Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
August 24: Ruin
This bit of the old Trianon Ballroom reminds me of an architectural ruin. It was once part of the elaborate decoration above the grand entrance to the ballroom, at left in the lower photo.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
August 24: Fill in the Blank
Somebody went to a lot of trouble to design the "streetscape" piece of street art that is wheatpasted onto the side of a building on Westlake. I wonder what word is being painted in blue?
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
August 23: Black Leopard
It may look like a suburban front lawn to us, but to Houdini it's the African veldt (and we're the wildebeest).
Monday, August 22, 2011
August 22: Sneaking In
Blooming artichokes don't make it easy for bees to get at the pollen - it's at the base of those long petals. On this bloom, most bees were landing on top and diving down, but this one is trying a different strategy.
Friday, August 19, 2011
August 19: The Award for Exceptional Merit Goes To...
...this lovely front-yard vegetable garden on 58th Street. The raised beds are brimming over with tomatoes, lettuces, eggplant, onion, and squash. I love the way one squash plant is being trained to run along the border with the sidewalk. The best part is the the summer squash vines in the background, which completely obscure an ugly chain link fence. Ballard-style urban beautification at its finest!
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
August 16: Mirror Image
This is a duplex with an entrance at each end of the building and a front yard divided down the center by an arborvitae hedge. Both yards have the identical landscaping installed by the developer - balls of laurel and box surrounded by mulchscape. One of the tenants has put in a little extra effort, though, and I enjoy the before/after effect I get every day when I pass by.
Monday, August 15, 2011
August 15: The Falling of the Leaves
THE FALLING OF THE LEAVES
by William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
Autumn is over the long leaves that love us,
And over the mice in the barley sheaves;
Yellow the leaves of the rowan above us,
And yellow the wet wild-strawberry leaves.
The hour of the waning of love has beset us,
And weary and worn are our sad souls now;
Let us part, ere the season of passion forget us,
With a kiss and a tear on thy drooping brow.
August 14: Romneya coulteri
The common name is "Matilija Poppy", but who can pronounce that? Our common name for it is "Fried Egg Poppy."
Friday, August 12, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
August 8: Dragonflies
We visited the new man-made wetlands area at Magnuson Park (on the Western shore of Lake Washington), drawn by a recent news article about the diversity of dragonflies here. We weren't disappointed. The one pictured above is a cardinal meadowhawk. (You can doubleclick on the image to enlarge it).
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
August 5: Thurston County Fair
Amber and Tyler are in the front seats, enjoying (enduring?) the stomach-churning "Fire Ball" ride.Thursday, August 4, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
July 31: Chocolate Buddha
This is on display in the "tempering room" (where confections are created by hand on marble tables) at the Theo Chocolate Factory in Fremont.July 30: Warning
"WARNING: No Firearms Permitted in Bar Area. Washington State law prohibits the possession of any firearm within areas classified by the Liquor Control Board as off limits to persons under 21 years of age." Not the sort of thing you expect to see at a bistro in West Seattle!