Beyond Rainier Vista

The area beyond Rainier Vista, which lies just across the street, is filled with modest houses from every decade of the 20th century.  We often walk there with Jetta.  There are no sidewalks on this ridge, which I have only heard called Chubby & Tubby Heights, after a store at the base of the ridge on Rainier Avenue S, that was once locally famous.  Chubby & Tubby was replaced by an apartment building called The Claremont.  I like to call this area Leticia Ridge, after a street that runs along the east slope.  Rainier Vista presses up against the west slope.  From the east slope, you can see the Cascade Mountains.  These photos were taken in November 2011.

Stokely

Stokely

Stokely moved to Ell Alley on December 29, 2013.  He rents our previously unoccupied 3rd bedroom (the north bedroom) & has the hall bathroom to himself.  He was thrilled to have plenty of room for his hair products.  He had been living in an apartment on Beacon Hill.  He is a member of the Celtic fusion band Ockham's Razor & has a real job, too.

Grauchen

Grauchen lives directly across the north alley from us, in a garage where she has a cat door, a bed & a heater.  She spends a lot of time outside.  We see her often.  She is a friendly kitty.  Perhaps she will hang out with us in our garden, in the future.  For now, she stays in the alley.

New Year 2014

Bradner Burn on New Year's Eve 2013.

Dinner at Kokoras Greek Grill.

Ockham's Razor at A Terrible Beauty on New Year's Eve.

Dim sum at Hong Kong Seafood Restaurant on New Year's Day 2014.

Steve & Rusty after shopping.

Dinner at Ell Alley on New Year's Day 2014.

New Year 2014 was filled with fun events for the denizens of El Alley.  Stokely moved into the 3rd bedroom on December 29.  He plays in the Celtic rock band Ockham's Razor, which performed at A Terrible Beauty in West Seattle on New Year's Eve.  Jordan, Rusty & Steve started the night at the Bradner Burn, held at Bradner Gardens Park in Mt Baker.  It was their 2nd year at this event.  It was not raining & not very cold, almost perfect weather for Seattle.  They had dinner at Kokoras Greek Grill in West Seattle before going to hear Stokely play his hurdy gurdy.  On New Year's Day, Steve, Rusty & Jordan had dim sum at the Hong Kong Seafood Restaurant in Rainier Beach, which was a very busy place.  They moved on to Renton to take advantage of the New Year's Day Sale at the St. Vincent de Paul Super Store, where they bought a number of precious items for their beloved home.  That night Jordan prepared a whole tilapia fish, with red cargo rice & stir-fried vegetables, for their first dinner of 2014.  It was a happy new year's extravaganza!

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.