Ready for Rain is a free newsletter written from a rural island off the coast of Washington State.
Along with media recommendations, most issues contain a personal story that relates to island life, building a custom home, writing books, running an online business and more.
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“Ready for Rain is a compelling, even addictive, account of Lee’s life and projects on an island in the pacific northwest. I haven’t missed a single issue.
– Ron Lichty
“Lee and his clan transport me halfway around the world once a week to experience a lifestyle I can only dream of!”
– Phil Whitehouse, Sydney, Australia
“It’s like having a calm but invigorating afternoon tea break with a friend who is living a life less crazy than my own.”
– Travis F. Smith, Canada
“A fascinating look at a couple tackling multiple projects as they set up a new life on a rural island off the coast of Washington State.”
– Arelene S.
“An inspiring look at lifelong learning and the adventure of trying new things.”
– Richard Byrne
All Issues From the Past
- Digiscoping from Flattop ๐ญ (5-1-23)
- Anatomy of a Speed Run โด (1-31-23)
- The Wood Shed ๐ฅ (12-6-22)
- Filet of Sole ๐ฃ๐ค (11-1-22)
- New York, 2011 ๐โโ๏ธ๐ฝ ๐ค (10-18-22)
- A Train in the Sky ๐ฐ ๐ฐ ๐ฐ (10-4-22)
- The Most Wonderful Time of Year ๐ โก๏ธ ๐ง (9-27-22)
- The Garden Gamble ๐ฑ (9-20-22)
- Roots ๐ฟ (7-26-22)
- Adrift ๐ฆ (6-29-22)
- Island Hardware ๐ ย (5-11-22)
- Permanently Incomplete ๐ฟ (4-13-22)
- The Wood Age ๐ชต (3-23-22)
- Dislocations and DNA ๐งฌ(3-2-22)
- Mutiny on the Way to the Great Wall ๐ดโโ ๏ธ(2-08-22)
- Smart Rowing ๐ฃ๐ผโโ๏ธ (1-18-22)
2021
- 57 Recommendations from 2021 (12-28-21)
- Neck Deep in Build Livable ๐ (12-7-21)
- The Streaming Shuffle ๐ฅ (11-23-21)
- I Believe ๐ก (11-16-21)
- Home Studio Tour ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ (11-9-21)
- Witches on the Water ๐งโโ๏ธ๐ (11-2-21)
- One Famous Sea Star โญ๏ธ (10-26-21)
- Permanence, Or Not ๐ฆ (10-19-21)
- We’ve Got Worms ๐ชฑ (10-12-21)
- Livability and Laundry ๐ก ๐งบ (10-5-21)
- Boat Creepย ๐ฅ ๐ญ (9-21-21)
- At a Crossroads โคฒ (9-14-21)
- Designing for Dogs ๐ฆฎ (8-31-21)
- Another Man’s Treasure ๐ดโโ ๏ธ (8-24-21)
- The Westward Wind ๐จ๐ฒ (8-17-21)
- Lee Night ๐ฅ ๐ฆฎ (8-10-21)
- Welcome to Cascadia ๐ฒ (7-6-21)
- Oh, Deer – An Island-Sized Pandemic ๐ฆ๐ฆ (6-29-21)
- Bringing Life Back to the Rocky Ground ๐ฑ (6-22-21)
- Aphantasia – A Different Kind of Blindness ๐ง (6-15-21)
- Catching Spot Prawns ๐ฆ (6-8-21)
- Feel the Burn ๐ฅ (6-1-21)
- Using the UV Index in Sunburn Season โ๏ธ (5-25-21)
- The Time Between Glass and Mirror ๐ช๐ช(5-18-21)
- The Pig War ๐ (5-11-21)
- Blisters, Beds, and Bourbon ๐ฅ (5-4-21)
- The Traffic Jam at Safari Island ๐ฆญ๐ฆ๐ (4-27-21)
- Flattop’s Finer Points ๐ชต ๐ฅ (4-20-21)
- The Finished Product: Flattop House ๐ก (4-13-21)
- The Creative Brief ๐ (4-6-21)
- The Move 2021 ๐ก (3-30-21)
- Back to the Beginning โฉ๏ธ (3-24-21)
- SMASHBURGER! ๐ (3-16-21)
- The Sticky Notes โ (3-9-21)
- This Fireplace Sucks ๐ฅ (3-2-21)
- The Dogs of the House Project ๐ ๐ถ (2-24-21)
- This is About the Ham ๐ (2-16-21)
- Hibernating in the PNW โ๏ธ๐ฆ (2-9-21)
- Because It’s Cool ๐ (2-2-21)
- What Does it Want to Be? ๐จ (1-26-21)
- The Blackout โก๏ธ (1-19-21)
- Big Stuff and House Flooring Decisions ๐ก (1-12-21)
2020
- Smart Lights, Smart Home ๐ก๐ก (12-15-20)
- The Time Capsule ๐ (12-8-20)
- Then and Now ๐ท ๐ก (12-1-20)
- Puzzle Pieces ๐งฉ and ๐ย (11-24-20)
- Senioritis at the Guesthouse ๐ก โก๏ธ ๐ก (11-17-20)
- Preparing Drywall for Paint ๐งน๐งฝ (11-10-20)
- Masking and Painting The House ๐จ (10-27-20)
- A Thud, Then a Gasp ๐ ๐ค (10-20-20)
- The Impossible Skyscraper in the Guesthouse ๐ข ๐ (10-13-20)
- Designing Our Blackened-Steel Fireplace ๐ฅ (10-6-20)
- Being One with the Dirt on Orcas Island ๐โ๐ฆบ ๐ฅพ (9-29-20)
- Shou Sugi Ban Siding โ Fortified by Fire ๐ฅ (9-22-20)
- A Story On Big Enough Launch Day ๐น ๐ (9-15-20)
- Making The Trailer Video for Big Enough – โฐ ๐โ๐ฆบ ๐น (9-8-20)
- The Dread and Delight of Publishing Big Enough๐ โก๏ธ ๐ (9-1-20)
- What to Consider Before Drywall is Installed ๐ค ๐ก (8-25-20)
- Big Enough Book Video Strategy ๐ฟ๐ (8-18-20)
- Mindfulness and Just One Thing ๐ฆ๐ฒ (8-11-20)
- Publishing Big Enough in 41 Days (8-4-20)
- The Smell of Crabbing in the Salish Sea ๐๐ (7-28-20)
- Cedar, Big Enough, and Boats ๐ฒ๐๐ค (7-21-20)
- Link Roundup ๐ ๐ฆ ๐ฅ (7-14-20)
- Shaking the Snow Globe ๐จ (7-7-20)
- Sweat Equity and the House Construction Project ๐ฆ๐ก (6-16-20)
- A Walk on Orcas Island ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ปโโ๏ธ๐ถ๐ปโโ๏ธ๐ฒ (6-2-20)
- Inside the COVID Bubble ๐ (5-12-20)
- City Life Versus Island Life ๐โป๏ธ (4-28-20)
- The Pandemicโs Impact on Home Construction and Book Publishing ๐ (4-14-20)
- WHOOOOSH and the Whales ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ (3-31-20)
- A Dispatch from the Covid Quarantine ๐ฆ (3-17-20)
- In an Instant, She Was Gone ๐ฒ๐ฆฎ๐ฒ (03-05-20)
- Home as a Platform ๐ก (2-18-20)
- The Moment Everything Changed at Common Craft โก๏ธ (2-11-20)
- Summoning the Gumption ๐ช (1-28-20)
- Surprisingly Interesting in 2020 ๐ (1-21-20)
2019
- Ready for Rain Year in Review ๐ (12-24-19)
- Why Home Construction Takes So Much Time โณย (12-17-19)
- Gettinโ Hygge With Indoor Living ๐ง๐ฅ๐ท (12-10-19)
- A Return to Herbโs ๐ข๐๐ข (12-3-19)
- Beefy Structural Steel ๐ (11-26-19)
- Making Media for Ready for Rain Newsletter ๐น ๐ (11-19-19)
- The House Project in Pictures ๐ท (11-12-19)
- Changing Plans During Construction ๐๐ (11-05-19)
- Crabbing in the Salish Sea ๐ฆ (10-29-19)
- The History of Concrete and Our House Foundationr ๐ง (10-22-19)
- Getting the House Out of the Ground ๐ท๐ปโโ๏ธ๐ท๐ปโโ๏ธ๐กย (10-15-19)
- Your Questions About The House Project, Answered โฌ๏ธ (10-8-19)
- Everything is Temporary in the Guesthouse ๐ก (10-1-19)
- Geology and Site Work on Orcas Island โ๐ป (9-24-19)
- Seafaring with Our Boat, โShort Storyโ ๐๐ฅ (9-17-19)
- Removing and Using Big Trees ๐ฒ๐ฅ (9-10-19)
- The Demolition of the Yurt-Shaped House โ (9-03-19)
- Goodbye to the Yurt-Shaped House โป๏ธ (8-27-19)
- Why Orcas Island? Why now? ๐ฒ๐ฅ๐ฆ (8-20-19)
- A More Affordable Home Design ๐ฒ (8-13-19)
- Changing Course in House Planning โก๏ธ (8-6-19)
- The Reveal of the House Estimate ๐ (7-30-19)
- The House Plans ๐กย (7-23-19)
- The Grinch on the Hill ๐ก๐ (7-16-19)
- Finding The Builder ๐ท๐ปโโ๏ธ (7-9-19)
- Finding the Guest House ๐กย (7-2-19)
- Good Lives Make Bad Stories (6-25-19)
- Sharing a Brain ๐ง ย (6-18-19)
- Getting the Construction Project Started (6-11-19)
- Phase Change (6-4-19)
- The Surprising Origin of the Name โOrcasโ Island ๐โต๏ธ (5-28-19)
- Some People are Born to Move Houses ๐ก ๐ฆ (5-21-19)
- Goodbye, Seattle ๐ (5-14-19)
- Finishing the Hunter House ๐ (5-7-19)
- Living the Half-Life ๐ ๐ ๐ก (4-30-19)
- The Inspiration for the Name โReady for Rainโ ๐ค๐ง (4-23-19)
- Utter Destruction at the Hunter House โ๏ธ๐ช (4-18-19)
- It Was a Dark and Stormy Night ๐ช๐ง (4-11-19)
- The Hunter House Renovation Project in Seattle ๐ทโโ๏ธ๐ทโโ๏ธ (4-10-19)
- Aboard the Elwha Ferry โด ๐ (4-08-19)
- Living in Public in Seattle ๐๐ฒ (4-07-19)
- Breaking the Rules at the Westsound Potluck ๐ฝ (4-06-19)
- The View from the Yurt on Orcas Island ๐๐๐โต๏ธ (4-05-19)
- The Second Place on Orcas Island ๐ ๐ก (4-04-19)
- The Deer Trap ๐ฆ (4-03-19)
- The Day the Kingdome Came Down in Seattle ๐ฃ (4-02-19)
- We Bought a Yurt-Shaped House โบ๏ธ๐ก(4-01-19)
- The Yurt-Shaped House on Orcas Island โบ๏ธ๐ก (03-31-19)
- Common Craft and Camping on Tuesdays (03-30-19)
- Dreaming of Orcas Island โ As The Salmon Sizzled ๐โบ๏ธ๐ฅ (03-29-19)
- Fear of Missing In ๐ (03-28-19)
- The Guy on the Ferry with South Carolina Plates โด ๐ (03-27-19)
Ready for Rain isย a newsletter that's personal
On most Tuesdays, I share a story from my life on Orcas Island and a recommendation for something I love. I'm interested in how to design work and home for lifestyle, livability, and fluffy dogs. Learn more.
I care about your privacy. Unsubscribe at any time.