July Scavenger Hunt

The end of July - time to find out what wondrous things we found for our scavenger hunt

The clues

BLACK

11

11 Stones - plus 1

SOMETHING VERY OLD

Something old - 1955 Ford Fairlane

Something very old - tree roots growing around boulders - near Whatcom Falls

SOMETHING BRIGHT

Sunshine and trees on a lovely summer day

CONSTRUCTION

Two tree houses in the same neighborhood

TECHNOLOGY

Old time farm technology - the alarm clock

The tractor

The sprinkling can

The windmill

NUMBERS

Numbers on clocks in my house

WHEELS

A bike like my oldest brother had - this one was at a yard sale and was priced at $425.00 - a bit much?

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

You knew I'd find a space for Mt. Baker

SMILE

Flower Fairy

UMBRELLA

Ben winding the umbrella up and down - he is so happy that he is tall  enough now that he is inside the umbrella when it is down

At the beach

FEET

I wonder what that is on the horse's front feet

Happy feet at the beach

July Scavenger Hunt  

Here Comes the Sun

Last Saturday we got up early to go walking at Lake Paden - the sun was out - the skies were almost cloudless - it was a gorgeous day.  The day before we had walked a mile - it is nothing for Don to walk a mile - or even three - but since my back surgery it has been hard for me to get any distance.  I still use the trekking poles - so much better than a walker.  My arms have a more natural  movement and walking is so much more pleasant.  We discovered that there were already two events going on at the park at the lake - so parking was scarce.  There was a dog event of some kind, and a half marathon.


We found a parking space and set off down the trail - it goes clear around the lake - 3.6 miles - we weren't aiming that high - but hoping for another mile.

Kath - at You'll Shoot Your Eye Out - has given us a challenge - a song to interpret with photos.  This week's song is "Here Comes the Sun" - so here is our sun!

The sunlight was bright in the early morning

This is one of our favorite coves - we've had many picnics here

Early morning fishing

Fairies dancing on the lake

Starting up the hill 

I made it to half a mile - which still was good - and the beautiful morning was an added bonus.

Here Comes The Sun - Song-ography 

A Favorite Thing

This is really several favorite things - I love yard sales and thrift shops - I love teapots - and I love vintage - what more can I say?  While on vacation we had the chance to stop at several yard sales and thrift shops - if we saw one we would stop for a bit - that is one of the nice things about vacation.

This teapot is wonderful - it is for left handed tea pourers

If you hold it with your left hand you see the design - in the other hand you just see a plain white teapot.  I don't often find teapots that are for us lefties - so this was a nice surprise at a yard sale

Then I found a teapot tha t looks like a little cottage - this is the back

And here is the front - it is a little florist shop.  The roof is the lid

Oh look - a baby bunny in an apron pocket

And a pretty flower wreath 

A watering can

A pretty hollyhock hat

It is a Garden Bunny tea pot - isn't  this the cutest thing ever?  Perfect for tea in the garden in the summer.

Do you have some favorite teapots?

A Favorite Thing  

Random Five Friday

It is Friday and time for Five Random things about me - and I'll throw in Five Random Photos - just for fun.  What is Friday for, if now for fun?

A horse and Mt. Baker

1. It has been 8 months yesterday since my emergency back surgery - I am progressing nicely, even though slowly.  I walked a mile the other day (can't do that every time, but now and then, and it will only get longer)

Canada Geese on the lake near our house

2. Yesterday I made peach jam - I've been wanting some for a long time - and then I defrosted the freezer - seems a long time since I did that - and now it is all freshly organized and there is more room for more summer berries.

Someone has built a small Space Needle in their yard

3. Today I made 2 batches of Blazberry Jam - mostly raspberry juice and a cup or so of crushed blackberries - so it is sort of a jelly/jam - and ever so delicious.  My house smells good - and for lunch I think I'll have a peanut butter and jam sandwich - half peach jam and half blazberry jam.

Pretty pink roses

4. I am making some pillows out of vintage embroidered dresser scarves - to go with the vintage chenille bedspread that I got at a yard sale for 5.00.

Hydrangea

5. We are planning a family picnic for Sunday - good food - a canoe - two grandsons and their families - a lake and a playground - what could be better on a perfect summer day in Washington?

Random 5 Friday  

Vacation and a Very Old Ship

We spent a lot of time on the deck at the cabin at Fidalgo Bay Resort (read older posts if you need to catch up on our vacation adventures).  So the second day there we decided to head out and have more adventures in Ancortes.  There sure are a lot of things to see and do there.  It is a lovely seaside town, with a gorgeous area of old homes - there is even a stone castle there.  This time we were headed to Washington Park - again - we just love it there. 

I had seen this very old ship for years - but never had a chance to get photos of it - it is not in a good location for photos.  I was determined this time.  I figured out on mapquest how to get down to the bay where we might get a better shot of it.  A small, one block long street that turns a corner and becomes a narrow gravel pathway - just big enough for a car took us down there.

We drove down along bumpy dirt roads - past all sorts of Marine Ways "stuff" - rusted metal - boats and barges pulled up on the ways - I didn't want to stop and take photos because I didn't want to get stopped and sent out.  We passed through gates that said "No Admittance" or "Keep Out"  or "Stop!!".  I am not usually that brave - I will turn and run at the first sign telling me to get out but I really wanted to get some pictures of this old wooden ship.  And there it was - the bow poking out behind some much smaller boats int the boat yard.

It has been there so long that the area around it, where there had once been water, had been filled in - and trees has sprouted and grown out of the hull

The bow even has Goat's Beard bushes growing on it - they will grow just about anyplace.

Love the sign - a little on the confusing side - but clearly - Do NOT go past this boat.

The tree roots have pushed the side of the boat out as the wood rots away

We found a paved driveway going up a hill, back to the street and drove part way up so I could get this shot.

Once back at street level, Don waited until there was no traffic coming for a long distance back, and pulled back up onto the street and off to the side  so I could get some full view shots of the ship.  

The boat is "La Merced" -  a 232 foot long, four masted old cod schooner  that  was placed here as a breakwater for this  marina.

From the Ancortes Museum

"La Merced is one of only four extant four-masted schooner hulls in the US. She was originally built in 1917 during WWI and used by Standard Oil in the international petroleum trade until 1919, when she was sold to W.S. Scammell of Port Townsend. Under his ownership she continued in the petroleum trade, traveling between Seattle or Astoria, OR and San Pedro, Melbourne, Sydney, Honolulu, and the Solomon Islands. In 1926 she was sold to a group of investors from Seattle and towed to Alaska for service as a floating cannery in  Kupreanof Harbor, Alaska, in the Aleutian Islands. She was sold again in 1965 and the new owners scrapped her machinery."

It was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1988.

The ship was placed as a breakwater in 1966 and filled with dredge to stabilize it.

It is an amazing sight, to see such a huge boat filled with trees that have been growing for almost 50 years.

An internet photo showng "La Merced" when first placed here as a breakwater - the mountains are the same in the background - the boat has certainly changed.  It would have been interesting if someone had taken photographs all during this time - to document the changes.

"La Merced" was converted to diesel and the masts removed in the 1940s.  She served the Everett, WA  Alaskan fishing fleet as a floating cannery for years in Alaska, and as a cod schooner.

Cannery view in Alaska, with "La Merced", the converted sailing vessel, tied up at the main dock in the background showing its tall masts still attached.

What an interesting day we had.