This picture shows not much as it was hastily composed. What I thought was a crane has disappeared, so I’m not sure what that’s all about. There are also signs saying who is building it, but no picture yet.
Category: Structures
Chartreuse stripes
My walk to the train was a bit greener today.
Watching a crane on a block.
The most wonderful time of the year.
There’s a Christmas song that purports that Christmas time is the most wonderful time of the year. I enjoy Christmas, but that holiday is a lot of work. MY favorite time of the year is when my tax return comes.
I ignore all the financial advice in books and have the government withhold more than they should to ensure I get a good refund. I know that I could do a savings program of my own, but quite frankly, interest rates are pretty much non-existent so it’s not like I’m losing much interest. And it’s just more fun to get a huge chunk of cash at once. I use it to put aside money for Christmas and the meat purchase and I buy big-ticket things I’ve been needing which usually means a pair of shoes. And then I buy big-ticket things I’ve been wanting. This year: Knife sharpening kit.
Also: potato ricer. In this case I riced the last of the potatoes I grew into mashed potatoes for Easter dinner. The cookies were the Easter Bunny treats for everyone.
Watching a block returns.
When we last left our block, the liquor store was still standing. That was in September of 2009. After they took down the liquor store, nothing happened. Weeds grew, it was very unsightly, there was a newspaper article published about how the people who now own the block lost their financing, but were going to turn the block into a park while they waited for things to improve. This was a nice story, but the park did not come to pass as we spent two years looking at the weeds grow behind a flimsy fence.
But it’s a new day. Things are happening. There is a construction trailer on the block and heavy machinery is beginning to move in. We will keep a watch on what develops.
If you are thinking of moving to Portland…
It’s time for the annual winter warning picture. If you can’t stand constant grey and rain for months on end. If you can’t stand rain so heavy it destroys the grass over the winter. If you can’t stand walking around in wet socks all day because your shoes have sprung a leak, then don’t, by all means, move to Portland.
However, if you delight in the green the constant rain produces, come and join us. Ferns in trees are magical.
In like a Lion
Yep-per. No snow all winter and then BAM! Snow on the first of March. I took this picture and then headed straight back to bed because we had a two-hour delay.
On my way to school I marveled at the hills. The snow on the evergreens shining in the sun made a cheery winter picture. Even though it was March.
Paul and blue skies
Grey skies all around with a just a bit of blue peeking through at Paul.
Mississippi corner
It looks like something is in the works here, as the run-down taco stand that used to mark this corner is now missing. So here’s a picture of what it used to look like, for that future date when it doesn’t look like this anymore.
What could it be?
Sunday Walk
I wanted to get out of the house today and the sun was also about, so on a walk I went. I stopped to take pictures of a lot/house I’ve always had my eye on. It’s been unoccupied for some time, and I suspect that it will be torn down soon and several houses will be built in its place. I had the idea to put a tiny house in this corner, rent out the bigger house and use the rest of the lot for an expansive garden, but I am lacking the capital to do any of those things. So here are some pictures instead.
From the alley corner. There was a large hedge along the alleyway which has been cut down. This was my first clue that perhaps this lot is due for some changes. In my world, the backyard would have the bulk of the garden beds. Where that shed is would be the tiny house.
Side yard. In my plan that parking would be severely reduced and berries would be planted along this side of the house.
From the front. I would remove the beech tree and a lot of the overgrown foundation plantings and put in an edible, permaculture landscape in the front yard.
As someone who gardens in a small space and thus needs access to all the sunlight I can get, I’m not the biggest fan of planting Douglas Firs in residential backyards. Aside from the sun issue, in most cases their height is out of scale with the house, the yard, and in general with the neighborhood. However, on this street of storybook houses, I love the effect of the Douglas Firs planted behind the houses. It completes the “enchanted forest” effect.
Here’s a nice house with a good-sized yard. Both need a bit of tending.
But look at those great shingles!
Closeup!
My walk took me to Killingsworth, a street I enjoy because it hasn’t much gentrified. In places, it reminds me a bit of the South Boston I lived in during the late 90s. Of course, I never came across the likes of the Jubilee Tabernacle in South Boston, but I delight in its presence here.
Full view of the Jubilee Tabernacle.
See? Gifts with Style? How could I not love Killingsworth?
Finding myself hungry, I ate at the Saraveza Bottle Shop and Pasty Tavern. I had a pasty and soup and went along with the regulars and had some beer. They were having a Valentine’s-themed tasting and I greatly enjoyed my choice of a Cherry Farmers Beer whose name escapes me. Oh wait, they have helpfully listed it on the web site. It was: Upright’s “Blend Edmunds” Cherry Farmhouse“Barrel aged wheaten ‘Four’ with tart cherries & barrel aged ‘Six’ with dark sweet cherries” Right. What they said. It was good. I enjoyed it.
Light-headed from the beer, I wandered over to the Max stop and rode home.