The Two Best Kept Secrets in Bellingham

I've been meaning to post these bits of information for quite awhile now. Today seems to be the day. Hang with me friends, it's not all serious stuff. :-) Oh, and the iris has been blooming in my garden since last month. Just thought you might enjoy seeing it.

First of all, I have "a thing" about our dependence on foreign oil. Without getting too political here, it concerns me that we have come to rely so heavily on a resource that we cannot provide in adequate amounts within our own shores, and that the American public seems to care so little about this problem. This is a great country. If we can get a man on the Moon & back again, it seems to me that it could not be much more difficult to develop alternative sources of energy to power our vehicles & heat our homes. I will spare any readers who might be out there my usual tirade, and simply state that in Bellingham (Best Kept Secret #1), we are fortunate to have BIODIESEL available. It is produced from waste cooking oil. I drive a VW New Beetle Diesel, and my car (Eduardo, just in case you didn't know his name) purrs on biodiesel. Smells better, too, rather like waffles or french fries. If you're interested to learn more check out http://www.whole-energy.com/index.html. In the cooler winter temperatures, I do use a small percentage of regular diesel along with the bio, as recommended by Justin The Biodiesel Guy. I get >40 mpg, and Eduardo did not need any special modifications to run on biodiesel. He gets his regular tuneups & checkups, just as he normally would.

The Second Best Kept Secret in Bellingham is The Upfront Theater http://www.theupfront.com. It is a small comedy club in downtown Bellingham, on Bay Street. I discovered this theater because my son-in-law's friend has been taking classes there from Ryan Stiles (Whose Line is it Anyway). Good, Bad & Ugly night is Thursday at 8 p.m. Admission is (get this!) $5. Thursday performances are newer comedians & material, but we've always been pleased & have had some good laughs there. If you really want to splurge, for $10, the Friday & Saturday shows (7:30 p.m. & 9:30 p.m.) are the regular shows. Check their website for details.

Tending to my Knitting


The Tina shawl is progressing, but at this point (working on the center square) I feel like I'm knitting an egg carton. The piece is very, ummmm, three-dimensional, which I'm gathering will block out when that time comes. Gauge????? Well heck, it's a shawl. I'm living on the edge here. I didn't do a swatch.