August 2, 2022. Summer-summer invites us to pay attention to the beauty shimmering around us. Salt Spring and the Gulf Islands breathe blue, that lovely French blue palette, of sea and sky. You know...the hue that makes us dream. It’s a short season. Remember your Omar Khayyam (“the bird is on the wing”), and give yourself permission to enjoy this season’s ease.... A kayak meander here, a sunset beach there, a drifting across a lake on a paddle board, an ice cream cone on a dock, a coffee at a seaside patio with a view...pack a picnic and scamper down to Ruckle Park (always a good place to start). The ferry goes back and forth, to and fro, and the floatplanes chortle in and out. The Harbour ripples through the marina. Somewhere out there, beyond the horizon, everyday concerns pile up...summer-summer turns away...later is the mantra. It can all wait. Right now, a seal slides past, an eagle ponders from a tree, and summer smiles over Salt Spring...enjoy. June 28, 2022.  Finally, summer-summer has arrived! Better late than never. Wearing Fall clothes on endless rainy/cool days...then suddenly bursting into sun and heat. Yes...flip-flops time. All along, though, in fields and threading through roadside wild hedges, we were surrounded by wild daisies and wild lupins and wild roses. June beauty spilling out at us anyway...rain or shine. The largesse of summer inspires, no matter what. It’s a short season. Remember your Omar Khayam: “the bird is on the wing”. And your summer-summer hopes are? It’s here...you’re on...enjoy. June 13, 2022.  Yes, yes...this La Niña weather pattern keeps on raining & keeps temperatures cool. Garden centres note that plantings are six weeks behind. No one has packed away the Fall clothes just yet. Good practice in resilient reactions...dressed for November one day and for late May on the next. Meantime, in spite of a Juneuary pattern, the wild daisies are rampant on road verges and in fields...the wild roses are smiling forward in roadside hedges and in wild places...natural beauty that always entices in June is there, right on cue. The lush splendour of our surround sound is everywhere. A little rain never hurt anyone. Get out and enjoy! There is a restorative energy that is delivered by paying attention to the natural world. Here, on this wonderful Gulf Island, we don’t have to go looking for a park to enjoy...the whole island is the park. Yes...worries and concerns are everywhere right now: wars and rumours of wars, inflation, supply chain disruptions, interest rates rising, fears of pandemics, rising violence, and the endless din of circular media reporting on it all. Turn it off. One day a week. Go look at the roses, wild or tamed. There’s a message there. Are we listening? June 10, 2022. Seeking a sunny acreage, with year-round salmon-bearing creek, an heirloom barn, pasture? Here’s a pleasing opportunity, in the heart of the beautiful “Fulford Valley”. Some of this 42 acre gem is ALR and some is rural zoning...with 8 densities, might one develop a small subdivision, with both pastoral and water views potential? Meantime, Parks & Recreation (under the CRD) lease a small ball field (annual lease) for around 20,000+ yearly...an income producer while one considers how to develop? Lots of options here! Enjoy this “south end” heirloom acreage...serenity.  Sunny 42.9 acres in the beautiful Fulford Valley. Property backs on to parkland with walking trails.  Part of the property is zoned residential, and part is zoned agricultural. The agricultural part is currently leased to be used as baseball fields.  A potential estate property, farm, or vineyard. Close to Fulford Village and ferry. Many possibilities here!  Build your pastoral dream! See Listing Agent for more info. June 6, 2022.  The La Niña weather pattern continues...cooler and wetter outcomes. Juneuary? Hmmm.... Lots still happening on delectable Salt Spring...many events have re-opened for first time in two years, post-covid closures. As citizens of the famously “wet coast”, what’s a little rain? Saturday and Tuesday Farmers Markets, wine and cider tastings at the vineyards and cideries, Ganges Galleries opening receptions and special showcases of their artists, opening of ArtCraft in Mahon Hall, gallery showcases at ArtSpring, live theatre, dance, music events at ArtSpring’s stage, farm-gate stands around the island are up and welcoming, live music venues (Treehouse, Moby’s, Legion...check their offerings), special menus at our great restaurants...so many opportunities to enjoy (rain or shine) the pleasing lifestyle on Salt Spring. Many worries out there (distant wars, inflation, interest rate rises, continuing pandemic concerns), yet there is also restorative beauty all around us. Borrow the Japanese concept of Forest Bathing...take time to relax into Nature. Wasn’t that the message of those 18th Century Romantic Poets? Well, you know what they say: what goes around, comes around. Pack a picnic, take the trails at Ruckle Park, observe the surround sound of forest and sea...listen...calm...breathe. The gift of Salt Spring: permission to slow down, to turn off the smart phone, to just “be”. Smile. June 2, 2022. Stylish townhome, with Harbour view, sunny exposures, and furnished with flair...offered furnished. Seeking your ready-to-go get-away on Salt Spring? Step in to your new adventure.  Here’s a stylish townhome opportunity...a quiet and private Cottonwood location...and with a pleasing Harbour view.  The open plan living/dining, with view balcony off, plus spacious kitchen, are perfect for enjoying your retirement on Salt Spring.  Three bedrooms (master-sitting area, en-suite), two bath, separate laundry, spacious entry-foyer, and sunny rear garden area. One car garage with workshop space. Excellent storage opportunities.  Close to all amenities of both seaside and upper Ganges Villages, to golf, to marinas. Your next adventure awaits. P.S. This gem is furnished with quality and flair...if you are not ready to move to Salt Spring full-time yet, then here is your perfect get-away. Come see. May 26, 2022.  Every year is different on the great Pacific Northwest Coast...this is a La Niña weather pattern year and so our Spring has been about six weeks behind its usual rhythm. If we look at May as being April, and upcoming June as being May, it will all make sense. The lush spilling forward beauty of this time of year, whether rain and cool prevail, is there to enjoy. Make sure to be paying attention. In this perplexing year of shift and unexpected issues, with distant wars, continuing pandemic fears, and outbursts of psychological pressures leading to destructive outcomes...societal changes all...one way to ease our lives is to remember those Romantic poets and their message that Nature can heal. Might be worth another look at Wordsworth’s poetry...just because he wrote two hundred years ago does not mean his thoughts are irrelevant. On Salt Spring? Check out Ruckle Park and let the sea and the forest and the sky speak to you. The Japanese call it Forest Bathing. Time to immerse. May 23, 2022. The perfect starter home or retirement opportunity on Salt Spring Island? Here it is!  An appealing one level rancher style home!  Pleasingly set on a private 0.51 acre, in a quiet neighbourhood, and part of the popular Vesuvius area. Walk to beach access. Walk to nearby bus route.  Close to park hiking/walking trails, to lake enjoyment, to theatre, golf, and all services/amenities.  Three spacious bedrooms, one large 4 piece bath, appealing open plan living (with bay window) /dining/kitchen, solarium, & laundry room. One car garage. Park-like property, with good privacy, and is on community water system. Carefully maintained by seller...easy to enjoy right away...and welcomes your further design ideas. Would suit a couple as a retirement choice (a townhome alternative), or perfect as a pleasing starter home for a family...or great option for a professional couple working from home. Well priced. Let’s view! May 19, 2022.  Here we are, awaiting the much loved Victoria Day holiday weekend. This Canada-wide holiday is often seen as the start of the summer season. The La Niña weather pattern this year has meant the Pacific Northwest Coast has been stuck in March...cool, rainy, late start to gardening. Fingers crossed for Spring (the real one) to fully arrive for this special long weekend. Post-covid closures, many special events that were cancelled for two years will again be held this year. Check out your community’s Victoria Day celebrations. Take part. On Salt Spring? Saturday Market is on, the Ganges galleries are open, Treehouse Cafe starts their summer long live music evenings, the restaurants are open and welcoming you with special menus and local produce, the hiking/walking trails beckon, kayaking and whale watching are offered by the Adventure company, beaches are there to wander and to enjoy sunset viewings...wine tastings, cider tastings, craft brewery...cheese maker...spa locales with restorative opportunities...and lots of spaces to simply “be”. Seeking property? Call me...benefit from my knowledge, expertise, and caring attention. Your best interests are my motivation. Meantime, rain or shine, it is the May long weekend....enjoy! May 16, 2022. Seeking a farm parcel? Lots of extras here...yes, it’s beautiful property...and there’s opportunity both in place and still to create. Let’s view!  Here is a rare opportunity to enjoy the premier pastoral holding on special Salt Spring Island.  This 80.56 acre property is unique in the Gulf Islands and has only changed hands twice in the past 90+ years.  Create your estate here...the palette is ready for your ideas. Several potential locations for your home...bring your architect and enjoy your personal discovery of this most rare offering.  A forest surround protects privacy...and offers personal hiking/walking trails. Spring-fed ponds create pleasing reflective elements. Tested slope and soils for a vineyard. Majestic oak, arbutus, maple trees to incorporate into a courtyard, if desired. 8000 sq ft barn and kilometres of bridal paths for equestrian enjoyment. On site: an appealing 4000 +/- sq ft Guest House/Manager's Residence, surrounded by mature walnut, cherry, pear, and apple trees. Stone walls, hedges, and mature landscaping features that took generations to create. It is exceptional to find these elements in place. Open fields, blue skies, soaring birds, forest trails, gurgling springs, reflective ponds, stone, timber, warmth of all day sun, ocean views...this is a delectable property offering. The art of living well requires a special canvas...this is a unique and irreplaceable land holding for generations to come. Here is an authentic legacy property. Call for more information and for your discovery visit...I look forward to meeting you. May 12, 2022.  Although the weather in this La Niña pattern is more like November or March, it is truly Spring. Orchards are almost past full bloom, confetti blossoms blow across fields, and the deciduous trees slicing through our forests are lushly fresh green. A significantly later Spring means one is still wearing puffy vests and wind-proof jackets, hats and toques, and boots for the rain squalls. A complete opposite to last year, with its heat domes and month-early warm up. This year, still cool at night, means later garden plantings...nurseries and garden centres are overflowing with product. Consumers wait for better weather. Hmmmm..... In spite of a late start and a continuing early spring weather pattern, beauty surrounds us...pay attention. Hold in your mind the promise of summer with its boating and swimming pleasures. Forecasts say not till July. Meantime: hiking/walking trails beckon, our great restaurants are serving up local produce and they have gas heaters on their covered decks. The Ganges galleries are showcasing their artists and nightly live music starts at Treehouse on Victoria Day holiday weekend. There’s a May tradition! Saturday Market, Tuesday Farmers Market, farm gate stands around the island...everyone is there and celebrating May. Take part. We are Pacific Northwest Coast denizens...what’s a little rain? Splash on. May 9, 2022. An amazing H. Schubart home on special Salt Spring Island can be yours! Beauty everywhere!  Your next adventure awaits...and it’s on very special Salt Spring Island. This private and sunny acreage enjoys a natural scape, with a mix of coastal forest and open meadow areas...with arbutus and garry oak groves. Unique and beautiful.  The property is located in the premier neighbourhood of Maracaibo. The entire Atholl Peninsula became the bare land strata known as Maracaibo in the 1960s. The concept was to preserve the untouched beauty of this almost 700 acres.  One owns one’s lot freehold and one also has a share in the 250 acres of common land. There are 9 miles of hiking/walking trails, 9 cottages for the use of owners, a salt water swimming lagoon, docks for your yachts, the Nose Point preserve, just for the owners...and so on. From Vancouver? Then imagine your own private “Stanley Park”...you get the idea. A wondrous acreage parcel to call home and plus, plus, plus! Call me for more details.  The exquisite home on this private oceanfront acreage was designed and executed by H. Schubart. Schubart studied with Frank Lloyd Wright, and left an architectural practice in San Francisco to move to Salt Spring. This is archetypal and authentic “West Coast Contemporary”. Artfully rendered spaces that blur the line between inside/outside...two master bedrooms, two bath, in own private wing. A casual living/dining with kitchen off...and a library alcove. Guest powder room. Separate laundry. Dramatic living and dining, feature fireplace, vistas of sea and forest from all spaces. A separate studio (guest beds/bath, with lovely office/library) is linked to main home by an artful garden atrium oasis. Spacious double garage adjacent, with room for that classic car. Architectural flair with ease of living and a sweep of decking to expand summer living pleasures. Meander a path to the private Oceanside patio...enjoy the marine views out tranquil Long Harbour. This is a property of style and inspiration. Enjoy! Asking Price: $3,480,000 May 5, 2022.  Early May...in this La Niña weather year, it remains a very cool (and often rainy) Spring season. Not shorts and flip flops time yet. Good to keep the image of “the beach” in one’s mind, though...rumour says authentic Spring warmth and sunshine arrive next week. Meantime: beyond weather, we have shift continuing. Shift...flux...change. All the ways to say “nothing is the same”. There is both fear and excitement involved in any change. Since the universe propels us in one direction only (forward), we might as well recognize the moment we find ourselves in and just get on with things. In change lies opportunity. Time to ignore the prepared channels of tunnel vision...time to back up slightly and check in on our periphery vision...that’s where markers for our individual paths lie. Next steps? Hmmm.... Good to focus on the excitement side of change. So, what is that thing you’ve always wanted to do? Learn Spanish? Take up hiking? Move to a rural area and have a garden? Go back to school and become a coder, create a game? Write songs and perform them? Big or little, a shift time offers space for you to turn dreams to reality. And your thoughts are? Always welcome.... May 2, 2022. Lakefront recreational gem awaits your pleasure...bring your ideas to this opportunity and make it your special retreat.  Enjoy the lakefront lifestyle with fishing, canoeing, and swimming on Cusheon Lake!  1973 four bed, 2 bath home awaits your ideas. Open kitchen/dining layout, large sunken living room, home office.  Peaceful 0.83 acres. Small cottage also on site.  By appointment only. |
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Contact Li Read at Sea to Sky Premier Properties (Salt Spring), 4 - 105 Rainbow Road, Salt Spring Island, BC, V8K 2V5; Direct Tel: 1-250-537-7647