Wallingford, Seattle

Late Spring Flower ID

If you were looking for something positive regarding our cold spring, the slow start means the bright, hopeful spring green foliage lingers. Some trees haven't leafed out, apparently having trouble deciding, leaving more light for the plants in bloom. Also, it seems like the early bloomers are lasting longer in this refrigerator-like climate. Here’s another installment of flower ID, helping you get to know the flowers growing around Wallingford. I hope you enjoy it! The electric blue of Ceanothus (California lilac)…

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Wallingford Treehouses

A tree house. Is there anything that more perfectly embodies the dream of the ideal childhood? Nestled high in branches, like a castle in the clouds, insulated by dozen of feet of height from the reach of authority, leaving an overalled, dirt-smudged child free to dream and scheme. We have spent close to twenty years refining our little Wallingford craftsmen to be the home we want, but there's always been a sad lacuna. Without a sizeable tree on our property, we…

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Chase Bank gets tagged

Earlier today, a group of demonstrators converged on the corner of 45th and Meridian, in front of Chase Bank, holding a large banner that read: BANKsters: They Get The GOLDMINE We Get The SHAFT! The demonstrators dispersed by the time we made it up there, but someone in the Twitterverse posted a picture here: http://twitpic.com/50ot2p Reader Luna sent us some pictures of the chalked epitaphs that were temporarily left behind, and we've put them in a slideshow below (folks on phones…

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Wallingford Rapture Survival Guide

It was just last May, this very weekend actually, that Mary Heim and a network of volunteer HAM radio operators tested the emergency communication network.  And I’m so glad they did!  Because we might need their help today. If you haven’t yet heard, the Rapture could happen on Saturday, May 21st.  By “Rapture” I mean the really scary end of times, the last days of the Antichrist, depicted in films like A Thief in the Night (1972).  Which I saw in…

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Adios, Selena’s

We just heard from Kara Ceriello of Not a Number that Selena's Guadalajara is leaving Wallingford, and TOMORROW may be their very last day.  Kara wrote: They're all done here in Wallingford by the end of the month - I announced this at yesterday's chamber meeting, to loud gasps - and we just heard they may have decided that TOMORROW, Saturday, is their very last day! Then, to make matters worse, she told us about an incident that happened this afternoon,…

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Walking Tour Seeks Beekeepers

Wallingford Walks is a monthly tour of bits of Wallingford: solar homes, interesting gardens and the like. Last year, our own little backyard was a stop on the Birds, Bees and Goats tour, featuring backyard chicken coops, beehives and...whatever you call the place where goats live. It was great fun, but unfortunately, this year, we'll be out of town for the Birds, Bees and Goats reprise, and can't host the bee hive portion of the our. Thus, the purpose of this…

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Joy-Riding in Wallingford

Rob Ketcherside and Seattlest has some interesting facts on the 45th Street Clinic, which was originally a police precinct and fire station. Hop over to Seattlest to learn more, including the reason behind Fire Chief Stetson's quote to City Councilman Goddard in 1912: "Just what is your definition of a joy-rider? I don't get drunk and I am not a drinking man. I will show you whether I am a joy-rider or not." Alrighty then!  

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