All posts by Matt Lawrence
Kenya Stove Project on Vashon
Payan moved to Kenya when he was two.
He knows first hand the black smoke which billows from traditional cook stoves in Kenya.
Shotguns need not apply
Damon and Rebecca have hundreds of grape vines tightly hugging tension wires along the crown of their southern facing sloped hillside on Vashon. These are trained vines with both single and double armed trellising techniques. There are highly diversified clones of Pinot Noir growing here as to deepen the body and experience.
100 year old farm engine
A Vashon resident dropped of a 100 year old farm engine at the True Value. It wasn’t running and she didn’t want it anymore. It had just been sitting there …
Lo, the crows of Vashon
The new pig area was all set to go by the most northerly edge of the Beall greenhouses. The little open section of land nestled between two small groves of trees was perfect for a little pig area. There were cherry trees, and poplars, maybe some alder. It was all happening so fast, I was getting my training in keeping animals. I was eager to care for these critters, fascinated at the thought that I would kill them, and cook them.
Kurt pointed to the holes in the greenhouse, he asked me if I thought those holes posed a problem for a pig escape. I thought the blackberry brambles would keep the pigs in, and assured him they pigs would be fine in here.
I’m certain now that Kurt allowed me to believe it, but was not hopeful of the outcome.
How to switch to a credit union with ease
On (or about) November 5 customers of big commercial banks can move their money to a credit union to show support and solidarity with a movement started on Facebook. There are almost 70,000 people who have said that thy are going to participate the event.
If you have been scorned by a big bank or simply want to make the switch because you think it is the right thing to do, then here is a little heat under your butt.
While it is definitely doable, it takes a fair amount of effort to make it happen, depending on how much you rely on automatic payments, it could take an even longer time. Think about your Amazon payments, iTunes account, your online news subscriptions, your home and car loans, credit cards, and your donations to KUOW, and that sort of thing.
So why wait? Start the move today. Here is how you can do it in three easy steps.
Pizza, chocolate chip cookies & grape Kool-aid
Adam and Aaron began talking about reopening World Pizza a year before the Monkey Tree closed. Relationships between the owners at the Vashon institution were falling apart, and Adam and Meagan knew they needed to do something different to keep their happiness alive.The brothers opened World Pizza in Belltown 15 years ago, serving street dwellers, artists and musicians. They dedicated their lives to it, giving World Pizza their attention over themselves, parties, and girlfriends.They cared about Belltown immensely. We were there in the early 90’s when there was unchecked development. Adam is not a big fan of change; he goes with it, but pretty much everything from the Moore to the Crocodile flipped. World Pizza was on Lenora, so they saw everything go down. The two had this thing where they would go make a deposit at Receive First Bank (now Bank of America), right in the west lake center – then on the way back, they would stop at the liquor store, which was at the end of Lenora, and they would buy DARK RUM.
