Things are Still Blooming

Time is getting close for me to head to Alaska. Packing continues and general preparations are afoot for our subsequent travels abroad.

Some More Items on Display

The Spark Museum has an amazing collection of things that I did not know even existed anymore. Many of the later items are models of items from patent applications. One such is the model of a three-phase motor shown above.

More from the Museum

Once Marconi learned about radio waves, things took off quickly. Soon there were radio rooms on ships such as the Titanic. Here is a mock up of a ship's radio room.

A Visit to the Spark Museum

Turns out that up the road about an hour and a quarter in the town of Bellingham is a fascinating place...the Spark Museum of Electrical Invention. It is filled with amazing devices from the history of electrical technology. One of the first we saw upon entering was this static electricity machine.

Yard Art, Water, and Plants

I find myself trying to pack for two trips back-to-back in totally different climates. Nome will be chilly, much like here only I'll need to dress to be outside for many hours at a stretch. On the other hand, Budapest will be in the upper 70's or low 80's most days and I'll need short sleeves and shorts. I get home on a Saturday, wash clothes and repack on Sunday, leave again on Monday.

Walkabout

Spring continues along the usual path here. Things are settling down from the rock and roll of everything blooming all at once to the more staid Pachelbel's canon of summer time. A time where it seems to last forever and nothing much changes until autumn.

Snohomish Farmer's Market

With sunshine available and the summer season Farmer's Market restarted, we headed down to check it out. It is much larger this year that any previous year we've been here. Multiple (short) streets are blocked off with booths selling all sorts of northwest kinds of things.

A Little Town History

Snohomish was built around the logging industry. To the east of here is a small lake, Roesiger. It is named after the fellow who settled there in the late 1800's. Near there is where this tree was logged.

Along First Street

In a typical month of May, the Seattle area will get about 7 days that reach 70 F. This year we got 2 so far. It has continued to rain like crazy. Today, we had some sunshine and the temperature got up near 60 F. The grandkids decided it was hot so Charlie took off all her clothes (which she often does no matter the temp) and Seamus got out the water hose and sprayed her. She loved it. Lots of playing the puddles.

A Walk Down to First Street

We are really out of practice at international travel. I've been trying to gather things together for our upcoming trip and I'm finding all sorts of gaps and holes in what we have on hand.

Smaller Flowers

Since I am aware that you must be tired of me droning on in this space about the obvious attributes of the flowers you see in the images, I am trying to be a little more conversational in my approach.

Mother Nature Continues to Flourish

August looks to be a busy travel time for E. She's planning a couple trips to the east cost to see friends (you know who you are). In September we resume our international travel. We are booked for a month in the UK in Scotland and England.

Some of the Usual Suspects

After 4 ½ months of shooting plants, there is little I can show you from our neighborhood that you haven't seen a couple times on this blog already. But do not despair, nothing last forever and neither will this seemingly endless cavalcade of plant-y bits.

Mostly Small Flowers

In places that are colder and/or windier, we tend to find lots of plants that hug the ground to stay out of the breeze to be warmer. The combination of a colder climate here with the natural desire folks have for some nice flowers to fill in the open spaces in their gardens, and you get lots of small blooms near the ground in our neighborhood.

The Shop

 Early last year, I gave you a glimpse of the workshop I've set up out back. Since then, I made a couple major additions: a nice bandsaw and a basic mitre saw.

As you can see, it is a crowded place but as a place for one person to work, it does just fine.  I've been busy building simple projects for the family and jigs to upgrade/simplify working conditions. Mostly, I'm just having fun. After all, that's why I have this place.

These fragile flowers are beginning to flourish now. I remember photographing these last year (and the year before) and I'm always fascinated with their appearance.

Groundcovers and Weeds

Lots of the groundcovers are putting out new growth now. I like this one because it looks like a collection of tiny green, plump roses.

We Continue to get bits of Sunshine

Our tulips are past their prime these days as are many other flowers. Yet, the spring bonanza continues as still others are beginning their glory.

Other Sorts of Hydrophobic Leaves

Surely, among the multitudes of natural philosophers that have existed in last 2500 years or so, some much as looked at the water drops on plants wondered with this happens on some and not others.

Wet Grass

All you grass enthusiasts out there will be happy today for this is the day of the wet grass expo. I love the play of geometry with the wide range of water drop sizes on the gently curving grass blades.

Between Rain Showers

Some days I let Dilly drive to here babysitting job unescorted and just hang at the house. On this day, I decided to return a package to Amazon and that required a trip to the UPS store. Well, this is not so far away and I decided to combine the walk to the store with a little photography.

The Ridiculous and Sublime

Since we live where there is a endless supply of evergreens, I an required by law to periodically bring you a photo of one of them.

Things I Can Find

Today I bring you a few found things that are bit different than usual. This knot in a tree has grown hoary with moss and aged with stumps of broken and pruned limbs.

Dandelions et. al.

Since I don't usually shoot dandelions, I thought I'd snap few today for your enjoyment.

I've Upgraded my Laptop

This spring I have upgraded my laptop and have gone through the process slowly. Transfering things was easy but getting all the software sorted was less easy. If you've done this before, you know what I'm talking about. 

Color and Texture

Usually when I bring you a monochrome image, you can tell from experience what color is it in real life. This time, however, I got you fooled. this is a brilliant red leaf. I just found the texture and the veins much more interesting than the single overwhelming color.

A Few Details

There is much to add color to the world around us that isn't flowers. I'm attracted to the bright yellows and greens of the lichens that grow in many places around here.

The Sunshine is Frying my Brain

I have walked the streets of Snohomish steadily for the past two years during the covid times. It is no longer possible for me to walk a new street. I know where the there is likely to be flowers and where there is not much to see.

The Sun is Out More Often

With spring we not only get flowers galore, we get glorious sunshine much more frequently. This, in turn, begins to make life bearable after a winter of leaden skies and buckets of rain.

The Large and Small

Here where the climate is cool and rainy, we get a fairly long season in which to enjoy the tulips.

Springtime Flowers

Some bushes flower a bit later than others and this one above is just now opening its treasures for the world to see.