A rainy day at Harstene

We went down to Harstene this weekend. A sunny Saturday was spent nailing cedar 'shakes' (shingles) to the top of Raleigh's new woodshed, stacking wood in Ted's new woodshed (no brotherly rivalry there!), and swimming over to Squaxin and back with Sonia. It's about 1.5 miles round-trip but we took it very easily, with Karen and Trika escorting us admirably in inflatable kayaks.
Big old Watts family dinner on Saturday night at Bill and Mary's cabin 'next door'.
On Sunday, Trika had the idea to turn this old cast iron bath-tub into a fantastic, woodland hot-tub. She got the job of scrubbing rust (and mixing concrete).
Karen provided the levelling smarts - turning my holes and slushy concrete into a genuine platform. Note rain drops - it was chucking it down. More pix to follow after next weekend, when we'll hopefully lay the platform and get it working...

Ann's birthday...

On Wednesday, we went over to West Seattle, to the famous Salty's seafood restaurant to celebrate Ann's birthday. Huge portions and good fun.
Ted pushed the boat out with a 'friti martini' - a giant metallic Martini glass full of delicous fried foodstuffs. Only in America....

Up front about what's down under!

It's not all urban chic and scenic beauty here in Seattle. Here's a still from our sewer inspection DVD that Hydro Physics ("we're up front about what's down under") did for us today at 2223 N 44th. They even threw in some microwave popcorn. Hey, it may just be 147 feet of sewerage-packed piping, but it still beats US broadcast TV. You'll be pleased to hear that our tubes are largely root infiltration-free. Rest of the survey went well too - apparently it's a pretty sound old house. Hurrah!

Pizza-making on Mercer Island

Last night, we headed across I90 to Ky and Diana's for a lesson in pizzarology. They've recently installed a full-size real pizza oven, and we have been determined to get in there and sample it before they get thoroughly bored with all kinds of flat cheesy products. Great fun spinning dough, smearing ingredients and using the 'pil' to handle the pizzas. Mine: asparagus, roasted peppers, garlic. Karens: fully loaded pepperoni and mozarella.

This is Bryn (back) and Abbey (front), Ky and Diana's adorable little girls. You can just see my masterpiece in chalk, an orange bunny rabbit, in the top left corner.

Offer accepted!

Well, we've had an offer accepted on a house in Wallingford! It's a 1914 'Craftsman' style home with lots of lovely wooden details inside, distant views of downtown and the Space Needle (about 4 miles away) and a weirdly enormous driveway with room for two full-size fire engines. However, it does have vinyl (plastic!) siding...

Which is more than made up for by the fact that it has two (count 'em) chandeliers and a really lovely kitchen. You can see all about it here:
http://www.redfin.com/WA/Seattle/2223-N-44th-St-98103/home/118110
UPDATE - wow that was quick, they've taken the listing down! Still some info there though

Annette Lake hike

This is the stunningly beautiful Karen (and me) swimming in the stunningly beautiful Annette Lake, about 40 miles east of Seattle. We took a very sweaty hike up through the forest to reach it, and dived straight into its crystal clear (and almost ice cold) waters. Refreshing isn't the half of it. Despite 30+C temperatures at ground level, there was still a patch of snow on the shady side of the lake. Bart came too, in case you're wondering about the length of my arms for the photo above...

Emerald City Open Water 2008

On Saturday morning, I did the Emerald City open water swim with one of Karen's mates, Bart. It took place in the weedy but rather warm Lake Washington. I did the half mile swim, which was fine given my sporadic swimming schedule recently, but Bart did the full mile - impressively in less than twice the time it took me to do half (I managed around 17 mins, Bart was home in under 34!). It's a great location and only the ugly T-shirt disappointed....

More Oregonian fun

This is the White River in Eastern Oregon - a stunning cascade of waterfalls miles from anywhere and almost completely deserted. Kurt and Ginger thoughtfully provided us with inflatables and enthusiasm -we supplied slavish obedience and smiles.
This pool was surprisingly ferocious, with water rushing around like a washing machine. Fun jumping in - not quite so easy to get out again...
Karen and Ginger warming up
Indians fishing for salmon further down the river. Didn't catch any while we were looking, mind.
The next day, exploring the water-carved caves out at the Oregon coast, near Carson Beach.

Seafair - mad Navy weekend

I took a visit to the USS Princeton, a guided missile cruiser docked at Seattle as part of the crazy Seafair celebrations. Fascinating tour from a couple of teenage boys who are in charge of the world's largest nuclear weapon arsenal. Reassuring that they have to keep the hull clean, at least.

Goodbye Frank

Everyone look at Frank! Poor old Mr Big Paws was 14 years old and took a turn for the worse, with a large growth on his cheek. We went down to Portland to be there when he was put to sleep.


Night night, Frank. Good boy!

San Juan sailing - the scary day

Early in the day, when the increasing waves, stiffening wind and constant rocking motion were merely charming.

This is the day I earned my stripes. Raleigh took us across the Juan de Fuca Straits in a strong (23 knot) wind - 9 foot waves all round, two visits from the Coastguard (one in a helicopter). Along the way we lost: a bit of the sail, the American ensign from the back of the boat, my lunch. I was very ill but it was quite an exciting ride! Good to have a very civilised breakfast at Port Townsend the next day, with Caroline and her friends - and then a very smooth, sunny motoring back to Seattle.

San Juan sailing - the fun day

Here are some snaps from our San Juan trip with Trika. Top is where we 'gunk-holed' (weighed anchor) for the evening, Blind Island near Shaw Island - a lovely spot for a glass of wine at sunset. You can see the Ulithi, our boat, in the background. Then it's K and Trika on a very smelly spit of sand, and one of the pod of orcas we saw in the Rosario Strait - a really beautiful experience.

Right - only one pic at a time!

And here's a picture of Ted, halfway through building his enormous wood shed (it's big enough to sleep in!). He's a dab hand at the old carpentry....

Pictures from Harstene island

These are from our trip in July - we saw this Seawolf nuclear sub on the way over to Bremerton.

Here goes!

Hi everyone! This is my first blog entry to keep you up to date with our new life in Seattle. Here's our view from our new - and hopefully very temporary address - 210 Wall Street, Apt 2403, Seattle WA 98121, USA.

If it works OK, expect more very soon....