Or - A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the House…
We went shopping today at WalMart…Never, never, never ever go shopping at WalMart on a Monday afternoon. No, wait, let me clarify…never ever shop at a WalMart during ANY afternoon!!! I've been ignoring my own rule and I've been paying the price for it!!
My rule is simple cuz, let's face it, I love WalMart. I love the selection and I love the savings. I'm cheap, there, I've said it. I am cheap, cheap, cheapity cheap, cheap cheap! So I'm gonna shop there. But I've got to follow my rule which is to only shop there early in the morning…before all the locals…get up and start moving around. I mean, even if you shop as late as 1100 or 1200 you're OK. Just not after 1300.
Just. Gotta. Shop. Early.
That's all…Gotta follow The Rule!!
Anyway, after spending nearly a half an hour in the check-out line I was ready for something to help me relax…and it sure wasn't the traffic jam we laughingly call the drive home. I was totally ready for some peace and calm…
Quick!! To the park, Batman!!
It was completely unlike the previous day. It was low 70s and overcast. Just right. And the lake was calm. There wasn't any real breeze. The lake was like a mirror.
Sorta.
And the Canada Geese were…Geesing.
And then this!!
An eagle took off from his tree, flew down to the lake and caught a fish and then headed back to the tree.
And the only, only, only shot I got was this one.
Believe me, I tried. My poor little camera doesn't have a viewfinder and trying to find a fast-moving object looking on a small screen is…difficult. Very difficult. Exceedingly difficult.
The camera was lucky it survived. It's been a stressful afternoon and I was ready to break something but, thank goodness, I held it all in and just let loose with a few, well-chosen words.
But I wanted to…throw, stomp and mangle that camera.
If you go to the first picture in this blog, you'll see a large tree just a wee bit right of center…we call that the Eagle Tree. It's where we've seen the eagles roosting every time we've seen them.
Here he is. He's eaten and is just taking it easy on a lazy afternoon. Up in the Eagle Tree.
And then he looked in our direction.
It is SOOOO cool, being able to see all the wild animals we've seen; Eagles, Ospreys, Killdeer, Red-Tailed Hawks, Blue Herons and Raccoons.
It was so different from yesterday. The day was cloudy and overcast. Maybe we'll even get some rain tonight.
Here's the view of Lake Washington looking toward Mercer Island. And the clouds.
And the day was very calm and quiet. Hardly any breeze at all. The water was very smooth.
Looking at the Trailer Park Marina.
The combination of the clouds and the calm, smooth lake were too much for me to resist. I really worked this angle, a lot.
The clouds and the water cooperated with me.
It was an interesting combination…it worked.
And these. A large number of them took off from a distance and then, flying low over the water, they landed about 100 yards in front of us.
I stood and watched and then wondered why I didn't get my camera.
D'OH!!
Another view of the Trailer Park Marina. With its Lily Pads.
Which leads to this!!
Hahaha, couldn't resist.
And, because I am feeling a wee bit artsy-fartsy, I used the vignette feature AND blurring feature. Both of them start at the corners and work their way in.
Wha'dya think? Does it work?
And…
…some more Canada Geese.
Looking towards Coulon Park across the lake. The pavilion on the left is the one where Ev's ashes were scattered. And the flowers were thrown in for Adrianne.
I've wanted to stop at a certain spot on Rainier Ave that runs along Lake Washington for some time now. I wanted to stop there in the morning when the rising sun is reflected on the lake but you take what you can get.
And in this case, we got a lot more than we bargained for.
This is looking towards the east.
Right across from where we stopped is this place. The Stone House. It's an old gas station that was built in 1923. You can see where the gas pumps were, right in front of the house. The smaller building to the left of the house was the garage. A larger building has been added onto the back of the garage. It was built with field stone.
We've both watched the construction for several months now, wondering what it was going to be. In the last couple months, everything has stopped…nothing has happened and we've both been more than curious about what was happening with it.
We were thinking it was going to become a restaurant but everything has been speculation, until now.
We were standing on the opposite side of the street from this old house when i saw two men standing in the yard (to the left of the house) talking. Curiosity is a powerful thing and so I yelled across the street, "Is this going to be a restaurant?"
One of the men replied that it was and so Carol and I ran across the street to talk to him. Hey, the door was opened and I was gonna walk right on in as far as I could.
His name is Patrick Bent and we talked for a while at the fence and then he invited us to come in and take a look around!
Hell, yes!!
So he took us inside the house for a guided tour.
And, another bonus, we got to play with his two Brindle Boxers. Which he is willing to give away to a good home.
It was neat. What a great house. He is going to make it part of his restaurant putting a bakery in here. The room Carol's in would be a small dining room and the bakery would be right behind me.
When we went in the owner gave us this postcard.
I'm looking forward to eating there.
Then he took us over to the former garage where the 'cafe' will be. They knocked out the back wall of the garage, filled in the pit and added this building onto it. This will be a dining area and the kitchen will be along the wall to the right. The stairs lead up to a banquet room available for rental.
We went up and saw some of the original brickwork from the garage. He's going to have an open air patio here, on the second floor as well as in front of the downstairs cafe. The tarps cover the dining room furniture.
This is looking from the upstairs patio over to the lake. Oh, he bought the lakeside parcel across the street that is directly in front of The Stone House so he will always have an unimpeded view.
Money talks.
In the banquet room looking out towards the lake.
And, downstairs, we're looking in the same direction, towards the lake, from the front entrance of the cafe.
A view of what will be the dining room.
The original walls of the garage. Brick with a field stone covering.
Here's the patio in front of the cafe. Folks in Seattle always look for an opportunity to get outside to eat and drink. And a look at the original house.
The reason nothing has happened in the past few months is…government. Over-reaching and unthinking government.
They are holding things up because they don't like the way the hill slopes down towards the restaurant. The way it has since the house and garage were built in 1923. Even though he has added abutments, reinforced the walls and planted trees. Fruit trees.
This, and other silly obstacles has slowed his work. Honestly, we have WAY too much government messing in our business. Way to much.
He hopes to open in January.
He didn't say what year, though.
So it was good. We got the answer to what The Stone House is going to be. We got a tour of the soon-to-be restaurant. That was a kick!!
We'll be there when it opens. I've already got my order ready…One Reuben, please.
Hahahaha, life is good!!
Hooah!!
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