And nary a bumbershoot in sight!

We have been having remarkably great weather this past few weeks. As of yesterday, we have had nine days in a row of over 80 degrees, breaking the all time record for September in the Seattle area. It was really late, but summer has finally arrived in the Northwest. It seems that I have turned into a Northwester, when it hits 80 degrees I swelter. Last summer I chuckled at the folks complaining about the heat. Now I am one of them. I am now looking forward to Autumn weather. Perfect weather for enjoying the outdoors. And perfect weather for Bumbershoot!

Bumbershoot is an annual international music and arts festival held in Seattle. One of North Americas largest such festivals it takes place every September at the 74-acre Seattle Center, which was built for the 1962 Worlds Fair. The name of the festival was taken from bumbershoot, a colloquial term for umbrella, probably coined in the 19th century a portmanteau of the words umbrella and parachute. Seattle Center is also the home of the world famous Space Needle.




Standing at the base of the Space Needle. Not a cloud in the sky.

 A picture perfect day for some great music and maybe a beer.  We met up with our good friend Gary McMinn from San Diego, one of Roger's Golf Club buddies.  He comes up for the festival every year and attends with his brother who lives in West Seattle not too far from us. It was great to see someone from home!  The festival runs for three days, however we only attended on Sunday. The list of performers is immense, covering about a dozen venues. The artists range from comedy and bluegrass, to jazz and rap with everything in between.  There were also many vender tents, art exhibits and street entertainers on the grounds.



The International Fountain at Seattle Center




The stage from inside the Beer Corral.




Jessica Lea Mayfield




Leon Russel

 Some of the acts this year were Hall and Oates, Wiz Khalifa, Big Boi, Fitz and the Tamtrums, local hits Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Butthole Surfers, Mavis Staples, Trombone Shorty and so on......
We saw a jazz singer Gail Pettis that was fantastic.  Approximately 200 hundred artists and groups performed over the three days. We had a great day.

On of the other things that the warm weather has brought to Western Washington, is forest fires. Nothing like the Texas fires that raged there, but fires none the less. One of these has been burning out of control on the Olympic Peninsula in a very remote area.  We can't see the fire itself, but the smoke has really effected our sunset views.



You can see the layer of smoke hanging over the mountains.

  Thats all I have for now, as I purchased a new carpet cleaner and need to give it a test drive aroung the dining room.  Love to all! Denise