The color of Spring and a '48 Chevy

The color and hue of Spring in a '48 Chevy - that is what turned my head today and put a smile on my face. This baby has been in the hands of owner, Lou Gulman, for nearly a year and she is looking oh so purple and oh so good.

This '48 Chevy Fleetline Arrow was the same model that Lou drove back in his younger days. He rescued it for a 4 year stint where the old chevy was deteriorating fast and put a lot of elbow grease and time into this beauty to have her sparkling and cruisin' the streets of Downtown Renton.

Love is in the details. Just look at the purple dice on the tire rims and the top of the door locks. The hood of the car has a subtle array of flames that you can only admire from close up. Lovin' it.

Lou Gulman is not a trophy queen - he drives his beautiful purple car whenever he can, even making long road trips over the mountain pass to see family. But the seats aren't as comfy as he would like, so that will be one of the next improvements he makes on his baby (heads up to you Kenny's Upholstery). Not unlike The Picaroon's friend Ron Hughes, seen here and here, Lou believes that vintage is best - and not meant to be left at home under a tarp till the car show comes to town.

Thanks, Lou. You and the "old chevy" made my day!

Library it up during the Holidays

The weather is turning chilly, so it maybe time to warm up with a good book. Or learn to make something you have been thinking about into a new pasttime, by researching it with the help of a few written guides and the help of the librarian to find just the right supporting literature.

Whatever your reason for venturing through the front doors, you will always find a warm and bustling place full of smiling and helpful faces and lots and lots of really good reads. I don't want to harp on the DVD's you can also find - the librarians would love to not feel as if they were working at Hollywood Video and so often are sorely tempted to ask a movie laden goer "would you like a book with that?" In a world of Kindles and computers, let's take these days of longer nights and fall in love with a good book once again.

And with it being the season of sharing and giving, you could also bring along a spare pair of mittens, or a hat or scarf for the library Mitten Tree. All the warm goodies will be donated to the Renton YWCA mothers and children. You have until December 31 to add a gift of comfort and warm another's heart.

If you are ever at a loss as to what to read for this time of the year - there is an entire table of suggestions just waiting for your eyes. Just like when I venture into independent booksellers and read the favorite book lists of the employees, I gleefully look at whatever the Renton Library staff has put out. So many books, so little time. There is always another good book right around the stacks, waiting for discovery.

This and many other reasons are why there meets monthly a group of concerned Renton citizens that do not want our public library (independent for the last hundred years) to join with KCLS (King County Library System), an issue that comes up for our vote in the near future. If you are interested in finding out what you can do - join in the meeting
Sunday, December 6th at 2pm
A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub
in Downtown Renton /201 Williams Ave.S.

To find out more information about this upcoming vote on the library, please visit the blog that has been established to flesh out the issues and provide interested parties with some answers, because up until now, however you might view this concern, there has been an extreme lack of information.

http://votenotilyouknow.wordpress.com/

Renton Wreathes Up and Holiday Parties begin

Wreathing up the downtown Renton corridor - that is what Stefeny Anderson was up to yesterday. Just thought I might see what all the decoration fuss was about - and me likes. Many store fronts on South Third Street bore the lovely holiday mark of a wreath and a red bow. Great work there, Stefeny.

If you see this bright holiday postcard in your daily travels - snag it up! It is an invite to the Holiday Party at Happy Delusions, the store for all your handcrafted gifts and treasures, this Saturday December 5th from 4 - 8pm. The card entitles the bearer to $5 off any purchase of $30 or more - so well worth the effort of picking it up.

And before I go, let us look at some of the festive decorations that are beginning to brighten our early winter nights here in town. Mary Clymer, owner of Happy Delusions, has gone garland crazy and I love the retro colored tinsel trees. I stopped by on my early evening stroll to get the photo in the twilight - full festive effect. There is nothing like the lights on a tree reflecting out into the dark ambient air to make one think of hot mugs of cocoa, warm winter socks and the smell of snow.

Happy Delusions
924 S. Third Street Renton WA 98057
425-255-6078

Not cooking dinner tomorrow?

Well, my two favorite coffee haunts will be closed tomorrow, as will a host of other places (as well they should be!), but there is a grand place for you all to go if you are not in the mood to play head cook, but definitely want to have a traditional feast - A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub.

This family friendly establishment with excellent beer and atmosphere will be glad to cook up that holiday meal for you this Thanksgiving. So, give a call and then saunter on down in the pants that you wear when you want extra breathing room in your waistline.

Classic Thanksgiving Homemade Feast
Now accepting Reservations for Thanksgiving 2009
at A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub and Restaurant

Call or come in to choose your perfect table and timeframe!
(425) 227-3396

3 course feast served at your table featuring
*Festive Soup or Salad
*Choice of entree meats with all the fixins!
*Choice of 4 homemade desserts!
*Vegetarian and Vegan Choices available!

A warm and calm environment with the entire family without the stress of cooking at home. Let us serve you while you enjoy soothing music, warm fire, wonderful ambiance, and thankful time with your family.

Adults $15
Children under 12 $7.50
Children under 3 FREE!

A Terrible Beauty
201 Williams Ave. S.
in the DTR
(425) 227 - 3396

reminiscing and a birthday

What I love about blogging and Renton - and how they coincide. I spoke of this being a shared birthday month for me and The Picaroon - so today is my celebration day and I have some plans (see me gleefully rub my hands together!), so I am going bypass my planned post and reminisce for a moment. With you.

Renton, so often overlooked, is an incredible blaze of green and blue. The Cedar River, the banks of Lake Washington and all of our green, green trees filling the hills. If you have traveled, you know that where we live is a cornucopia of nature and color. Love it. Love to take photos of it. And the rain does not bother me. That's the "greening" agent, and I'm not depressed over it. Ever.

Renton has bike paths, and walk paths and parks and water just waiting to be strolled or rolled by. Our town could lead us all to better health if we let it. It definitely provides a place to cast your worries aside and just breathe. Yeah - try that, daily if you can.

Community - I found it quickly here over a cup of good coffee and a bunch of diverse thinkers who realize that it takes all kinds to spice the pot of life. Live and let live. Keeps me sane, happy and coming back for more. I am a what you might call, returning Rentonite. I had lived here before, but it was years ago and I was young. Moving to our burg was the easiest transition I have ever made into a new town, new home. Thanks, Renton. You took me right in.

And let's not forget about the quirky bursts of color and activity that makes me giggle and want to get out the camera. You are all lucky that I didn't load one of my of flower photos up, as I am sure you have noticed that I am partial to them. Yep, whether it be people, place or thing, Renton has it's full complement of colorful and unique living.

So Renton, you are getting bigger by the annexation and you have a flavor all you own, no matter what the neighbors say. I walk your street, eyes wide open, with heart and camera in hand, and I am glad. Glad to share a corner of my Renton world.

Veteran's Day - What to do

Veteran's Day - a possible "to do" list for you. First one, obvious - go check out the Veteran's Memorial at the corner of Main and South Third. Think. This isn't just a day off from work or school. Whatever your political stance on the war in Iraq, send those soldiers some heartfelt love. I would certainly hate to be there.

Next, head over for the 50% off sale at Value Village. As you know, that store's days are numbered. My friend Mary shared with me that she went already to make her last purchase there the other day - something that would forever remind her of this favorite shopping haunt. Now is your time to purchase a little bit of nostalgia for yourself.

Next, until 2pm today you can check out and vote on the entrees for the recent Renton Film Frenzy - all of the videos are at the Renton Reporter, link right here to see them all. The winner of the people's choice on the videos will be announced on Friday online and in print and the winner will be recognized on November 16 at a Renton Council Meeting. So, sit the kids down with you in front of the computer this a.m. and watch some local flicks.

As a nod to past endeavors by local filmers, I include this damn cute one below.






And a nod to a local favorite and previous winner ....

Keep your day job

Things are running apace at the Louisa Building on Wells Ave.S. as it gets a makeover - but this guy, geesh, gotta love his ballsy ladder move, but if you thought about changing careers to something like, oh, painter or electrician, make sure you get the safety ladder with the expandable net waiting for you below. I mean it.

in my neighbor's garden

The Picaroon is a bit on holiday this weekend - I took these photos on Thursday just for all of you to look at today. This is where we live - this is what we see, here in Renton, here in the garden.

Library Love and Interblogging Support

Sometimes we have to question the why and how of things, and sometimes we have to come together to do so. Miss Lynar has been strangely absent from her blog and blogging at All about Renton as of late, taking on a much larger project than the everyday life and times in Renton. Miss Lynar is looking into the Renton Public Library and the current question on the table of whether or not Renton should join the King County Library System.

When a recent poll was provided for the public to vote concerning this issue, it was a bit difficult to see what the end usage of said poll would be - merely to market to the public better when it comes time for us to vote this Fall, perhaps? I myself wondered why the poll questions didn't really fairly lay out to the public what the true differences would be between remaining autonomous or choosing to join KCLS. Maybe we need to start at a more basic level of inquiry and work our way out from there. Gut level reaction sort of stuff - so here it is.

Should Renton Public Library join the King County Library System or not?

Hit on the above link and head on over to All About Renton's Poll featured today and tell us what you think. My hat is off to Miss Lynar for this undertaking and The Picaroon will be following her progress on this issue closely in the days and weeks to come, so tune in.

Bloggers meet in the real world

Mrs. Heimlich Mortimer

Noon tomorrow there is a few of us local bloggers that will be grabbing some coffee at Liberty Cafe and hanging at Happy Delusions, both to be found at the top of South Third Street in downtown Renton. Randy Corman from Renton Community Update, Rich Zwicker from Renton425, Lynar Deluca from AllaboutRenton, Mary Clymer of Happy Delusions Weblog and hopefully Freakazoid Freddy from Displaced Hipster's Guide to Renton and representing The Picaroon will be Mrs. Mortimer, our Blog Monitor. She won't be able to stay for too long, however - Mortimer needs his hourly dose of prune juice these days to keep regular, and there is always the daily dusting to be done, and the cats to be hand fed and the laundry to be folded - well, you get the picture.