November Garden Bloom Day

Garden bloggers are supposed to take pictures of the blossoms in their yards on the 15th of each month. This isn't really a garden blog (and I prefer foliage to blooms), but I recently rewrote the explanation for this blog so it could cover anything:

"This is a personal neighborhood photo blog about the areas surrounding Mid Beacon Hill in South Seattle, and about other things I see, like, and do."

So here are photos of plants in my Mid Beacon Hill yard on Bloom Day.

Royal purple smoke tree, genus name Cotinus.



Viburnum, an evergreen. It would develop metallic blue berries if it ever got pollinated by a mate plant. I should get it one. I want everyone to be happy here.



I should bring these succulents in for the winter, but I doubt that I will. They'll probably come back anyway.





Raspberries in mid-November. I was surprised.



A couple of Ceanothus "Julia Phelps" blooms.



Ceanothus "Point Reyes."



Some beautiful little sedum.



Donkey tail Euphorbia.



"Angelina," the most thuggish of all the sedums.



Eucalyptus.



I haven't weeded in months, and it shows.



Beautyberry. (Callicarpia?)



Rosemary.



Speaking of plants, I went to a birthday party at a plant store last night.

First I drank aquavit at the Copper Gate in Ballard.



Arthur told us about a funny YouTube video that I still haven't looked up yet. He told us to search for "judas priest shreds." It must be this.





OK, anyway, the party was at the Palm Room on Ballard Avenue.





They had lots of gorgeous air plants.



And a big gray cat.



We got there early, before anyone else. Except the man of the hour.



We drank Sangiovese until midnight then went home.

Grown Folks Coffeehouse Menu

I've only visited Grown Folks once, for a decaf latte right after they opened. I don't think they were serving meals at the time.

But now that I've heard wonderful things about their salad, and I see they have two soups daily plus custom sandwiches, well, I better go there for food soon. You should too.

See their menus and other info at the Grown Folks website.

Another Reason to Hit Calamity Jane's Happy Hour

(Besides the great food and drink menu.)



The light in there is fantastic at that time of day at this time of year.





Calamity Jane's happy hour is Monday through Saturday, 3 to 6 p.m.

Carleton Market

I checked out the open house at the new Carleton Market in Georgetown today.



If you like what you see here, pay them a visit on the corner of Carleton and Warsaw. Their for-sure hours are 4 to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, with possible additional hours to be announced later.

This liquor license belonged to the old Country Inn roadhouse, which occupied this building a hundred years ago.



The roadhouse became a grocery in 1911.



According to the Friends of Georgetown History, "Ghost hunters gave identified several spirits residing in this building, including a Mediterranean-looking man in a white apron who haunts the storefront, and a prostitute who leans out of a second-story window."

Not only does this place have a better story than the AM/PM, it has better food too.



I know an actual Swiss person who buys this brand of fondue. It's good.









I was a little disappointed that I didn't see any Cherry Garcia frozen yogurt.



So I added that request to their already varied list.



I'd go to Full Throttle Bottles for my bubbly, but they do have some champagne on hand if while shopping you suddenly decide you need to celebrate something.





They also have some wine and beer. (They don't carry malt liquor, but Duvel's a quick drunk with its 8.5% alcohol content.)





They also have some South Park beers.



Today they sampled some of their selection (not of alcohol, unfortunately) for the neighbors.













The Carleton Avenue Grocery is located on the corner of Carleton and
Warsaw, just south of the Hat & Boots (Oxbow) Park.

Cheap Seattle: Nordic Heritage Museum

This post has absolutely nothing to do with South Seattle. It's just a bunch of snapshots from Ballard's Nordic Heritage Museum, "the only museum in the United States to honor the legacy of immigrants from the five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden." I paid a visit on Friday because I'm still on maternity leave and have nothing better to do than to act like a tourist in my own city.

The museum is full of life-size dioramas depicting life in old Ballard and other Scandinavian immigrant communities.





























The sauna exhibit in the Finland room:



I inadvertently dressed on-brand for the trip, in a skirt from Finland. It's not Marimekko, but some other brand they sell at Tuuli downtown. I love this print and these colors.



While I did enjoy the dioramas and the current photography exhibit, I wished the museum devoted more space to showcase modern design in Scandinavia, which is home to some of the world's best printmakers, textile designers, glass artists, and furniture makers. (The seating area did have some pieces from Ikea, though.)

The Nordic Heritage Museum is located at 3014 NW 67th Street in Seattle. Museum hours are 10am - 4pm Tuesday-Saturday and 12pm - 4pm Sunday. Adult admission is $6.

Oh, hey, while I'm totally off the topic of South Seattle, I'll add these shots of the Rendezvous in Belltown, where I had a couple of my five (?) vodka sodas last night.