Musings at Central Market

How lucky we are to have Central Market in Shoreline.

I shop a lot at Central Market, in fact I’m there almost every day. Trying to come up with interesting, healthy and gluten free meals for my family, I am often found wandering the grocery aisles reading labels, trying to put together something tasty and appealing. My first stop is often the Culinary Resource where every day they have cooking demonstrations and recipes. Check them out M-F from 10-6:30 and Sa/Su 9-5:30. I am looking forward to sampling Curried Pumpkin and Apple Soup this Sunday.

Between the freezer and dairy aisles they have a great display to highlight this month’s theme in their newsletter, Imagine the Pizzabilities! This is a great display and I was inspired to take some photos. It’s colorful and yummy, coaxing me to make some homemade pizza. It shows everything you might want to make perfect homemade pizzas. Here we see a variety of crusts, dough, and behind in the freezer case, two brands of gluten-free pizza crust. There are pizza pans and stones, lots of cheese and graters, a wide variety of meats and vegetable toppings. In the aisle in front of the display is a great organic beer to wash the pizza down. This is all put together with care by Central Market staff.

At checkout you can find the October newsletter with tips on pizza making, recipes and products to explore.

You won’t see Central Market ads in your Wednesday junk mail pile but can get weekly emails sent to you with specials, the Culinary Resource Center schedule, and the monthly newsletter, What’s Fresh. Check out shoreline.central-market.com to sign up for these plus lots of additional information such as recipes and the gluten-free directory of products and shopping guide.

Richmond Beach Park

I met LJ Thomas today and had a chance to talk with him. You may have heard of him as the "Random Guy Who Walks Around Richmond Beach in Basketball Jerseys."

The rumors that follow him are crazy-if your curious about him-he says-just ask. He is very approachable and loves to talk with people. You can join his FaceBook page here . He is doing a talk on April 10, I think at Richmond Beach Congregational Church. I can't find any more about it, he might post about it on F/B.

Here is a link to his story on the student newspaper The Backwoods Online.

The Crow and his Flock

Solar Business in Shoreline

Welcome to my newest follower. I recognize that poodle in the photo.

I went to visit Northwest Mechanical, the only installer of solar systems located in Shoreline.  As you view these photos keep in mind that this building was a former Jiffy Lube.

The newest addition to the building is a solar awning showcasing the made-in-Washington solar module produced by Silicon Energy in Arlington. These glass on glass modules are perfect for the awning application.

This newest array is the lower left awning in the photo.

Closer view















Looking up through the panels.

Volunteer Park

Saturday we walked all around Volunteer Park and got the idea to visit the adjacent Lake View Cemetery.

Here is Bruce and Brandon Lee's burial markers. It was hard to get a great picture as there was another group of people visiting the site. I wonder why the Pringles?

We were surprised to see President Obama in Seattle. I think he waved at us.

Freshly Groomed

I've been walking-just not blogging.

Here is my walking buddy fresh from her grooming appointment.

If you need grooming services locally I highly recommend Canine Groomers. They used to be across from Safeway on 155th but have relocated the salon to their home.

I saw this on the sidewalk. Did it fall this way or was it intentionally placed?

Between the Rain

This was a disturbing find near the Meridian Park Children's Center and the only thing I knew to do was to photograph it. I believe it is a flicker. What caused it's demise?

Rain

My first walk in the rain. Until today I was a fair weather walker and with the run of great weather I've been out almost every day.  Started out with light drizzle, by the time we were done it was a downpour. With proper attire it wasn't bad at all.

A soaked but happy poodle:

City Hall

Here is the racking system finished:

Above the amphitheater it looks like an art installation:

Solar trash compacters, how cool is that?

Here is the FAQ on the Big Belly trash compacter. They claim an

ROI (return on investment) of 1.5 years in "busy locations".

Flower Show and Solar

I would be remiss not showing you these displays at the Flower & Garden Show.

Green roof with solar modules (shading bad in a working application):
Solterra  Systems

Living Wall

Pervious Pavers

Flower & Garden Show

I had the pleasure of attending the Flower & Garden Show twice in the past few days. The growing interest in growing vegetables in an urban setting was certainly reflected in several of the show gardens. I was surprised however not to see the presence of a new magazine Urban Farm which premiered August 2009.

Here are some of those "urban farm" displays:

NW Bloom

Seattle Urban Farm Company

Hide and Seek Solar

As co-founder of Shoreline Solar Project I am always on alert for ways that solar is used in Shoreline. This will blog will occassionally be a photojournal of these sites.

Here is a house in the Parkwood Neighborhood with a solar attic fan mounted on the south facing roof:

Worms

I was goofing around Craigslist and found someone selling worms in Shoreline. It turns out the seller lives 10 blocks from me so today's destination was to pick up the worms.

Here they are:

Here is their new home:

We made the worm bin two years ago from Rubbermaid containers. It works as a system with the bottom layer holdling any drainage, different containers for worm migration and lots of aeration. The construction involved drilling hundreds of holes. Here is the link to the instructions

Sadly, I left the bin outside that winter where it froze and the worms died. Last year I could not face my guilt and ignored the whole effort.

We started juicing and every week I produce tons of pulp that makes excellent worm food. I am motivated to get the system going again and create quality compost for my vegetable garden.

Paramount Park

It seems like Spring today with the sunny skies. Today I visited Paramount Park. Covered dugouts are being built at Hillwood, Paramount, upper Hamlin and Richmond Highland parks.  According to the City, this project should be completed and ready for use by the 2010 baseball season.

Here is the construction in progress:

Here's a great way to plan your route or find out how far you have walked or biked.

You set up a recording session, trace your route on the Google map, and mark each leg with a flag. You can set it up for a there and back route with the distance and you can see mile marker flags. This method is much easier than driving your route. Probably more accurate also.

See the site at Gmaps Pedometer.

Here's a screen shot in Shoreline with a partially marked route:

Click on the map to enlarge it for viewing.

Lazy Sunday

It was a short walk today because I wasn't prepared for the rain. However I'm please to find out I already have one follower who actually was the inspiration for me to start this blog. Janet Way, founder of the blog, Of Paramount Importance is where you should go to follow issues in Shoreline.

I also just discovered the Photowalkers on Shoreline Area News. The  Shoreline Photowalkers will meet monthly to walk, take photos and post them for sharing. The first walk is scheduled on Sunday, January 31 from 3-4 at Hamlin Park. They will meet at the North parking lot of Shorecrest High School and enter Hamilin from the baseballs fields above the parking lot.

My photo today is of Meridian Park (the park). It lies behind Meridian Park School at the corner of 167th and Wallingford Ave N. It's a little gem for the neighborhood. I cannot find out much about the history of it. Our parks in Shoreline were once King County Parks and the county deeded the parks to the City of Shsoreline in 1997. In research of this park I came across the Sherwood Files an amazing archive with the history of parks in Seattle. Much of Seattle Park history was documented by Donald N. Sherwood (1916-1981). The Seattle Parks and Recreation's Sherwood History Files is the incredible legacy of Sherwood, who worked as an engineer for Parks for 22 years from 1955 to 1977.

Solar on City Hall: more details

The newly built City Hall is in line for LEED Silver and possibly Gold certification and features a solar hot water and 20KW photovoltaic system using made in Washington modules from Silicon Energy and designed and installed by Shoreline based Northwest Mechanical.

The modules are the only ones that are manufactured in Washington State. This makes the installation of these modules eligible for additional production incentives. See the Northwest Solar Center for details.

Solar Washington will have a meeting on Monday night, 1/25, from 7-9 pm at REI. The new owner of Silicon Energy, Jong Limb will lead a Q & A session on new developments and current development plans for Washington's first solar module manufacturer.

Solar on City Hall

I walked to City Hall this morning to take photographs of the racking system that will hold the new City Hall's solar electric system. I was told the racking should be complete by Monday and then the installation of the solar modules (panels) begins.