Christmas 2013

Gifts under the tree.

Kitty in her new bed from Rusty.

Rusty makes brunch.

Rusty & Jordan with gifts.

Rusty in a new shirt from Jordan.

Steve with books from Jordan.

Steve in clothes from Rusty & Jordan.
 

Quiche on the table.

Kitty inspects the aftermath.

Christmas morning was foggy & not very cold.  Wonderful gifts were exchanged between Jordan, Rusty & Steve, including some excellent clothes.  Susie got a combined scratching post & elevated bed.  Jetta slept through the morning.  Rusty made quiche for brunch.  We had a very fun time.

Snow

We woke to about an inch of snow on Friday, December 20: the eve of winter solstice.  By that time, the temperature was above freezing & it was raining lightly.  The snow slowly vanished during the day.

Kitty

This is Kitty.  She is 3 years old.  We got her from MEOW Cat Rescue in Kirkland on December 8.  We were told her name was Susie Q.  But she only responds to Kitty.  She has Inflammatory Bowel Disease which causes her to vomit from time to time.  We hope this will happen less often as she becomes more comfortable in our home.  She takes an antacid & an antiemetic medication in pill form.  The shelter staff assured us that she hadn't vomited during the 6 months she was there, although she had been given up for adoption for that reason.  The vomiting doesn't bother us so much as the fear that she won't get adequate nutrition.  She is also on a special diet of high quality cat food.  She is very sweet & docile.  She talks a lot.  She loves to be petted.  She is a very pretty cat.  She gets along well enough with Jetta the dog, although Jetta seems to be a little jealous of the attention Susie gets.  There has been no hissing or growling.  But Kitty keeps out of Jetta's way mostly.

Construction of the Ell Alley Garden

Compost has begun to be spread on the native clay soil in early November 2013.

The first pile of compost.

The finished garden in late November 2013.

This stonework serves as a catch basin for rainwater.

The story of the Ell Alley Garden starts at the offices of the SHA, in a part of town called both Uptown & Lower Queen Anne. Jordan met with the project manager on June 1, 2013 to discuss the guidelines for landscaping at Rainier Vista. Screening was strictly prohibited. Shrubs over 4 feet were allowed only against the walls of buildings. It was impossible to place tall shrubs against the walls of our particular townhome, because the utilities meters (gas & electricity) as well as cable boxes for internet & television for every unit in our building, took up the only blank wall. There was space for planting taller shrubs on 2 walls of the garage. Plants cannot exceed 3 feet in the front yard, or 4 feet in the back yard. After some consideration by the project lead & one revision of our landscape plan, we were allowed 4 trees spaced 12 feet apart.

10 cubic yards of Cedar Grove compost was delivered on Monday, 11/4. It didn't rain that day & rained very little on 11/5 & 6. Jordan spread most of the compost during that time. It rained fairly heavily on 11/7. It didn't rain on 11/8 & another 5 cubic yards of compost was delivered. That was spread during the next few dry days. There was very little rain until 1/18.  Most of the planting & stone work was completed by then. Temperatures were mostly in the 40s & low 50s. Saturday, 11/23 was a beautifully sunny day. Rusty, Steve & Jordan went to NurseryTrees.com in Snohomish to buy 3 Acer circinatum & 1 Thuja plicata 'Excelsa'. Rusty & Jordan placed them in holes already dug. The trees were 7 feet tall with root balls 2 feet in diameter. On 11/25, Jordan bought bark & spread it on the paths. In the evening of 11/26, Rusty & Jordan placed pavers for the walk between the front door & the alley. By Thanksgiving Day on 11/27, the initial work on the garden was done.

Steve & Jordan had decided to make a garden of native plants in the area beside the house & garage. Rusty agreed with this decision, although he didn't seem to care all that much. We loved the native plants at our private campground & along the trails of the Mountain Loop Highway in the Cascade Mountains. The ecosystem of the Pacific Northwest Coast extends from northern California into the Alaskan pan-handle. Some plants were used that were not native to Washington, but to the region. Many came from the Cascadia Garden. Some of those had been moved from the Phantom Lake Garden at the home of Jordan's grandparents in Bellevue to the Cascadia Garden from 1961 to 64. That garden was a forest that existed largely in its natural state. We collected other plants from the private campground. Jordan found more at the Washington Native Plant Society plant sale.  We ordered even more from Go Natives!Nursery.

Our small Patio Garden was left open to plants from around the world. Jordan ordered quite a number of different bulbs, adding Ajuga reptans 'Black Scallop' & Sedum spathulifolium 'Cape Blanco' as ground cover. Hebe recurva, Hemerocallis 'Bela Lugosi, Hemerocallis 'Rootbeer' & Luzula sylvatica 'Aurea' was moved from the Cascadia Garden. Alchemilla mollis 'Select', Campanula 'Birch Hybrid', Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Ellwood's Column', Daboecia cantabrica 'Atropurpurea', 3 more types of Hebe (H. ochracea 'James Stirling', H. pinguifolia 'Pagei' & H. 'Red Edge') & Panicum virgatum 'Heavy Metal' were purchased. The patio garden includes a wall of cement blocks, in 2 tiers, down to the parking pad. Arctostaphylos uva-ursi 'Massachusetts', Juniperus conferta & Rosmarinus officinalis 'Prostratus' were placed to trail down from the upper tier.

The area in front of our unit was landscaped by the builder with a wide swath of Sarcococca hookerana var. humilis & Juniperus conferta, along with a single Hydrangea quercifolia. This garden is shaded by a large ash tree (Fraxinus sp.) of undetermined species. Digitalis purpurea (Common Foxglove) Dryopteris erythrosora (Autumn Fern) hellebores (H. foetidus, H. x hybridus & H. 'Ivory Prince') & Lamium maculatum 'Beacon Silver' were added to the Ash Tree Garden.

Thanksgiving at Ell Alley

Bleys, Seth, Jetta & Colleen

Gail, Drew, Sherry, Rusty, Carol.

Carol, Sherry, Rusty, Steve.

 11-28-13 Thanksgiving Day at Ell Alley

There were 10 for Thanksgiving dinner at Ell Alley.  Guests arrived in the late afternoon, starting with Rusty's friend Drew at 4.  Jordan's family members came around 6.  We gave tours.  Gail (sister) made appetizers.  There was wine & gin.  Steve cooked the turkey & mashed the potatoes.  Rusty made yams with chocolate sauce & sweet potatoes without.  He also carved the turkey.  Jordan made cran-apple sauce, scalloped corn & gravy.  Sherry (cousin) made green salad.  Carol (cousin) made fruit salad & pumpkin-pecan pie.  Bleys (nephew) Seth (father) & Colleen (mother) waited in the living room with Jetta (dog) in their laps.  We ate at 7:30.  It was good.  We were happy.  We love our new home.

Nursery Trees

Steve & Rusty follow Tree Lady.

Tree Lady tags the Excelsa cedar we selected.

Jordan & Tree Lady head toward the field of vine maple.

Cascade Mountains in the distance.

Jordan inspects a vine maple.

We rented a cargo van & drove 45 minutes to NurseryTrees.com in Snohomish on Saturday, November 23.  The day was beautifully sunny & somewhat cold.  Frozen mud lay between the rows of trees.  Tree Lady showed us fields of trees with snowy mountains beyond, across the Snohomish Valley.  We chose 3 vine maples (Acer circinatum) & 1 Excelsa cedar (Thuja plicata 'Excelsa').  It took a long time for the 2 Mexican men to dig them up, wrap the roots in burlap & forklift them into the van.  The trees were all about 8 feet tall with root balls 2 feet in diameter.  We returned to Ell Alley, unloaded & placed the vine maples in their holes, laid the cedar on the path & returned the van.  On the followed day, the cedar was set in its hole.  The new garden was transformed with the addition of sizeable trees.

Bruksbo Veggen De Luxe

The carpenter at work.

Bruksbo Veggen De Luxe wall-mounted furniture in the dining room on 11-16-13.

Bruksbo Veggen De Luxe wall-mounted furniture in the office on 11-16-13.

Two weeks after we had moved into Ell Alley, the carpenter came to mount the Bruksbo Veggen De Luxe furniture on the walls.  Most of the pieces went in the office, where there are 3 desks, drawers, shelves & a cabinet with sliding glass doors.  In the dining room, right across from the table, are the remaining pieces: another cabinet with sliding glass doors, a cupboard, drawers & a magazine rack.  Jordan's parents collected these pieces between 1961 & 1981.  In fact we have a file with a check dated 28 Jan 1961, made by Colleen.  The Veggen De Luxe line was designed by Thorbjørn Afdal for Bruksbo Tegnekontor & manufactured by Mellemstrands Trevareindustri in Norway.  

Moving Day

Jetta at Ell Alley on 11-2-13.

The living room on 11-2-13.

The living room arranged.

The bed after delivery on 11-2-13.

The bed made.

The dining room & kitchen on 11-2-13.

Steve & Rusty at the dining room table on 11-2-13.

We moved in on Saturday November 2, 2013.  We had moved a few things by car on November 1.  But 11/2 was the day we got the truck & the hired guys came to load & unload it.  Rusty & Steve spent the day supervised the movers at the apartment & the storage space.  Jetta & Jordan stayed at Ell Alley while the delivery guys came from Sears with the bed, refrigerator, washer & dryer.  Jordan arranged furniture & unpacked boxes.  That evening, we had take out food from Thai Recipe.

Final Countdown

Forbidden planting under the ash tree at Ell Alley on October 22, 2013

The truck with the granite counter tops at Ell Alley on October 22, 2013

The new fence at Ell Alley on October 22, 2013

The new fence at Ell Alley on October 22, 2013

The buildings across the alley on October 22, 2013

On October 22, 2013 (when these photos were taken) there were only 9 days left before we took possession of the house.  The truck with the granite counter tops was there.  We had visited the site several times already that month.  It was surprising to find that the critical root zone under the ash tree had been planted by the landscape crew as they worked in the area around the rest of the building.  It was supposed to be left unplanted & covered in bark.  It was obvious that, among our neighbors, only we had proposed & been given approval for an alternate landscape plan.  

On another day, we ran into one of the owners of the development company.  We talked with him at length.  He was very pleasant & wore stylish construction-type clothes.  After he left, we all said, 'What a great outfit!'  The fence was being built then.  The walls, roofs & most of the siding on one of the 2 buildings across the alley had been completed & work had begun to pour the foundations of the other.  We met the new owners of one of the unfinished units.  They expected to be our neighbors in about 9 months.  On our side of the alley was one building with 5 units.  On the other side would be 2 buildings with 3 units each.  These were the last buildings to be constructed in our development.

Also during the month of October, we made several trips to buy a refrigerator, washer & dryer, dining table & chairs, & a king-sized bed.  We were all very excited & full of ideas about the house.

Concrete

Entry walk from the sidewalk on Renton Avenue S in September 2013.

Entry walk across the front & down the side of the house in September 2013.

Front porch, which is actually on the side of the house in September 2013.

Back porch & stairs to garage in September 2013.

Retaining wall with very little space left for planting in September 2013.

New building across the back alley in September 2013.

By the end of September 2013, concrete for the walks & porches had been poured.  There were stairs down from the street, in front of the house next door.  The walk to our front door curved around the critical root zone of the ash tree in front of our house, crossing in front of the neighboring house, which seemed an invasion of their personal space.  The front porch was a pad of exposed-aggregate concrete.  The back porch was a much larger pad of smooth concrete, which left very little room (about 3 feet) for planting on that level.  However, there was much more room for patio furniture & pots than expected.  The kitchen island had been installed & some of the cabinets had been mounted. The interior walls had been painted a color that was not quite gray & not quite beige.  The floorboards had been laid on the ground level, but not upstairs.  The bathrooms were far from finished.  We were giving the date of October 31 for closing the sale of the house, which seemed quite an inconvenient date for moving out of the apartment.  The construction of the new building across the back alley had advanced at a rapid pace.