The smell of cut grass, the sound of a mower. Swatches of paint colors being considered for the dining room on the kitchen counter and the smell of paint. A safe, toasty feeling you get in your comfy warm home during a winter storm.  [Read more...]

Great Article in the New York Times about Whidbey Island. 

See Article

Whidbey Island is gaining a lot of attention these days.  Perhaps it is partly because it is such a beautiful spot to do “nothing” but enjoy nature and scenery for very little money.  Don’t forget to hike Ebey’s Bluff!  Watch this clip….and then plan your visit!

Whidbey Island = ROMANCE,

Many of us have known it for years but now readers of Travel & Leisure will know that while Whidbey Island offers a plethora of fun things to do, it is also a very romantic escape.  See the article in Travel and Leisure magazine……..see page 2 of 16!

A sense of fulfillment and satisfaction, only matched by a desire to do more, was the result of the 2009 Windermere Community Service Day in South Whidbey.  For the second year, Windermere Freeland & Windermere Langley chose Good Cheer as the “must do.”  Good Cheer is the only food bank in South Whidbey, and, in addition to the food bank, it operates an item receiving and distribution center, two general thrift stores and a clothing boutique thrift store.  A staff of 14, headed up by Kathleen McLaughlin,  and nearly 400 volunteers keep the operation moving at an impressive rate.  The numbers of people served by Good Cheer increased dramatically in 2008 – 4,044 individuals — about 1,200 more people than 2007 turned to the Food Bank to help put food on the table.

The Windermere staff, agents  & family members did a myriad of jobs from stocking shelves in the grocery to filling and reapportioning bulk foods for distribution, sorting and pricing clothes & donations for the thrift stores to working in the vegetable garden and performing some really hard yard work projects.   We at Windermere found it stunning to see a non-profit organization responsible for so many different aspects be run so well.  It also made it an easy decision to spend our time with Good Cheer a second year. Whether one wants to call it the “stars aligning “or pure brilliant executive decision making, the team that runs good cheer could not be a tighter organization, and it is fortuitous for South Whidbey to have had this team securely in place during these very difficult economic times —-for more neat information, visit Good Cheer.