An October Walk in West Seattle

This is one of my favorite times to go out for a photography walk - so many colors and festive fall decorations to capture.  These photos, were taken on a recent walk around my neighborhood.  I live on a peninsula with great beaches on either side and beautiful neighborhoods in between.  I never tire of trying to find a new route, an alley I haven't walked down, a stair case up the hill I have yet to climb.  And along the way I usually see some fun things and meet some friendly neighborhood residents.  I hope you enjoy the walk, it's a little lengthy, so grab a cup of some delicious fall beverage and settle in for a tour de Alki.

Ah, Amanita muscaria, one of the most photogenic of fungi.  So beautiful.

This highly decorated little cottage is just a little ways from my own home.  

The usual decor is beachy, but they have added a little fall flair.  

I think it goes well.

Leaves and seeds on the side walk - always beautiful!

Here is one of the friendly neighborhood residents. 

 He was willing to stop his busy gathering for a moment and pose for me - how nice!

Here is another friendly resident - though this one only comes around this time of year.

A garden with plenty of greenery left and a beautiful bird bath.

I love that color of green!

Yet another neighborhood resident.  This fella keeps an eye on things at a playground.

He's got a cousin over on the other side of the neighborhood who keeps tabs

 of all the walkers and cyclists enjoying Beach Drive and Constellation Park. 

A friendly offering of bird seed by an odd bird indeed!

This jack-o-lantern means business!  That's one good guard, I'd say!  

Look how his eyes follow you...

Having grown patti-pan squash before I can understand why the gardeners 

may have left these last few end of season squash for the critters - they are so prolific!

Another friendly neighborhood resident who stopped to say hi and pose for the camera!

I just love the splattered mustache on this kitty!

Vibrant red dahlias still going strong.  

This was so rustic, I just had to take a picture.

Most likely this shed has been standing for a very long time - 

a part of Alki's rich history

This house was really going all out with the Halloween decorations - 

what a great window display!!!

And then there was the porch!  I wonder what's she's brewing!?

There were even a few friendly ghosts hanging about.

I walked along Alki beach just in time 

to catch this tug making it's way west. 

 A beautiful day to be out on the water!

I had stepped down onto the beach to pick up a plastic water bottle

left behind by someone and came across this lone carnation bud 

amongst a pile of rocks and shells.  

 The glass art sculpture that i admire on my regular walks

had some visitors hanging out for the season.

I seemed to stumble into oz for a little while too.

and Hawaii?

Sparkling blue water, brilliant blue sky all greeted me on the

west and south sides of the peninsula.  I had to sit for a while on a bench 

and enjoy the view and do a little sun worshiping while I had the chance!

It likes like a neighborhood gnome had the same idea!

And a sunflower, too heavy with seeds to look up and follow 

the sun across the sky reminded me in its golden beauty

 of sunny days soon to pass and cooler grayer days to come...

making me very happy to have gotten out on this walk on such a beautiful autumn day!

New Neigborhood New P-Patch

Our move to West Seattle last fall found us an inconvenient distance from our  P-Patch at Interbay and needing to switch to someplace closer to home. So when we got our new plot assignment we removed our perennials from our Interbay garden, mulched it with a heavy layer of leaves and said our goodbyes. We left a 200 square foot p-patch with access to a greenhouse. Those are the two things I will miss the most about Interbay. As for the garden as a whole and the garden community we never really felt at home there. Not like we did when we were part of a smaller P-Patch, Queen Pea, the first time we lived in Seattle. There is something to say for large P-Patches and the things they can get done. But when it comes to making connections and feeling more a part of a community Mark and I prefer the smaller settings of P-Patches like Queen Pea and our new home - Lincoln P-Patch. There's more of a chance of finding a niche for yourself in the community aspects of keeping up a P-Patch and it is far easier to start recognizing faces and even remembering names when there are fewer gardeners to get to know. That is what we are looking forward to with the move to Lincoln P-Patch. And the location. Lincoln P-Patch is right across from Lincoln Park, one of my favorite parks in West Seattle and one I never think I get to spend enough time in. Hopefully that will change since I'll have already travelled the few miles to the garden I might as well spend some time wandering the various habitats of Lincoln Park. Which is exactly what I did yesterday.

In the afternoon, during a break in the rain, I drove on over to Lincoln P-patch and spent over a half hour wandering the garden, taking pictures, familiarizing myself with the common areas and repeatedly walking back to my own little plot of soil to stand over it and ponder its future.

It is a smaller plot, about 10X11 and built into the side of a hill. Above it is a natural area and Solstice Park.

It's on the west slope of a hill so afternoon sun shouldn't be a problem, although I wonder if the temperatures get very hot due to wind exposure. I'll find out this summer. There are only two other plots in our section, one on either side of ours. Just above our plot is a nice bench that I think will find Mark and I resting, snacking and pondering quite a bit through the garden year.

When finally I had my fill of garden dreaming I was ready to take advantage of being conveniently close to Lincoln Park. I wandered through the forest as mist started to come through the trees and a gentle rain began again. I breathed in the fresh green air, listened to birds chatter, watched squirrels rummage through leaves and dash up trees and kept out of the way of joggers. I considering when I could come back for my own jog through the muddy network of forested trails that is the upper part of Lincoln Park. In the mean time I enjoyed a moderate paced walk and when the trail took me along the bluff I looked out at the waters of Puget Sound and told myself that it was too late in the day to head down to the shoreline part of Lincoln Park. It would have to wait for another day.

So I have hope. For our new garden, for the community it will bring and for the increased frequency of trips to one of West Seattle's many treasures - Lincoln Park