Category Archives: Seattle

Cherry Blossoms

Personal blogging update at the bottom of this post.

The quad at the University of Washington offers late winter cherry blossom delights.

Laura had never been to the campus while the blossoms were in full bloom so we made a date to meet up and enjoy the blossoms together. Laura and I met up and drove to pick up Katie who lives 3 miles from the University.

The university is a jewel for the city of Seattle.

After we walked under all the trees we made a stop at Suzzalo Library specifically to climb up to the Reading room. I’ll share those photos on another day. We walked to the “Ave” for a bite to eat and then reversed our journey and parted company with separate to-do lists for the rest of the afternoon.

We are finding ourselves in a huge crunch time at this Old House and beyond. Between getting our house ready for the market and traveling to the northeast corner of our state to look at houses we might be interested in, purchasing and packing and sorting and trying to sell some items, I am finding less and less time for blogging. We are now looking at putting our house on the market in April instead of May. Yikes. If you don’t see posts or see comments from me you will know why. I’m hoping to post occasionally but I can’t link to memes because I can’t guarantee properly visiting other blogs that link up, too. Blessings…

Pie on Pi Day

To celebrate the beginning of my 67th year on this earth Dear and I drove to downtown Seattle for an early dinner. We found a parking garage close to the restaurant we’d be having dinner at and then walked down the 5 blocks to the waterfront by Pike Place Market. We were headed for Cutter’s Crabhouse to enjoy some oysters and drinks at their happy hour. Although the day started out gloomy and wet the afternoon shaped up and was sunny and glorious. When we walked into Cutters trying to decide where to sit a man at the bar suggested that sitting at the bar would be more fun than sitting at a table by ourselves. We smiled, thanked him and took his advice. We were able to engage in conversation with the bartender and the two gentlemen sitting close to us at the bar. One of the men was a Sounders Soccer fan so he and I exchanged some thoughts about “our team”. When we were done with our first round of oysters and drinks I ordered my second drink and when the bartender set it down in front of me he let me know my new soccer buddy had paid for it. What a nice gesture and our three new acquaintances wished me a happy birthday.

We settled our bill at Cutters with a gift card Katie and Andrew had given us for a Christmas gift. Then we enjoyed the views of the waterfront before trekking up the 5 blocks to Lola’s Restaurant on 4th and Virginia. We chose this Tom Douglas restaurant over his other establishments because of the variety of lamb dishes they offer. I had the Lamb Shoulder Tangine and it was delicious. Dear got the Lamb kebabs. The red you see on my dish are a generous topping of saffron threads. Our beet starter and the rice dish loaded with pistachios and Greek olives were delicious, too.

Since it was Pi day we ordered the Coconut Cream Pie for dessert to share.

When our bill came our waitress informed us the pie was on the house. Sweet! We paid for my birthday dinner with another gift card we had from Josh and Laura from Christmas.

All in all it was the most lovely celebration and on the way home I enjoyed several phone calls from our kids and my brother from Texas. His kids serenaded me with their rendition of Happy Birthday Aunt Ellen.  Fun times. Thank you Lord for showering me with beauty, good food and loved ones.

The Weekend Roundup “C”

Tom is hosting the Weekend Roundup. I’m joining in from the Seattle area.

This weeks prompts are:

1. Starts with “C.”
2. Week’s Favorite.
3. Clouds.

Let’s “C” what I can come up with…

Starts with C

Cabbage Rolls or Golubtsi, Голубцы, a Russian version of cabbage rolls. Recipe here.

2. This weeks favorite.

Cute climber!

3. Clouds

Wispy clouds over Elliott Bay Marina, Seattle. Seattle Space Needle in the distance amongst the masts.

Next weeks prompts: Starts with “D.”  A Favorite.  Details.

Time Was On Our Side…

Wednesday morning dawned with no constraints and a promise of no rain. I picked up Katie at 9:34 and we drove to a park in Seattle that we had not been to before.

We parked and headed down the trail at Carkeek Park that would eventually take us to the waterfront on Puget Sound.

This reflection in the huge puddle had to be memorialized. It’s been raining a lot in the Seattle area.

When we hit the end of the trail this bridge took us up and over the railroad tracks to the waters edge.

Don’t disturb resting seal pups! We did see one seal in the Sound coming up every so often and diving again but no seal pups were resting on the shore.

This seagull was enjoying a rest.

Incoming!

Interesting clouds forming over the Olympic mountain range.

Back to the car we stopped to take a shot of this stone bridge covered in moss and ferns. Seems like we should see a woodland faerie.

We left Carkeek and drove to Ballard stopping at the famous Larsen’s Bakery. We bought some sweet and savory treats and then headed to Golden Gardens.

This stand of trees on the shore of Puget Sound made us park the car and come closer.

We drove away from Golden Gardens through Shilshole Bay waterfront and up into historic Ballard along the Ballard Locks. Getting back to Katie and Andrew’s we passed through Ballard, Greenwood, and of course Sand Point pointing at several restaurants we’d want to try.

Speaking of food, I posted my mom’s recipe for Goluptsi (stuffed cabbage rolls) on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog. Click over to get the recipe.

 

Cruising on Lake Union

On Tuesday after a hike to the bottom of Snoqualmie Falls in the morning our kids decided a 2 hour cruise on Lake Union in an Electric Boat would be a nice thing to do with our company from Southern California. Our niece Debbee and her husband Lenny were with us for 2 days before heading north to spend time with friends in Surrey, British Columbia.

These Electric Boats hold up to 10 people. Josh started the journey as our skipper and soon we were wondering how to avoid the float planes landing and taking off over, beside and in front of us!

We headed to calmer water. The sights we saw were varied. The Space Needle was shrouded in smoky skies as was Gas Works Park. The floating hot tub had us laughing. There are floating home all along the shores of Lake Union including the home used in Sleepless in Seattle. I didn’t get a photo of it.

We were warned that after five we’d probably be dodging sailboats. They have the right of way.

Soon Lenny took over as the skipper. What are you trying to hide Skipper?

We went under several bridges that we normally only drive on. The blue and orange bridge is the Fremont Bridge and it’s a drawbridge. The larger bridge is the Aurora Bridge.

Behind Dear and me is the University Bridge.

We headed toward the Montlake Cut but the Electric Boats aren’t allowed through the cut. The Montlake Bridge is also a drawbridge.

As we headed back to port Laura tried her hand at steering the boat and decided Lenny could take over again. Two hours went by quickly and our time on the water was refreshing even with the smoky haze that has settled on the Pacific Northwest.

On their way back to our house the cousins stopped at Brooks for Debbee to get some running gear. Debbee is a marathoner. She has run the Boston Marathon twice. You know you can’t just sign up for the Boston Marathon you have to have a documented qualifying running time from another marathon to qualify to run in the Boston Marathon. The picture on the right of the collage is her during the Boston Marathon in April of this year. She’s a high school math teacher and she also coaches track and cross country at her high school.

We had a nice two days with Debbee and Lenny.

Another summer weekend is upon us. Dear is scrapping and painting overhang and freshening up the shingles on 3 areas of our house. I try to do a few chores in the cool of the morning and am waiting for more serious household projects next week when we are promised cooler days and cooler nights. Happy Friday and Happy Weekend to you.

Calvary Cemetery

After Tea on Wednesday Katie and I had a nice stroll through Calvary Cemetery close to the Queen Mary Tea Room. Calvary Cemetery is a Catholic Cemetery.

This copy of The Pieta was in the section of the cemetery where nuns are buried.

We are enjoying time in Northeastern Washington and I hope to share a few posts soon about our time.

Hope your weekend is tiptop!

Tea for Two

Katie invited me to Tea on Wednesday. She and Andrew were in Salt Lake City for Andrew’s sister’s college graduation on the weekend so they weren’t in town for Mother’s Day. We had a nice time at the Queen Mary Tea Room in Seattle very close to where Katie and Andrew live. We split a high tea tiered tray of goodies plus a breakfast scramble. It was a good combination and enough for both of us with a few leftovers. The tea room was not filled to the brim which was nice. When we were done with our tea time we took a nice stroll at a cemetery in close proximity to the tea room. I’ll share the photos from the cemetery soon.

It did not rain from sunrise on Wednesday which was a nice relief. The sun had a hard time shining through. Maybe on Thursday we’ll get some clear and bright sunshine for a few hours.

Swords Into Plowshares

On our walks in Magnuson Park with our daughter we have visited this sculpture area called The Fin Project.

The Fin Project: From Swords Into Plowshares 1998 by John T. Young, Artist, Max Gurvich, Producer

“They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore…” Old Testament, Micah, Chapter 4:3.

This artwork is made using diving plane fins from decommissioned U.S. Navy nuclear submarines built in the 1960s. It is about peace, turning weapons into Art, recycling, and honoring the men and women who served our country during the Cold War. It also may remind the viewer of dorsal fins of a pod of Orca whales or a school of salmon.

I’m adding some more photos from our recent walk at Magnuson Park.

Magnuson Park is a 350 acres park on Sand Point at Pontiac Bay, Lake Washington, in the Sand Point neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The park is the second largest in Seattle, after 534 acres Discovery Park in Magnolia.

Established in 1900 (military use 1922-1975).

And now for some favorites that we received via text earlier this week and this morning.

Sweet little Addy is discovering her hands and fists! Soon we’ll be seeing little Addy and her parents in person again. Here’s Addy on her first Mother’s Day.

Seriously? I love this face! This little one had a nice Mother’s Day with her mom, daddy and Granny Linda and Granny Florence, and great uncle Scott and great aunt Rhonda. I had a very nice Mother’s Day with our firstborn Josh and Laura, who treated us to brunch. Phone calls came in from Addy’s Daddy and from our daughter Katie and my dear old Pop, too. I’m blessed.

I’ll be linking up to Mosaic Monday with Maggie at Normandy Life.

Seattle Japanese Garden

This is my second post about our stroll through the Japanese Garden. If you click here you can see my previous post with some history about the garden.

Our lovely stretch of sunshiny days has come to an end and we have a wet forecast for the next several days. Because of the forecast we went out and did the yard work yesterday. I mow and Dear whacks the edges. When I mow I get 10,000 steps in before I know it. I took some photos of the yard in the Spring sunshine. Here’s one shot of our yard from yesterday. The apple blossoms and pear blossoms are gone and the trees are leafing up nicely. I’ll share more tomorrow.

Right as Rain

…and because of our rain things seem so right and restored in Spring.

The Seattle Japanese Garden has been open to the public since 1960. It is one of the finest Japanese-style gardens outside of Japan.

This 3.5 acre garden features a style developed in the late 16th to early 17th centuries, known as stroll gardens.

Following a winding path around a central pond, stroll gardens invite visitors to journey through varied landscapes of Japan. Along the journey, varied landscapes are hidden and then revealed.

Renowned landscape designer Juki Iida planned the Seattle Japanese Garden faithful to the principle of shinzensa, the essence of nature.

Because the sun was shining and we were promised a few hours of it we picked up our daughter who lives close to the University of Washington and the Japanese Gardens just south of the University for a little stroll about the gardens.

We enjoyed our stroll through the garden last Thursday, the 4th of May.

Some of the reflections reminded me of Monet.

After the gardens we stopped for lunch at Saint Helens Cafe and then had a second walk at Magnuson Park before we dropped Katie off. This week we’ve had two sunshine days in a row so far. We are basking in it.

I’m linking up to ABC Wednesday for R is for Rain, Right, Restored, Reflections, Revealed, Renowned. Speaking of renowned, thank you to Roger and the team and Mrs. Nesbitt for keeping this meme alive for many years now.

I’m also linking up to Tom’s Tuesday’s Treasures.

HT: http://www.seattlejapanesegarden.org