Vacation Day Three
A little tour of the neighbor.
This is my brother's house. It is in the Wallingsford district of Seattle. He house was built in 1918. It is a box car style house which means it is long and narrow. Two bedrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, and a basement. My brother is in the process of converting the basement into a room for my nephew. The bathroom is mostly in, but much work need to be done. After that project is completed, he intends to remodel the kitchen. Pretty cool, eh?
Gargoyles greet you as you walk up the steps.
The streets are very narrow here. Also, notice that you can park in any direction on either side of the street. You need a permit to park on the west side between the hours of 5pm and Midnight. At the end of the street is the park with the community garden. Behind me is NW45th Street. Lots of lovely businesses line the street, all within walking distance.
Stephen and I went for a long walk yesterday morning. I noticed that every street seems to be very busy. Tiny stores and business dot each neighborhood. All the sidewalks are well worn with cracks and lifted by the trees that line the parkways. Very few people have lawns. Most use what space they had to plant scrubs, flowers, plants that produce edibles, and trees.
Even with as much traffic that is in the Main Street, it is pretty quiet here.
So, these are Washington strawberries. They are much smaller than our California strawberries and also much sweeter. I am using them in my breakfast and thinking about baking a short cake to share with me family.
I did some shopping yesterday. Picked up some socks from the local sock store. Yes, all she sells in this store is pretty much socks. Stop at Starbucks for a city cups. Went to Trophy cupcakery, didn't buy any thing. Then it was back home to look up some of the local quilt stores. I went out with much trepidation as I knew as soon as I moved my car that my spot on the street would be lost and sure enough, as soon as I pulled out, someone pulled in. Fortunately, since my brother and sister-in-law both take the bus to work, I can park in front of their garage.
Went to Ballard to visit the Quilt Loft. This is a lovely store. Not super huge, but had a good selection of fabrics. And yes, of course, I bought some. I had a lovely conversation with the shop keepers. Unlike my first trip to Seattle, no one is looking funny at me because I am from California. They like that I brought the sun with me. I wanted rain...sigh...
Then I headed to Queen Anne (both Ballard and Queen Anne are districts of Seattle) to a small shop calls Nancy's Sewing Basket, which has been in the same location for over 35 years. It is a small shop that is more your traditional fabric store than a quilt shop. I got a couple more pieces of fabric here also.
Returned home shortly before the family, had a casual meal, worked some on the quilt I brought with me, and had some pleasant conversations with my family.
I haven't decided what to do today, as it is going to be HOT! Yes, 89 - 91 degrees! I am thinking that Rainier may be calling to me...