It took longer than we thought to put a coat of paint on the baby's room, so we barely made it to the Beacon Hill Festival before it closed.
The silent auction was pretty quiet.
The gym was livelier, with the last dance performance of the day, by the Jefferson Community Center Breakdancers.
Outside they were serving burgers.
So I got one.
Rosso Nursery had a stand there.
Someone bought some Ceanothus from them, as I did a couple years back.
Coincidentally, we're painting the baby's room a similar color to this. We're having a girl, and we chose blue for her room. Not to be contrary or anything -- I just couldn't imagine hanging out in a pink, yellow, or green room. Plus, I think the cool blue will look great next to the orange-ish oak floor.
Does this seem harsh or reasonable? I can't decide.
After the festival, we went looking for a new dresser. Me looking pregnant at Chartreuse.
And at Inform.
We didn't find a dresser. But we did finish the last coat of paint in the room.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Beacon Hill Festival Today
Stop by the Jefferson Community Center between 11 and 4 today for the Beacon Hill Festival. I'll try to stop by and post some photos later if I finish my housepainting project in time.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
You Have Until 6/11 to Comment on the Christian Restoration Center
You have about a week left to make public comments about traffic, parking, and environmental issues related to the development at the Christian Restoration Center. There will be at least one more design review meeting later on, but this is your one and only shot at raising concerns specifically related to traffic, parking, and other environmental issues associated with this large-scale project.
Submit your comments here: http://web1.seattle.gov/dpd/luib/Notice.aspx?BID=319&NID=8153.
From a neighbor's e-mail about the situation:
And here's the DPD's e-mail about it:
Here's one neighbor's review of the design meeting from a few months ago.
Here's a link to a Stranger blog post about the project.
And you should really check out this big long picture-filled PDF with architect plans for the space. You'll find sketches like this one, their "Scheme 2" proposal:
Submit your comments here: http://web1.seattle.gov/dpd/luib/Notice.aspx?BID=319&NID=8153.
From a neighbor's e-mail about the situation:
As some of you may have noticed, the white sign is up at the former Christian Restoration Center building on 15th Ave, indicating the start of the 14-day public comment period (you may have also gotten a letter from the Seattle Dept. of Planning and Development regarding this). Based on what the DPD project manager told me (see below), we have until June 11 to comment on traffic, parking, and environmental issues from the project. This is the public's only chance to do so. At the prior meeting in March, it was clear that many in the neighborhood, while pleased with the general direction of the project, are concerned about the potential traffic congestion and parking problems from such a large complex, particularly at the bottleneck turning off 15th Ave S onto S Oregon St. Please let the DPD know your opinions by going to the following DPD link: http://web1.seattle.gov/dpd/luib/Notice.aspx?BID=319&NID=8153.
And here's the DPD's e-mail about it:
The process will proceed as follows (give or take!):
*Report of the meeting will be published and sent to all that attended the Early Design Guidance meeting, 3/11;
*The applicants will move forward to MUP stage and submit full plan sets and a design package that responds to the Board's guidance from the 3/11 meeting. A two week public comment period will open when the MUP application is accepted by DPD, which is when the public will have an opportunity to comment on traffic, parking, and environmental issues relative to the project. Notice of application will be posted on DPD LUIB website, and residents within 300 feet of the project will be mailed the notice and alerted that they may then comment on the proposal, http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Notices/Land_Use_Information_Bulletin/;
*The project will go to the Design Review Board once again (perhaps two more times, depending on the response to earlier guidance), and the public will have another chance to meet with the applicant and Board to see the progress of overall design;
*The Board will make final recommendations for the project and the applicant will be expected to address those recommendations;
*The entire process could take up to another 10 months or so, and as a recap will entail one public comment period and one more public meeting.
Feel free to stay in touch for status updates. I'm in the office M-F, 6:30-4:00 p.m., off every other M.
Best,
Catherine
----------------------------------------------
Catherine McCoy, Land Use Planner
Seattle Department of Planning and Development
700 5th Ave Suite 2000
PO Box 34019
Seattle WA 98124-4019
Phone: (206) 684-0532
Fax: (206) 233-7902
catherine.mccoy@seattle.gov
www.seattle.gov/dpd
Here's one neighbor's review of the design meeting from a few months ago.
Here's a link to a Stranger blog post about the project.
And you should really check out this big long picture-filled PDF with architect plans for the space. You'll find sketches like this one, their "Scheme 2" proposal:
Coffee for El Centro de la Raza
The Beacon Hill ("Hilltop") Red Apple is selling coffee to benefit El Centro de la Raza. For every 12-ounce bag you buy, $1 goes to the Beacon Hill-based Latino support organization.
And it's good!
Learn more about El Centro de la Raza here.
And it's good!
Learn more about El Centro de la Raza here.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Saying Goodbye to 30,000 Honeybees
As I mentioned in the last post, Thursday night we discovered a swarm of honeybees in the plum tree in our backyard. The night was warm, so half of them were still out and about, but the other half were home, protecting their queen. Again, here's a picture of the solid ball of bees, all settled on top of each other.
We looked up resources for honeybee removal and called Jerry the Bee Guy, who would take them for free and find a good home for them. In fact, he was available the very next morning (by which time the ball of bees was twice as large).
He said he didn't used to wear his protective hat when collecting swarms because honeybees in this state are usually very docile. But once in a while he'd run into a genetically aggressive bunch, so now he wears his gear, just in case.
He told us that the swarm, like all swarms, was in transit, and it wasn't likely to stay in our plum tree very long. Honeybees prefer more sheltered spaces, like a hollowed-out tree or a nice warm attic. The queen bee had just stopped to rest while worker bees scouted out potential homes. If they had taken up residence in someone's attic and started a hive, it probably would have damaged the house. It also would have been much harder to remove them, and they may have ended up getting destroyed.
So I felt OK about them getting vacuumed up into Jerry's water cooler jugs. He's either going to take them to his own apiary in Monroe, or sell them to another apiary. He said these seemed like very nice bees.
One of the jugs.
The other jug.
He told us that this swarm -- which he calculated at 30,000 strong, a very healthy-sized swarm -- recently started from an established hive somewhere within two miles. The hive had developed a second queen bee, so the first one needed to leave, taking one-third to one-half of the hive with her.
When Jerry was done vacuuming, he said he thought he'd collected 99.7% of the honeybees. And he said the stragglers would likely return to the original hive, where they would be welcomed back, despite their traitorous ways.
Unfortunately, he wasn't absolutely positive that he collected the queen, or that she would have survived the vacuum process. She's very fragile now, with a heavy abdomen swollen up with eggs. He told me he'd know in a couple days and that I could check in with him to find out what happened.
So I e-mailed him this morning, and we're still not sure, but things are looking good so far:
"I plan to open the box today when it gets a little warmer. It looks like a GREAT swarm so far. When I put them in the box here they displayed all the signs of the queen being present, so I have high hopes for this colony. I'll let you know when I have confirmed my guess."
And I'll let you know when he does.
Update. Heard from Jerry:
"I found the queen today....she's a nice, fat, healthy lady. I also got an email this morning from a beekeeper friend who has lost a colony, so I am going to pass this swarm colony on to her. The timing was good and everyone will be happy, including the bees. Thanks for calling me to get the swarm."
Unrelated P.S. Congratulations to my friend Phyllis Fletcher, who last night won a first-place regional Society of Professional Journalists award for this NPR story about the NCAA.
We looked up resources for honeybee removal and called Jerry the Bee Guy, who would take them for free and find a good home for them. In fact, he was available the very next morning (by which time the ball of bees was twice as large).
He said he didn't used to wear his protective hat when collecting swarms because honeybees in this state are usually very docile. But once in a while he'd run into a genetically aggressive bunch, so now he wears his gear, just in case.
He told us that the swarm, like all swarms, was in transit, and it wasn't likely to stay in our plum tree very long. Honeybees prefer more sheltered spaces, like a hollowed-out tree or a nice warm attic. The queen bee had just stopped to rest while worker bees scouted out potential homes. If they had taken up residence in someone's attic and started a hive, it probably would have damaged the house. It also would have been much harder to remove them, and they may have ended up getting destroyed.
So I felt OK about them getting vacuumed up into Jerry's water cooler jugs. He's either going to take them to his own apiary in Monroe, or sell them to another apiary. He said these seemed like very nice bees.
One of the jugs.
The other jug.
He told us that this swarm -- which he calculated at 30,000 strong, a very healthy-sized swarm -- recently started from an established hive somewhere within two miles. The hive had developed a second queen bee, so the first one needed to leave, taking one-third to one-half of the hive with her.
When Jerry was done vacuuming, he said he thought he'd collected 99.7% of the honeybees. And he said the stragglers would likely return to the original hive, where they would be welcomed back, despite their traitorous ways.
Unfortunately, he wasn't absolutely positive that he collected the queen, or that she would have survived the vacuum process. She's very fragile now, with a heavy abdomen swollen up with eggs. He told me he'd know in a couple days and that I could check in with him to find out what happened.
So I e-mailed him this morning, and we're still not sure, but things are looking good so far:
"I plan to open the box today when it gets a little warmer. It looks like a GREAT swarm so far. When I put them in the box here they displayed all the signs of the queen being present, so I have high hopes for this colony. I'll let you know when I have confirmed my guess."
And I'll let you know when he does.
Update. Heard from Jerry:
"I found the queen today....she's a nice, fat, healthy lady. I also got an email this morning from a beekeeper friend who has lost a colony, so I am going to pass this swarm colony on to her. The timing was good and everyone will be happy, including the bees. Thanks for calling me to get the swarm."
Unrelated P.S. Congratulations to my friend Phyllis Fletcher, who last night won a first-place regional Society of Professional Journalists award for this NPR story about the NCAA.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Ceanothus and Honeybees
I'd been thinking about doing a post about Ceanothus in Seattle.
I would have included these two May 4 photos of the Ceanothus drift near University Village (which I posted before).
I probably would not have included this other shot of them with waning blooms on May 23.
I definitely would have included this May 22 shot of a Ceanothus a block from my friend Kim's new place on Capitol Hill.
And this closeup of it as well.
I would have tried to get better shots (with the good camera instead of the point-and-shoot) of my own Ceanothus plants around their peak (but really just starting to wane) on May 23.
But I decided not to because I felt that I did not take photos of many of the best Ceanothus plants this year. The ones you see when you're driving by and you take your eyes off the road too long and almost cause an accident.
Also, I never got any good shots of the incredible number of honeybees that swarm Ceanothus bushes, especially the ones in my backyard. A friend from Portland remarked on it this weekend. She said she had never seen so many honeybees in Portland. I told her that's why I couldn't do any weeding around them in May -- it would be like sticking my hand into a hive.
It didn't occur to me until tonight that they might actually live in the yard. Until a neighbor knocked on our door, very concerned about the bee swarm situation in the back of our yard. She wasn't sure if they were bees, wasps, yellow jackets, or what, but that they were scaring people and making a big racket.
So we went down there to investigate. What kind of insect makes a brown, bumpy-looking nest?
Oh, that's not a nest. That's a mass of honeybees crawling all over each other.
Cool!
I feel honored that they chose a home in our yard. But I don't want to freak the neighbors out. And if they established a hive there, it would be much more intrusive to them than to us.
So we're going to see if Jerry the Bee Guy can come down and find a good home for them.
Bye-bye, bees!
I would have included these two May 4 photos of the Ceanothus drift near University Village (which I posted before).
I probably would not have included this other shot of them with waning blooms on May 23.
I definitely would have included this May 22 shot of a Ceanothus a block from my friend Kim's new place on Capitol Hill.
And this closeup of it as well.
I would have tried to get better shots (with the good camera instead of the point-and-shoot) of my own Ceanothus plants around their peak (but really just starting to wane) on May 23.
But I decided not to because I felt that I did not take photos of many of the best Ceanothus plants this year. The ones you see when you're driving by and you take your eyes off the road too long and almost cause an accident.
Also, I never got any good shots of the incredible number of honeybees that swarm Ceanothus bushes, especially the ones in my backyard. A friend from Portland remarked on it this weekend. She said she had never seen so many honeybees in Portland. I told her that's why I couldn't do any weeding around them in May -- it would be like sticking my hand into a hive.
It didn't occur to me until tonight that they might actually live in the yard. Until a neighbor knocked on our door, very concerned about the bee swarm situation in the back of our yard. She wasn't sure if they were bees, wasps, yellow jackets, or what, but that they were scaring people and making a big racket.
So we went down there to investigate. What kind of insect makes a brown, bumpy-looking nest?
Oh, that's not a nest. That's a mass of honeybees crawling all over each other.
Cool!
I feel honored that they chose a home in our yard. But I don't want to freak the neighbors out. And if they established a hive there, it would be much more intrusive to them than to us.
So we're going to see if Jerry the Bee Guy can come down and find a good home for them.
Bye-bye, bees!
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