There’s some fun holiday stuff going on this weekend right here on Hood Canal. If you live in the area and are feeling festive, check out these activities!

On Saturday morning (12/1), you could head out to the Shelton Christmas Bazaar (10 am – 4 pm; also open Sunday), where you could do a little Christmas shopping from their selection of holiday crafts, art, and decorations, and even enjoy some lunch.

After lunch, drop in to the Real Estate Open House (open 12 – 4 pm) at Alderbrook Golf Club Community. Alderbrook Properties will be featuring three of their beautiful homes: the Hadlock, the Brinnon, and the Hoodsport.

Later that afternoon – if you have kids, or are just a kid at heart – you could visit the Shelton Library to hear award-winning storyteller Christopher Leebrick tell the classic holiday tale of the Grinch, as well as other stories. Hang out and enjoy hot cider before the Shelton Christmas Torchlight Parade, which starts at 5 pm.

If you aren’t ready to call it a day after the parade, then check out these local stage productions, which are running both Saturday and Sunday:

• “One-Man Christmas Carol” by the Artful Rogue Theater in Allyn (tickets are half-price this weekend).
• “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” at Paradise Theatre in Gig Harbor.

And of course, on Sunday you can top off your festive weekend by attending the Christmas Tree Lighting in Belfair at 5 pm. There will be hot chocolate, coffee, and cookies (and I have it on good authority that Santa will be there!)

So come take a picture with Santa, and bring a donation for the North Mason Food Bank if you can. There’s no better way to celebrate this season of giving!

Grammy Award winners Eric Tingstad & Nancy Rumbel are performing their annual holiday concert “Comfort & Joy” tonight (11/29) at the Peninsula College Little Theater in Port Angeles.

If you’ve never experienced Tingstad & Rumbel before, you can hear some of their music on their website. My favorite is the video of “Magnificat,” which shows them performing with the Evergreen Philharmonic – check it out on their music and video page. 

The concert is sponsored by the Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts (JFFA), and begins at 7 pm (doors open at 6:15 pm). You can purchase tickets at the door, or at Port Book & News in Port Angeles or Pacific Mist Books in Sequim. Ticket price is $17 ($16 for seniors & students, $15 for members of JFFA).  If you can’t make tonight’s performance, don’t worry … they have a few more concert dates in and around western Washington before the New Year begins.

The hectic pace of the holiday season – with its decorating, shopping, parties and other social obligations – can take a toll on us.  This concert sounds like a great way to create some space in our lives for reflection during this busy time of year, and enjoy some great music at the same time, right here on the Olympic Peninsula!

Winter may not be officially here yet – at least, not according to the calendar – but residents of Hood Canal enjoyed a “winter wonderland” view when they awoke to an inch of snow on the ground Tuesday morning. It wasn’t enough snow to cause serious problems, just enough to make everything look beautiful and give students of the North Mason School District a delayed start to their school day. 

And if weather forecasters are right  (as they occasionally are), we could see more snow falling Wednesday night.

One nice thing about the snow in western Washington is that it doesn’t tend to hang around very long. We’ll get a few inches one night – just enough to give us a day off of work or school – and by the second day it’s pretty much back to life as usual. You may still see snow on the sides of the road, and remnants of snowmen melting in front yards, but rarely do temperatures stay cold enough to interfere with a quick return to our normal activities.  And let’s face it, if you’re going to live in a place where it can snow, it doesn’t get much better than that!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Did you know research shows that a conscious decision to be thankful can make you happier, healthier, and more likely to achieve your personal goals? Sounds like a good reason to list some of the things we’re grateful for here at Alderbrook Properties:

• Our beautiful homes, with features like built-in bookcases and window seats, amazing hardwood floors, granite countertops, and light-filled rooms with lots of windows in which we can entertain …
• Our family and friends … who give us their love and companionship
• The natural beauty of the Olympic Peninsula … and views like this …

• Friendly neighbors … living in one of the greatest golf course communities around
• A great cup of coffee … and lots of coffee shops or kiosks tucked into unlikely corners (Visitors to Washington often comment on the huge number of coffee stands they see here.)
• The chance to live where we can enjoy local wildlife like this …

• All of the fun activities available here in western Washington … antiquing, wine-tasting, gaming, shopping at local art galleries, hiking, boating, fishing, climbing, beachcombing, bicycling, geocaching, golfing, horseback riding, kayaking, scuba diving, shellfish gathering, whale watching, windsurfing/sailboarding (just to name a few!)
• Having the best of both worlds … living a friendly, small-town lifestyle while enjoying access to the world-class city of Seattle, with its symphony, major league sports events, opera, theater, ballet, the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, award-winning Woodland Park Zoo (and much more)

Whew, we feel better already!

What about you? What are some of the things you’re thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday? Leave your list in our comments section – you’ll be glad you did!

What could be better than life in a golf course community? Just this: life at Alderbrook Properties, enjoying your lifelong membership in the Alderbrook Golf & Yacht Club.

Did you know that your purchase of a semi-custom home here at Alderbrook Properties gives you unlimited golfing rights for your family? And our golf course is one of the finest on the Olympic Peninsula.

Just imagine yourself teeing off on a crisp fall morning, enjoying the beautiful views of trees and mountains. But watch out for that 8th hole – it’s a doozy:  a par 5, 536 yards, with a double dogleg just to make it fun!

When you get to the 18th hole, you’ll see one of the reasons we love living here in western Washington: a breathtaking view of the Olympic Mountains. Check this out:

If you like that picture, you’ll also enjoy these photos of our amazing golf course.

So come on out, take a few swings and check things out for yourself. We double dogleg dare you!

If you’ve played our course, we’d love to hear your thoughts: favorite holes, toughest holes (in your opinion), and anything else about the course.

Fore!

Welcome to our blog – our virtual living room – a place where we can chat with each other about how invigorating life can be when you’re living it at Alderbrook Properties.

We’ll talk about golf course community living (it’s wonderful!), the stunning beauty of the Olympic Peninsula, the mild climate, and ideas for finding the perfect home.

For most of us, buying a new home is much more than a financial decision. We think about shopping, and friends, and activities, and getting around, and environmental features, and maybe most importantly … intangibles like a sense of community and belonging.

Bottom line? We want to give you a taste of the amazing quality of life we enjoy here at the South end of Hood Canal.

And we want to hear your thoughts, ideas, insights … anything you want to say! Our comments section is ready for your questions and comments about life in western Washington in general, and at Alderbrook Properties in particular.

So join the conversation. It may just be the beginning of a whole new way of life for you with a semi-custom, Alderbrook Properties home; so close … yet worlds away.