Beehive of Activity

That's what 523 was today. Loren & three of his men finished the preliminary rock work while Barry & his son, Shane, arrived to start the tile work in the bathrooms. I'm posting a photo of Barry (one of the funniest photos yet for the blog) and of Shane (his Owen Wilson-double son) hard at work. Then it was "old home week" with Greg, Patrick & Mark back again. They trimmed out the windows today and installed the newel post for the stairway. Had no idea that newel posts were secured from beneath the floor. Lots of trips under the house today - the result of a coin flip? What a dance they did with that level - it was extremely accurate at the end, however, as usual. Greg & I measured for all the closet components which I will order in the next couple of days. Chris dropped by with the granite hearth for the living room fireplace with his usual humor. Don, the painter, dropped by momentarily to coordinate with Pete since the sheetrockers are now out of the way. This is a SMALL house & with all these workers swarming (and me standing in the way at times), it gets a little tight although they're always so courteous.

I had to run downtown today - something I can go a couple of weeks without doing at times. I forget what a different world it is just below Uptown as that's where I usually always am. They're simply two different worlds and Uptown is self-contained enough to eliminate the need to go there (well, except for the Rose Theatre...) The ferry was disgorging passengers who then flocked to Water Street to be greeted by shops, food, street musicians and stunning weather. Today had a sax player on one of the street corners & Thursday nights feature music on the dock with rotating groups to entertain locals & visitors alike. I'm posting a photo of the ferry arriving - it reminded me that this ferry will soon be gone. It was loaned to the Port Townsend/Whidbey Island route from Pierce County when a routine inspection a couple of years ago determined that the old ferries had to be pulled IMMEDIATELY. The first replacement ferry - the Chetzemoka ("fine young man") - will be arriving soon with the second in 2011. The Chetzemoka is already undergoing trials in the Seattle area to check its seaworthiness as we "speak".

I'm also posting two photos of what I found when I drove up one of my many visits to 523 today. The deer in PT must be taking fertility drugs since several of them have twins this season. At first, I didn't see the other mother & thought the visible one had TRIPLETS. Not true. Just two moms out with their twins for a "leisurely lunch" from the garden of the neighbor across the street. And what an incredible garden it is!

No post tomorrow - Seattle time again. Somehow I'm not as excited as the last time I went there. But then, it's a different reason...