Margaret, Author at Wallyhood

Wallingford Real Estate Market Favors Sellers in August

Margaret September 16, 2012 1 Comment

The following guest post was written by John Madrid, a Managing Broker with John L. Scott Real Estate – University Village and is a 2005-2012 Seattle Magazine “Five Star” Agent. His clients include both home buyers and sellers. He can be reached at 206-498-1880, [email protected] or www.live206.com. Click on each image once to open them individually, then again for a larger view.

For the 8th consecutive month the median sale price for single-family homes sold in Northwest Seattle, including Wallingford, met or exceeded the sale price for the same period a year prior. Much of this trend can be attributed …

Last chance to see sloth bears until 2014

Margaret September 14, 2012 Comments are off

You have one more chance to visit the sloth bears at Woodland Park Zoo this weekend (September 15-16). After that, Randy and Tasha, the zoo’s resident sloth bears, will be off-exhibit until 2014 while construction begins on the new Asian tropical forest exhibit. Here are some bear facts from the zoo:

Randy, the 16-year-old male sloth bear, came to the zoo in June of 1996. Tasha, a 7-year-old female, has lived at Woodland Park Zoo for just under a year. She made her move in October 2011 under a breeding recommendation by the Species Survival Plan (SSP) for sloth bears.…

Abacus West

Margaret September 14, 2012 Comments are off

Next week, a new after-school math enrichment program will open in the Good Shepherd Center for kids ages five through 12. Abacus West puts a new twist on mathematics using an ancient calculating tool, the Japanese abacus (soroban). Once students get comfortable using the beaded calculating tool, they’re taught to develop a “mental abacus” (anzan), and in doing so, the kids enhance their mental calculating skills.

According Abacus West founder Vinaya Kulkarni, “Along the way students develop their focus, concentration, confidence, and visualization skills.”

Not a bad thing if you’ve got a kid who might be …

Sound Air solicitation

Margaret September 13, 2012 4 Comments

Patrick sent us the following note and photo this evening:

“Just had my house tagged with the attached notice and watched a man proceed to tag every house on the street. Probably not illegal but certainly a scam.”

One quick look on the internets showed us there wasn’t a website for Sound Air Solutions, but they received exactly one Yelp review which starts out with:

“I really wish we could do zero star reviews. If we could, I would definitely do exactly that.”

…

Diplomatic plates

Margaret September 13, 2012 7 Comments

Congratulations goes to Maria Hines, owner of Tilth here in Wallingford and the Golden Beetle over in Ballard. Maria was one of over 80 chefs appointed by the U.S. State Department to the newly-created American Chef Corps under the Diplomatic Culinary Partnership with the James Beard Foundation. This means Hines and her peers will create meals for foreign dignitaries or, when necessary, will travel abroad to engage in public diplomacy programs. The announcement was made at the U.S. State Department last Friday, and Eater D.C. tells us that Hillary Rodham Clinton prepared a taped speech to welcome the crew:

“We’re …

Alley Scraper update

Margaret September 8, 2012 17 Comments

Update: 9/11/12, 9:56am: This morning, The Daily Weekly reported that City Council approved the emergency legislation in a unanimous vote.

Back in May, Shannon told us about the Disturbing Development in Tangletown, in which a new, three-story house was being built on a tiny lot at 55th and Kensington. In July, Shannon provided us with an update, letting us know that the infill issue has cropped up in several neighborhoods throughout Seattle. Now, Shannon has provided us with information about a small lot emergency ordinance introduced by Seattle City Councilmember Richard Conlin. Here’s what she writes:

On Sept 5, Richard …

JSIS Move-A-Thon seeking sponsors

Margaret September 7, 2012 2 Comments

John Stanford International School’s (JSIS) largest annual fundraiser, the JSIS Move-A-Thon will take place on Sunday, September 30 on the Burke-Gilman Trail and the parents/organizers of the event are looking for corporate sponsors to help pay for participant and volunteer t-shirts.

Neighborhood businesses like 4 Your Eyes Only, Ivar’s Salmon House, Blue Star Cafe and Pub, Teahouse Kuan Yin, Dunn Lumber, Pharmaca, and Harold’s Lamps and Shades were among the 40 sponsors who supported the 2011 Move-A-Thon, and here are the organizers’ reasons why you should come on board to support the 2012 Move-A-Thon:

In 2011, more than half the …

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