Ole Bolle – Portland – Nordic Northwest

Ole Bolle is located on the grounds of Nordic Northwest, a Scandinavian cultural center and nonprofit. Their main building, the Nordia house, is a modern flat-topped grass-roofed building that houses a brunch restaurant and hosts a variety of cultural events throughout the year. We’d eaten earlier, so a quick coffee was all that was needed to energize.
The walk is a pleasant, quarter-mile jaunt through a wooded area. Unlike some of the more passive trolls we’ve visited, Ole Bolle is caught in the middle of his own investigation! He’s hunched over a small red wooden cabin, peering inside as if looking for a snack. Like the previous trolls, Ole has a ubiquitous gaze, if you can see his eyes he’s watching you!
Overall, this was a pretty quick pit stop. If I was in the Portland area more often, I would have tied this in with one of the Nordic Northwest’s events or workshops. That’s three trolls down and three to go!

Seattle Asian Art Museum

It was my first time at the SAAM. It’s a beautiful building and the site of the original Seattle Art Museum (SAM) before it moved down to the current downtown location.
There are primarily two kinds of museum goers on a Wednesday afternoon. Retirees & schoolchildren. The retirees are your normal quiet observers, which are then offset by the occasional stream of cacophony that is the most recent school group hurtling through the displays. It’s a fun time, do recommend if you find yourself with a free Wednesday and want to do some people watching.
Anywho, here are some pictures from the museum.

Volunteer Park

After the museum we hiked up the water tower observation deck, and I came to the realization that I need to spend some more time on a stair stepper. Really reevaluating the thought that I’m fit enough to do the Space Needle’s Base to Space climb. Some great views, though some of the branches could stand to be cut back a bit. There are also an array of displays going into the history of the Olmsted parks projects of yesteryear. If things had turned out differently Seattle could have had a park rivaling Central Park in South Lake union! Sidenote, the Seattle Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) has a great diorama of what the park could have looked like on the top floor of the museum.
Finally, we stopped in at the Volunteer Park Conservatory and looked at some plants. They have air plants bigger than Gergina’s head! It’s a cute little greenhouse divided into tropical, local, and desert plants. It’s worth checking out while in the area!

University District

Had lunch and some more walking around the U-District. Not to be hyperbolic, but I had the best cortado at Ancient Gate Coffee. It is the new cortado that I will judge all other cortados by. No coffee photos, because we got there at 4:58 and they were closing at 5. That’s how good the barista was.
All in all, it was a great midweek birthday! Some culture, bunch of stairs and walking, and a new favorite coffee place!

Bruun Idun – West Seattle – Lincoln Park

Our first stop was Lincoln Park in West Seattle. This was our first time visiting Lincoln Park, and the location is gorgeous. I really need to spend more time exploring West Seattle because I was sleeping on this location and I’m sure there are many more.
We parked in the south lot and walked a little over half a mile along the waterfront path to find Bruun. She has an incredible view of the sound. While we didn’t spot any orcas, we did see harbor seals bobbing in the chilly water, along with a bevy of crows and seagulls getting up to their bird business.

Oscar the Bird King – Vashon Island – Point Robinson Park

Next, we took a quick ferry to Vashon Island and drove to Point Robinson Park to visit our second troll, Oscar the Bird King. After a short walk from the parking lot, you’ll find him holding court in a small grove, encircled by dozens of birdhouses. Compared to Bruun’s open waterfront setting, Oscar’s spot feels more like a woodland diorama.
While we were there, we also stopped by the Point Robinson Lighthouse. The trail was easy but muddy enough to keep us paying attention. Once down to the beach you can see the Lighthouse and an expanse of rocky shore. It was windy and chilly, so we didn’t spend too much time exploring. Apparently you can rent the lighthouse keeper’s quarters, which sounds like the perfect place to storm-watch and scan for orcas.
Two down, four to go. Not a bad way to spend a Monday!

It’s still only 50 degrees on a good day here in the Pacific Northwest. My beanies have been getting a pretty steady period of use since October rolled around. Anywho, like anything I use a lot I start to look at what else is on the market. This Jcrew wool beanie I got is great, but what’s even greater? Or an even cooler color? Gotta be able to accessorize. Without further ado, them hats!

That red & black color scheme was the first thing that caught my eye while scrolling through Katla’s offerings. It’s so sleek and ready to fly! Other cool features of this one is that its handmade in Iceland, with Icelandic wool from Icelandic sheep. One more reason to spend some time in Iceland!

I love the knit pattern on this beanie. Its just so eye-catching! Its made with 100% Merino wool and is listed as especially stretchy. Which is something I look for because of my big wide head! This ones handmade in Norway!

I need to get down to Seattle and check this shop out in person! All of Yarn Dragon’s offerings are handknit in downtown Seattle. This specific beanie uses a 70% Baby Alpaca/30% Silk blend. Which just sounds delightful on my shaved scalp. Best part though is they also offering matching mitts, mittens, and scarves!

That’s all the tuques I have bookmarked in my wish list at the moment. Any other great finds you have or are lusting after? Let me know in the comments!

Christmas 2024 pics were tagged and scanned in a timely manner, same month and calendar year even.

There’s something just so fun about the big pile of photos look. I had a bunch of spare film packs from the wedding that were expiring soon, so I went wild with the Instax mini. It was fun, but comparing the 2 formats makes me wish I’d had more square film, or picked up a wide Instax film camera at some point. Such small photos and the control of the Mini 12 leaves something to be desired.

Found some 2023 Instax photos I hadn’t scanned over the weekend, so rectified that situation.

The dates of some of the photos have been lost to time so they just get a general year date. Such is the case of non-timely review and archival. Don’t even want to think about the lost metadata / actual data from the box of family photos in my closet. A problem for a later Erik.