Our son Jake was leaving for work on assignment in the southern California desert for most of this month so we wanted to spend some time with him before he left on Monday. We arranged to pick him up at his apartment in Ballard and go out for breakfast at a restaurant in Greenwood that has become our go to place for these visits. We had a good time talking and eating.
After we dropped him off back at his home, we took advantage of the cold but bright morning to go for a stroll through the garden at the Ballard Locks. You can always count on something blooming in the winter here, checking out what's happening at the locks is fun, and the strolling is easy.
Edgeworthia blooms in winter with wonderfully fragrant blossoms.
Helebores of many varieties are now in full bloom.
Camellia
Hellebore mix
Double hellebore.
These plants were just along the main walk to the locks. Lets go there before going into the main garden.
Last time we were here this large lock was empty and being cleaned. Now it is full of water
And a flotilla of ducks.
Here comes some business.
It's the Kitsap County passenger only ferry, apparently come into Salmon Bay for some maintenance.
Viburnum
Hazel nut catkins.
Yep. Cactus in a hot spot. Well, in the summer, anyway.
The water level in the locks has been lowered from lake level to sound level, and the gates have opened to release the ferry.
Pieris Japonica.
Tom spent his time looking for cones and seed pods. He might someday actually get back to making more cone wreaths.
Cherry or plum?
Silk Tassel bush isn't very spectacular, but it does bloom in winter.
I guess the flowers are sort of interesting close up
How about this almost black hellebore.
An early rhododendron, probably Rosa Mundi.
The answer to cherry or plum - plum, or apricot?
Thanks to the Army Corps of Engineers for this marvel of engineering, opened July 4th, 1917, and the reason for this delightful park and garden.
I did watch most of the Super Bowl later that afternoon. I didn't really care who won. I tried to watch most of the commercials but I can't tell you what they were actually selling. The half time show was spectacular, but so much emphasis on crotches made me uncomfortable. Maybe I'm just old.
It was a very good and a busy weekend. I had to think hard about what we did and when we did it.
It was Saturday morning when we went to the big antique show at the state fair grounds in Puyallup. We are at that point where we aren't allowing ourselves to buy any more collectible stuff, but it sounded like a good activity to get us out of the house and moving. I took some photos to give you an idea of the kinds of "antiques" that were on display.
I thought of Connie of Far Side when I saw these ornaments.
There was lots of beautiful pottery, like this Roseville. It's fun to find patterns I've never seen before.
Lucite jewelry is cool.
Old furs, not so much.
I thought this was a fun little vignette. I love the Space Gun.
There were lots of great old toys.
We have this Fisher Price farm set in our attic. I may never get rid of it. It is one of our kids' earliest toys, and then my grand kids played with it. I've always loved it.
You know you're old when you still have some of this stuff in your cupboards, and you still use it.
I was tempted by these dragon fly pins, a little glitter to wear on my fleece.
Hopi pottery is our favorite Puebloan pottery. We have a few pieces that we collected in New Mexico.
Some vendors are very possessive of their wares.
We had a good time, saw as much as we needed to, and left about 1:00, having achieved some walking, resisted buying anything, and found a Starbucks nearby for lunch.
That evening we watched another good movie, Harriet, at our "home theater". It's available on On Demand or Netflix. I'll get back to finishing up my movie reviews before the weekend. Sunday is Oscar night.
Just to reiterate, I am focusing on recent movies nominated for Academy Awards. Another one of those films is Once Upon A Time in ... Hollywood.
This is a Tarantino film, so you know it's bound to be a little weird, and probably violent, yet who can resist those two guys staring in it. The setting is Hollywood in 1969, the Hippie era. Leo DiCaprio plays a TV Western star whose show, and therefore his fame, has run it's course. He is trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to regain his standing as a star. Brad Pitt plays DiCaprio's stunt double, whose career has been hitched to the same star. Pitt gets mixed up with hippies, who turn out to be the Manson Family. DiCaprio's neighbor is Sharon Tate. So yeah, the ending gets messy, but not in the way you might think. Tarantino naturally rewrites history to suit his own purposes.
The acting is very good, DiCaprio is nominated for Best Actor, and Brad Pitt for Best Supporting Actor. The sets and costumes depict the era very well and it is fun for those of us who remember those times to relive them just a bit. This is a comedy/drama after all. It's meant to be pure entertainment, with no lasting social commentary, but what seems like gratuitous violence at the end just left us cold. Maybe you will like it better. Those guys are pretty to look at.
Ford and Ferrari is a car movie.
Our son Jake recommended this Oscar nominated movie. He and I shared an interest in auto racing during his growing up years. He is still into it, while I now only pay attention to the Indy 500 if there is an Andretti in it. But he was right, I liked this movie.
Matt Damon plays the lead character who has retired from racing due to health issues, but he still loves race cars and convinces Ford Motor company to get involved in racing to try to best the always victorious Italian Ferrari team. Christian Bale becomes the driver he fights for. The big wigs at Ford aren't very cooperative except for a middle manager named Iaccoca, who just happened to develop the Ford Mustang.
Good acting, good human interest, great racing scenes, and cool automotive history make this a very entertaining movie.
The movie 1917 just might win Best Picture.
We know that war is hell. WWI was especially hellish. This movie shows you just a brief glimpse of that, but it's enough.
British troops are battling the Germans. The Germans seem to be on the run and 1600 men have been sent forward to finish them off. But recon photos show that it is a trap the those 1600 British troops are headed for slaughter. Word must be gotten to them to fall back.
Two little known actors, Dean-Charles Chapman and George MacKay, play the two corporals, Blake and Schofield, who are assigned to cross the nine miles of no mans land and scorched earth to carry the message. Cpl Blake is especially motivated because his older brother is in the advancing 1600.
It is a grueling and dangerous mission that keeps the viewer tense and glued to the screen. I marveled at the sets, the reconstruction of a burned out village, the seeming miles of trenches, the cast of thousands. This is a big movie.
It you prefer to study war no more, skip it, but it is exceptionally well done, and with redeeming value.
More later.
