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Secret Gardens in the San Juan Islands
As you drive around the island, you may not think many islanders are into gardening. To the contrary, due to the abundance of wildlife, gardens here tend to be hidden from plain sight. Many take advantage of the topography, views, and trees or simply have an abundance of potted plants on the deck.
A visit to a garden can be a journey. The garden embraces you as you arrive and quickly transports you from the everyday world into a whole new dimension. Your senses are immersed in the experience – light changes, vistas open and close, and you become aware of sounds, colors, and textures all designed to engage and delight.
When designing a home garden, many feel it is essential to relate the house to its surroundings. People tend to spend much of their time indoors and keep this in mind when designing a garden, bringing the garden into the house with compelling views through the windows.
For some, the words art and gardening never mesh. To them, art is something found in a museum, a theater or a concert hall. Art outdoors might be a sculpture park, where the plantings are merely a background. For serious gardeners, art is an everyday experience. Their artistic vision sees beauty in the plants – they create a garden experience where scent, sight, color, sound, and texture combine to make a three-dimensional symphony that continually grows and changes.
Gardens should be spaces that invite gathering, entertaining, and relaxing. Gardens are for living.
Opening Day of Boating Season!
May brings us Opening Day of the Boating Season, but actually boating is pretty much a year round thing in the islands. The many moods and embracing presence of the all-encircling sea is seductive, to put it mildly.
Boating is a way of life in the islands. The San Juan Islands are truly the consummate playground for boaters. The islands’ rich history, natural beauty, rare wildlife, and secluded anchorages as well as moorage opportunities and full service marine docks appeal to those who love being on the water.
Greg King has many clients who have opted to purchase homes with docks or perhaps access to community docks. Some may keep their boats here year long and some opt to use their dock specifically for the shoulder season as a means to cruise/sail the islands in the quieter off season.
Islanders may use their boats to go fishing, maybe a quick run to Lopez for breakfast or lunch at the Orcas Hotel with a stop at the irresistible store at the Orcas Landing. Some visit friends on outer islands. Some head to Sidney for dinner or the Gulf Islands for the weekend! The fun never ends.
When you read that Greg King services all the islands in the archipelago, did you ever wonder how he actually did that? He has a boat! And, transportation on outer islands. Not rocket science…
Orcas Island
Orcas is the largest of the 172 islands in San Juan County with shimmering emerald hills embraced by 125 miles of rocky, tree-lined shoreline. Orcas is the diverse island. Its three long inlets thrust deep into the interior of the island, giving it more shoreline and protected waters than any of the neighboring islands.
Once home to countless generations of Native Americans prior to the arrival of its first white settlers in the late 1850’s, the new white settlers lived harmoniously with the Native Americans and many married native women and started families. Settlements grew slowly until improved steamship routes and increased commerce brought more tourists to the island.
The island’s business center is the village of Eastsound with all the amenities one would expect. Many of the hamlets at Orcas Landing, West Sound, Deer Harbor, and Olga have general stores, noteworthy shops and galleries, picture-perfect lodging, and restaurants. The east side of the island is dominated by woodsy Moran State Park with mountaintop vistas and miles of trails. Nearby is the quiet grandeur of historic Rosario Resort.
Orcas recently received a great deal of attention when Oprah Winfrey opted to purchase a home on the island, putting a spotlight on this jewel-like place. Food for thought…
Spring!
As much as we may yearn for it, Spring can take us by surprise. We wait and we wait. And then, finally we open our eyes one morning to a coppery dawn, a stretch of sky burning with color and drenched with glory making magic with the sea, a heavenly fresh breeze, glowing greens, colorful blossoms, birdsong, and the very feel of Spring.
The first whisper of Spring holds such promise. Our smiles deepen, our laughter increases, our hearts open. We feel stirrings of hope. As Winter’s cold begins to retreat, easing its grip upon our imagination and inclinations, slowly our spirits awaken, along with the natural world. We anticipate a new beginning, a fresh start – a new chapter in life waiting to be written.
It is time to laugh, play, and create. It is a time to revise and change.
Change can ambush, upsetting our comfortable routine. But, at this time of year, change is expected – perhaps, even invited. Not a time to be shy or reserved, we flirt with the opportunities and possibilities. Trust yourself. Act on your instincts. To hold back, hesitate, and halt is to snuff out the spark.
No need for impatience. Preparatory steps are necessary. Quiet your mind, carve out time to dream and express yourself. It is pretty amazing what a little shift in perception can do.
If all else fails, go to the beach!
Winter Birds in the Islands
To many who live in the Northwest, Winter is synonymous with hibernation and dormancy. Those who live in the islands tend to let Winter weave her wondrous spell. The stunning ordinary in the simply overlooked.
The San Juan Islands are fortunate to be blessed with a spectacular array of birds that only visit between Fall and Spring. Trumpeter Swans are the most obvious as they are the largest and most conspicuous of water fowl and are commonly spotted on ponds, lakes, and marshes. To see them flying in V-formation is a sight to behold.
But, there are other Winter birds that may not be quite so obvious. Their colors tend to be subtle, although stunning. Some border on extravagant! Great beaches to spot these birds on San Juan Island include Fourth of July Beach, Cattle Point, South Beach, Roche Harbor, Jackson Beach, False Bay, Jakle’s Lagoon, and Lime Kiln Point State Park. The spit of Fisherman Bay Preserve on Lopez is good as well as Crescent Beach and Waterfront Park on Orcas.
All of nature seems to be at peace. This is the time to dream. In the natural world, Winter is typically the season of rest, restoration, and reflection. But, not for the Winter Birds in the islands!
Soon, the sun will shine and the temperature will rise above freezing. Grab your binoculars and maybe a bird book, then head out to explore for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.
Dead of Winter? – Listing your Home
January – the month of new beginnings and cherished memories. It is a fresh start, a new chapter. A time for reflection and resolution.
The first month of our calendar year was named by the Romans after Janus, the god of change, transitions, and beginnings. Janus had two faces – one looking forward, the other backward. He had the ability to watch entrances and exits, but symbolically, it signaled the need to balance our hopes for tomorrow with a keen awareness of what happened yesterday. Think about it…
Many considering selling their homes in the islands assume they should wait until Spring to list when the tourists arrive. Some sellers even opt to take their homes off the market for the Winter months. The thought process includes thinking homes show better in the Spring. Unfortunately, many assume incorrectly that homes do not sell in the Winter. This school of thought makes for low inventory…
However, low inventory is nothing short of fantastic for sellers. Basic economics of supply and demand tells us that most things sell for more money when there is less of them available. It has been proven time and time again this applies to housing. https://www.sanjuansre.com/listfall
Today’s serious buyers look at listings pretty much all day, every day. They have apps on their phone, get listings texted and emailed to them, and simply don’t care about the time of year. In fact, many want to purchase prior to Spring to have time to make their new house a home. Listing in January makes for a captive audience!
A Place in the Islands
Sacred partnerships arrive in our lives in many forms; sometimes consisting of wood and stone, rather than flesh and bone. There is a deep peace and contentment to be found in the intimate connections with places as well as people.
Every relationship we have – with other people, with our work – reflects in some way our soul’s intimate union with ourselves. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the relationships we have with a home. We deserve to live in a home that welcomes, embraces, nurtures, delights, and inspires.
When we find ourselves there, we recognize it. It is a vision of something we have had in our mind and the discovery, quite often, has the characteristics of an epiphany. We have the feeling of coming home. It wraps itself around us.
The same is true of a getaway – a haven, a retreat, a refuge – a special place that offers a sense of sanctuary. Families, couples, and singles – regardless of gender – share an urge that borders on primal to have what can be called a getaway. Whenever we find this special place, we add a richness to our wondrous, but sometimes hectic, lives by following our vision to create a getaway of our very own.
To live on an island is to experience a life apart. The island home reflects the owner’s reason for escape. Island homeowners are individualistic, socially conscious, and creative with every home fulfilling its owner’s dream of privacy, harmony with the surroundings, and more importantly, providing a chance to take a closer look at the world.
Living at the water’s edge is an almost universal desire. It is different – where two worlds meet; a little piece of infinity. Magic!
Island Life
The secret weapon for living life on an island is a well organized pantry. A planned reserve of foodstuffs and sundries for everyday life, a pantry saves time, money, and stress. Tap the pantry for unexpected meals and reduce trips to the mainland or even the grocery store. Stock it with frugal finds to lower grocery costs. Set aside supplies for unexpected entertaining. This is the place for those fun specialty items to add that festive touch transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary! Properly managed, the pantry is an integral part of island living.
You may be thinking you don’t have a pantry. Sure you do! It may not be what one would traditionally envision as a pantry and it may be a closet, shelving in the garage, or even a large trunk, but a pantry it is! Don’t confuse storage space with the reality of the pantry principle. Certainly it is helpful to have designated cabinet space for pantry goods, but that is not a pantry. Think of the pantry as a reservoir of consumable goods which may be stored most anywhere in your home. The goal of establishing and maintaining a pantry is actually two-fold: convenience and protection against unexpected events. A well-planned pantry means you will never run out of commonly used products. Even the smallest home can include a pantry. A pantry is not a place – it is an attitude!
Disorganized pantries slow an otherwise productive person. They can be a nightmare if not meticulously organized and maintained. Putting away groceries could take twice as long as necessary, not to mention trying to find ingredients to prepare a meal when circumstances may not be ideal.
When stocking your pantry, keep in mind what you use on a regular basis. Efficiency is the issue here and simplicity is key, but organization is critical. Keeping your recipe repertoire in mind, decide which items you really need, then embellish your basics with some homemade treats. You will be glad you did later!
