Catching Up

Once again I am not getting nearly as much done over the summer as one (i.e. I) might hope. One of my goals for the summer was to not be upset with myself when I didn't get things done that I wanted to. So, I am learning Something as the years pass. Since one of the things I wanted to do was start a Blog, I guess I managed that, but it won't be much good if all I do is Start it, then never write anything. SO, where were we?



Ah, yes, Port Townsend. It was really cute. Do NOT eat at the Lighthouse Cafe. It was the worst service and, can you believe it, Horrible [if you know Helen, say it like her "It was Ho(a)rrible!] French toast. There are other good restaurants though such as the Fountain Cafe, as well as a brew pub with great calamari, an artisanal bakery (Pane D'Amore) and good coffee (Tyler St. Cafe). Be sure to go Uptown and see the only 19th century wooden fire bell tower known in the U.S. and the beautiful old houses. Of course I had to visit the two little yarn shops. At the Twisted Ewe I bought a Della Q silk project bag for 50% off and 50g of "jarbo garn" (did she say it's Swedish?) merino roving in bright reds and oranges for a "hunting season" sweater concept I have in mind. At Diva Yarn and Trim I bought some short lengths of blues and peaches for a kumihimo cord I want to make for a fancy lampshade. Why didn't I photograph these?

Believe it or not, the real reason we were there had nothing to do with fiber! South of PT there's a family run business called the Wood Well which sells wood for instruments. It's mostly for electric guitars (!?), but they had a few bass "billets" as they're called (there, you learned something). We loaded up the truck with enough for about 3 more basses. Thanks Matthew, Sarah, et al!


On July 30th we headed for Seattle. We made it about 2 miles before I made seth stop at a The Swiss Lavender farm. It was lovely. The little shop even had a green (i.e. living) roof.































We dawdled on down to Bainbridge Island and took the ferry to Seattle. This is one of our favorite ferries becasue my sister Jean used to live on Bainbridge, so it's familiar and nostalgic. There was some wierd navy battle ship/Coast Guard endeavor to waste gas as several big Navy ships and little CG boats went around in circles in the harbor. After some yummy fried clams at Ivar's Acres of Clams we drove to Hammond Ashley Violins in Issaquah, where they gave Seth really good reviews on his new bass and agreed to sell it on consignment!





After a fun night eating fancy Tex-Mex in Redmond (I can't remember the name of the restaurant) and watching Batman Begins on my brother-in-law Jason's new home theater style TV set-up, we headed south again.

We only drove to Portland, and we spent a quiet anniversary night in the Ace Hotel which used to be the Clyde Hotel. It's a lot more expensive now, but still fun with a photo booth in the lobby, painted murals in the rooms, and great crazy nouveau food and stellar cocktails in the restaurant (Clyde Commons). Although it's much spiffier (more spiffy?) now, the hotel retains all of its historic charm, including the Cuban mahogany paneling in the lobby. We went to Powell's Books (larger than a block, independently owned, new and used books) saw a fun Audrey Tatou movie at the Living Room Theaters (small theaters with big comfy couch-like seats and tables for your cocktails or coffee/tea) across the street, & took our photos in the booth.



These are the pictures on the wall of our room.

I'll give it a rest now.

I did finish the sweater for the wedding though! If you're a Raveler you can see it from the link to my prjects.