Day 205

"In Bloom"

Taking the back way to Sauk Golf Course today I passed by a church with a tulip tree in the front. I love these trees and have been noticing them in bloom everywhere but had yet to stop and take a picture of any. The flowers that had fully bloomed actually looked like they were on their way out but there were a few buds that were beautiful pink and this one against the green grass background was stunning.

Day 204

"All In a Day's Work"

The view of the clouds on my way in to work was gorgeous. Big, billowy clouds forced me to stop and take some pictures. So this is the view along Cook Road, which is the way I go to work. Then I sat through a fairly uneventful meeting only for it to end with a visit from some alpacas, which were gorgeous...hmmm, seems to be a reoccurring theme on this gorgeous St. Patrick's Day!

Day 203

"One of Those Days"

After a morning that greeted us with rain and clouds we were met with wind. Finally, as sunset approached the wind allowed the sun to break through the clouds and we had one of those awesome spring afternoons. The boys were at golf practice and Tillman and I went to the bark park where he was slobbered on by a boxer named Toby and chased a heavy-set golden retriever as she fetched tennis balls. By the time we got home I noticed these little flowers blooming in the front yard as I was headed into the house for the evening and thought I'd give them their "day in the sun".

Day 202

"Stand Out in the Crowd"

On my way to work this morning I was struck by the whiteness of this tree amongst all the greens and browns. It definitely stood out to me.

Day 201

"Celebrating 90 Years!"

My grandma turned 90 years old yesterday and so we had an open house today to celebrate. She looks great and had a wonderful time seeing all of her friends and family that came to wish her a happy birthday. PS - Thanks for taking our picture Johnny!

Day 200

"Little Squalicum Beach"

This is a tiny, hole in the wall beach that I just happened upon when taking Tim up to Bellingham to golf one of the courses. While I waited for him to play nine I discovered this site. Let's just say there is a lot of potential. Good sand for playing in, interesting plants and trees, water for the dogs, treehouses made of driftwood, and a trail linking it to nearby neighborhoods. There is a downside though. Rumors of it being a toxic site raises the question why someone would let their dog play in the water and it is close to downtown with 'questionable' people accessing it for 'questionable' activities. I did happen to catch a gentleman hauling big spools of wire that were tucked up under the trees along the shore, back to his truck. Things that make you go, hmmmm....Steve just shakes his head when I tell him where I've been and what I've seen.

Day 199

"Opening Night"

After a week of practice Nathan's first performance as a 'farmer' was tonight. In the photo you can see him doing the milking motion, which everyone thought was hilarious. The kids had a great time.

Day 198

"New Kids"

After a long day of play practice, Nathan was a trooper and headed over to Anacortes with me to go to our first meeting of the Skagit Valley Camera Club. We felt very conspicuous as we first went in and sat down. Everyone seemed to know each other but most of all they knew they didn't know us...we were new. Yikes, haven't had to face that experience for awhile but we settled in quickly enough. We actually saw a few people we knew and after a bit we started to settle in and enjoy the program. So much to learn! Afterwards I drove down the avenue to turn around. I ended up stopping at this antique store to take a shot.

Day 197

"Show Time"

This evening we went to see a friend of ours who was playing the role of the White Rabbit in the play, Alice in Wonderland. This performance was put on entirely by homeschoolers in the Mt Vernon area at the beautiful Lincoln Theater. It was a great show with a full house and I believe it to be a stellar example of how much more mainstream homeschooling has become in Skagit Valley.

Day 196

"Fancy Station"

The fairly new transit station in Mt Vernon is home to some more of the beautiful stained glass creations of Jack Archibald. It creates a warm and inviting scene even in the middle of a dark rainy night.

Day 195

"Q: What Do You Call a Sleepwalking Nun?"

A: A roamin' Catholic. This was a joke I heard today from a library patron who also informed me that it's more difficult than you realize to come up with new jokes that are clean. I'll take his word for it. So, in honor of this amusing joke I took a quick snapshot of some of the stained glass windows at the Catholic Church in Sedro Woolley.

Day 194

 "Cloudy With a Chance of Rain"

Well, the clouds rolled in and our blue skies were gone overnight. So, I went into town to run some errands and snap a few shots, of course! After taking a picture of the Episcopal Church's cross and a piece of machinery outside the Sedro Woolley Museum (I never knew there was any "Skagit" brand...?) I went home and did a little bit of editing. Viola!

 

Day 193

"Longhorns"

After Nathan and I went to see Alice in Wonderland we took the long way home and stopped to snap a few shots of these cows. It took awhile for them to come over and investigate what we were doing but eventually they mosied on over and we made introductions over a rather weak looking fence. Life is all about the adventure! One guy even provided the other with a handy headrest.

Day 192

"Back For Seconds"

After experiencing the incredible number of geese yesterday with Tim, I had to take Nathan out with his camera. There were about five times as many geese and a few more observers as well. I loved this lady's reaction as they flew over. You really can't understand how awesome these birds are in mass unless you are there. It really is incredible. Some of the pictures are difficult to comprehend even though you know what you're looking at...lots and lots of birds. So many that they almost begin to look like insects when they are in flight.

Then it was off towards LaConner to try and catch some of the sunset. Almost.

 

 

Day 191

"Dog Resting"

As relaxed and comfortable this dog appears, he was ready and on the alert. Ever vigilant and loyal. That's what I love about dogs...

While I was on Fir Island, I caught a mass of snow geese. They were so amazing. Here are a series of photos that show the incredible swarm appearance. Then of course, there is the beautiful barn in the sunset.

 

Day 190

"While the Cat's Away..."

The mice played at grandpa's house today on his new couch drinking some of his soda, oh no! On the way down the hill we stopped and I got this picture looking out over downtown Mount Vernon and some of the Skagit River.

Day 189

"Kiera"

She called the house to see if she could come over with her daddy to pick up Thunder. So, while her dad and Steve were trying out the longboards out front, I took a few pictures of Kiera. I remember when she was just a round little baby with a bald head...but then weren't we all? Now she's a beautiful young lady who is all of 6 years old!

Blast From the Past

This is not an official posting but I had to post some pictures of our old truck. We had a '67 F250 who had seen better days. We gave it to a friend who talked about grand plans that he had for it. We handed the keys over like a teenage mother giving their baby up for adoption knowing that it was going to a better home with the hope of a better future. 

Well, our friend sent pictures today showing the progress he is making on it and it looks awesome. He is talking about how it will have air conditioning, power windows, locks, and a touch of chrome. He said that they're going under the hood next. I can not wait to see the finished product. You have to understand that this thing had an AM radio, the air conditioning previously consisted of vents on the sides where you slid the panel back allowing air to blow into the cab, and a whole lot of rust. This girl is going uptown!

 

 

Day 188

"Tillman Has a Sleepover"

My brother and his family were going out of town for the night and asked if their dog Thunder could stay the night. Sure, one more dog is not going to be a big deal. So, Tillman had his first official sleepover with his "cousin" Thunder.

Day 187

 "Disappearing Island"

With the earthquakes in Chile yesterday there were Tsunami warnings up and down the Pacific Coast which resulted in some larger than normal waves. So, today when I went over to Anacortes to drop off some library books I stopped at a small little beach along the way so that Tillman, who tends to get car sick, could take a little break. What I found was muddy water and a lot of beautiful driftwood. 

 While Tillman and I walked down to the far end of the beach there was a little high spot in the water that was above water with a whole bunch of birds standing on it. As we got closer the ducks flew away first and then the crows but the black birds with orange beaks stayed put. Hmmm, that was kind of interesting and I figured that I would put Tillman in the car and come back with my camera and take a few shots. By the time I got back to the car and back down to the beach, the tide was coming in and the birds were ankle deep in water. I kept wondering when they would fly away. I only got a few shots before they started making a very human like cry and then they finally all flew away. 

I am not a bird watcher on purpose so when I got home and started doing a search for these very distinctive birds I found that they appear to be the African Black Oystercatchers, which are the only type of Oystercatchers that breed in Africa with less than 5,000 left in the world. I did find a site where people have seen them down in San Francisco and up in Alaska. This seems to be a really special sighting since these birds are in danger of extinction, as their habitat is increasingly being threatened by man. There are American Oystercatchers but their bodies are black with a white belly. As you can see these guys are all black. Does anyone know anything more about these type of birds?

Day 186

"One Man's Trash"

Sometimes I think about all of the things that are thrown out that may have been valuable. I know that there have been times where I've gotten rid of something only to realize later that I needed it or that it was more valuable than I originally thought. For some reason this paper caught my eye. Initially I thought that perhaps it was written in punjabi but come to find out it was just some clip art.

Day 185

"Tillman the Floor Mat"

I don't think I really need to explain this one other than to mention that his arms look like those jointed doll arms and of course, how darn cute he is!

Day 184

"Flower Power"

The flowers outside the library are coming on strong and there is such a wide variety of white and purple shades. They are all beautiful but this one caught my eye.

Day 183

"Now You See It"

Soon you won't. Throughout the county I see everything from huge eagle nests, such as this one, to the small tiny nests peaking through the bare branches of winter trees. Soon they will be obscured by spring growth and everything will be green and fresh.