"Put a lid on it!" While this might make a great caption for this insect eating plant, I thought it might be fun to see what the rest of my readers can come up with. This picture of nepenthes alata (Carnivorous Pitcher Plant), taken at the Seattle Conservatory, has a name that does not do justice to the image.    What is your best caption?   Charles Buell, Real Estate Inspections in Seattle   11/11/2012

I have had a long standing love affair with the Seattle Conservatory in Volunteer Park. The first time I visited was in 1965 with my Dad and the place got under my skin and stayed there.  Built in 1912, the Conservatory is now 100 years old, and for those 100 years Seattleites have had a place to get away from the cold and grey. I have done other posts about the place, and this time I thought I would do a close-up pictorial that shows its colors, and textures.  While nothing can convey the humidity and warmth within the building, hopefully these pictures will warm up your day. Currently there are some concerns as to how much longer the place will remain open, so I hope that if you live in Seattle, or ever visit Seattle, that you will take the time to take it in and to give it your finan... 03/04/2012

     Perhaps one of the single most “expendable” components of a home today is the solid masonry chimney.  In new construction they are almost entirely absent----even on very high-end homes.  They have given way, to any number of cheaper versions of chimneys----often without any masonry at all.      When inspecting older homes, that do have brick chimneys, they are often in need of repairs----like the one pictured at the left in one of the old Seattle neighborhoods near Volunteer Park.  The costs of these repairs often run into the many thousands of dollars.       Because bricks are heavy, these chimneys can be a serious safety hazard as well.  No one wants to have a brick bounce off their head when they visit you.      Sometimes converting these old brick chimneys to direct-vent gas b... 08/08/2010

     In another one of my shameless promotions of one of my favorite places in Seattle, I thought I would share some recent pictures.       What is a Seattle Home Inspector to do when they finish their inspection and there is no report to write?  In this case, because the inspection was only a few blocks from The Conservatory, I decided to see what was blooming.  This is a place where it is really hard to be disappointed.  There are always orchids present, but on this day there was an exceptional number of orchids in bloom.  When you enter the Conservatory you immediately enter the Orchid area.  If you go east you head toward the Desert House.  If you Head west you are headed for the Tropics.      On the way to the desert house, I had to check out the Mirror Ball.      I was going to u... 03/04/2010

     Along with the Conservatory (and not too far from each other), there is another very cool place in Seattle to visit---whether you are playing tourist or live here all the time---called the Japanese Garden, at the Washington Park Arboretum.       Here is a little photo tour to give you just a taste of the trails and visual feasts at this little patch of serenity.  Every time I visit the Garden I wonder why I don’t go back more often.  Isn’t that the way it is though?  We will scrimp and save to visit some far off exotic place and neglect the things that are right in our own back yard.  The very places that someone in a far off place is scrimping and saving to come and see.     Charles Buell Seattle Home Inspectors, ASHI Home Inspector, Licensed Home Inspector, Structural Pest Inspe... 09/29/2009

     One of my favorite places in all of Seattle is the Conservatory at Volunteer Park.       My earliest memories of the Conservatory were when I visited it with my dad in 1965----when he was giving a lecture to the American Gloxinia & Gesneriad Society (Now The Gesneriad Society).  One of his many claims to fame was hybridizing gloxinias----developing many new colors and variations on the theme.                  I used to love to take the kids there when they were little.  It is a great place to go to relax and unwind and be transported wherever one needed to be----especially on a cold and rainy day.  Back, then there was a large pond with several large Koi Fish in it----now it is just a wishing well with a bunch of Koin in it.       One of the things that stand out the most about th... 01/12/2009