slugs

After the weekend's rain broke our long drought the Slugs of June were out in force on Cougar Mountain. These are two of a number of leopard slugs sited. There were so many brown ones I thought I could skate on their backs all the way to Ballpark Meadow. But I carefully avoided them. Even if they are responsible for munching their way through my recently-seeded flower garden
Photo-click if you dare!

Gathering breakfast

Piper's pickins for the day--her dad says he could have picked two more bowls. Yumm. As always, click on the image for full effect.

Bellevue Farmer's Market

Where can you find a Brandywine the size of your head? Boxcar Willies, or Black Krims? Where can you be inspired to grow them yourself? How about a fresh 5.00 bouquet of red, white and blue fireworks?




The Bellevue Farmers Market is now open at a fresh new location:

410 Bellevue Way NE across from Bellevue Square (free parking) in the old Safeway parking lot from 3-7pm Thursdays and they're adding a new time which will help ease some of the traffic congestion surrounding the Thursday rush hour time slot:

Saturdays 9-2pm June 6-November 21



There are lots of flower stalls which offer the best deals in the entire Bellevue downtown area. $5.00 a bunch! These are gorgeous flowers, absolutely fresh and beautifully put together by very friendly ladies.

As we all know, prices can seem kind of crazy at Farmers Markets. My understanding, however, is that the farmers don't really make much money off them. So support what you can afford, enjoy talking to the producers and sampling their wares, soak up the wonderful sights and smells.
I witnessed one of these heirloom tomatoes sell for $7.78. Another family spent over 10.00 for one "Mortgage Lifter". It's fun just to watch the spectacle as people get caught up in the circus-like atmosphere of farmers hawking their wares. And fishermen, nutbutter makers and toffee bakers. Oh my.


Then there's the best cheese on the planet. Seriously. Try the Valley Girl. Or Crush--a wonderfully strong cheese rolled in crushed grapes from the farmers nearby. In all, they have something like 124 cheeses which they offer on a rotating basis.
River Valley Cheese

Frank Gehry in Newport Hills

Another architectural icon found within the industrial hurricane fencing at the baseball field of Eastside Catholic:

Frank Gehry's house, above, where he lives in Venice Beach. Gehry built his house when he was poor and unknown and a great finder of construction materials scavenged from his neighborhood.

Below, a hut with speakers and customized padding for added protection from errant bats and balls. What a great art studio!

Grassy Sea

For the last two weeks I've been visiting the ruins of Eastside Catholic in our neighborhood. I'm drawn to the spaces carved out by baseball and football fields (erstwhile home of The Crusaders) tennis courts, a track, the fence-bounded campus which is off limits, and portable classrooms. There is litter here, and graffiti, a broken window or two. But there are also signs of survival and reclamation. What I find most intriguing is the austere beauty of objects in a grass sea and recall two of the most enduringly beautiful architectural icons of the last century:

Mies Van der Rohe, Farnsworth House, Plano, IL




Le Corbusier, Villa Savoye, Poissy, France