Li's Blog: December 2011

December 30, 2011.

Going to cocoon and watch movies on New Year's Eve?

If you're on the west coast, watch the fireworks from Seattle's Space Needle...in same time zone and inspiring! Click on a Seattle station (King 5??) around 11:45 p.m., & enjoy the show!

And the movies? Here are some suggestions:

Some Like It Hot
Stranger Than Fiction
Billy Eliot
My Favorite Year
A Month At The Lake
Moonstruck
Local Hero
Babe
Sense & Sensibility
Gosford Park
LA Story
My Blue Heaven
Four Weddings & A Funeral
Bowfinger

Cold Comfort Farm

A smile in every one of them!

Not a bad way to slide into 2012....

Popcorn, anyone?

If you're on Salt Spring, and plan to go out, then enjoy the winemaker's dinner at Harbour House Hotel (special menu/wine pairings, from award winning Garry Oak Vineyard)...or dine and dance in the old Pub space at Harbour House...yes, two different venues!    Meaden Hall at the Legion, plus Moby's, and Salt Spring Inn are other venues with music and food...lucky Islanders!

Best wishes to all for a good 2012!

We're coming up to New Year's Eve...the traditional time to look back and take stock and then to look forward, with élan!

The Celtic tradition in Scotland is an interesting one to follow: fire in the hearth, food on the table, the old (Christmas decorations) out of the house and everything cleaned & ship shape to welcome the New Year.

Called Hogmanay, it's about light and feasting and family and friends...a mix of rue for those now gone and an effervescent welcome to the new, for those still present. (Think Auld Lang Syne...by Scotland's poet and voice, Robert Burns).

Singing, country dancing (remembering the steps of a reel is better for inspiring the mind than any number of crossword or sudoko puzzles!), and stories...and oh yes, the dark haired man, with a gift for the house, is the designated "first foot"....

Traditions are both history and fun...perhaps the English and the Germans created elements of the Christmas traditions we celebrate today, but the Scots understood the welcome of the New Year.

And your resolutions are?

Ah...a softer lifestyle, easy access to all the worldly amenities of the 21st Century, and with that yesteryear charm....


11+ acres, a point of land, with a rural/pastoral ambiance...be self-sufficient on this Oceanside farm!


Restored authentic character home enjoys all the necessities of the 21st Century lifestyle, yet retains the aura of the turn of the last century.


Separately sited guest cottage, nestled next to a sweep of enticing beach...dock for your yacht...a wildflower strewn point...dramatic ocean, islands, mountain vistas...sunsets to inspire the soul!


A second home, with private entry drive, and separately sited from main residence offers extended family or guest accommodation.

Tennis court, barn, outbuildings, orchard, fenced veggie & flower gardens, baby lake style pond, pasture... historic church on the property gives its name to the road...beauty everywhere!

Arrive by private boat, helicopter, floatplane...a ferry accessed island, too. Easy to get to, and you won't want to leave.

Call me, and let's view this estate style oceanfront gem soon. 48 hr notice, please.

liread33@gmail.com

Looking for a best buy opportunity on special Salt Spring Island?


Here's an exceptional lot, private and sunny, with dramatic ocean, islands, and mountain viewscapes! Enjoy Mt Baker's majesty!


Three bed/two bath (master ensuite) post and beam rancher style home, with view decking, offers a retirement lifestyle at an affordable price.


Open plan living/dining, stone feature fireplace, country kitchen...covered entry.

On community water system, close to all services and amenities, and yet quietly "apart". In a neighbourhood of fine homes.

Yes, some soft TLC will lift this home into the 21st Century...meantime, motivated sellers will entertain offers...and an excellent rental option.

Summer/weekender, or retirement, or investment/rental opportunity...it's a super hard asset investment, no matter how you think about it.

Call me! Let's view soon....

liread33@gmail.com

December 26, 2011.

The English called this Boxing Day...a name that lives on. It's also known as St Stephan's Day...part of the Twelve Days of Christmas, in the English tradition.

A day to visit friends and extended family, to check up on those who live alone...to practice the attitude of gratitude, and a remembering of those who need our spirit of inclusiveness, of largesse.

Leftovers from the Christmas Feast, watching of movies that make us laugh and so enjoy the camaraderie of this festival time...seasonal music to soothe...reading a good book in front of the fire...lots of ways to appreciate this season!

Since shopping is such an easy thing to do, on any day of the year, and since bargains are the name of marketing right now, in these straightened times, every day is going to find sales, the best deals, etc etc etc.

Instead, today, take five and continue the spirit of togetherness that this holiday season promises...visit a museum, an art gallery, a garden that is ablaze with seasonal lighting, drop in on friends, stay home and play that old fashioned board game that's been living at the back of the closet for years...you get the drift!

Enjoy....

December 24, 2011.

Ah...the moment of wonder and allure has arrived...it's Christmas Eve!

For those with a French background, it's the Reveillon...a pleasing tradition, and one that can be emulated.   The feast with family and friends, special traditional recipes, finishing with that delicious Yule Log cake, takes place on Christmas Eve.  

These festivals are all about light, whether we follow the Christian tradition or other cultures...special recipes, memories of past celebrations, seasonal music, gathering of our nearest and dearest if possible, and, if not, remembering them in spirit...it is a moment to pause and to reflect and to be grateful.

Enjoy your family...your friends...and even if alone this year, enjoy this tranquil moment of love, and joy, and peace...a calm that inspires....

Wishing you the joys of the season!

It's interesting to note that we are now at the beginning of the "boomer" retirement age.

If we accept that the "boomer years" are framed by the years of 1947 to 1959, then the first wave of retiring boomers is with us.

That bulging population now known as "the boomer generation" created something new in each segment of time they inhabited. Now, it's retirement time...or not.

The boomers have been characterized as trailblazers, as group oriented, as creative recasters of accepted norms, as people with a social conscience...hmmm...now they're retiring, and the idea of retiring to societal non-being isn't in the cards!

There are more of them than Gen-Y or Gen-X. The last third of a lifestyle is about to be reworked, as the boomers bulge through.

Interesting that this influence will be felt at the same time as technology has erased time and has delivered power to the consumer (a technology created by boomers, I might add).

Do we envision community homes, separate living/sleeping but communal cooking/dining?   Extended family supplanting the commune group?  

Hmmm...an interesting ride ahead, I'd say. Boomers like things asap, so the new retirement will happen in an eyelid's blink.

Me? I'm off to dust off those early Bob Dylan hymns to shift...and yes, they're on vinyl!

And your thoughts are? Always welcome!

Superlative opportunity!   In the heart of the Fulford Valley/Burgoyne Valley, with excellent sun exposures and dramatic valley, mountain, and ocean viewscapes...a short stroll to beach and to miles of riding andwalking/hiking trails...this land is superb. 

The gift?   This ten acres is the home of renowned Garry Oak Vineyard...award-winning wines, often showcased at Hastings House and other luxury venues, and featured in fine dining establishments.  

The home is a custom architect designed gem (Osborne & Clark, from Vancouver...famed for their country ethic)...you will be immediately eased into the Salt Spring lifestyle as you enjoy this stellar property.   


The Fulford Valley/Burgoyne Valley are at the same latitude as the Loire Valley in France.    The micro-climate enjoyed by Salt Spring Island is known as "cool Mediterranean".    


Salt Spring features as an artistic haven, with painters, writers, musicians, fabric artists, potters, sculptors, actors, dancers all calling this Island beauty "home".    The slow food movement is also alive and well on amazing Salt Spring Island: a sustainable farm ethic is a part of the Island culture.    Farmers markets are an almost year round feature of our temperate climate zone.  


The Island also offers all services/amenities required in our 21st Century lives, and yet also enjoys that wonderful sense of being "apart".    Close to major centres (Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle), and with a year round lifestyle...easy to do daytrips to other regions, and yet not necessary to leave the Island unless one wishes to.    Hospital, three elementary schools, a middle and a state of the art senior school, seniors activities, a growing digital network of the tech culture, the voice of the artist well represented, a sense of sanctuary without being isolated...it is a premier location for either a seasonal or a year round experience.

The Garry Oak Vineyard acreage offers an alluring retirement opportunity...be the hands on person you've always dreamed of being, or retain the qualified helpers in the vineyard.   Charming cottage home for these accomplished helpers...plus auxiliary buildings dedicated to the wine-making.   

Always dreamed of France or Italy?    Here's the delectable reality to that dream...the stability and the innovative and the creative Canadian lifestyle awaits your pleasure on very special Salt Spring Island!

Here is your dramatic and warm hued home, with exceptional views to rest the soul...here is the detached garage for your classic cars...here is the privacy and the calm that enfolds one...here is the interest to pique one's mind, to open a door to a creative experience...call me, and let's view this gem together, very soon.   

Please, do not disturb owners or vineyard staff...appointments to view are essential.    24 hour notice requested.

Here is your future....

December 21, 2011.

Last minute gift lists...check out Salty Shop, Houseboat, Salt Spring Gallery of Fine Art, Black Sheep Books, West of the Moon, Volume 2, Off The Waterfront Gallery, Salt Spring Books, Mouat's Clothing, Mark's Wear, The Source, Watermark Books, or how about gift certificates for lunch or dinner: Marketplace, Piccolo's, Harbour House Hotel, Rock Salt Cafe, Hastings House, Treehouse Cafe, Salt Spring Inn...enjoy!

More gift certificate ideas: Deb Fit Studio, Figs & Honey, Gallery 8, Steffich Fine Art Gallery, ArtSpring, Solace Spa, Pegasus Gallery of Canadian Art, Frankly Scarlett...what about tickets to Salt Spring Folk Club concerts, to ArtSpring theatre and dance events...what about donations to the SPCA, to Copper Kettle, to the Food Bank, to the Salvation Army on behalf of those on your gift list..,

What about a night at a resort (Cottage Resort, or Cusheon Lake Resort), or a weekend at Harbour House Hotel or at Hastings House...a trip in your own back yard! Someone needing a break on that list of yours?

So important to support local business...if you missed the craft fairs, then visit one of the artist studios for some more ideas. Local business is the barometer of a community's health. Speaking of which: why not gift membership in the newly energized Chamber of Commerce to one of the business owners on your list?

What about gifting the senior School's resource centre, also in the name of someone on your gift list? Pick up local musicians CDs...try Acoustic Planet. Brigitte's amazing gingerbread cookies, shapes of angels, beautifully packaged...stocking stuffers! At Rendezvous Cafe. Chocolates from Harlan's! Kitchen ideas at Love My Kitchen....

Lots of ideas, lots of choices...and don't forget there's a Saturday Market in the Park on the 24th, between 10 & 2.

Shop local and support your Island....

Here's a great little retreat property...

a good rental option, or a summer/weekender retreat for now...


a sunny lot, ocean views, quiet "south end" location also make it a good future development opportunity, too.


Seller maintained the cottage/home and it has been in same family for several years.


Check out this Isabella Point Road cottage home soon...a very best buy price!

It's not always easy to find an authentic diamond in the rough, particularly in a secondary home/discretionary area, where there will always be a limited inventory of properties, due to the government body known as the Islands Trust...back in 1974, the Gulf Islands became a protected area, with severe zoning bylaws to control growth.    This property, then, enjoys good bones...worth a look!

Easy to view...call me!

liread33@gmail.com