Issaquah Undressed

Sneak Preview NW Flower & Garden Show

Today started out badly.  I set out to go to the 2010 NW Flower & Garden Show Sneak Preview.  My car battery was dead. Thanks to a kind husband who traded cars with me I still got to the press sneak preview. I had 2 cameras, one a video, but my good? computer froze before I got the videos up for this post, so I will just show you these still shots. UPDATE for videos of the event go to www.issaquahhighlandsundressed.com

Not to worry, the gardens were just as good as they always were.  People have been a little concerned due to new owners.

During the sneak previews, garden creators and landscapers are still putting on the finishing touches and cleaning up. The preview lasts 2 hours, at which time not only do we have to be out but so do all the above.

Creative use of wine bottles along with sun warms the soil

Rain in the window

An extraordinary gate.

Worms grow large at the garden show.

New Leaf Creations, Issaquah and Tami Ott-Ostberg

What to do with an old truck! Edible greens, and with chickens too

The above is a giant elevated nest of a massive flying reptile from a 65 million years ago.  Just look for the foot prints! 

Goats, chickens and rooster make an appearance too (really).

The Northwest Flower and Garden Show starts tommorow and runs through Feb. 7th. Washington State Convention Center.

CLICK here for video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C3XNf9iDCU

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The Issaquah Arts Commission & Great Train Movies

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HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010 From Our Blog And Us To You!

I sense a lot of hope that the coming year will be much better. We see lots we have learned from the past and are grateful to be healthy and wise. Notice I left out the wealthy word. Ah, we are rich with blessings that surround us. That makes us truly wealthy. For those that pop in to this site once in a while we thank you. For those we have served we especially thank you for your business.

So what does “New Year mean to you? A time to set new goals? A time to forgive and forget? It’s different to each of us I know.

I have a New Years treat for you. One of my favorite parts of Flickr is that you can put in a search word and click the slide show link. Doing that brings up all the photos in Flickr that have been tagged by that search word. You can make it a full screen show.

Loyal followers to our blogs may have seen us use this  features in blog posts.

So, for your New Years Splendor I have searched for New Year on Flickr and here is a link to its slide show. Enjoy: Larry

Oh, just click the photo below for the show:

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Gifts for a Hard to Buy for Person

I always wished I was one of those persons who has their Christmas shopping done before Thankgiving. Not going to happen.

During the Salmon Days Event in Issaquah, the art and craft booths offered some really unique things that would make great gifts. I didn’t write about them, but I really wanted to give some credit and publicity for some great ideas.

Here are my picks for gifts

Golden Goose Hats with Linda Mestrovich lmestrovich@aol.com  Website  www.goldengoosehats.net

Golden Goose Hats

Unique one of a kind Felted Hats

 Check out her website: www.goldengoosehats.net

Next Abraxas Crow Company www.abraxascrow.com . These are steel sculptures, lots of work, lots of creativity, and they are pretty expensive. But for that special hard-to-by-for person, perhaps.

Do you know someone whose home needs a piece like this? A huge conversation piece.

They do make smaller pieces

 Artist is Gunter Reimnitz 360-379-3281 reiminitz@olypen.com  Website www.abraxascrow.com

Then there is tye dye clothing from www.flashbackunlimited.com   email: flashbackunlimited@msn.com

Flash Back Unlimited Tye Dye Clothing

This really is a flashback for me. The long dresses they had were my favorites. Some were a little more subdued, which I liked. Guess I’m not as flashy as I used to be.

Happy Gift Hunting

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XXX Rootbeer Drive-in List of Car Show Events

XXX ROOTBEER HOSTS AREA CAR SHOWS

Don’t miss the Blvd. CC Custom Car Show taking place this Sunday, June 14th at the XXX Rootbeer Drive-in in Issaquah (98 NE Gilman Blvd).  The car show will start at 8 am and there will be great music and wonderful food for everyone to enjoy.  For more information, please visit www.triplexrootbeer.com. More upcoming car shows are below:
 
June 21st       Fenders on Front Street & Cruise              8 am
July 5th         Old Trucks, Buses & Station Wagons         8 am
July 12th        All Camero & Chevy Show                        8 am
July 19th        Burgers & Bikes of All Types                    8 am
July 26th        Cascade Cougar Club Prowl                     8 am
Aug. 2nd         NW Corvair & Orphaned Cars                  8 am
Aug. 9th         NW Muscle Car Show                               8 am
Aug. 16th       NWCCC 55, 56, 57 Chevy Show                8 am
Aug. 23rd       All Corvette Show                                    8 am
Aug. 30th       2nd Annual Rat Bastards Rat Rod Show      8 am
Sept. 6th        Mega Cruz Car Show                                8 am
Sept. 13th      3rd Annual All Ford Car Show                     8 am
Sept. 20th      Mopar & More                                          8 am
Sept. 27th      1st Mini Cooper Show                                8 am
Oct. 11th        Magnums, Chargers, 300’s & Challengers    Noon
Oct. 25th        PT Cruisers Pumpkin Bash                        10 am
Dec. 6th         8th Annual Jingle Bell Cruz/Toys for Tots     Noon

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Folks at Folklife Festival – Seattle Center

If you don’t like crowds, you wouldn’t like it but if you like music, song, and dance with an extreme measure of diversity, you would have loved it. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and everything in between was up for grabs. Just taking the path of least resistance around the lawns, the paths, the fountain was the ultimate in people watching.

If you had a program you could find your way to one of the theatres that offered productions from almost every culture in the world, some even from the past. Country, Japanese, Jewish, Blues, Filipino, American Indian, Mirimba, Strings and Skins, Hula, Belly Dancing, Storytelling, Chinese Orchestra, Celtic, Zulu, Fiddlers, Nordic………Gargantuan is the word. The ultimate multi-cultural festival.

That’s not all. The Uncommon Market had endless craft booths and art exhibits and lots of choices of food, not quite as extensive as the music but not hard to find something you wanted to try. Donuts and curry and kababs got my attention. Not too balanced, but Heh, this was a day of excesses. Yummy Tummy or Tummy ache on a platter!!

Street Musicians, everywhere, had a heyday maybe even a pay day.

Mural Amphitheater Stage Packed Them In

For addtional pics click anywhere on the image below.

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Show Boat in Ship Shape

How do they DO that? A huge multi-level boat that moves and even splits apart to allow for other necessary scenes, so smoothly AND without noise! Village Theatre designs and builds all these elaborate sets themselves, no rentals here.

An Epic Broadway production is not too big a challenge for Village Theatre. I didn’t tell Larry he was going to a show that was 3 hours long, or he might not have gone. Never have 3 hours gone so fast. When the curtain came down I wasn’t ready for the end. I didn’t hear any complaints from Larry, either!

Dealing with some serious subject matter, amid singing, dancing, grand set designs and a plot that ran a gaumet of years could have been disjointed but it was not. All contributed to the telling of the tale. It was fast paced, fun, and at times hilarious.

Ellie (Kathryn Van Meter) & Frank (Greg McCormick Allen)

Cap'n Andy (Larry Albert) If anyone stole the show it was Cap'n Andy

Cap’n Andy was over the top when the show (on the boat) couldn’t continue because an uncouth mountain man tried to shoot the villain ending the scene. Cap’n went on stage an played all parts so the audience wouldn’t miss a thing. One of the most hilarious scenes I have ever witnessed.

Julie played by Cayman Ilika sings "Bill."

While all the cast voices were superb, Cayman Ilika has the voice of an angel. A main character, nonetheless, her time on stage was too short. Another favorite of mine was the Charleston Dance scene.

All photos are courtesy of Village Theatre by Jay Koh, used by permission

Music by Jerome Kern – Book an Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II – Based on Novel by Edna Ferber

Village Theatre Website www.villagetheatre.org  

Show Boat through July 3, 2009 in Issaquah –  In Everett July 10- August 2

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The Last NW FLower and Garden Show?? NOT!

We have been told that this will be the LAST Northwest Flower and Garden Show unless a buyer is found by March 31. This Flower and Garden show has been annual event since 1988. It has a world wide reputation of one of the best, but Duane and Alice Kelly, founders, who have been putting on the show want to bring down the curtain to go on to other interests. SOMEONE OUT THERE, PLEASE come forward and continue the show.

I had the pleasure of going to a MEDIA ONLY SNEAK PREVIEW of 26 full scale display gardens of the show today. We were allowed in at 10am and had 2 hours to get an up close and personal look at the 2009 Display Gardens. Landscapers and designers and their crews were still putting the finishing touches on many of the displays. A tour was led by Steve Lorton, former editor of Sunset Magazine and also involved Duane Kelly.  Every one, including the landscapers had to be done and out by noon.

If this year is the last, it may also be the best. If they go out, they want to go out on top. You won’t want to miss it. The show opens Feb 18 and runs through Feb 22. Wed-Sat 9am to 8pm, Sunday 9am-6pm, at The Seattle Convention Center. 7th & Pike.

This years theme is “Sustainable Spaces. Beautiful Places” – Here are some sneak previews of the gardens: Photos by Ashley Kyser of Irresistible Photography.

Duane Kelly, the shows founder and producer answers a few questions.

This is one of the 4 Seasons (Summer) in the Patchwork Garden. Botanicals are the inspiration for the quilts and the quilts are the inspiration for the gardens. Quilts by Susan Webster, Gathering Place Quilt Shop in Woodinville and the Gardens, designed by Tom Quigley of Olympic Nursery.

Creative glass sculpture combined with Plants. A element of one of three Gardens designed for urban dwellers who may just have a patio or deck. The picture below shows another of these urban gardens. Skyline Sanctuary, Octavia Chambliss and Elliot Bay Landscape.

One of many inspiring views at the Gardens

New Leaf Creations,  Steve Haizlip of Issaquah was the creator of Nature’s Classroom (above). The focus here is in fact a classroom with black board illustrations in a shed complete with a roof teaming with plants. Steve talked about how much the horticulture students at Lake Washington Voc Tech helped him and many other exhibitors at the show. Below is a sculpture in the same garden named “Sprout”.

This is just a very small sample of the Display Gardens. There is so much more than the gardens, like 110 FREE Seminars and workshops, and all in all, 350 exhibitors in the show. There is even a scavenger hunt for children in the gardens, with prizes!  The website can tell you more. www.gardenshow.com

It is astounding how much work and effort go into this event. The Garden creators have only 3 1/2 Days to turn a flat, cement space into a garden paradise. Would you believe: The weight of rocks and boulders placed by Marenako’s Rock Center is 415,000 lbs. It took 60 dump trucks of dirt and mulch. 300 people work night and day to set up the show. 60,000-80,000 visitors come to see the show. There are an estimated 3,951 hotel rooms booked as a result of the 2008 show. There are $6,600,000 total purchases made from exhibitors. Thousands of dollars are donated to the Washington Park Arboretum from the Preview Party.

This is not something Seattle and the Greater Northwest can afford to lose.

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The Real Skinny on Alternate Transportation

The problem is, it IS pretty skinny. Our Puget Sound area seems to have more trouble with getting mass transit available than anywhere I have been. It takes years of controversy and battles and never seems to get done. For those of you who have been around this area a long, long time remember how long I-90 took, remember all those overpasses going to a deadend? Even Portland has better mass transit than we do. The U.S. is not like a small european country where we can hop around everywhere with out getting in a car. That being said, there are things happening and more will, now that pressure is on because of gasoline prices. Here is info from the Alternate Transportation Day at Issaquah’s Public Market at Pickering Barn.

By the way, if you are intimidated by the looks of the parking lot at Pickering on market day, did you know there is tons of parking in the back? Go past the barn turn left at the stop sign a half block away (Lake Dr) then the next left into the parking lot entrance. there is a pathway to the market.

There are now 2 Park n Rides in Issaquah, Issaquah Highlands Park n Ride and Issaquah Transit Center, just getting open. There are many publications available and online infomation to help you get where you are going. Some areas have links to light rail, (not us yet). www.soundtransit.org

There are Van Pools, where a group of people use a van that’s owned, insured and maintained by King County. One member of the group volunteers to drive and rides for free, the others pay a low monthly fare. www.RideshareOnline.com

Many of us work at jobs that don’t go to the same place each day and require a car. Some people are physically able to ride a bike to work, if the route is bike friendly. They don’t work too good for some things, i.e. picking up the kids at school, buying family groceries and picking up the dry cleaning. There are getting to be better choices for cars, such as the Smart Car.

Would you feel safe in this car? Perhaps, if there weren’t so many big cars zipping around.

There was a biodiesel car at the fair and many brochures about biodiesel fuels and other concerns. Biodiesel is NOT Ethenol, that is made from corn, and much has been made about Ethenol being unsustainable, and competing with food crops. The claim is made that biodiesel does not compete with crops and is sustainable because it is byproducts of crops grown for livestock feed. www.nwbiodiesel.org and www.nwbiofuels.org

I have to admit that my favorite choice was the Toyota Rav 4 EV, an ALL electric car. Even an SUV! NO GAS, ZERO EMISSIONS, NO NOISE!

Where can you get one of these??????????????????????????????????

You can’t!

You can order this DVD from Amazon to find out why. Or rent it from Blockbusters.

Did you know that there was quiet destruction of thousands of new, radically different electric vehicles that were once produced to meet California’s Zero Emission Mandate during the ’90s? www.pluginamerica.org

I need to find out more and do more, how about you? I guess we have to be hit in the pocket book.

Click here for related alternate transporation article.

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Free Fishing Weekend AND Tastin’ n Racin’ June 7th and 8th

Free Fishing Weekend is not just Issaquah but covers the whole state. It means that June 7th & 8th no license is required to fish on any waters open to fishing. Size and numbers of fish are still subject to the rules. Go to the following for details http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/regs/fishregs.htm. They probably won’t look like this!

Tastin’ n Racin’ is a annual event at Lake Sammamish State Park. You will hear the sound of the “big mosquitos” as in hydroplanes. Water action, fun and food even for landlubbers. There will be a display of vintage hydros as well as competative hydro racing.There is a beer garden and ten different bands and a motorcycle pledge ride to benefit the Max Foundation, a cancer charity. There are events for all age groups. Bring the kids.

Photos Courtesy of Flickr and by Omar Eduardo and by Brooks Elliott

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