Summer Scavenger Hunt

This is a fun one - we get a list of things to hunt for this summer and as we find them we post - and then at the end of summer we count up how many things we've discovered and photographed this summer.

So far, here are some of mine.
Let's start with an alternative - I might find all the others - but I couldn't resist this one - 
Alternative A: A kite, hot air balloon or blimp
Alternative B: A bird house

This photo fits two of the alternatives - hot air balloon and bird house - I thought that was fun  -  but I will still search for the other clues and might not need this photo.

1. A sign welcoming people to your home town (or a nearby town)

Blaine, WA  One of our favorite small towns just north of Bellingham.  It sits right on the border with British Columbia.

2. A garden gnome

Two of them - since they are brothers and don't  like to be separated.  They are enjoying the last of the Primroses before the warmer days set in.

3. Birds on a wire

A Red Tail Hawk sitting on a wire

Leaving the wire

4. A group of tourists

Alaska State Ferry - leaving the dock at Bellingham
There they go!

Bye bye!

 7. A rural landscape

11. A horn

Waiting to announce the mail.

15. A juggler

Seagulls juggling for a position on the break-water

16. A sign in a language other than English

Written in quilter-ese. Really, I'll go and find a sign with English and another language - this one was fun though.

17. A lamp post

At the Marina in Bellingham - something on top of the lamp post

A very nice seagull.

18. A water fall

Coming down off the side of the road, and down into Lake Whatcom.

So  that is what I've found so far - if you'd like to see more about the summer scavenger hunt - click here - and you may want to join us.

 

Weekly Top Shot

Oriental Poppies on Guemes Island

Weekly Top Shot  

June Photo Challenge - Stormy Weather

We've had such a beautiful spring with lots of sunshine and warm weather and pretty flowers and trees.  So it was really a challenge to find some stormy weather.  One day we were in Birch Bay and could see a storm coming down from British Columbia.

At first there were just big puffy clouds - sitting atop their pillars of warm air 

Gathering together and getting darker 

Some of the clouds began snaking out from behind the dark cloud bank 

Darker and swirling 

At last the sky was dark - it was time to pack up and go home 

Where the skies were still blue (20 miles south) and then we looked up and noticed the edge of the storm front passing right over our house.

The storm was coming to greet us.

All photos are SOOC -  no post editing - taken with my Canon PowerShot SX30IS - which zooms to 140x.

June Personal Photo Challenge 

Fences, B&W and Zooming

Fences and boats - on our most recent trip to Guemes Island - in Black and White

 Zooming in, we can even see the people on the sailboat

 I've never seen a fence like this before - it is made of the first slices of logs that are being made into lumber, and then arranged in a fan shape.  Lots of work, and a great result.

 There were three large sections of this fence

Zoom In Zoom Out

Black and White Wednesday 
Almost Wordless Wednesday  

Good Fences  

A Visit to a New Friend

I recently met a wonderful lady , Diane.  She has a greenhouse full of fabulous flowers - and I was invited to come and take photos.  Today I'll show you the lilies she grows - they are amazing.

 The biggest lily I'd ever seen - at least 10 inches across - and the scent was so powerful you could smell it from several feet away.  This one was new to her greenhouse, she's not sure what it might be.  But for sure it was not anything she had planted.  A delightful surprise.

 The colors were amazing.  Diane knew the names of all the lilies - I didn't write any down, next time I need to do that.

 Wandering about the greenhouse was such a treat - so many lilites.

 Hard to pick a favorite - the bright yellow one really caught my eye.

 This lily, with its unique coloring had not been in bloom the night before, so it was a surprise to Diane too

 Such loveliness

 This lily was facing downward so I had to take the photo up towards the top  of the greenhouse.

There are so many other flowers in Diane's greenhouse that I will show you later.  And I've been invited back to see the Dahlias when they are all in bloom.  Thank you Diane.

Garden Tuesday

Cottage Style Party  

A Little Bird and a Farm

Yesterday I posted black and white photos of this farm - and today is not just about the farm - but about what is in front of that farm.

First we'll zoom out - a farm - a fence - some grass - and .  .  . 

A little Sparrow sitting on a fence post 

After the many trips round and round and round on the round-about (see yesterday's post) to get the photo of the farm, we pulled off on a side road and this little sparrow was still sitting on the fence post so I could really zoom in.

Zoom In Zoom Out  

Wild Bird Wednesday  

Rurality 

Black and White Rubbish Wednesday

This is a combination post - for Black and White Wednesday - Rubbish Tuesday.  I've never done Rubbish Tuesday and it looked like fun.

We see this house and barn on this hillside on the way to Mt. Baker. It sits off to the side of a new round-about and in order to get these photos we waited for a big break in the traffic and then drove around the round-about again and again until I was happy with the view.  We couldn't stop on the round-about - there are rules about that - but no one ever said we couldn't go round and round.  The things Don will do for me so I can get a photo I want.

 At first we thought this was someone's house and farm - but if you look  closely you will see that some of  the windows are boarded up, the porch is sagging and the weeds are growing taller.

Off in the distance you can see more rubbish - probably old farm machinery - in the edge of the woods.