Residential Real Estate in SW Washington State

Residential Real Estate Services with Passion, Integrity, Knowledge

We’ll Miss You, Dave

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I am incredibly saddened by the passing of Dave Niehaus, the announcer who called the Mariners’ baseball games in Seattle for over 30 years.

A game just wasn’t complete without Dave’s commentary. His occasional enthusiastic outbursts  “My Oh My” and “Fly Fly Away!” punctuated the very best games and best plays. So often we went to games with radio headphones so that we could listen to his calls. In fact, there were many a game watched from home where we turned down the TV and turned up the radio to listen to him.

My children all love baseball–partly because Dave Niehaus made it come alive for them. We celebrated so many wins and so many near impossible plays with him … and Niehaus knew just how to heighten the excitement.

Oh, we’ll greatly miss you, Dave. Baseball in Seattle will never be the same again.

Mama Passarelli and The Soup Ladies

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About a month ago I met Ginger Passarelli Senecal, respectfully and gratefully referred to in our area as “The Soup Lady.”

Known as “Mama” to everyone who’s ever met her, several years ago Ginger felt a compelling need to fill a desperate need by those who are “first responders” in times of need and disaster — our fire fighters, police, EMTs, military personnel, search and rescue teams, and so on.  

Several years ago, Mama decided that the folks at her church needed more connection with one another. And so she began bringing pots of soup to the church after services. It was a way to get to know one another! As happens periodically in our area, in 2003 we had a windstorm go through the area that toppled trees, cut our electricity and other essential services. For many of us, it meant that cooking and warm meals were just not available.

Typical of Mama, she helped arrange for members of the congregation to clean up the area, then set up barbeques and portable stoves in the church parking lot to serve … soup!

From that time on, Mama Passarelli began her mission to provide soup to those people who do so much to help all of us.

Mama and her dedicated crew have served soup and provided a friendly face in so many disasters — both local and nationwide. She and her volunteers respond to house fires, search-and-rescue operations, flood relief, hurricane cleanup. They were there for Katrina, they were there for Gustav. They were in Lakewood for days to serve when four police officers were killed. They were even there recently when fire crews rescued a dog that fell over the edge of a cliff in Snoqualmie.

Mama Passarelli owns a home-style restaurant in Black Diamond, Washington. She’s a talented and accomplished cook. Down home meals are definitely her specialty–YUMM!!! You may want to have soup as an appetizer.

While I can only pray that you never have a need to meet Mama because of a personal tragedy, I do encourage you to visit Mama Passerelli’s at 24306 Roberts Drive, Black Diamond.

Fall Has Fallen Around My House!

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Okay, so it’s just now coming into early Spring … but I ran across this old post from 2010 and figured I should update it before losing sight of it again. Besides, Fall seems to come around every year and the fall clean up tasks will arise again!

 

Our Pacific Northwest area has had an “almost – on again/off again” summer this year. Other than just a week or two of hot weather early in August, much of the rest of the summer has been wet, overcast, or just daggone cool! We didn’t really have much of a winter this last year either, now that I think of it. Leaves have been dropping steadily over the last week or so, although we really haven’t been hit with the onslaught from the big maple in the front yard. It’s coming soon though!

Yesterday was a gorgeous fall day — just hot enough to make you think about turning on the A/C … but not quite because “Hey! This may be the last of Summer!” Today … notsomuch. Overcast, cool, breezy, early 60-ish.

Around our house, this time of year signals frantic activity trying to get the house ready for winter. Sure enough … hubby got up this morning and said “We better get the stove cleaned before winter hits!” (We have a pellet stove that gets hauled outside, blown out, tuned up and touched up every fall.) … His first comment was quickly followed by “Shoot, I don’t have those doors re-weather stripped yet either!” Bless him — he really works hard around the house!

I know that most folks have a Fall house tune-up list, but thought I’d throw my list out there just to add a bit more to your own To-Do list! After all, I don’t want to suffer alone.

1. That pellet stove!

2. Scrub out re-caulk around the windows.

3. Winter-ize / weather strip the doors.

4. Knock off any bird nests that arrive every spring in that tantalizing overhang we have. … Oh and while we’re up there, doublecheck and repair any of the bird blocking that’s been vandalized.

5. Oh yeah. Speaking of bird blocking … we usually get under the house to repair any of the critter-screens in the foundation vents to be sure nothing’s gone awry there either. This is usually my job. It’s a lot of fun …. (not!)

6. The gutters’ll be cleaned after the leaves are finished — we can wait for a month or so for that event. It’s much more fun in the really pouring rain anyway.

7. Check all the connections for the Christmas lights. They’re definitely NOT fun to refurb when it’s pouring!

8. Touch up and seal the driveway. … Ours is asphalt. It’s a yearly thing.

9. Walk the roof to be sure that flashing looks good, shingles aren’t popping, or whatever.

10. Check the downspouts and water-runoff thingies at the bottom to be sure they’re in place and pointing the right direction … away from the house.

11. Scrub the deck and re-stain. (I think this one’s gonna have to wait this year. It’s looking like a BIG job–more like needing to replace the decking.)

13. Drain and scrub out the hot tub. (Done! Whoo hoo!)

14. Without getting too much into the garden thing … it’s time to get a weed and feed down soon so that I can still reseed those bare patches when it starts raining daily. (I’m avoiding the inevitable Fall yard work — it’s coming … but the daggone tomatoes aren’t even ripe yet! Gee whiz!)

15. Take a good hard look at the pantry … what’s still needed for my winter stock-up? I like to take an inventory this time of year and add to the staples so that I have at least a couple, two or three, month’s supply of things like rice, noodles, canned fruits, soy milk, that sort of thing.

16. Take the dogs and cat in for their yearly vaccinations. They’re due every September.

Okay, that’s enough. I’m tired just typing. What’ve I missed?

Turtle Burgers

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This is totally off base as far as real estate goes, but just enough fun that I thought I’d share. I received this recipe this morning from a southern friend and am quoting it intact. I can tell you that as “bleagh” as this is to me, my husband thought this looked  fantastic! Must be a guy thing (sorry guys).

Cute though!!

If ya hain’t had yor furst heart attack, this’ll do it!!!

WOW!!! Only in the SOUTH!!

Here’s a new twist on how to serve burgers and if you don’t cook, give this handy little guide to someone that does and request them.

Handmade ground beef patties, topped with sharp cheddar cheese, wrapped in a bacon weave, then the next step, add hotdogs as the heads, legs with slits for toes and tail.

Next step. Place on an oven rack, covered loosely with foil and baked for 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees. A little crispy, not too crunchy…just how a turtle should be, right?

Red Skelton’s Pledge of Allegiance

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One of my favorite gentle clowns (other than the humble clown I live with and married, of course!) is Red Skelton.

A few days ago while surfing the Web and looking for a gift for my hubby, I stumbled across Red’s recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Haven’t seen this in years! I hope you enjoy and appreciate this as much as I do. It’s so beautiful … and appropriate as we head into our 4th of July, Independence Day weekend. (Go to the bottom of the page for the video version.)\

Red Skelton Pledge of Allegiance

Baseball & Babies, It Just Doesn’t Get Any Cuter!

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For the last month or so I’ve been assisting a wonderful couple find a new home. As we’ve gotten to know each other, I was delighted to find that not only are they the parents of darling little Noah, they were huge Ken Griffey, Jr. fans. In fact, the first time I chatted with them prior to their move to Washington, Dad was absolutely certain that four-month old Noah already knew how to play catch!

As the proud grandma of our own little Tyler, just one month ahead of Noah, I decided it was time to get baseball hats for the both of them, which lead to a pair of tickets for my relocated clients. The hats were HUGE on both of the boys, but little Noah loved the game!

Just for Fun — 50 Strange Buildings

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wurm houseSome time ago I stumbled on a quirky little site, Random Web Site , that specializes in taking one to random sites, usually obscure. It’s a fun timewaster, but, of course, one has to be careful not to get too sidetracked (you know … that NEVER happens to me!) And, as you can imagine, browsing the Web at random sometimes leads one to the oddest things.

Now, before showing you these goofy buildings, you must know that I’m a pushover for houses and architecture. I mean, you know me! Always up to go see the newest subdivision, the biggest home show, the best in designer home tours!

Random Web site took me to see Village of Joy this morning! This fun and crazy Web site specializes is a very different look at buildings! What a step away from the usual mix of staid, ho-hum architecture!

So … without further adieu, visit Village of Joy’s 50 Strange Buildings of the World! Oh Yes! And while you’re there, visit their other links — I thought their 50 Weird and Crazy Cars post was a hoot too!

AR Gay Sig

Don’t You Love to Color?

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color butterfly

While working with some delightful clients a while back, I had a chance to interact with their two young daughters, Katy & Sarah. We let their Mom & Dad plow through some paperwork while we colored pictures and talked about playing on the computer.

Inspired, I decided to see what I could find that might be fun for them next time we had a chance to play! These sites look like SO much fun! 

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              • coloring.com   Oh this site is FUN with simple designs for the younger crowd! Click on a page to go to electronic coloring!
              • thekidzpage.com  This is  a flashy site with busy ads for all sorts of things for kids. The printable coloring pages are worth it though!
              • learn about the weather color pages by NOAA   Downloadable stories you can color about different types of weather … think Tornados, Thunderstorms, Snow!
              • color book links  WOW, this site contains links to tons of other sites that have .pdf  downloadable coloring pages! PERFECT!
              • Dover Publications  I get updates from Dover Publications periodically that show off their newest books. Most of them have sketch pages that can be downloaded and then colored. These are generally the high-end adult-type coloring pages for those of us that enjoy coloring with markers with lots of detail. Brings out the “kid” in all of us!
              • National Institute of Environmental Health  Okay, another site where the youngest of us can learn a bit about environment responsibility … these are fun pages that can also be colored online.
              • Crayola.com  Of course there has to be a page with a nod to our favorite crayons, right?

Okay, just one more … apparently there are hundreds of these sites. Who knew?

  • Coloring Pages for Kids  So here’s a resource references what looks like hundreds of other sites containing coloring pages. Have fun!

AR Gay Sig

Happy Thanksgiving to My Canadian Friends!

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roast turkey

 

May you be surrounded by friends and family …

and may you be full of good things … like TURKEY!

and may you find a comfy chair afterwards to nap it all off!

 

 

 

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