Grey Walls, Saturday Morning


The first grey wall is ours. The last shot is a detail of the corner of one of the few "funky" old houses (actually a triplex, I think) left in our neighborhood. I keep my fingers crossed that it will retain it's current character and not get gussied up or turned into a condo.

Move Over Root Beer...


This was an inspired idea, if I do say so myself. Instead of root beer, I used what is basically an Italian "coffee soda." It was a little on the sweet side, (just like a root beer float) so I'm thinking that maybe adding a cold shot of espresso might be just the thing to unsweeten it a bit, thereby perfecting this creation.

Friday Night Steak


My apologies to my vegetarian friends, but sometimes, there's nothing like a delicious grilled steak to start the weekend off. (And when I say sometimes, I really only do this a few times a year.) I covered this ribeye steak lightly with olive oil and my favorite Italian sea salt combo (it contains garlic, rosemary and sage) and fresh ground black pepper and slapped it on the grill. After it came off the grill, I topped it with my rosemary-garlic-gorgonzola compound butter. Then I ate it. (But not the entire thing - I didn't finish the whole thing until Saturday night.) It was tasty.

"You Know How to Thistle, Don't You?

You just put your lips together and blow." (Oh, Lauren Bacall...what a line!)

This is another picture from Port Townsend. I like how defined the flower is. It looks like you could comb it. (Although I did not attempt to.)

St. Mary Star of the Sea

This is a picture of a flower growing near the parking lot of the Catholic church in Port Townsend. I liked how obnoxiously bright it was against its concrete background.

Dahlia: Belly of the Beast


No, not the Dahlia Lounge and no, not this beast's belly. I just liked the centers of these huge dahlias...they make it look like the blooms could go on forever...a never-ending supply of petals.

Tonight's Two Favorites


I just got back from taking a walk around the 'hood. I walked about a mile down Alki toward the city, until I reached a patch of sunflowers that I noticed from the bus the other day. After taking some pictures of them, I turned around and came home. So the first picture is (pretty obviously) from the sunflower patch and the second picture is a "capsized" rowboat that someone on 56th has as part of their garden decor. (Not surprisingly, there are many beach themed items adorning yards around here.)

On the Ferry

After the barrage of rain on Bainbridge, look what happened on the ferry...blue sky between the clouds and through the rain drops. I swear, as we got closer and closer to home, it became sunnier and sunnier...I told Spare Dave that I expected to hear birds chirping with happiness by the time we got to Alki. Port Townsend might be a great place to visit, but Seattle is a great place to live! It's always good to come home.

Rainy Ride Home
"View" of the ferry line on the way home from PT on Sunday afternoon.

Wings or Petals?
I think the second shot especially looks like it could be the wing of some newly hatched insect just as easily as a brand new petal unfurling. These are two of several pictures I took during my weekend sojourn to Port Townsend. It was lovely to walk around town and be a tourist. It is a nice place to visit!

Yum!
Behold my delicious dinner! One bunch of watercress, two Frog Hollow peaches, three slices prosciutto, glug of olive oil, a splash of rice wine vinegar, liberal amount Parmesano Reggiano shavings, several grinds' worth of black pepper and a smattering of sea salt. This was delicious. I have a feeling I'll be making this salad over and over--as long as these peaches are in season.

Study in Brown

1: Brown t-shirt clad Juliet squinting in the sun at the Olympic Sculpture Park on Friday afternoon.
2:Sculpture (Schubert Sonata) also at OSP.
3: Big, sweet, brown dog waiting for his owner outside of Alki Bakery on Saturday morning. When I first looked at him, I swear he smiled at me...and wagged his tail ever so slightly. In just a matter of seconds, I developed a huge crush on this dog. He really got to me--with his charm, rugged good looks and nice manners. (No barking, whining or jumping.)

The Passion of the Flower

Another shot from Saturday morning. This was a rare opportunity. These flowers are so three-dimensional that it's sometimes hard to get a decent shot with a macro lens. But this particular bloom had three things going for it: a) Growing well over it's trellis, so I had easy access, b) only about 4 feet from the ground and c) allowed me this great angle for the shot.

Friday Afternoon, Meet Saturday Morning...

I took the first picture on Friday afternoon--an art glass bowl in the window of Fox's on 5th Avenue. I took a picture of this flower (zinnia? marigold?) on my walk on Saturday morning. When I was scrolling through my photos Saturday afternoon, I discovered that I really liked these two paired together.

Lambretta

This is one of Mike's "new" old scooters. (The other is a Vespa.) He picked up Juliet on Saturday morning and they rode off into the rest of their day...

I Will Play A Song For You...

Another classic piece of thrift store art. Did I want her hanging in our house? No. Did I want her on my blog? Definitely!

More Lilies

I'm not sure how you're just supposed to walk past these and not take a picture (or in this case, two).

Two Thumbs Up

That's what we all give Mike and Juliet's new house. Once Juliet gets her room set up the way she wants it, I'll get some pictures of that too...