Charming Commercial Offering in Tacoma, WA

When you are selling your property and acting as your own agent you don't have the advantage of the multiple listing service. But by selling this ourselves we could save as much as $12,000. And that'll buy a lot of chickens. We'll need all we can save for our retirement. I need to get creative with my advertising so we can reach more people who are looking for real estate in this area. Please excuse me while I put in a little blurb on my blog. I am hoping that when someone Googles "commercial property Tacoma, WA" that this page will pop up. I have no idea if this will work, but it's worth a shot. FREE advertising is a good thing.

Charming Commercial Offering

$219,000 

4631 pacific Ave.

Tacoma, WA 98408

253-472-7695 (leave message)

You won't find a nicer

commercial space for the price!

CLOSE TO I-5! On the Bus Line! Right On Pacific Ave. (just up the hill from downtown)! Affordable! Attractive Building! What Are You Waiting For!?!!

This quaint retail building is a converted older home, located in Tacoma, WA. It has housed a yarn shop for the past 12 years. The owner is retiring and moving on to new adventures. This building is perfect for your small business. It features 4 large rooms of retail space downstairs, as well as a separate private office, a mini kitchen for employees, and an adorable bathroom featuring the original turquoise tile. Upstairs you have plenty of storage space for back stock. The current owners added a large, well lit classroom area and a 4 stall parking lot (off the alley). Please call 253-472-7695 to set up an appointment for viewing. No Realtors involved. LEAVE A MESSAGE. We'll get back to you.

For a comparable property just a few blocks from us, check this out. They want $225,000 and the building is not nearly as nice.  This one sold recently for $190,00 in Lakewood.  Much smaller building and ours is more attractive.

Pick Berries or Clean Shop?

All of a sudden there is a surge of interest in the commercial building we have for sale. I have been busy with my garden, since retiring, and have ignored the fact that I need to get the building emptied out and cleaned up. We had a showing scheduled for Saturday which meant I have been over there most of the week and have got the bottom floor nice and tidy. Then that person decided to look in another area and canceled our appointment. I was secretly glad because that meant I could take a break from cleaning and go pick blueberries and blackberries for more wine and jam. If I don't get them soon it will be too late. I was going to head to Blueberry Park this afternoon and when I checked the phone messages at the shop I found that another person wants a showing...on Sunday. Looks like I need to focus on cleaning, after all.  I'm still going to try and sneak out to do some picking. We'll see how it goes.

Lemon Chicken

I had some chicken in the freezer and decided to try a new recipe. Husbeast says it's a keeper. I used garlic and fresh rosemary from my garden.

Lemon Chicken

Serves 4 to 6

4 each legs and thighs
1/3 cup lemon juice
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 Tbsp fresh chopped rosemary (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 Tbsp melted butter

Place lemon juice, garlic, thyme, rosemary, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, whisk to combine. With a sharp knife, cut each chicken piece twice, about 1/2 an inch deep. (This will help the marinade penetrate.) Place the chicken pieces and the marinade in a gallon-sized freezer bag. Seal the bag and shake so that all chicken pieces are coated. Place in a bowl in the refrigerator (in case of leakage). Let marinate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Remove chicken from marinade and place in a single layer in a large baking dish, skin side up. Reserve the marinade. Use a pastry brush to brush a little melted butter on to each piece of chicken.

Bake for a total of 50 to 55 minutes, until the skins are crispy brown, and the chicken is cooked through, juices running clear. Half-way through the baking time baste the chicken pieces generously with reserved marinade.

Let rest, covered in foil, for 10 minutes before serving.

I served it with garden fresh green beans and some homemade stuffing. I save the bread heels, from my home baked bread, and make stuffing, croutons and bread crumbs with them.

My Favorite Trail Mix

The first Friday of each month a few of my knitting friends, and I, get together for a potluck/knit-in. At yesterday's group I grilled cheeseburgers, and the other gals brought Waldorf salad, apple crisp, chocolate cookies...and this amazing trail mix. It is incredibly tasty. I'm going to make a big batch to have on hand for movie night and road trips. This is a healthy alternative to snack foods. It satisfies my sweet tooth but is mostly seeds, nuts and fruit.

It is called Pumpkin Seed Dried Cherry Trail Mix

and can be found on the Food Network web site.

ENJOY!

Sourdough Blueberry Muffins

I had reserved a cup of blueberries in order to bake some muffins. Today I tried this recipe:

Sourdough Blueberry Muffins

Makes 16 muffins

1 cup sourdough starter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
milk (added 1 TBS. at a time)
1 cup blueberries
1 TBS. flour (to coat the blueberries)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Liberally butter muffin tins if not using liners. Combine starter, flour, oil, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract; stir well. You want your batter to be thick but not too thick to be able to stir in the blueberries. Add the milk, a tablespoon at a time, until it is the right consistency.  Toss blueberries with  flour. Add Blueberries to batter and stir well to incorporate. Spoon batter into muffin tins, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake for 25 minutes or until done (when a toothpick comes out clean).

EDITED: Recipe amended 9-21-11

Shampoo Recommendation: EveryDay Shea

This is honestly the best shampoo I have ever used. It is EveryDay Shea Moisturizing Shampoo in Vanilla Mint. It also comes in a lavender scent and unscented. It is available, locally, at Marlene's Natural Foods Market & Deli. It cost me $11.99 for a 32 ounce pump bottle. But this stuff is really concentrated. You don't need much. The bottle should last a very long time. Especially if you're like me and only shampoo a couple of times per week.

Why am I so excited about this shampoo? My scalp is extremely (and I mean EXTREMELY) sensitive. Over the past couple of months I have tried numerous shampoo alternatives in order to get away from the chemical laden grocery store varieties. The other "organic" shampoos I've tried irritated my scalp and caused my hair to come out in fist fulls. My scalp felt like I'd washed it with battery acid and had big red sores. In frustration I turned to shampoo bars. Soap meant for hair. Another disaster. My hair was lank and dirty looking and the vinegar rinses, which are necessary when using shampoo bars, caused my hair to shed, big time. A dear friend knew of my troubles and brought me samples of EveryDay Shea. My expectations were low but I was incredibly pleased with the results. Not only is my hair squeaky clean and shiny, but my scalp is not itchy and full of flakes. My one caution would be, even though it claims to be "moisturizing", I think it would be too drying for every day use. But your mileage may very.

Blueberry Wine

This past Sunday I ventured out to gather blueberries. The bushes were quite picked over but I was determined. After close to 3 hours of picking I came away with 5 lbs. of berries. Being out in a field, in the hot sun, listening to the chatter of other pickers gave me a flashback to the 70's when I would pick raspberries, strawberries and cucumbers to earn money for school clothes. All that was missing was a transistor radio blaring 'Live and Let Die' and 'The Morning After'.

5lbs. of berries is enough to make 2 gallons of wine. But my smallest carboy holds 3 gallons. I need to stretch these berries a little further so am adding 12 ounces of white grape juice concentrate. This won't effect the wine's color but will add depth to the flavor.

Speaking of color, in order to get the best color from the blueberries I dissolved the sugar in 2 quarts of boiling water then added the must bags (I had to use 2) and used a potato masher to squish the berries. Heat changes the blueberry juice from green to lovely purple.

And here is the wine, next to 6 gallons of Green Apple Gewurztraminer (from a kit). I need more primary fermentors. I want to start some blackberry wine.