In all of the places I’ve been traveling in the last month, there have been on-tap-beer taverns and/or microbreweries. I hit a good one (Toby’s) in Coupeville, Whidbey Island, a not so good one in Anacortes (untogether bartending, crude food), but let me tell you about yesterday, oh yeah:
I drove south mostly down the backroads from Sedro Woolley to Puyallup in my hot blue Mustang. Farm country. Barns. Highway 9. Bach’s Orchestral Suite No 3, then this French station, making me think how elegant and deft and delightful the French are, they really do look at the world differently. Then Joe Cocker, you can leave your hat on…you give me reason to live…
Got into Puyallup, checked into hotel, went in search of food. I sussed out the old part of town (usually a good bet), set off on foot, looked into several restaurants, then saw the TK Irish Pub (109 S. Meridian). Couldn’t see in, so pushed open the door and whoa! The place was packed, vibes good, I sat at bar and ended up with a pint of Irish Death porter, from the nearby Iron Horse Brewery (started a few years ago by two Harley buddies, I was told) and a killer corn beef w. sauerkraut on rye and homemade potato chips. Everyone friendly. Everything a pub should be.
Over one of Bonnie’s great dinners in the Bonnie/SunRay kitchen Thursday night, fire burning in the cob fireplace, we were comparing astrological signs. Bonnie asked mine. “Taurus.” What date? “April 28th.”
Anna, Bonnie’s youngest brother Brian’s girlfriend, age 20 (who loved the tiny homes book), said to me, “I’m glad you were born.” Oh! Hand to heart. It just made me melt.
SunRay rolls on. I spent several hours yesterday walking around SunRay’s small village of buildings, marveling at his ongoing energy and creativity (since I was in the vicinity for the Mother Earth News Fair). A few photos (I have a ton more).
Time remaining: 6d 15h (08 Jun, 2012, 19:12:43 BST)
Current bid: £1,665.00 (25 bids) Clutton, North Somerset, 10 miles south of Bristol, 10 miles south west of Bath.
“…Cummins turbo diesel 5800cc engine. One of the best commercial diesel engines ever built. I regularly get 25mpg out of it and it sits comfortably at 60mph on the motorway, I’ve actually taken it off the speedo on one occasion to 85mph just to test it!
•5 speed gearbox.
•Power steering is incredibly precise and light, its actually easier and much nicer to drive than my work Transit van! Good turning circle.
•24ft long.…”
•Reclaimed lumber interior
•No serious rust anywhere.
Sent us by Avenell Road
Yesterday rainy morning, on my way to SunRay Kelley’s and Bonnie’s compound near Sedro Woolley, Washington, I’m hungry, and here is Mom’s cafe. Who can resist? (I’m a sucker for any cafe that says “Mom’s,” or “Home Cooking.”)
Great breakfast of scrambled eggs, crisp bacon, homemade corn muffin. I ask the cook, “Are you Mom?” “Yes,” she says, “but little mama runs this place,” motioning toward the young waitress. “Your daughter?” “Yes. I just do what she says.” Smiles all around.
Mom is Linda Hanger, daughter is Jess, and she’s lovely. Doesn’t know it either. Radiant smile, kindness in face, sparkling eyes. There’s substance here too, and humor. She’s 22 and lives, it turns out, in a tiny home on 22 acres in the hills and practices permaculture. There’s something about the 20-year-olds these days. Children of the boomers. A whole new breed. Hope in this battered world.
This must be the most soulful architecture book Rizzoli has ever published. (Full disclosure: The big timber house called “Hill of the Hawk” (pictured here) that I worked on in the ’60s in Big Sur is one of the houses; also the very simple used-material house I built for my family in the same time period.) Richard Olsen has put together a book of real homes, built by architects and non-architects, that is rich in colors and wood and creativity. Check it out in an independent bookstore.
Lew just sent me this link: https://huff.to/JzSIbC
“…Portable house exterior measures 8.2 feet wide, 13.2 high and 16.2 feet long within the Department of Motor Vehicle Regulations. This dual-axle trailer is inspected and licensed in the state of New York as a utility trailer, with a weight of 7,000 pounds, although the unfinished weight is well under this amount. It went for it’s maiden voyage yesterday for a 30 mile trek at 50 MPH and everything went well as planned.
The siding is new half-inch beveled pine. Installed this week. The pine tongue and groove flooring was salvaged from a 19th century Baptist Church House in West Fulton, NY.…”
“Here is one of the better autophotos Degfrip has to offer, Ryan Worcester is the man, in this series of photos he shares some of the moments that bicycle riding, and the off beaten path have taken him.”
For my first encounter with Ratman and his naughty-named website, see:
