Knowing the Neighbors: Soup Swap
More fun than boring planning meetings, Soup Swap is a great way to meet the neighbors.
Thinking about Rain Barrels
Better than nothing, a single rain barrel isn’t very effective for Seattle’s weather pattern.
East Hill: Where are the Trail Connections?
Yesterday, Vic and I got out for a spin that involved plenty of miles of paved trail riding. King County has many good trails and yesterday we were on three: The Duwamish leaving West Seattle, the Green River Trail winding through Kent Valley, and the Cedar River Trail, heading from the town Maple Valley to [...]
Trapping Potatoes the Easy Way!
Tricky and conniving, potatoes can take over nearly anywhere you lay them. Hungry feeders, they sap your soil! Those pesky tubers! I’d be the first to admit though, if you dig them up while they least expect it and rush them to the oven or grill, they’re unlike anything you’ll taste in the store, full [...]
Closing: Weyerhaeuser’s Bonsai Garden
Changes are if you’ve come to Seattle to visit me, I’ve suggested that we go visit the Weyerhaeuser Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection. It’s a regional treasure and I can’t think of any place like it in the country. The rationale part of my brain recognizes the irony that this collection of priceless, small manicured trees [...]
Starting Starts for Summer
Ah, these little seeds may well be late. Weeks ago we converted our old dining table into seed table as the seed table went downstairs and the seed room was converted over to a future foster kid’s room. Until today, that table was a mess of Victor’s “experiments”, my untended (and dying) Coleus starts, and [...]
InCycle with Cycle University
It’s hard to believe it’s almost April. It’s been down right cold in Seattle… For the past four and half months though I’ve plenty warm three mornings a week at Cycle University; at least once I get in the door and get spinning. Friday is our last class and I’ll get my final power readings. [...]
Early Spring in the Kitchen Garden
It’s snowing again today. It looks like we’re in for another cool week, but the kitchen garden is finally planted for Spring. Uncovering the kale and arugula, I’ve moved the cloche to help get the new set of seeds growing: carrots, favas, beets, lettuce, radishes. While that little extra bit of warmth will help, it’s [...]
Another Soup Swap! CD Soup Swap a Success
Our freezer is groaning under the weight of frozen soup. Hosting our third soup swap of the winter on Tuesday night, we’ve had nothing by soup diversity since the cold, dreary times returned. I suppose it’s fitting for the economic downturn. Our final Soup Swap of 2008-09, was posted on the Internets as an open [...]
Same as it ever was…same as it
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautifulWife. And you may ask yourself, “Well…how did I get here?” They say it’s the last year of the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, one of the largest exhibits of its type in the country. With our mild maritime climate, we can grow most [...]
Central District Soup Swap: February 24
Vic and I will be hosting a Central District Soup Swap as a way to meet more of our neighbors in the Central District on Tuesday night, February 24. We’re going to broadly define the CD so that if you live north of Atlantic, south of Madison, east of 14th and west of 30th, we’re [...]
Black Sun
With the failure of Thursday’s photo shoot I decided to take advantage of the thick fog to walk around Volunteer Park after spin class. At 7:45, the park was already busy with dog walkers, joggers, men cruising, and the gardeners tending garbage pick up. Isamu Noguchi’s sculpture sits on a shelf in front of the [...]
Winter Garden in Bloom
Feeling stir crazy with a major project I needed to wrap up, I decided that a bit of fresh air and a walk would do me good. Just starting our second year, we’ve got a few hellabores in our garden, which we’re getting to see bloom for the first time. This got me thinking about [...]
Tall Boys at the Market
One of Seattle’s best known old time string bands, the Tall Boys, are regularly at the Market. It’s often a mix of the band and I suppose their pals, and they sing sweetly about murder, broken hearts, and God. If you see them at the Market, tap your toes and give them a buck or [...]
The End of Snowmageddon
Fifteen days ago, I snapped some pictures of a decent snowfall. Little did I know that it would only be the beginning to a two week decent into madness, futility, and frustration. We’re back from a unexpected car-free trip to Canada and still have a decent pile of shoveled snow around the sidewalk, though no [...]
Back in the Cold: Winter Blast 2008
The last of the tulips went in on Friday. I spent the day whipping around the garden, a frenzy of winterizing. It’s the first time since leaving Boston that I joined my fellow Seattlites in hoarding and brow-bending worry over an incoming storm that the weathermen promised would bring snow, ice and certain homeboundness. And [...]
Seattle Custom Framing: Lovely Work
Last week, we picked up our ketubah from our pal Larry at Seattle Custom Framing. It’s stunning. A ketubah is a Jewish marriage contract signed as part of the wedding ceremony in front of the gathered congregation. Despite its spectacular framing, it’s hanging on a bland colored wall upstairs in what we call our “private [...]
Capitol Hill Turkey Transition
With some trepidation, I headed over to Capitol Hill to start the Turkey Transitioning. Admittedly, I felt better about it after our Sunday Co-Op get together where roles were discussed, a plan outlined and a “Wild Turkey” toast was made to the seven turkeys Margot and PS clan were raising. Suffice to say, when you [...]
Sitting in a Giant Crane
My new gig doesn’t normally involve sitting a couple hundred feet off the ground looking at containers going to the Far East, but it was certainly a bonus to get to do so over lunch. I have large fear of heights, so clambering about the catwalks was a bit much, but needless to say after [...]