Ready for Spring I don’t know about you but all I need is a few days of sun this time of year to get my “gardening juices” start to flow… I’ve decided to share a little bit about what I’ll be doing in my garden to get ready for Spring so…. here are this week’s goals: Starting some […]

Island Living Modular/Prefab Construction for Island Properties One of the things that seems most daunting to buyers of unimproved properties in the islands is trying to envision the actual building process. How long will it take? Who does that kind of work in the islands? Is it going to cost me a lot? What is the permit process? Where do I […]

Island Living New Teacher for Decatur Island School Our little island school does an incredible job educating the children who are fortunate to live here. In the 30 plus years that I’ve been here, we’ve had four wonderful teachers, who’ve each brought their own brand of wisdom, special skill set and energy to our school, in addition to teaching the 3 Rs. Karen […]

Island Living A Beautiful Day Visiting the Wildflowers on Decatur Island May has brought some spectacular weather and Mother’s Day was the perfect day to go kayaking down to the Kimball Preserve at the tip of Decatur Island. We’d been told that the wildflowers were in full bloom so we went down to see them ourselves….and they did not disappoint! I’m not a skilled kayaker so I […]

Island Living COVID-19 Impact on Real Estate in the islands How will COVID-19 impact our island real estate market? I get asked this question almost every day…. My gut is telling me that when this unique emergency situation passes, our real estate market is going to normalize and may very possibly improve. As people are stuck in the city under quarantine, I imagine some of […]

Home Buying Market Trends in Anacortes If you’re shopping for property in Anacortes, it’s really helpful to know whether you’re dealing with a “Buyers Market” or a “Sellers Market”. The way this is determined is by looking at the number of sales during a specific period, relative to the number of listings and seeing how many months of inventory there is […]

Island Living Living on a Non-Ferry Island People ask me all the time what it’s like to live on an island with only 40 year-round residents? Don’t I get bored? Lonely? Go stir crazy? Sometimes….but in general…No. I love the quiet and the safety that comes from living in a rural environment that is buffered from the often-bizarre world at large by a […]

Home Buying The Tiny House Movement Did you know that there is a current movement happening where people are deliberately choosing to move into tiny homes? These homes can be permanent residences on a concrete foundation or built on wheels for flexibility. Companies are popping up throughout the country specializing in tiny homes and the Tiny House Blog has a great […]