minnesota: Minnesota Holiday Arts and Crafts Show Season Begins! - 11/03/15 01:02 AM
Next weekend traditions of the fall hunt begin in Minnesota.  Excuse me all bow hunters, but the dual Buck and Doe weekend coincides with rifle season!  I am always amazed at the creativity and homespun items that are displayed and sold by local crafters and artists.  People can support their local economies and supply their families with quality hand crafted items for the seasons to come.  Not incidental to these amazing local shows, bake sales to assist in those of us who cheat and freeze for upcoming get togethers!Rush City Bountiful Boutiques has grown to 4 locations!  Beginning Friday November 6 … (1 comments)

minnesota: Tiny Homes, a fish story from Minnesota - 01/21/15 09:38 PM
We Minnesotans often hear we have an accent.  I don't hear it..and the movie Fargo sounds like a North Dakotan to me...but I digress.  We do have our own names for our unique weather patterns and the results though:  Snizzle (a combination of snow and drizzle), maccident (a huge pile up caused by the previous) and Hard Water..when the lakes freeze over and the winter migration ensues.
Minnestoa is  a state of dream walkers, in the summer the ice fisherman are dreaming of Hard Water..otherwise known as ice.  The other sane portion  of the population is dreaming of water..fluid, boatable and … (2 comments)

minnesota: The Gift of 2014 - 01/02/15 11:03 PM
Downtime..pretty rare in the past year for a lot of us. It is one of those mornings where the lake is completely fogged in..and my brain seems to be circling in on interior thoughts, much neglected interior housekeeping..and how rapid this past year seemed to go. This year my clients were  gifts..past clients who have become trusted friends, new clients who became like family..weaving through my days creating a color blocked fabric that created the calendar of 2014.  People of amazing strength, dignity, humor and joy.  Today I feel rich. I have been to weddings and funerals, waited for test results, rejoiced … (4 comments)

minnesota: Grandy Pines..a part of the Where I Live Series! - 09/21/09 05:58 AM
Just off the Highway 65 thorougfare, northbound from the huge town of Grandy (one bar, one car dealer and a wood shop), a little know treasure gives a needed break from the traffic flowing to cabins and northern lakes.  A minutes rest in the Grandy Pines, regrowing after a tornado took much of the towering trees, and you are rejuvenated to rejoin the lines.  Better yet, stop and purchase a retreat in the woods, and if you are looking in the area, call me!
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minnesota: Where I Live - 08/14/09 01:19 AM

Driving home from showings last night, I was reminded so much of why I like living in the country.  The sky had the beautiful quality to it that just makes all the days cares melt away, and makes you glad to be alive.
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minnesota: One of the best things about being a country realtor! A camera in the car... - 02/25/09 12:35 AM
 
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minnesota: Goose Lake area after the snows... - 01/02/09 01:32 AM

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minnesota: North Branch rocks during the Christmas season! - 11/21/08 12:32 AM
A tradition in my family is going to be altered this year.  My kids and I have made a yearly trip to the Arts Fest annual Christmas sale, which takes over two full schools with over 200 crafters from around the area.  It is an awesome, crowded affair, with items from the $1.00 to $1,000.00 range..something definetly for everyone!  Or, there is, of course, the ideas...the flash of inspiration when you know you can make this exact item..then go back next year if you can buy it from the maker who does it right!  My first child has gone off to college, … (1 comments)

minnesota: Minnesota: Equity Stripping and Baby Boomers - 02/14/08 12:59 PM
 
Many baby boomers have considerable equity built into their homes.  An acquaintance called me last week, very embarrassed, but looking for somewhere to get answers.  A single woman with 20 years into her home, she was a perfect target for the low life form of human being called the Equity Stripper. Her call was too late, but I have hopefully given her the resources she can use to report her experience, and possibly recover some of her losses.
Frequently, people who have hit hard times for any of a multitude of reasons, are embarrassed to ask for help.  We call it burying … (0 comments)

minnesota: Rush Lake, Chisago County, Minnesota, - 07/06/07 01:07 AM
West Rush Lake is my home, and a large part of my livelihood!  I have lived on the lake for the past 18 years, and have watched it cycle through high and low water levels, great and lousy fishing, and huge pressure, low pressure.  This year we seem to be experiencing some of all of the above!  The fishing for walleye and sunfish is holding at levels I have not seen in at lease 5 years, and as co-owner of the local bait store, my sources are not just in my family!  The lake, unfortunately, is dropping like a spilled bowl, … (0 comments)

minnesota: Rush City, Minnesota - 05/07/07 07:37 AM
About an hour north of Minneapolis/St. Paul, the small town of Rush City sits between North Branch and Hinckly on your way to Duluth.  A sleepy little town yet, it boasts two gas stations, one on  the freeway, and one in town!  Rush City has managed to change little in the past 20 years, with the exception of new housing, and a great addition of a new golf course with homes on the grounds.  A city owned aquatics center gives the local kids great activitiy in the hot months, and nearby East and West Rush Lake provide boating, fishing and other … (0 comments)

minnesota: East Rush Lake, Just out of Rush City, Minnesota - 05/07/07 07:32 AM
If you fish at all in the Central Minnesota area, you are probably already familiar with East and West Rush Lakes.  Situated just a few miles east of the Rush City exit on County Road 1, East Rush Lake is the first large body of water you will come upon.  With a large population of northern, muskie, bass, sunfish and crappies on both lakes, East Rush Lake is much more preferred by the trophy fish hunters!  Near state record muskies have been taken each year, with the annual DNR lake evaluation going on this week.  Some fish in those nets looked … (1 comments)

minnesota: West Rush Lake Pelican and Tick Migration! - 04/17/07 01:52 AM
After a long, hard day Sunday, I dragged home just to have the cell phone ringing.  I was bone tired, but new ads are out and my clients deserve my best.  It was a friend who I had sold a lakehome to a couple of years ago, someone who I so appreciate having come into my life through this real estate profession!  He and his wife have been a gift well after the papers have been signed, as have many of my former clients, now friends.  Anyway, he was out on the pontoon (already), and in a northern bay on West … (3 comments)