A Trip to Augusta Springs

Another blast from the past today.

Back in March of 2008, we drove out to Augusta Springs to the park there to see if we see a few birds. There is pond there and, naturally, there are a few ducks swimming about.

Flowers and a Larger Scale

Since about this time every year, Skagit Valley tulip growers host a festival, we thought we'd drive up and see if there were any to be found in the fields. We found very few compared to previous years. The field above is the only collection of tulips we could find.

La Paz, Bolivia

Since I can't go anywhere now to bring you photos, I thought I reach back to travels before we started the blog and show a little of what was happening in that dim dark past 10 or more years ago. This is the first of several installments on these "ancient" travels.

Thirteen years and three cameras ago, E and I visited La Paz, Bolivia. We were visiting a young woman and her family that we were supporting through the then named Christian Children's Fund.

The airport is located on the Altiplano at 13,325 feet is the highest airport in the world. On the way into the city, I asked the taxi driver to stop for a moment so I could take a few photos before we descended the 1,000 or more feet into the heart of the bewildering maze you see in the image above.

The Tulips in the Front Yard

Now that we are little later into the spring and there was some sun yesterday, I headed to the front yard to check out the tulips again. I mean, what else are you going to do, right?

Most of the images here are taken with the 45 mm extension tube on the 100-200mm lens (GFX-50R camera). However, this first one, uses the extension tube on the 32-64mm lens. Here, the depth of field is very shallow and I must get very close to the flower to get anything in focus at all. In fact, if I try any focal length on this lens except 64 mm, I can't get close enough to focus at all.

Free Little Libraries

In Snohomish, and as near as I can tell all over the greater Seattle area, the free little library is a pretty common. So I decided that it would be a fun photo essay to get pictures of all of them for you. I think their prevalence tells us something about the people we live near.

A Stay-at-Home Easter

Dilly and I watched the kids while the yard was filled with eggs and a stuffed toy or two for the easter ritual of finding things lying out in plain sight and getting excited about it. Except, of course, Charlie was totally nonplussed by the whole idea.

Our Weekly Ride in the Country

For our ride this week, we headed east on US 2 to the small settlement of Index. This village sits on the shore of the Skykomish river nestled in a narrow valley. As you can see above, the river here is as clear as a swimming pool.

On the Sidewalks of Snohomish

Once there wa a train line that ran through Snohomish, presumably to support the burgeoning lumber industry that once was king here. The tracks were removed and the space paved over to create the Centennial Trail. It runs about 5 miles or so from north of town down to the Snohomish river. I run each morning and my path takes me on a portion of this trail. I discovered some fun sidewalk chalk drawings along the way that seem to represent an 8th-graders version of therapy for the times.

Our Anniversary!

Back in the dark ages 38 years ago today, when Olivia Newton-John was at the top of the charts and Billy Joel was singing about Allentown, we got married.

If you were there for the glorious event, drop us a line. Let's catch up on memories.

Down by the River

Since we've been having a bit of sunshine (what's up with that?) lately, I've been trying to get out and grab some photos to help keep your morale up. Besides, getting out the house is good for me as well.

Viewing the Cascades from Monroe

On the way back from Snoqualmie, we stopped along the road between Monroe and Snohomish to take in the view of the Cascades. There is a nice place along the old road between the two towns that looks across a low pasture land giving a good view of things in the distance.

Snoqualmie has Trains

For our drive through the country, we headed to Snoqualmie. For those of you who know that this is where Twin Peaks was filmed, I will not be showing any of that. Social distancing, remember. too many folks were parking there to look at the falls.

Snohomish in the Sunshine

Now that you've seen all the interesting images I can conjure, it is on to the found things that cause me to push the shutter. On a Saturday morning walk about town, I found some things I have rarely or never shot before. I'm sure that some of this will have you scratching your head wondering why I shot them now.

A Look Back at Laxey

The seawall that protect the harbour at Laxey on the Isle of Man juts into the sea during a quiet moment. The wind is not letting up as you can see from the stiffly horizontal flag.

I'll bet your Weather is not Quite this Bad

Rather than completely bore you with endless photos of plants and our little empty town (that will come later, rest assured), I thought slip in a few of the also-ran images from our travels for you to see.

This image is from on a hill near Ramsey as we drove up to Maughold on the Isle of Man. By no means a winning composition, but it does remind me of the place and what it was like to be there. Cold. Foggy. Rainy. And though you cannot see it here, windy.

Perhaps, in addition to sharing images of happy flowers and plants, I can cheer you along with place that have worse weather that you do.

Neighborhood Plants

Since all the parks are closed, I've been trying to develop some facility with my macro photography. It is also something I can do on foot, close to home.

Tulips

As may be a surprise to some of you (who weren't paying full attention in spring of '18), we live in tulip country. Just north of us in the Skagit valley are vast acres of tulip farms. Typically, each April there is a tulip festival with all the farms open and filled with visitors buying tulips and gawking at the seemingly endless fields of flowers. See 2018 tulips here.

I'm guessing that this is all on hold this year so I've done the next best thing. Here are a couple of the tulips that E planted in our front yard.

A Flower Walk in the Neighborhood

We managed, by some mistake I'm sure, to get a little sun, so I headed out for a short walk about the neighborhood to see what springtime happiness I could find. At the corner, I found a camellia just a little past peak bloom.

Our Weekly Ride in the Country

Our weekly ride in the country nearby took us out past Granite Falls on the Mountain Loop Road to Verlot. This place is small village situated between the Mt Pilchuck State Park and the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. It lies at the bottom of the valley along the Stillaguamish River. When we arrived, it was raining (surprise).

A Few Useful Things and Some That Aren't

Today, I thought I'd bring you a few items ranging from the frivolous to the serious to keep various parts of your brain engaged.

First up is the Calf of Man viewed while standing in a darned brisk wind. This is the view from Cregneash, just inland a short way from the coast.

The efforts of others below the fold.

Where's a Magazine Salesman When You Need One?

Far Side by Gary Larson is available again for the first time. Find it at https://www.thefarside.com.

This pretty much sums up self-isolation.

A little more of Snohomish

I realise that I'm using up my only subject pretty fast, but it has to happen sometime. Things I can walk to are, of course, limited, but maybe as time passes, I'll be able to take some short drives.

Snohomish, a Quiet Little Town

Spring has arrived here in the PNW. The cherry trees, redbuds and camellias are blooming and the temperature is beginning to moderate.

Hope Everyone is OK

It seems to be a good time to take a breath and touch base with everyone since we are all now in various stages of quarantine. Since we are in western Washington, in one of the worst places for the coronavirus, I'm sure many of you are wondering how it is going and we, of course, are concerned about all of you.

Back Home

So, we're home now (actually, we have been for several weeks). I purchased some new lens equipment  and made a foray out to test them out along the Snohomish River near Everett.

Dómkirkja Krists konungs

Although Iceland is a predominately Church of Iceland (Lutheran), country, it does have a Catholic Cathedral. To be clear, I don't think that Icelanders are mostly any sort of religion these days, but the main one among those that have one is their flavor of Lutheran.

Fríkirkjan í Reykjavík

Out and about in Reykjavik, I thought I'd bring you a little of the city, just to give you a feel for that the place is like.

Hallgrimskirkja

After our long and exciting day tour, we decided to spend the day (after a slow start to get our spirit caught up with us) walking about the city to see what we could see of Reykjavik.

Snaefellsnes Peninsula - Part 3

This farmhouse sitting along the main road was framed by some rugged mountains. This is one the images that really conveys the emptiness of this beautiful place.

Snaefellsnes Peninsula - Part 2

At one stop on our tour, we hopped out of the bus in time to catch the light on this small house all along in the field.

The Snaefellsnes Peninsula

Roughly an hour and half's drive north of Reykjavik is the Snaefellsnes peninsula. Jutting westward, this dramatic land is filled with neck-twistingly beautiful mountains. We clearly picked the right time of year to see this. The snow really accentuates the fields and the stone mountains.

Reykjavik

Since Iceland is on the way home from the UK, we decided that we'd stop over here for a few days to have a look about. Think of it as a reconnoiter for a future, more extensive visit.

What you see above is the view from our hotel in the center of town. Reykjavik is a modest sized city of 123,000. Including the surrounding suburbs, it totals about 217,000. Very few buildings above 5-6 storeys.

Glasgow Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral

This church, completed in 1814, lies on the banks of the Clyde in downtown Glasgow.

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

After leaving Perth at the end of our (last, for this trip!) house sit, we headed by train to Glasgow for a couple nights to catch our breath and repack for our plane flight.

While here, we headed over to Kelvingrove. This is a park located along the Kelvin river. One side borders the University of Glasgow. This is the place where William Thompson, Lord Kelvin worked most of his life and the river provided the name of his Baronetcy.

Falls of Bruar

North of us, well into the southern edge of the highlands, lies Blair Atholl. nearby is the expansive campus of the House of Bruar, an upscale all-in-one shopping center for all things Scottish...food, clothes, hunting and fishing equipment, and gifts.

The Church and Cemetery in Dron

We are housesitting in the Manse and, of course, immediately next door is the church and cemetery. the weather finally got to be good enough that we no longer had an excuse to put off a visit.

Lock Leven

A bit south of us is Loch Leven, a small lake with even smaller islands in it.

Fortingall

We headed north, a bit farther into the highlands to visit the very small settlement of Fortingall.

Dunkeld Cathedral

A bit north of us is Dunkeld with its cathedral. It was begun in 1260 and completed in 1501. It has the curious distinction of being both a ruin and a functional church. The earliest parts of the current building date from 1318. It was partially destroyed during the reformation in 1560. The choir of the building has a roof and is currently used for the local parish church.

Scone Palace

On a wet and blustery day we made our way to Scone Palace just outside Perth to check out the grounds (a little) and visit the shop (more so).

Dron Treescape Again

A short walk from where we are staying is this tree at the edge of a very soggy field. As you can see in the distance, the sky is getting darker. About 5 minutes after this image was taken, I was forced to retreat when the rain started in earnest.

This is the state of things here: one minute it is fine weather, the next it is raining or snowing or both.

I like these UK trees silhouetted against the sky.

St. Madoes Cemetery

The village of St. Madoes stands along the north bank of the river Tay not far from the A90. Here, at the edge of town, we find the church and cemetery.

Abernethy Tower

A visit to the nearby town of Abernethy reveals a real treasure - the Abernethy Round Tower. I quote from the Wikipedia article:

The Abernethy Round Tower is a stone-built Irish-style round tower which stands at the edge of the cemetery in Abernethy, Perth and Kinross, Scotland.

I don't know exactly what the symbols on the Pictish stone at the base of the tower represent but I can guess. A hatchet with a handle and one without, what appears to be a sword in a stone and a rose are seem to be symbols of power and loyalty.

Moreover, this tower stands where...

 ...Malcolm III of Scotland paid homage to William the Conqueror some six years after the Battle of Hastings.

 Pretty cool, eh?

Along the Road to Dron

We are staying in a house in the small settlement of Dron. On the way to our current slice of paradise, we pass between these two trees every day. Today, we had a bit of sun so I jumped out of the car for a quick photo.

While you can tell that the ground is wet and there is some water alongside the road, what you cannot tell is that the non-paved parts are really soggy. All the rain in these parts is really being felt.

Also note the width of the road compared to the size of the car you see in the distance.

St. Martin's

The cemetery that surrounds St. martin's church is a fascinating one. There are many stones with a thick covering of moss such as the one above.

Rait

It is clear why sportsmen (and women) hunt pheasants. Not only are they tasty (pheasant-under-glass anyone?) but they are very skittish birds and difficult to get near. Pheasants are hard to hunt and there's the challenge. When I get out of the car with my camera, they all start running and then flying away...all, except this one.

Easter Rhynd Cemetery

Even though Thomas Baird is a relatively recent addition to this village of the dead, he has one of the more remarkable stones. This is lying on its back looking at the sky. I cannot tell if the ship means he was a sailor but if he was, he's in a good position now...always watching the sky.

Kinfauns Cemetery

Not far from the Abernyte church is this graveyard in Kinfauns. I like the way the year is obscured by the moss growing on the stone.

Abernyte Churchyard

Now that storm Dennis has mostly passed and all we have left is some wind (mild compared to Isle of Man), we headed out for a look about. Our first stop on this outing is the churchyard at Abernyte. This is a pretty old church having been rebuilt in 1672 and 1736. Unfortunately, my interior photos basically suck (really dark inside), so you won't see them. Here is the interesting stuff from the cemetery around the church.

Welcome to Perth

We've arrived in a tiny settlement just outside a small town not far from Perth. We are surrounded by farmland. Right now, very muddy farmland. After Ciara passed through, things are pretty well soggy. These images were made in a break in the weather on the eve of the arrival of Dennis.