Friends of Ravenna Ravine work party this Saturday, with PLANTING!

October 7, 2010 by Leave a Comment

This Saturday, October 9th, is yet another regularly schedule Friends of Ravenna Ravine work party, but with a TWIST!

From the email:

We have about 80 shrubs to plant. Several kinds. Plants will be just beyond where the road crosses the creek up stream from the Kiosk. Plants are a surprise from parks we just heard about them last friday.

I’m sure they won’t mind if you rip out an invasive if you happen to see one, but what a treat! Planting!

Friends of Ravenna Ravine meets at the lower playfield at the kiosk in SE Ravenna Park, north of NE 55th St. and north of the ballfield. Check the Friends of Ravenna Ravine homepage for more information on these work parties.

Filed Under: Everything counts in large amounts

NE Library Firefighter Story Time: When you gotta go, you gotta go

October 6, 2010 by 5 Comments

Front grill of Engine 38 - THAT'S HOT

Firefighter Story Time at the Northeast Library (6801 35th Ave NE) yesterday had everything you’d ever want in a Firefighter Story Time: Lots of firefighters (one of which was in his FULL GEAR), a HUGE crowd of enthusiastic listeners, a good story highlighting fire safety, and ACTION.

Lieutenant Milton, Firefighter/Storyteller

The crew of Engine 38 treated a crowd of over 200 parents and kids to a reading of No Dragons for Tea: Fire Safety for Kids (and Dragons) by Jean E. Pendziwol.  But before he got too far into the story, Lieutenant Milton did warn the crowd about his pager:

If this thing goes ‘BEEP BEEP,’ we have to go.

We all laughed.

With so many eager listeners in the crowd, Lt. Milton had the rest of the crew spread out through the space with extra copies of the book so that everyone could see the pictures.

Firefighters Lt. Milton and John Paul Jones

Firefighter Becky Mathews turns the page.

Firefighter Dyer, not part of Engine 38's crew that day, was also on hand to help.

After the story, Firefighter Chris Hassel showed off his full firefighting ensemble.

Flash photography is NOT helping us out here, but still looks pretty cool. (Hassel on left, Lt. Milton on right)

A now helmeted and masked Hassel shows the crowd his position relative to a smoke-filled room.

At this point, the crew of Engine 30 headed outside to ready the truck for inspection.

Priority parking behind the library

Fire engine 38's cab section

One of many storage areas on the engine, opened up to reveal the equipment inside.

Doors to the engine’s cab were opened, and a multitude of storage areas were revealed all over the exterior of the engine.  Kids and parents filed out of the library and surrounded the engine and her crew.

Then Lt. Milton started to talk about the differences between fire engines and fire trucks, and how this engine hooks herself up to a hydrant,

This engine carries its own 500 gallons of water all the time! Neat!

and then we heard:

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Lt. Milton looks at his pager, says, “‘Motor vehicle accident.'” Pause. “We gotta go.”

“AWWWWWWW…” said the crowd.  What a bummer. But duty calls! What are you gonna do?!

The crew of Engine 38 rapidly closed up all the compartments and hopped in the cab as the crowd backed away to make room for the engine to head out.

Here’s a video of their all-too-soon departure:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7uxuTD-zT0&feature=player_embedded

I think the engine sounded really sad about leaving, don’t you?

But take heart, citizens of Northeast Seattle! There’s another opportunity to see a fire engine up close just this next week, as Firefighter Story Time heads to the Green Lake Library (7364 E Green Lake Dr N) on Wednesday, October 13 from 11:15-11:45am.

You can find the full schedule of Firefighter Story Times here, at the Seattle Fire Department Event Calendar page.

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EXTRA FIRE DEPARTMENT-RELATED TIDBIT: The NEW Fire Station 38 (across the street from the Sand Point Metropolitan Market) should be wrapping up construction around the end of December 2010. Stay tuned for open house dates, and information on how YOU could own the OLD Fire Station 38.

Filed Under: 911, Families, Kids, Northeast Branch, Northeast Seattle, Photos, Seattle Fire Department, Story Times, Video Tagged With: , , , ,

Picardo P-Patch Fundraiser Dinner – Eatin’ in the Rain

October 3, 2010 by 5 Comments

It was the evening of Friday, September 17th.  The sky was grey, the clouds were ominous, and the rain was ABUNDANT.  I think I saw Noah himself at one point, wandering through the garden, muttering about lumber and cubits.  But the 40 or so diners (and dozen or so volunteers) who came to the first ever Picardo P-Patch Fundraiser Dinner that night had a great time, regardless of the evening’s weather.

[Click on any of the following photos to view a larger version.]

No jacket and tie necessary, but savvy diners arrived clad in functional beauties like THESE.

The original plan for the event was that the wine tasting portion would be held over by the Garden Goddess statue (yeah, THAT Garden Goddess statue), but of course the Weather God had other plans.

Instead, a canopy tent was set up in between the tool barn and the permanent shelter area. Appetizers (tapas) were in the tool barn, wines for tasting were under the canopy tent, and the “dining room” was the shelter area. Diners didn’t get wet unless they strayed out from under cover, or happened to be standing in the small gap between the shelter and the tent. It made for a very cozy and intimate, if still damp, arrangement.

Gosh, I wonder where exactly the table bouquet flowers came from. I have a good guess.

Music and tapas in the tool shed. Kind of made me wish there were guitars in here all the time, along with the shovels and rakes and the like.

Here we have 3/4 of the evening’s vintners: From left to right – Milton Tam (Picardo gardener and winemaker), and Andy Shepherd and Tim Bates, 2/3 of Roosevelt’s Eight Bells Winery.  All three graciously donated some of their respective wines to the event.

Andy and Tim were pouring their 2008 syrah and 2009 chardonnay. Milton was pouring AT LEAST 6 different wines of his own making (2009 pinot gris, 2007 viognier, 2004 cabernet franc, 2001 cabernet, 2006 syrah and 2007 cabernet sauvignon).  There were also a few other wines from another Picardo winemaker available for tasting, including a blackberry wine and a plum wine.

The fund raising possibilities didn’t stop at the dinner ticket price: Bottles of Spanish wines were available to go back to the table with your plate of paella.

Quality control: That’s what separates the professionals from the amateurs.

Happy customers raise their glasses.

Sangria in the making!

Here we see (l-r) Composting Toilet Committee member David Atcheson, Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods P-Patch Supervisor Rich Macdonald, and gardener/bon vivant Milton Tam enjoying the wine and weather canopy.

This was the salad.  How anyone could devour such a beautiful thing, I cannot say.  But there were no leftovers whatsoever.

This is Jim Kuhn, the Paella King and Picardo gardener, at work on the main course. He’s very fast.

King Jim with wife, Queen Claudia, building Paella the Second.

I was not yet at the garden to witness the beginning of the paella (nor would I want to divulge any of Jim’s paella secrets, if there are any), but I did take a series of pictures as the final ingredients were layered in.

Hey, where’s the rice?

[time passes]

Ahh, there’s the rice!

His Royal Highness, adding tomatoes.

The final product, in Technicolor.

Time to dine.

Dinner, served.

It was at this point that the photographer (moi) tried a few bites of the paella (delicious!) before she had to tromp back through the now BLACK p-patch and head home.  A dessert buffet provided by Picardo gardeners closed out the meal.

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From the Ravenna Blog post of September 14th that advertised this first ever fundraiser dinner for the Picardo P-Patch:

Why a fundraiser dinner for the garden?  Well, mostly because of this beauty:

interior, wide

Have a seat!

It’s the Picaloo, Seattle’s first composting toilet (read about its grand opening back on Saturday, April 3rd here). This fundraiser dinner is designed to help retire the last of the composting toilet debt, as well as provide funds for other Picardo projects (among them: new hose holders and more blueberry plants).

Filed Under: Events, Food, Fundraiser, Photos, Picardo P-Patch, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

NE Library Story Times resume next week

September 30, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Story Times are back next week at the Northeast Library, and they start off in a BLAZE of glory*.

October is Fire Prevention Month, and Seattle firefighters are bringing the message to the kids with Firefighter Story Times, the first of which is being held at our Northeast Branch (6801 35th Avenue NE) on Tuesday, October 5th from 10:30-11am.

From the Seattle Public Library website:

The Seattle Public Library invites preschoolers, parents and caregivers to a special story time that highlights Fire Prevention Month.

Seattle firefighters will read books about fire safety and display some of their firefighting equipment.

Children’s Librarian Erica Delavan says that this is a rather popular event, so I would encourage interested families to get there on the early side and prepare for a crowded room.

Seattle Firefighters will be working their way to various Seattle Public Library branches throughout the month — check the Seattle Fire Department Event Calendar for more dates and locations.

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*Sorry. It’s the best I could do — I just couldn’t make ‘conflagration’ work.

Filed Under: Everything counts in large amounts

Welcome to Autumn (Officially)

September 22, 2010 by Leave a Comment

As of the very moment this post hits the interwebs (Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at 8:09 PDT*), it is officially AUTUMN.

Here are some pictures I took around the neighborhood to get you in the mood.

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*I am fairly sure of this time, but have never had a great grasp of the differences between UT, GMT, PDT and the like. What I DO know, is that when you wake up tomorrow (Thursday), the most direct rays of the sun will now be hitting the earth SOUTH of the equator. And your tomatoes will still be green, no matter WHAT YOU DO.

Filed Under: Everything counts in large amounts

CSA for Carnivores: Thundering Hooves (new Bryant delivery stop)

September 21, 2010 by 29 Comments

You live in Seattle, so I’m sure you’ve heard of Community-Supported Agriculture, or CSA. Simply put, you subscribe to a farm, and, on a regular basis, the farm delivers unto you a box of vegetal vittles that they have grown (or partnered with another farm to provide).

But what to do if you’re hankering for some animal protein to go with all that local and in-season veggie goodness?

Thundering Hooves has the answer.

Thundering Hooves is a fourth-generation family farm down in Walla Walla which raises, finishes, AND slaughters beef (100% grass-fed), lamb, goat, and pastured poultry. They also offer pork from hogs raised in their area under the same standards they’ve set for their own animals.

While they are CSA-like (you work directly with the farm to order products), Thundering Hooves (TH) is not going to put random parts of animals in a box and send it to you every week. “Surprise! It’s tongue for dinner!” will not be a problem (unless YOU want it to be).

Here’s how it works (for Seattle residents ordering à la carte, so to speak):

  1. Customers order online from TH’s product list (containing 119 different items, from beef cheeks to whole hogs);
  2. Each item ordered is ‘reserved’ to be delivered at the location of your choice (locations are listed in chronological order), and an estimate total is generated;
  3. A 7% delivery fee is added (maximum of $30) is added to cover fuel costs;
  4. On the chosen delivery date and time, simply show up to the chosen delivery date to pick up orders. Pay with cash or check (no cards yet, at this time). A reminder email is sent out a few days before the delivery date.

Final price is dependent on the final weight of the items (pork chops are like snowflakes, you know), which is only finally official at the time of delivery. I would suggest that those who pay in cash should bring along a little extra, just in case.

Thundering Hooves has been delivering in Seattle for while now, distributing orders at various pick-up sites on a monthly (four week) basis. There’s a Ravenna/Maple Leaf delivery location that neighborhood residents are already taking advantage of. AND, starting next month, a Bryant delivery location will be added to the list.

Sarah, the host at the new Bryant delivery location, was kind enough to chronicle her first delivery for us (all pictures by Sarah):

Thundering Hooves' distributor is Carfini Gourmet. In addition to delivering the TH orders, Carfini also offers their own milk, eggs and small chickens for purchase at delivery sites (while supplies last).

Delivery guy, pick-up guy, and an ice chest full of meat

A closer look at the goods in the ice chest

Sarah's order - "a really nice ham (with no bone!! about 10 meals worth of ham!!), bacon, bacon bits, lamb bones for my mom's dog, 2 NY steaks, 4 garlic lamb sausages, 1 pork tenderloin, and 2 lamb shanks"

Sarah has a few Thundering Hooves sample bags available, if you’d like to try before you buy. Contact her at swanney40 [at] hotmail.com, if you’re interested.

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Local Thundering Hooves delivery locations (orders must placed by midnight the previous Monday for Saturday delivery):

Bryant (5754 28th Ave NE): FIRST delivery Saturday, October 2nd at 9am (place order by midnight on Monday, September 27th), then every four Saturdays (October 30th would be the next delivery date)

Ravenna/Maple Leaf (8217 18th Ave NE):  Next delivery is Saturday, October 23th (place order by midnight on Monday, October 18th)

If you’d like to learn more about Thundering Hooves, here are some specific pages from their website you might want to check out:

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If you are interested in making an order with Thundering Hooves, here is a $20 off a $50 order coupon from their website (which also includes ordering instructions) for first-time customers.

And, if you have a Chinook Book, there’s a coupon in there for $25 off an order of $50 or more.

Furthermore, Sarah is offering free cookies for folks who walk to her house to pick up their orders — one cookie for each block they’ve walked (up to 6 cookies per order). Blood sugar high, carbon footprint low.

Filed Under: Everything counts in large amounts Tagged With: , , , , ,

Sisleyville and the RNA Plan: Next Steps

September 20, 2010 by 1 Comment

The public commenting period for the Environmental Impact Survey on the Sisley properties rezoning has closed, the city’s Committee on the Built Environment got an earful from residents, and the full City Council voted to the remove the Roosevelt Development Groups’ amendment from consideration for Seattle’s 2011 Comprehensive Plan review.

WHAT’S NEXT?

What SHOULD go here instead?

The Land Use Committee of the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association meets tonight (7-9pm) at Calvary Christian Assembly Church (6801 Roosevelt Way NE).

Here’s a description of tonight’s meeting (from the RNA’s Events In Roosevelt page):

[T]wo representatives from DPD (Dept. of Planning & Development) at our meeting to discuss the zoning recommendations made by the community in 2006.  This is a preliminary briefing and discussion by and with DPD, prior to a broader community meeting later this Fall.  Late this year or early next, DPD will make their official recommendation to City Council on neighborhood rezoning.

If you are interested in what the plan would look like (as well as what some of the RDG’s plans would mean for the neighborhood, here is a pdf from May 2009 showing various zoning changes and the resulting buildings.

Filed Under: Everything counts in large amounts Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Author Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl) reading and signing at Eckstein MS next Tuesday

September 17, 2010 by 1 Comment

Eoin Colfer's latest, "Artemis Foul and the Atlantis Complex"

Author Eoin Colfer is coming to Northeast Seattle in support of the latest book in his Artemis Fowl series.

Colfer will be at the Eckstein Middle School Auditorium (3003 NE 75th St) on Tuesday, September 21 at 6:30pm, for a reading and book signing session.

From the University Book Store September Events page:

In the world of Inter/Supernatural crime, there’s no villain quite like teenage criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl. So, why has he suddenly committed his fortune to saving the planet? Could it be that his attempts to use fairy magic have made him susceptible to a condition that usually only affects fairies, the dreaded Atlantis Complex? Follow Captain Holly Short as she tries to discover the truth.

OoOoOo.

No tickets are required, and Mr. Colfer will not only personalize up to three of your books, you can take pictures from the signing line, too. “Signing guidelines are subject to change,” says the University Book Store information on the event, but you always have to say that, just in case.

Filed Under: Everything counts in large amounts Tagged With: , , , , ,

Seattle Schools “Welcome Back” meeting for NE Seattle families next Monday

September 17, 2010 by Leave a Comment

As a part of Superintendent Maria L. Goodloe-Johnson’s engagement plan for the school year (Listening, Learning, and Responding), Seattle Public School families are invited to “Welcome Back” Regional Meetings being held throughout the city this month.

The meeting for Northeast Seattle families is being held on Monday, September 20 from 6:30-8pm at Eckstein Middle School (3003 NE 75th St).

In addition to Superintendent Goodloe-Johnson, Chief Academic Officer Dr. Susan Enfield will be in attendance.  The Executive Director for Schools in our region (Phil Brockman, former principal of Ballard High School, for the Northeast) and representatives of schools in the region fill out the roll sheet.

This regional structure is new to the school district this year and will be the subject of a brief presentation by the leadership team at the meeting. “The majority of the meeting will be devoted to informal interactions between families and district and school leaders,” says the news release from Monday, September 13.

Light refreshments will be served, and there will be books and drawing supplies (but no childcare) for the kiddies. Interpretive services at the Northeast meeting include Somali and Spanish.

You can see the full release from Seattle Public Schools about these regional meetings here.

Filed Under: Everything counts in large amounts Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Chat with Seattle Schools Superintendent Maria L. Goodloe-Johnson on October 12

September 16, 2010 by 2 Comments

On Tuesday of this week, Superintendent Maria L. Goodloe-Johnson announced that she’ll be hosting a series of Community Coffee Chats in October and November for all parents, grandparents and caregivers of Seattle Public Schools students.

The chat for NE Seattle is scheduled for Tuesday, October 12 from 8:10-9:10am 9-10am at Jane Addams K-8 (11051 34th Ave NE).

Yeah, you read that right: 8AM.

You may need some coffee before you head out for that coffee.

Here’s the pdf of the announcement, which includes the dates and locations of the other four Community Coffee Chats as well.

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UPDATE: I have since learned that the meeting at Jane Addams K-8 is from 9-10am, NOT 8:10-9:10am as the pdf previously stated (it has since been fixed).

Thank you to Dorothy at enforcetopdownreform.blogspot.com for the notice about the time correction.

Filed Under: Everything counts in large amounts Tagged With: , , , ,
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