Holiday House in Ballard

Apropos of nothing except holiday loveliness, here are some photos from a friend's Christmas party in Ballard last night.

















And while we're off the topics of gardening and the South End, here are a few photos of my 17-year-old Abysinnian cat who lives up in Wedgwood (I ceded custody of him years ago).

SPD to 36 Riders: "Plan Ahead to Minimize Waiting Time"

This article in the latest Beacon Hill News made me giggle.

In reference to the recent spate of sexual attacks on female, Asian Beacon Hill bus riders, Seattle South Precinct community liaison Mark Solomon listed some tips on how to stay safe on the bus, and this one topped the list:

Keep bus schedules of frequently traveled routes and plan ahead to minimize waiting time.

As anyone who relies on the 36 knows, the schedule has nothing to do with anything. The bus is packed all day long, and it comes when it comes, and you should consider yourself lucky if it doesn't just pass you by because it's too full.

Hangar Cafe on a Sunny December Morning

This morning we went to Hangar Cafe for the first time since it reopened.





I've actually been avoiding going there because I've heard it's so good. The last thing I need is a crepe habit.

Arturo ordered the pumpkin waffle and I dared to try the reportedly addictive ham and cheese crepe.

I'd guess that's Justin, the owner, working on my crepe. I feel kind of stalkerish taking these photos without introducing myself. But I also feel it would be presumptuous to introduce myself, even though we've exchanged e-mails. I guess I'm just shy, basically.



(OK, here's a sort-of funny story about feeling like a stalker. I was recently standing in line at Pallino in the Columbia Center, and I recognized the guy behind me, and I said hi, as if we knew each other. Then one second later I was mortified to realize I'd just said hi to Seattle councilmember-elect Tim Burgess, who I've corresponded with over e-mail but of course don't actually know. But he's very nice, and he said hi back. I later e-mailed him to clear up any confusion, and he was again very nice in his response and said that next time I see him we should actually converse. You got it, Tim. I'm sure I'll see you again, as we'll be working across the street from each other. Maybe I'll give you the lowdown on what's hot and what's not in the Columbia Center food court.)

OK, back to Georgetown and the waffle and the crepe.



They were both phenomenal.



Then we saw our neighbor Lisa Marie and her cute kids.





And I realized, though it's been obvious for a long time, that THIS is my neighborhood. This is the neighborhood where I can go and run into people who live on my block. I think Hangar Cafe is closer to us than Galaxie.

Shortly after breakfast I met the wonderful owners of Georgetown Tile Works, and I found out that they live on Beacon Hill too. And I've e-mailed the future owner of Full Throttle Bottles, and she says she lives down in Skyway. Thank you, Georgetown, for welcoming those of us from other parts of the South End.

I do care about Beacon Hill (even though I haven't returned any of the e-mails or later comments from my last Beacon Hill post, and I did not testify about Jefferson Park on Thursday -- I'm sorry, I've been too busy with other stuff), but I think I'll survive if we never get a restaurant with decent lighting and a wine list. Or a pizza place. Or a burger joint with some nice beers on tap. Because we have Georgetown, and it has all of those things, and more.

Our Yard Is Looking Weed-Free

Because it's snowing in Seattle this afternoon.







A good day to stay inside and play with kitties.







Or go outside and eat snow.

Kubota Garden

Kubota Garden is an old Japanese garden here in South Seattle. It's huge, it's free, it's in a bad neighborhood. It's supposedly haunted. Everything about it is unlikely.



From the garden's website:

In 1927 Fujitaro Kubota bought five acres of logged-off swampland in the Rainier Beach neighborhood of Seattle and began his garden. A 1907 emigrant from the Japanese Island of Shikoku, he established the Kubota Gardening Company in 1923. Fujitaro was a man with a dream. Entirely self-taught as a gardener, he wanted to display the beauty of the Northwest in a Japanese manner and was soon designing and installing gardens throughout the Seattle area.

Enough talk. Let's look.

Full Throttle Bottles Coming to Georgetown

This just in from Seattle Weekly's food blog, by way of The Paper Noose.

Georgetown will soon be home to Full Throttle Bottles, which the Weekly says will be a beer and wine shop in the old Georgetown racetrack stable on Airport Way. (I don't know which building that is.)

I like beer. I like wine. Especially French Sauvignon Blancs, hint hint, Full Throttle Bottles!

Offbeat Homes

In case any Offbeat Homes readers come to this blog after reading about it in Jennifer's super-nice post, I want to point you to some old posts you might be interested in. This blog is a badly tagged mish-mash of neighborhood items, photo essays about plants and drinks, and personal diatribes, and you might not otherwise find the good stuff.

(An aside to everyone else: I've been really busy with work lately and will continue to be busy through Christmas, so I haven't had much time/energy for fun stuff, like stalking local gardening celebrities or attending Hangar Cafe's grand opening party last night. I promise to return to my paparazzi party-crashing ways in January.)

Anyway, here's a list of some posts with lots of photos of offbeat homes and other cool spaces:

1. Dick and Jane's Spot in Ellensburg, Washington. A cool couple's crazy art yard.



2. Rich Art's Yard in Centralia, Washington. An even cooler dude's even crazier art yard.



3. Bridge Motel in Seattle, Washington. Some artists threw a party at a soon-to-be-demolished motel on the old interstate in Seattle.



4. The Brew House section of the old Rainier Cold Storage complex in Seattle, Washington. A beautiful turn-of-the-century brewery structure that will soon be renovated.



5. Little & Lewis's Garden Art Gallery on Bainbridge Island, Washington.



6. My artist friends' awesome house here in Seattle.



Thanks for visiting!