Seattle

Welcome to Hogwarts. Nah, it's just the library at the University of Washington. But it feels like Hogwarts inside, with a huge stone staircase that just might start moving.

The University was founded in 1861, which is old for these parts. The buildings are magnificent and make you feel about two feet tall.
There's a wonderful pool with a fountain, surrounded by rose gardens and more magnificent buildings.
Herbology, I mean Biology.
Looks pretty good on a sunny day. But remember, this is Seattle, blue sky is not going to be the norm.

Our student tour guide told us that you can see Mt. Rainier from this spot when the conditions are right (we wondered if that ever happened) and that this was deemed the best view of the mountain by someone or other a long time ago and a law was enacted to protect it from obstruction. Now that's my kind of law. I can imagine sitting here, gazing at the view while pondering my herbology thesis.

What a huge school though, a little bit overwhelming. And some of the architecture is very 70s: Butt ugly. The dorms we saw looked like cell blocks. I guess the austere feeling goes away when 42,000 students are milling around, but I think we need to look at some smaller, cozier schools for comparison. Thanks to Jr. for taking all the pictures.

We couldn't go to Seattle without visiting IKEA and Trader Joe's. We got Slammy a new bed and had to put roof racks on the car to get it home. While we were dealing with this, Jr. got to sit in that red sports car at a Nissan dealership, which he admits was the highlight of the trip for him.
Rusty got in the bag I was airing out on the porch after the trip. Ofcourse as soon as I came out to take his picture he got out of the bag to greet me, so I made him get back in and he sat there agreeably, posing for pictures. Anything for attention.
It's 79 degrees, 23 % humidity and clouding over at 3:30 pm.

A Miracle Has Occurred

Red tomatoes! Those little "Siberias" win the prize, they're small but mighty. 'Course the greenhouse helped too. I think I'll make some more salsa tonight. Here's how I've been doing it: First I drop the maters in hot water to remove the skin, then I chop them up and add chopped onions and cilantro and a sprinkle of salt. Please share your favorite recipe if you have one. Oh! I didn't plant hot peppers this year (a lost cause usually) they would be good in there too.

Bees bees and more bees

The cilantro is covered in honeybees, and below this are strawberries, covered in yellow jackets.

Does this remind you of a motorcyle cop?
Just coming in for a landing when I took this picture of an orange cosmos.
We have more honeybees than ever this year, it's wonderful to see them all. They're mostly on the cilantro, lavender, and mint; all herbs with hundreds of little flowers. I wonder what herb honey tastes like, mmmm, I think it must be pretty tasty.

Butterfly bush