It was good to run into folks on the ferry Saturday… friends Rose Shaw and Chris (of Christy’s Salon) visited, as you can see. Rose was on the way to Bellingham for a nice birthday weekend with husband Bill, while Chris was explaining how good I would look with hair extensions. 🙂  -oo-

This month, there have been some pretty good deals for people coming to stay…here’s more, from Darren at San Juan Islands TV: Hi, Ian! Robin Jacobsen from the San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau as well as some local businesses were on KOMO 4 News last Friday night. As part of their “Tactics 4 Tough Times”  Continue Reading

Ivan from Western Prince sent this little video of his new boat, the Western Explorer, and a trip they made (set to music)….he includes some of the cool photos he’s taken over the years, as well. See what you think!

It was sad to hear last week that Pam Nichols lost her battle with cancer last week…the Journal of the San Juans posted a writeup you will want to read. Our condolences to her family & legion of friends…

This is the month! Sandy Strelou has a bunch of events ahead – here’s more: Ian: National Historic Preservation Month is going to be bigger than ever. Check out all the great local history activities going on in May. Please share this information with your readers! Thanks much. Sandy Strehlou, Town of Friday Harbor ++++++++++++++++  Continue Reading

By now you’ve gotten used to seeing islander Jason Napier’s lifelike & evocative bronzework – out at Roche Harbor, in his studio, even in Arizona. So I wasn’t terribly surprised to see “Lone Wolf,” at Elements Glass Gallery in Bellevue when I was hiking around there this week…so it was easy to greet an old  Continue Reading

It was cool to be walking around at Bellevue Square and see an old friend: Pelindaba Lavender has a store in the mall there. Walking in was a reminder of the store here on the island – it was clean & offered more lavender gifts & products than you could imagine existed, and it smelled  Continue Reading

This one is near & dear to many of us…because so many of us know someone with the disease. The Soroptimists have been raising money for years to help with the transportation costs, and one of the cool parts of this is that every cent goes to help local people. I love what these guys  Continue Reading

After watching Kate Schuman’s Patsy in “Always…Patsy Cline” last night (which was simply awesome), I couldn’t help but look up what the original work sounded like – here’s “Crazy” by Patsy Cline…

One of the cool things I look forward to each month is finding out who the Firefighter of the Month is gonna be…this month, Carolyn at the Fire Department says it’s Rebecca Smith! Here’s more, from Carolyn: Where were you born? In the state that has 4 times as many cattle as people and their  Continue Reading

Last Saturday I got to go to Anacortes on the redeye, and it was so cool to see Mount Baker in her morning glory, as we swept past Lopez….

Ran into Art Lohrey last weekend – he tells me that he and stepson Orion Powell have set up a new business or two – he’s got a day sail company with San Juan Classic Day Sailing, which complements his other gig, Phoenix Boat Works – restoring wooden boats. Here’s a little bit from his  Continue Reading

Tomorrow is Abby Spann’s last day as Recreation Specialist at Island Rec… Abby first came in 2005 to the island to work with Island Rec as an intern from Eastern Washington University, and was hired in the fall of 2006. During her time here, she helped manage all those programs you saw in the program  Continue Reading

You saw the cover of the latest Island Rec program guide in your mail last week…. that was shot by John Sinclair. He has a ton more skateboard & bmx pictures at http://www.sanjuanskate.org/ – check them out! He does good work!

Way to go, you guys! They announced them yesterday, and there were a couple more island businesses named: Peggy & Kurt Long of Naknek Charters and Diving won for Best Scuba Diving, and Amelia Powell at Pelindaba wrote in: We are pleased to announce that Pelindaba Lavender Farm has been voted as “Best Public Garden  Continue Reading

You know, I’ve already run into three people who saw the “Always… Patsy Cline” show last weekend at the Community Theatre, and all three say it’s a wonderful experience. Then I got this nice note from John Maya that reminds you why a) you gotta go see the show and b) why Kate Schman &  Continue Reading