About Us
Meet Magdalena
Writer * Mama * Nana * Gardener *Lover of Trees, Nature & Animals
I am a writer, motivated to seek connection with others through words. It’s just easier than verbalizing what goes on in my head. The idea for this web site was conceived out of that yearning for connection. I love creating beautiful spaces, building community and engaging in spiritual pursuits.
I am excited about life and sharing feeds my soul.
I grew up on a farm in north Idaho and then left as a young adult. My migration took me from Genesee to Moscow, then to Spokane, and then on to Seattle after graduating college at Eastern Washington University. After only 5 years, we left Seattle for a more rural lifestyle on Whidbey Island in 2001. Amidst my gradual movement west over the years, there’s been a marriage, divorce, five children, a couple significant relationships and a house purchase.
Even though I’ve moved over 20 times as an adult, I can truthfully say we didn’t live in cookie cutter houses. I was always drawn to unique places to live and when I say unique, that also meant cheap, imperative in those early years as a single parent. Just because a place is cheap ,however, doesn’t mean it has to be devoid of love and self-expression. My first place in Spokane for example, my kids called the Cheese House because it was shaped like a wedge out of a wheel of cheese; it was way fun to decorate all those rooms in it and unique doesn’t even begin to describe that place. ‘Love where you live’, no matter where that is.
In 2007, my migration changed direction again. I rented out my house on Whidbey and moved to Oregon where my oldest daughter was getting married. It was a sudden uprooting, but change was in the air. Work kept me connected to Portland for years but my connection to Whidbey remained strong.
During early 2020, the COVID pandemic altered life as we knew it but it enabled me to return home to Whidbey and work remotely. I believe that is where my dream to return home grew its deepest roots.
After extricating from my job at the end of January 2025, my hell-bent goal was to simplify my life. Ha ha! Before simplicity is achieved, chaos is in the lead. I hit the ground running. I consolidated my Whidbey and Portland households, re-organized the tool shed, garden shed and shop and did some soul searching. At this point in my life, I had too many passions with probably not enough time; what did I really want to work on? I sifted through the plethora of supplies from the main house, cabin and lake house improvements, never know when you’re going to need that piece of PVC pipe or section of black pipe for the next propane project; did I really need two nail guns – how many roofs in the future was I going to replace? I paid homage to the well-worn power tools and replaced them with new ones. I made many trips to the dump and local thrift stores to unload what no longer served me.
I bought a tractor, my inner farm girl had longed for one for years. Time to stop sniveling about it and just buy one, no time like the present! My daughter Elizabeth said, ‘you quit your job and bought a tractor, have you lost your mind?’ ‘Maybe,’ I replied, ‘but it’s important to do what you love!’ I know she understands but she’s the oldest and worries about things like money and security.
It’s been a different kind of challenge making the transition from a consuming job to the freedom of a retired life. I finally have the time to delve into my two decades of dreams for this land. The delicate balance between the physical demands of this place and quiet reflection insisted some focus on my part. A component that comes with the art of writing is sitting still for periods of time, stories don’t write themselves.
I’ve rented out space through the years to help pay the mortgage and keep the home fires burning, property management is a skill after all. My observations of those renting here over the years have translated into some heartwarming and sometimes comical writing. These stories parallel well with the stories from my professional work in affordable housing in Oregon. Humans are just simply interesting creatures.
Before building or creating anything, there are blackberries to clear, weeds to wrestle, a fallen tree to remove, a chainsaw to fire up, new trees to plant to replace the fallen, a trek or two across the property for a forgotten tool, bunny barriers to create to keep the voracious eating machines from consuming all that I like to grow and surrounding trees and plants with t-posts and fencing so the opportunistic deer don’t make them their next snack. And OMG, supply runs! How many trips to the building supply or hardware store does it take to complete a project? And there are the relationships you build on those supply runs too, small town familiarity; life here is rich.
Everything grows like mad here in this maritime climate, simple weeding can end up an epic journey. I turn my back for a day and the beautiful but life restricting white flowered bind weed can easily spread its vines up the fence and block the view of the lake, not to mention wrestle any plant in its path to the ground.
West of the Cascade mountains definitely has my heart. Rural life on Whidbey is a nice blend of my inner farm chic from Idaho and my sought after urban culture. It is a good feeling to know I am home. I am inspired by the energy here.
I share insights here for myself, my family and the beautiful people I’ve come to know and love. This web site is a work in progress to share DIY adventures, growing plants and trees, and creating meaning around the interpersonal relationships I’ve built.
Love and creativity have no boundaries.
Enjoy,
Catherine Magdalena
Welcome to Magdalena Acres, my sanctuary and center of inspiration.
I recently decided to ‘work differently’ which led me to uproot from my career in property management and trade in my well-trained mouse for a pair of work gloves. Do I miss the paychecks, well yeah, but life always has been about time or money anyway.
Embrace the moment and do what you love.
In leaving my job, I escaped the world of tenant problems, state reporting and maintenance emergencies but I still have housing tasks here to keep my landlord-tenant brain in tune. There’s also a small herd of animals to wrangle daily and endless DIY projects that would make HGTV producers weep.
When you live rurally, there is an endless list of possibilities to create. Inspiration demands supplies though so I shop and then gasp. I can do that myself and save a bunch of money, how hard can rehabbing an abandoned old chicken coop be? Or I peruse Facebook Market Place where my creative brain finds gently used items to repurpose. I think I can just adapt that into what I want, how hard can gutting and revamping a vintage camper be?
It’s always easy to organize, especially when avoiding what’s hard seems a better option. This task can be as small as my sock drawer or more tedious like sorting nails and screws according to size and head type; square, star or Philips. You laugh, but it’s a delight when looking for the right screw for the job is labeled and available right on the shelf.
When I’m not entertained by 14 chickens in various stages of development, negotiating with my bearded dragon over his gourmet food preferences, or explaining to the dogs why they can’t help with electrical work, I’m delighted to write about the hilarity that comes with what I undertake, and usually laughing “how hard can it be?”.