Petra and Adrian drive each other crazy, love each other dearly, and teach each other an awful lot. Adrian was only a few months old when Petra discovered that he stopped crying whenever she took him outside. She knew then that Seattle wasn’t the place for him, and that nature would play a huge role in his life.

Architect Ross Chapin once told Petra, “Whidbey Island is a calling.” She felt more than called-the pull to move to the island was so strong that she felt as if she’d been caught in a tractor beam. Adrian was two and a half when they arrived in 2001. They live on five acres (about two hectares) of forested land.

Petra is the owner of Heron Lake Press and the creator of Mixed Emotions, a tool that helps people put their feelings into words. She also owns the Whidbey Island Writer’s Refuge. Before moving to Whidbey Island, she spent 12 years as a writer and editor in public relations and in software documentation.

In her spare time, Petra enjoys photography, knitting, spinning yarn, reading, baking bread, and farming.

In his spare time, Adrian enjoys collecting rocks and fossils, making trails, building forts, riding his skateboard, and whacking nettles with a stick. He enjoys Legos and archery, is a gifted aluminum foil sculptor, and can use duct tape to solve almost any problem.

 Petra and Adrian

Our fowl

  • 10 Golden Laced Wyondotte hens
  • One Buff Orpington hen (Buttercup)
  • One Cayuga duck
  • One Cayuga drake

Our ruminants

  • Two mini-Nubian doelings (Rhea and Pandora)
  • Two mini-Nubian buckling (Pan and Calypso)

Our livestock guardian

Our pets

  • One female cat (Whidbey)
  • One male cat (Camano)
  • One goldfish and one betta