Month: April 2015

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GREAT BLUE HERON – April 30, 2015

Good Morning! Glad you could join me for a walk today, the last day of April, 2015. My-oh-my where do the days and months go?

I actually walked yesterday but only took two pictures and neither one was “blog-worthy”. That’s one of the few times I’ve been skunked.

This morning looked like it was going to be a repeat but then I got lucky down on the wharf.

As I was approaching the Coupeville Wharf I thought these flowers and what little sunrise we had would make a nice photo and it did except it’s a tad out of focus. I should have been carrying my tripod.

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I spotted a nice big Blue Heron from the dock and chased it around trying to get a nice photo. Here’s the one I liked best. You usually don’t see that much blue on them, generally they are more gray.

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Shortly after that photo it took flight and I tried to capture it with its wings out. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough light for a good fast photo but I kind of like how it turned out. It’s sort looks like a ghost bird with a ghost seagull chasing it. What looks like a second seagull below is actually a reflection in the water. My attempt at being artsy 🙂

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I hope you enjoyed that and will join me again tomorrow. As always, thanks for walking with me.

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GAFFED HEAD’SYL SCHOONER – April 27, 2015

Happy Monday one and all 🙂

The  flat gray mornings just keep coming but it did make for a comfortable walk and this nice photo of the Alcyone gaffed head’syl schooner out of Port Townsend, Washington. The Alcyone is a classic 81′ gaff rigged topmast schooner. In 1956, Seattle master shipwright Frank Prothero launched a boat he had been working on for six years. She’s a training vessel and I believe she can also be chartered. If you want to go for a virtual boat ride just click here.

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That’s all I’ve got for you today as we head to a couple of appointments off island. Hopefully I’ll be back tomorrow with more Coupeville Impressions.

Enjoy your week ahead!

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EAGLE, SEAL AND CORMORANT OH MY – April 21, 2015

This morning we had flat, gray skies. Not real great for landscapes but it still managed to get some interesting shots. So get suited up and let’s go.

First stop, this big eagle out on Ebey Prairie powering up for the day.

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Then back to the Coupeville Wharf where I found this Harbor Seal trying to hide from me. Every time I pointed my camera it would dive. Finally I got one photo showing more than just rippling water.

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As I got around to the other side of the wharf this Cormorant popped up. It was every bit as hard to capture as the seal. I believe there is a code among the animals that if you see a camera pointing your way count to three and dive!

04-21-15-Cormorant

Some of you have commented that you’d like to see more of the old Coupeville buildings. I liked the looks of the Gillespie Meat Market building built in 1887. Today Collections, clothing and jewelry store, is housed in the front and the Port of Coupeville in the back. It sits right at the end of Coupeville Wharf which seems quite appropriate for a port office.

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04-21-15-Port-of-Coupeville

Thanks for walking with me today, what a great way to start the week. I’m not sure how much we’ll get to walk the rest of the week as there are off and on showers forecast for the rest of the week.

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IT’S SNOWING – April 17, 2015

It’s Friday and we’ve got time to get in one more walk this week. But before we walk I wanted to share my back yard with you where it’s snowing!

OK, it’s not really snowing, at least not real snow but cherry blossoms instead.

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Unfortunately they are not from my cherry tree but from my neighbors “HUGE” cherry tree.

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Did you notice my lilac tree in the foreground? It is really pretty against the backdrop of the cherry blossoms.

04-17-15-Lilac-Tree

OK let’s walk! I went out to the wharf but got stopped by this interesting sunrise. It was a beautiful sunrise but it was being blocked by shore clouds. The clouds partially parted and I snapped this photo over Penn Cove. Notice the eagle flying near the top center.

04-17-15-Sunrise

Yesterday our cat, Ms. Kitty Kitty, was posing on our front porch so I took her picture. Not a bad looking lady for being sixteen years old. I took it through a window and it turned out very different. She’s actually all gray and not green/blue.

Kitty-Kitty-Pose

Thanks for walking with me and come join me again next week. In the meantime have a great weekend!

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LILIES AND SNAILS – April 13, 2015

Happy Monday and welcome back. It was a dark cloudy morning and I didn’t walk very far but wanted to share what I saw this morning.

First stop was the wharf where I saw this raft of sailboats just breaking up and heading out. I hope they enjoyed their time in my wee town.

04-13-05-Sailboats

On the way back home I noticed this beautiful “Zantedeschia aethiopica” or “Arum Lilies”. They are growing along the fence of the local waste treatment plant. I call it “Coupe’s Poop Plant” because it’s sandwiched between the Captain Thomas A. Coupe park and boat launch, and Coupe’s original home built around 1854. Coupe is where Coupeville gets its name.

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If you look closely you may notice the snails munching away on the leaf just to the left of the tallest right flower. Well here, let me show you.

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If you look even closer at the lower most flower you’ll see another snail way down inside next to the stamen.

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It’s really amazing what all you’ll see if you just stop and smell the flowers.

Thanks for walking with me today and I look forward to you joining me again real soon.

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EBEY PRAIRIE SUNRISE – April 10, 2015

Good morning and Happy Birthday to my brother Ron, he turns 74 today. To celebrate his birthday he is going to ride his bicycle 74 miles, no small feat at that age. In support of that I walked 7.4 miles this morning, no big deal compared to him.

I walked out to Ebey Prairie and took the Ridge Trail to Ebey Landing.

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Just before the trail starts you find the Jacob Ebey farm house and block house built in 1855. You can read all about it HERE.

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At the end of the trail I looked back over the prairie and took this panorama shot. The prairie looks almost exactly as it did when the area was claimed and settled over 160 years ago. The freshly plowed fields really stand out against the green grass. If you click on the photo it will open up in a much larger format.

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On the way back home I spotted this tractor harvesting a crop. I’m not sure what would be ready to harvest this time of year but I do believe it’s beats.

04-10-15-Tractor

After that I think I’ll give you a break and take the weekend off. Thanks for walking with me and make a great weekend.

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REFLECTION – April 9, 2015

I hope I didn’t wear you out today as we walked 6.87 miles, whew!

I went on a big loop around Ebey Prairie over to Ebey Landing. Out on the prairie I spotted these barns reflecting in a small pond of rain water.

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A little further out I spotted this scarecrow family apparently guarding the chickens and turkeys.

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Here’s a nice long shot of Ebey Landing and Admiralty Inlet. This is where people came to Whidbey Island in the late 1800’s arriving from the Olympic Peninsula and on south to Seattle. They would take a horse and buggy or stagecoach from the landing to Coupeville.

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 Just as I was nearing the landing I spotted these two eagles way up in the top of this big tree. I don’t think I’ve ever seen two eagles sitting in a tree that close to each other.

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So I’m pooped and ready to get on with the day. I hope you make a great day as well.

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OLD FARM EQUIPMENT – April 8, 2015

It was overcast again this morning so I had a hard time finding something “photo worthy”. But with perseverance and four miles of walking I found these old pieces of farm equipment that are about to be devoured by the spring foliage.

I couldn’t make out the the model of tractor but I do know it’s old.

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Right in front of this tractor was a very old overgrown combine.

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Along the way I got a peak at Mt. Baker with a layer of clouds below and the orange/pink glow of the sunrise above.

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And finally a “herd” of dogs. Every day the people who live in this house put these stuffed dogs out in their front yard. They even have water bowls for them, pretty cute.

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So that’s my offering for today. As always, thanks for walking with me and hopefully we’ll get to do it again tomorrow.

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CAPTAIN TACK – April 7, 2015

This morning it was very overcast and not a lot of light but I still managed to capture a couple of images from around Coupeville.

At first light there was a wee crack in the clouds that let some morning sunlight shine through just to the north of Mt. Baker.

04-07-15-Mt-Baker

Near the Coupeville Wharf I walked out on the deck beside the Vail Wine Shop and found “Captain Tack”, an acrylic painted art piece by Michele Kempees, standing guard over Penn Cove and the surrounding area.

04-07-15-Captain-Tack

I have an update on yesterday blog regarding the Jenne House. I’ve learned that the original water tower is still standing behind the house. A rarity in the late 1800’s the house not only had its own water system but also a hot water furnace. This is the water tower as it looks today.

04-07-15-Jenne-Water-Tower

With that I’ll turn you lose to enjoy the rest of your day, I hope it’s a good one!

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NOBODY HOME – April 6, 2015

I started the week off with a nice walk out to the Ebey Prairie and back. I saw some interesting things along the way that I’d like to share as you walk with me.

Just up the hill from our house I spotted a “herd” of deer. While I’m not sure what actually constitutes a “herd” there were six deer which I think is the most I’ve seen roaming together in one group around town.

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One of them was just begging me to take his photo so I obliged.

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I always get a kick out of this “knit” bicycle that’s out in front of Whidbey Isle Yarns. Someone put a lot of work into it.

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One of my blog followers mentioned that they’d like to see more old houses around Coupeville so I thought I’d do just that. I’m sorry I don’t remember the person’s name.

This is the Jacob Jenne home built in 1889. I was built for Jake, as he was called, by H. B. Lovejoy who built many beautiful old Victorians around Coupeville. Jake moved to Whidbey Island in 1876 and was a farmer up until 1886 when he purchased the Central Hotel on Front Street. He died in 1908.

It currently is a Thai restaurant called “Pra Nakorn Thai Cuisine”.

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Here’s a photo of it from around the time it was built. This photo came from “Images of America, Coupeville” by Judy Lynn, Kay Foss and the Island County Historical Society and Museum.

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Unfortunately I couldn’t get a very good photo from that side of the building because there are too many tall and bushy trees.

And finally I saved the best for last and the reason this edition is called “Nobody Home”. I do believe the photograph is self explanatory. I really liked it and I hope you do as well.

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Thanks for walking with me, I hope you have a great week ahead and come back again soon.