Love lighthouses?  Love being at sea?  Have we got a great fun adventure coming up for those who love lighthouses!! National Lighthouse Day, August 7th, is being marked here in Portsmouth New Hampshire by daytime sightseeing cruises starting on August 1st and going through August 7th.  How cool is that??     We have a local cruise company here in Portsmouth, the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company, that offers cruises all summer long.  To mark National Lighthouse Day this year, they're teaming up with Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses to raise money for the American Lighthouse Foundation. You'll get to cruise around THREE Portsmouth Harbor area lighthouses.  How fun that's going to be - THREE of our lighthouses here in Portsmouth New Hampshire are going to be part of this fun way... 07/30/2007

Living in Portsmouth New Hampshire is just awesome, and our local Farmer's Market just makes it that much more enjoyable!   If you love buying locally grown fruits and veggies, beautiful plants and flowers, and other locally grown and/or made products, then our Portsmouth Farmer's Market every Saturday morning is the place for YOU!!The Seacoast Growers' Association has been in existence for 31 years now, and has local Farmer's Markets in six locations throughout the week.  Saturdays are the day for Portsmouth to shine with local products.  Located in the Portsmouth City Hall parking lot, the Seacoast Growers' Association vendors happily sell their wares from 8am to 1pm, with many of them offering samples of their new products.To ensure locally made and grown products are of the highest ... 07/28/2007

For those of you who've watched some of the shows that they do on unique homes around the country, you've likely seen one or two of the homes that are lighthouses.    If you've always thought that would be really cool, we've got a lighthouse here in Portsmouth Harbor that might be right up your alley!Whaleback Lighthouse is actually in Kittery Maine, although many in Portsmouth New Hampshire consider it their tiny little lighthouse. Whaleback is being offered by the US Coast Guard.  Unfortunately, for those of us who live here and fortunately for some lucky person, the Coast Guard has deemed this lighthouse to be in 'excess of their needs'.  Homeland Security issues have stretched the Coast Guard in so many other areas that the budget just doesn't allow them to properly maintain these t... 07/16/2007

Living here in Portsmouth New Hampshire offers an abundance of history and places to view that historical background Portsmouth and the Seacoast is so rich with.  Just about everywhere you look, you can find all kinds of things to do here that make history so interesting.  Growing up, I had no interest in anything to do with history at all, but I can tell you much of it fascinates me now.  And I am so lucky to live here in such a fabulous place called Portsmouth NH that's so alive with history!! One of those great places that showcases some of the history here in Portsmouth is the USS Albacore Park, just a few steps from downtown, and very easy to get to from the major highways.The USS Albacore was placed in retirement in September 1972 at the Naval Base in Philadelphia.  One of our for... 07/13/2007

 This past weekend here in Portsmouth New Hampshire, we were fortunate to see history in the making.  Never before, in at least 100 years, has there ever been more than one Tall Ship in our port at any one time.  This past weekend, for THREE whole days, we had the pure pleasure of FOUR of these magnificent beauties in the Port City, tied up at our State Pier.  The four Tall Ships that graced us with their presence were:  The Pride of Baltimore II, The Prince William, The Spirit of Bermuda, and The Urania.  And they were a complete joy to see come into Portsmouth Harbor Friday morning around 9:30am, and all weekend long tied up right in downtown Portsmouth.  A beautiful sight to behold for sure! Friday morning, July 6th, the ships gathered in the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of New... 07/09/2007

I love kids. I love toys. I love watching kids happily playing with toys. So as you can imagine, going to Tree House Toys in Portsmouth, NH is a blast for me.                                     Treehouse Toys, Portsmouth         143 Market St, Portsmouth, NH         (603)433-8697                                                       This store has something for everyone. If you can't find your little buddy a gift here, you are too picky. They've got everything from trains to dolls to puppets to...toy lobsters. Quality, durable, unusual, FUN toys.What would seacoast NH be without toy lobsters, fish, octopuses (octopi?) and moose? The first picture is Market Square in Portsmouth. If you are standing in the square, walk to your right (it's one-way for car traffic, but you'll be walking an... 07/08/2007

The summer months here in Portsmouth and the Seacoast areas of New Hampshire are just glorious!  Portsmouth is a working port, so the river and ocean activity kicks into high gear, and the tourists arrive in full force.  I consider myself to be very fortunate to be able to live in such a beautiful place as Portsmouth New Hampshire - a place where people from all over the world come to visit.  Their vacation spot is MY HOME!  How wonderful is that???During the month of July, we have all kinds of fun things going on all over Portsmouth and the surrounding towns.  With all of our parks and outdoor venues, there's bound to be plenty of great things to do for everyone!Here's a sampling of the fun in store this month:~ July 4 - Prescott Park Arts Festival Mid-Week Concert Series begins, runni... 07/02/2007

 I know there are many parts of the country that don't do assisted or accompanied  showings, but here in my areas of Seacoast New Hampshire and southern Maine, we still show our own listings about 80-90% of the time.  It's just the way things are done here - and I know many of you feel that's wrong and/or a waste of time! Anyway, the other day I was showing property to a new set of buyer clients -a wonderful young couple who will be buying their first home here in Portsmouth NH.  We had exchanged phone calls, had our buyer counselling appointment, and then met to sign the New Hampshire REALTOR Buyer Agency Contract before heading out for our first showings.  They had been well-prepared for the home-buying process, showings, etc.We show up at our very first showing, and the listing agent... 06/30/2007

 Have you ever seen any of the majestic Tall Ships that visit various ports around the world?  If you lived in Portsmouth New Hampshire, you would have seen at least one every year.   Once a year for the last 10 - 12 years, at least one Tall Ship has sailed into Portsmouth Harbor.  This year, we're lucky enough to have THREE sailing into Portsmouth!!  These ships are just absolutely beautiful when you see them in person - pictures just really never do them justice once you've seen any of them up close and in person.The ships coming to visit Portsmouth will be here July 6, 7 and 8, and will be docked at the State Pier on Market Street in the downtown area.   These ships represent three different classes of sailing vessels.The Pride of Baltimore II is a 157 foot replica of topsail schoone... 06/19/2007

Portsmouth New Hampshire has loads of pets all over the place, and it's a great town for walking dogs (and kids!) - sidewalks in most of the town, a pet-friendly downtown, lots of nice little parks.  And we have a City of Portsmouth Dog Park, too.  That wasn't easy to get going, but it's been in existence for a few years now at this point.  Good news about the Portsmouth Pooch Park - it's in the process of getting a nice new overhaul.  A couple of weeks ago, a brand new fresh surface was put in.  It's now a stone surface, and it's been properly graded.  After years of use, all the grass that had been there has worn away due to such heavy use.  The ideal surface would have been grass, but with such heavy usage, grass would have been too hard to maintain.  So an alternative surface was fo... 06/15/2007

An event that started 30 years ago, Market Square Day in Portsmouth New Hampshire, continues to this day, even bigger and better than the original founders of this fabulous event could ever have allowed themselves to imagine!  Market Square Day was originally created to celebrate the revitilization and renovation of the downtown area of Portsmouth.  Pro Portsmouth, which now organizes this yearly event, continues to bring thousands and thousands of people from all over the New England area to come see what Portsmouth is all about.  The first Market Square Day was quite local in nature - welcoming residents and families downtown to a small family town celebration.  It was such an overwhelming success, this event was put on the following year, and every year thereafter.I've been going to ... 06/11/2007

Fly right to PORTSMOUTH NEW HAMPSHIRE!!  How cool is that???  WAY COOL, I can assure you!                                                                                 Skybus, a newly launched airline, has added Portsmouth NH to its destination schedule.  Skybus began its twice daily flights in and out of Pease International Tradeport on May 12th, and will be adding more flights down the road.  They are here 'for the long haul'.If you've ever flown into or out of Boston/Logan, or even our own Manchester Airport, you know it can be just a tad bit troublesome at times.  Flying into and/or out of Pease is a total breeze!  And the airfares being offered are amazing!!  On every single flight, Skybus guarantees at least 10 seats will cost ONLY $10.00 each way....TEN DOLLARS!!  You do have t... 06/02/2007

I grew up all over the country.  My dad was an officer in the Air Force, which meant we moved when the government told us to, no matter whether we wanted to or not.  And I can assure you that neither I nor any of my sisters wanted to move every time we did - but we did.  I've no doubt we were a tad bit bratty at times over some of those moves - I'm pretty sure we were, and I recall a certain time when I know I was.  It just got to be really hard to move the older we were.  Moving during high school years was the worst!But, having said all that, wherever we lived, that was HOME to us.  We lived mostly in base housing, and that was never all that special.  What WAS special was the way my mom made each and every house that we called ours, for however a temporary time it was, OUR HOME. No m... 05/24/2007

                     Do You Love to Shop??          Come to Portsmouth New Hampshire....  If you've ever been to Portsmouth New Hampshire, you already know that we have one of the most charming downtown areas you could ever want to find.  Loads of awesome shops, beautiful art gallerys of all kinds, wonderful cafes and coffee shops, and a myriad of delicious dining experiences in the huge variety of restaurants.  Portsmouth NH had been dubbed, "The Restaurant Capital of the Eastern Seaboard", due to the high number of restaurants per capita. Getting back to the shopping, for all you shoppers - Friday nights in downtown Portsmouth now offers a unique shopping experience, "Portsmouth Lights on Friday Nights".  Every Friday night, many of the shops downtown will be open later than usual, un... 05/12/2007

Cruise the Isles Of Shoals.   There are fun cruises for everyone.Yes, New Hampshire does have a coastline.  Only approx. 18 Miles long, but what a wonderful coastline it is.Bases in Portsmouth NH.  The Isles of Shoals Steamship Co.  offers a wide variety of cruises for everyone.  This is truly a unique experience for everyone in the family to enjoy.                                                         Whether planning a wedding, graduation, family gathering, or just a fun day, the Isles of Shoals cruise ship is one to consider.  You can choose from a day cruise, a spectacular sunset cruise!, or a light house cruise.  You will be able to escape and relax aboard the USS Thomas Leighton.The Lighthouse cruise happens to be one of my favorites.  Featuring Portsmouth Harbor, Whale-back Isl... 04/10/2007

Located in Portsmouth NH's waterfront district.  Strawbery Banke museum is a 10 acre neighborhood and museum dedicated to Portsmouth rich historic past.  Stroll through the niegborhood and hear stories told of the past.  Visit the historic homes, shops and gardens.  Learn how Portsmouth's first settlers lived their lives..Take the family while it is open daily from May through October 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., or visit during the winter Nov. to April 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  This is surely to be a trip the whole family will enjoy.One of the many shops to enjoy will be the 'Strawberry Banke Museum Shop", offering books and gifts, special gardening- related items, ice cream, and candies.  You and the kids will most definitly not forget this experience.  04/10/2007

 WOW - what some great use of color can do!!  This is our newly remodeled 15 cinema theater in Portsmouth New Hampshire - doesn't it look just great with those splashy fun colors??  I think it does, and I love what they did!This theater is the Regal Cinema 15 Theater, located at Fox Run Crossings in Newington New Hampshire.  Newington actually is a tiny town whose commercial development areas are usually mistaken for being in Portsmouth.  That's okay - we'll claim them! In addition to this lively and inviting exterior makeover, Regal Cinemas now offers some great young family programs as well,  As a way to entice a new audience, Regal Cinemas here in Portsmouth NH began focusing on young couples and couples with young children who don't typically go to the movies.  This fun newly remode... 04/08/2007

I'm working with a great young couple, looking to buy a new home for their soon-to-be growing family.  After meeting with them for a buyer consultation, we began emailing them listings that had potential for them to look through.  They would drive by those that sounded appealing to them, and from there, they'd let me know which ones looked interesting enough to see the inside.  A little while back, we had 3 in one of the towns in the surrounding areas around Portsmouth New Hampshire.  We picked a day and time to meet up, and I went to work making the arrangements for the showings. In the process of getting the listing agents' contact information on each of these houses that they wanted to see, I came upon the instructions on one of them to deal directly with the seller instead of the ag... 03/18/2007

Do you love SEAFOOD??   If so, then you would have really enjoyed this 4 day seafood-packed dining adventure!!One of my sisters, Karen, came to visit me about a week ago.  She went to high school here in Portsmouth NH, so this was a bit of a memory-tour as well, as she hadn't been back here to visit in a good number of years.  Plus, she wanted to see my 'new' home, which she'd only seen pictures of.So, we picked her up at the Manchester NH Airport, and pulled a great surprise visit off on another of my sisters, Dale, who lives with her family in Manchester,  about 45 minutes west of me.  We just showed up, and Karen walked in the door a couple minutes later, and stunned Dale.  Needless to say we had great fun with that little surprise! Dinner that night was in Manchester, at Famous Dave... 02/11/2007

 I was reading a copy of Midwest Living Magazine over the holidays, and came across a small little article that was titled, "Midwest Metros Get Green".  The title caught my eye, so I read a little more....This article was talking about cities that had been ranked as being among the most 'sustainable' in America.  To be considered 'sustainable', the group who did the ranking looked at public transportation, local food sources, energy usage, water and air quality, park space, walkability, and more.  Other factors they looked at, in the event of how well a city can perform in the face of emergencies, was energy crisis preparedness and natural disaster risk. SustainLane.com is the group that did this ranking.  In addition to the above factors, they also took into consideration the quality o... 01/08/2007