Beneful Dream Dog Park- Burien Washington

Watch for Buddy- He has a starring role!

Moshier Holiday Pottery Sale

Here is the Booty I got at the annual MOSHIER HOLIDAY POTTERY SALE here in Burien. Mosher is the Parks name where the Moshier Arts Center is located and where talented folks who work in clay go to do their spinning wheel/kiln work. Many great deals at this holiday sale. And always a free piece. I always consider this the pre-cursor to the annual Empty Bowls event held in Burien by these same great artisans. The big difference is I can get a hold of original serving pieces and dog bowls, not just bowls!

My annual new bowls for bowsers' gift- personalized with their nick names- Slurp and Burp!

PIRATE PUP RALLY

One of our B-Town DOG members is a finalist in the Beneful Dream Dog Park 2013 contest. This is so important to the Dogs of the South End. So please attend if you can, dress like a pirate (not required but encouraged) and get ready to yell your lungs out for Kellie and Bailey!!!

AND PLEASE REMEMBER "VOTE DAILY FOR KELLIE AND BAILEY"

Rob... Super Jock?

Well I ran walked sorta fast in the local Brat Trot. Didn't do as bad as I thought - came in 80th (out of 84 finishers) in the 1 mile race. And I had two dogs with me. Never go racing with dogs- they want to stop and smell the roses! (and then pee on them). Anyway it was all for charity (The Highline Schools Foundation) so I guess that is a Win-win.

PICNIC FOR EARTH

 I know--- Earth day should be Earth Year... yadda yadda. But the one good thing about Earth Day is it gives attention to the problems (and solutions) concerning our planet. The Nature Conservancy is suggesting you host or attend a picnic for Earth Day, April 22nd. And from I gather it could be a small family picnic or a large affair. The idea is to get out and enjoy nature. My idea is to have a picnic with the "boys" for lunch at one of our local parks, since it is a work day. You may want to eat dinner in the back yard or attend one of the sponsored picnics on this map. In any case, have a meal Al Fresco and enjoy the day!
Here are some Picnic Tips from the Nature Conservancy's Picnic For Earth website

If You Picnic for Earth, then You Need Green Picnic Tips!
 Choose a Location Near You Hosting your own picnic? Choose a picnic site close to home, and walk or bike to your picnic location instead of driving.

Look for a green space nearby — a local park, a sports field, a Conservancy preserve or a friend’s backyard!

Use Re-Usable or Compostable Serveware Instead of packing paper plates and disposable utensils, pack serveware that you can wash and use again and encourage your guests to do the same. If this won’t work, many brands are now offering compostable plates and silverware.

Bring Healthy Foods The lower a food is on the food chain, the lower its impact on the environment. For example, it takes about 634 gallons of water to make a hamburger. So, add more fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes to your picnic meal — those things are good for you and the planet!

Need a recipe? Pack Local, In-Season Ingredients Nothing ruins an eating-well high in the U.S. faster than seeing a sticker on your apple that says New Zealand (no offense, kiwis!). Prevent the shipping-around-the-world blues by picking up your produce from a local farmer’s market.

Lose the Napkins No one wants to walk around with mustard on her face, but paper napkins aren’t the answer. Use the picnic as an opportunity to use that cute gingham handkerchief that came with your cowboy Halloween costume five years ago. Or, you know, any old cloth napkin will do.

Compost and Recycle Your Trash: I bet someone at your picnic has a compost bin (Are you ready to give it a try? It’s easy!). Enlist that person to take home all the compostable scraps from the event, and another person to collect any recyclables.

Clean Your Picnic Site: A good picnicker is one that doesn’t leave trash at his picnic site. A great picnicker is one who picks up trash at this picnic site. Use the picnic as an opportunity to make your local green space just a little greener.

Enjoy Nature: Once your meal is over, take some time to enjoy your natural setting. Take a hike, go bird-watching or just sit back and enjoy the sounds of nature. Have kids in tow? Try this Nature Treasure Hunt.

Use Electronics Wisely: Picnic for Earth is about reconnecting with nature, but whether it’s to play some picnic tunes or send us your picnic photos via Twitter (@allhandsonearth), Facebook or Flickr, we know that your electronic devices will make an appearance. Be sure to unplug your chargers when not in use to avoid “vampire power,” which accounts for about 10 percent of household energy usage.

Farewell My Valiant!

Time to put away childish things. I bought my 1966 Plymouth Valiant sedan in/about 1996. I suppose I was trying to relive my teen years, when I drove a 1964 Plymouth Valiant. I rebuilt it somewhat to a nicer car than it was. Installed "new" seats, new headliner, trim and Fender skirts.  It was a lot of work and learning for me. Now today it just sits. So I donated it to Cars Helping Veterans. I could sell it, but I would rather an organization that could use it to do some good pick it up. So good bye old paint. It's been cool knowing and driving you!

Saying goodbye is never easy!

Park N Bark!

We (we meaning B-TWN D.O.G.) held our first Bark and Park Community dog walk at the Lake Burien School Park on Saturday. Lots of little cuties walking around, sniffing, scratching and socializing. Here are some pics of the mayhem.

 Happy Dogs = Happy Dog Owners

 Even Daisy, the Grand Dame of the group took an interest!

 Girls and their dogs

 This little fellow had a great time exploring!

 I couldn't help but think of marching songs!

Let's PLAY!

Today a walk around the park- tomorrow OUR OWN DOG PARK!!!

It all started here... the Seattle P-Patch Story

I thought I would share a little bit of Seattle History. This Video, explains the start of the first P-Patch (community) garden. Today the city of Seattle has over 80 P-patches, King county has two or three  Burien has one official Community garden, set by the same guidlines as Seattle's, and a couple of "unofficial" gardens in private areas.
 

AARF Fun!

Romeo and Buddy checking out the goodies!

What I did on my weekend. Well I had to work, but I did have some time to attend the annual A.A.R.F (Animal Assistance and Rescue Foundation), where I adopted Buddy, Whine and Cheese Auction. While auctioning, I bid on some great items, and won two... A gift basket of dog goodies, which includes a grooming and a pet sitting certificates!

YUMMY!!!

And a guilt free  Raw Chocolate Cheesecake, which as you can see is slowly getting eaten, piece by delicious piece, from Deceptive Delights, a bakery that specializes in no guilt desserts! And too SWAG Bags full of goodies and food for Romeo and Buddy! All in all a good night and a great organization for dogs!

Walked 'N Talked

 Well Romeo and I led the WABI Monthly Walk N Talk yesterday - 12 People came out to walk what I lovingly call the Highline Hooky Route... A complete circle around my old High School, never actually going in. The weather was warm and overcast, perfect weather for a nice walk.
Romeo was actually exhausted at the end of the walk. A few stopped in at local establishments for a cool beverage afterwards. It is so good to meet local folks and have a good time walking through city neighborhoods.

Riding with the Wabi

or maybe I should have called this "Robbie Wabi". Anyway I left the pooch at home and took a ride with WABI a group in Burien advocating Bicycle/Pedestrian awareness. I should have asked someone when picking out my bike if it makes my butt look big, but whatever. The video was shot by my friend Michael Brunk, an area photographer who has all sorts of neat toys like bike mounted cameras. I am the fat guy on the orange bike.
 

Earth Day Weekend

I celebrated the weekend in grand fashion! I attended the Environmental Science Center annual Earth day dinner fundraiser and auction. Where I won a quilt. (Don't ask me how much I bid for it). Had a nice dinner, And on Saturday, I did a bit of work in the garden and yard, bought some Tomato plants to donate to the Highline Food Bank garden, then I met up with my cousin Sue and her daughter Katy for a sandwich at Hey Paison! followed by a Casino Themed party for my Cousin Jessica's 40th Birthday.

On Sunday I went to a benefit showing of the movie Down By Law, a quite surprisingly good movie, at the Tin Room Theater. The Tin Theater and t's counterpart the Tin Room Bar & Grill are one of the best examples of Re-Use around... both were an old Tin shop and converted to a bar and later the movie theater and feature a bunch of the items from the old tin shop. The benefit was for a friend of mine's sister whom has cancer.  So all in all a pretty good weekend full of sunny weather, good friends and good food!

Introducing Wabi

A new tequila? No. Wabi is a new group in Burien advocating walking and Bicycling. It was started ny friends and acquaintances of mine who are big into biking and walking. And social advocacy. And events to support the idea. And they are trying to put up bike racks all over town, something the former city councils seemed to have forgotten, even while portraying Burien as a "bike friendly" city. So take a look at the WABI site,

Cash Mob!!!

All photos courtesy the "B-Town Blog"

Even my man, Da Bieber is all for the Cash Mob!

Saturday, I participated in a mob event. Cash mob. Cause that's how I roll.

The Cash Mob met up at a local pizzeria, and everyone agreed to spend $20 at a local store. There were about 40 of us, The store picked was "Goodie Gumdrops" a local toystore I must admit to never having frequented before. And boy was I surprised at what I could find there-  They had those cool little science kits I love that require a piece of garbage to recycle/re-use, wrapping and art supplies. I picked up a Weather station science kit and a Fridge Rover ( a wind up car the travels up the frigidaire!) It was so cool to see members of the community to get together and help out one of our local businesses. And now I am wondering... who's next to get hit by the mob?
More on this at the B-Town Blog

3 New Blogs (And 1 Old One Returns)

Hey there...in case you haven't noticed, and judging by the amount of visitors to this site, probably a lot of you!, there are some new blogs in my side bar that are worth taking a look at!

Kathe With An E- Kathe writes a great blog about design, re-design etc. She also is a consumate crafter. Great looking blog as well

A life Unprocessed- Written by my friend and fellow Burienite Mellow, she explores the unique and challenging "Raw food" world, as well as trying to make her world a better place for her children. And finally someone else around here besides me who eats weeds!

Our School at Blair Grocery- this is a blog that reports the news from the School at Blair Grocery, a really cool program teaching kids in New Orleans how to Urban Farm, as well as giving the community there something to smile and sing about!

Chile Chews- What? Rob have you gone batty? No. I know Chile is not new, but after a brief retirement she is back, and just as sassy, just as honest and just as good a read as ever. I look forward to reading her unique views on topics such as Diet, People and store managers!

Sustainability in your community

Majora Carter is the Macarthur-winning founder of Sustainable South Bronx, an organization dedicated to holistic community development, sponsoring projects that create jobs, protect the environment and bring beautiful green space to the inner city.

Sustainable Yards!

Sometimes I just love my city:

Walk 'N Talk

Yup... this is how me and a group of 38 individuals spent super bowl sunday... walking and talking! Started by by my friend Maureen, the monthly walk~n~talk is a just that- a group of community members do a 2 1/2 mile or so walk around the community, It is a great way to meet members of the community and get some excercize to boot! Does your community or area have a Walk 'N Talk group?

Garden A Glow

This is our community garden-

This is our community garden on lantern power. Actually this is part of a community festival the Burien Arts A Glow Lantern Festival, and they asked we play a small part. It was fun lighting the garden, we haven't done it since the garden was a dream and all we had was a demo garden at the BIAS.

B-Patch from the frontOur Lullaby singerLights in the gardenMore lightsEven more!Garden from the side!

A visitor!

Arts-A-Glow!

Looking for something fun to do this Saturday?