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.