I stopped at Fort Casey State Park on my way home from the County, since it was the first day of no rain in a long time. I was looking for "portal" photos for an upcoming Photo Art Journal. Loved the light coming down the stairs!

The concrete on the walls and tunnels is so interesting with it's seepages and discolorations.The white is, I think, lime or calcium. The deposits are thick and shiny.

Some of the metal doors are long gone, others are slowly being eaten away by time.

And, of course, the view northward up the beach toward Ebey's Landing.

Oh, not me again!! Let me sleep . . . 

 Pussies and pussy willows, with rain drops. Am I in a rut?

Apollo attacking his fuzzy toy, which is sitting on top of his scratching post. He seems to enjoy it!

 The grays and greens of the lichens and mosses really stand out on these grey, dreary days. Today was foggy all day - the sun never did manage to burn through. . . sigh

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2011

Apollo posing on the deck railing. He will race from one end of the deck to the other on this railing - scares me to death!! Hopefully he has several of his nine lives left . . .

 Pussy willows starting? Really? Already?

 Let meowt - so I can go hunting!

 When the frost threatened, we brought this potted tomato plant inside, and it has kept on blooming and fruiting (with a little help from me) for the past 4 months! It's a patio variety, with little sweet tomatoes.

 Our two-day class is over! And we all passed the test. Ted Clifton, on the left, was the teacher, and Diane, Candace and Erl were some of the students. Candace and Erl are holding the student manual - we went through that entire thing! The class was "Green Building for Building Professionals", and was very interesting. Erl sponsored me, since I don't belong to the organization that put on the class. But I think I'll join now, as there are several other classes that will be helpful to my business, too.

We all carpooled, and it was dark on the way there, and dark on the way home. So I didn't get any photos yesterday, and other than the class portrait, did grab a quick shot out the car window as we passed the Swinomish Casino. It had lots of pretty lights . . .

THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 2011

I'm taking a class today and tomorrow - up at 4:30 am and home by 7:00 pm. Makes for a looooong day!

 A night of full moon and low tide at Holmes Harbor. I watched as it rose through the clouds above the ridge - then suddenly there was a moon dog - a bit of rainbow in the clouds on the right. Just as suddenly, it was gone.

Brightness increased as the moon cleared the low-lying clouds.

In the other direction, the west bank of Holmes Harbor basks in moon glow beyond the pier and pilings. The orange glow in the north must have been a fire, or something. I couldn't think of anything that would be in that direction.

 OK - I finally went outside for some photos. Of course, it was still raining lightly (the news report said it's been over two weeks since we've had a sunny day . . . sigh) so what could I do except get yet more drip photos!! Above, a raindrop slides down the trunk of a Madrona tree, while below, one of the lichen-covered branches of the old apple tree.

 I published another photo book - this time Shutterfly was offering a free 8" by 8" book, so I couldn't pass that up! I collected my favorite drip photos and some quotes - it came out great!

 A couple of the spreads

 This is a special request from Cody's co-worker Janie. Apparently Cody has been bragging up our kitchen, so she asked for some photos of it. It's always difficult to get a good view of a room, but I did the best I could. Above is the view from the living area, looking across the outer eating bar area toward the sink and refrigerator.

 Standing at the entrance, near the eating bar, looking across to the sliding glass doors and the yard. The stove is on the left, at the end of the counter.

 Standing at the eating bar, looking at the sink. Above the shelves is my collection of Japanese teapots. David's cast iron skillets hang from a curved cedar trunk. The eating bar is a cedar side slab, (the part left over when a cedar tree is milled) butted up against the concrete countertop.

From the other side of the kitchen, next to the stove, you can see the curved concrete countertop, and above it another cedar trunk suspended from the ceiling.

Thanks, Janie - hope these photos give you an idea of how the kitchen looks! As you can tell, we spend a lot of time there!

 Before Christmas, I made a book with WinkFlash, the online photo center where I get prints made. They had a 75% off offer, which was too good to pass up. So I chose some of my favorite blog entries from the year, and put them together as a gift for my mother and my mother-in-law. It turned out great, and everyone loved it!

 Carol and I went to downtown Seattle to view the Remodeler's Show at the Convention Center. Above is the Two Union Square office building - just for fun we rode the elevator to the top floor, but it was all private offices and they wouldn't let us look out the windows at the view. Dang! But, I have to say, that was the fastest elevator I have ever ridden in! Made my ears pop! While we were standing on the top floor waiting for the elevator, we noticed that we could feel the movement of the building. Always a bit unsettling.

 In the Convention Center, they let us look out the windows. Very cool architecture in the lobby area, above. For the photo below, I stood where the couple is standing. 

The lobby is actually a bridge over Pike Street, and you can see clear down to the water, where the Pike Place Market is, at the end.

And here is the view from the street, looking up at the lobby/bridge and the steel arches.

 Apollo went walking in the woods with me - probably his first foray into the wilderness. He stopped to examine everything, and spent most of the time with his back raised. He kept up well, and didn't complain too much!

 I trust his instincts to keep safe - I'm pretty sure he wouldn't go in the woods on his own. I had to really coax him along, and on the way back, when we left the woods and started across the lawn, he "high-tailed" it. I guess I never thought about the meaning of that phrase, but he put his tail straight up in the air and ran!

My goal today was to get a photo of this strange shredded tree. I'm not sure what is doing this - there are a couple of trees like this, and I think it's too late in the season for deer. I have sent the photos to a naturalist, so we'll see what he says.

The program for our Basket Guild meeting tonight was learning the Karuk way of making beads with beargrass. The Karuk is a tribe in Northern California, and use the beads for ceremonial purposes. We are privileged to be allowed to learn this ancient technique!

It wasn't easy, though, and everyone was glad to have help from their neighbor!

We had a large turn-out in our new meeting place, which is nice and roomy, has a great kitchen, AND has cushioned chairs. Nice!

I stopped at the Prairie Overlook in Coupeville - I had never been there before. It's a little parking area, and a short trail to a view point overlooking Ebey's Prairie, towards Ebey's Landing. The fields are resting now, but planting will soon start. The trail is hedged in with head-high shrubs which are covered in a variety of lichens and dried berries.

We had a big snow beginning around 8:00 pm, but by midnight it warmed up to rain. Not that much warmer, since it took most of the next day to melt away.

Cold again today - we woke up to snow on the ground, but by late afternoon most of it was gone, and the sky was clear enough for a pretty sunset over the still-very-snowy Olympic Mtns.

 Another moon shot earlier in the evening, after a very loud hailstorm. The storm clouds are moving off.

 A couple of shots of the TV - self-explanatory!