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FIND THE FACE – February 17, 2017

This morning I walked out to Ebey Prairie and back for a total of 4.2 miles. Along the way a few things caught my eye.

First off I saw this setting in the front yard of a home and thought to myself, “This is what you do when your front porch is too small for the furniture you have šŸ˜‰

front-yard-seating

Out on the prairie is could see a field of what I think isĀ winter cabbage. It’s got a ways to go but the heads are forming nicely.

cabbage-field

When I saw this tree my first though was that it looked like a frizzy head of hair. I was thinking about Photoshopping a face onto it and then all of a sudden it popped out at me. Do you see the face? It was hard to get a good angle on it but it’s there.

tree-face

Ā For all you working people it’s TGIF and for use retired people it’s another wonderful day. Thanks for walking with me and enjoy your weekend ahead.

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NEW ROOF – February 16, 2017

I mentioned a few posts back that the Captain Joseph Clapp house was going to get a new roof. Well it’s finally happening and it’s going to be beautiful as well as protect this beautiful old Victorian home Ā for many more years.

clapp-house-new-roof

The Captain Joseph Clapp house was built in 1886. Itā€™s one of my favorite Victorian, Queen Anne-style, homes.Ā Captain Clapp was a sea captain, as were many of the people who settled in Coupeville. He died in 1940 at the age of 97. He was the last of the original sea captainsĀ  who settled here.

To give you a better sense of where this beautiful home is I took this photo from about five blocks away. Imagine how great the view must be from inside the house. It sits right along Penn Cove.

clapp-house-new-roof-2

If you’d like to have a nice little home that sits along Penn Cove I found one for you. It’sĀ onĀ a high bluff right on the water. It’s located on the corner of the Coupeville Town Park. Built in 1867 I believe it was originally two houses put together as one.

It’s 1,534 square feet, has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 3 fireplaces and is currently the Cliff HouseĀ B&B. This lovely place can be yours for only $749,000! I’d jump right on it but it doesn’t have a garage or woodshop and I don’t have anywhere near that kind of money. But if you do it’s a lovely place.

cliff-house

And that’s a wrap for Thursday. Thanks for walking with me and if the weather holds we’ll do it again tomorrow.

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A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE… February 13, 2017

It was a little on the chilly side again this morning but I just bundled up and went for it. I turned around part way up the street that goes past my house and liked what I saw. I decided I’d share my neighborhood with you this morning.

The closest house on the left, with the portable garage, is our home. Inside the portable garage is the teardrop camper trailer I’m building although not a lot is going on these days because there’s just no way to heat it. The good news is warmer weather is on the way in the not too distant future.

It’s obviously trash and recycle pickup day and you can see Penn Cove in the background.

perkins-st-looking-north

I must have several hundred photos of the Coupeville Wharf but I never get tired of it and I hope you don’t either. This morning I liked the lighting, reflection and Mt. Baker in the background. It also looks cold which is so true.

wharf-and-mt-baker

I hope that gets your week started and you’ll come back and walk with me again real soon. Enjoy your week ahead!

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SUNRISE WEST- February 10, 2017

I keep hoping for some really nice, warm, dry, wind free kind of days but for now it’s still winter in Washington State. Yesterday I did walk but all by myself. It was threatening rain so I walked the north/south streets that are quite steep. I walked fast to put on some miles so not much looking around or photos. At about two miles it started to sprinkle so I beat feet for home and just as I got in the door it started to really rain.

So that brings us to today. It’s was fairly clear with big puffy clouds. Unfortunately the wind was howling!!! I saw a 38 MPH gust when I got home. Needless to say that’s not great for walking. I even got blown back a couple of times. But despite that I managed to take a few photos.

While sunrises to the east are quite spectacular if you look west they can be just as spectacular with the rising sun shining on the clouds. This is the Coupeville Wharf as seen from the end of the street I live on.

wharf-and-clouds

A little further down the road the sky was still looking good and I love split rail, cedar, fences. It makes for a good contrast.

cedar-fence-and-clouds

I spotted a beer truck stocking up Toby’s Tavern. I stopped and asked the driver if he could stop by my house and deliver some brew but I guess not šŸ˜¦

tobys-beer-truck

It’s Friday and that means the weekend is upon us. I hope you have a great one and thanks for walking with me this week.

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PEEK-A-BOO – February 8, 2017

Today was much better than yesterday. It was 34 degrees F when I left and 33 when I got home. It was very overcast and threatening more snow. About half way through the four miles we walked it started “dusting”. By the time I got home…

snow

Perfect!

While walking along I played “Peek-A-Boo” with Raccoon. He saw me and ran to the culvert to hide.

raccoon-in-culvert-2

Rather than waking on I decided to wait and see what he does. Sure enough he had to come back to the end and take a peek. A really cut little critter hiding that way.

raccoon-in-culvert-1

Over the years I’ve shown you some of the yard art around town. Being somewhat of an “art community” there is quite a bit. Here’s a Dachshund I’d never see before. I really like the bright colors.

winner-dog-metal

I also noticed something to get really excited about. Coupeville has a number of beautiful old Victorian’s around town that were mostly built and owned by tall ship captains in the mid to late 1800’s. This is one of my very favorites.

This house was owned by Captain Joseph Clapp, built in 1889. It has been going down hill for quite some time but it is on the list to have some work doneĀ made possible by Ebey’s Forever Grant. Today I saw a huge pile of cedar shakes for a new roof! It’s going to look so great once that’s done and no more leaks either. (Note the big hole to the left of the chimney)

I don’t envy the roofer that gets the job but someone’s got to do it.

cptn-joseph-clapp-house-1886

And that concludes our Hump Day Walk! I hope you enjoyed it and we can do it again real soon.

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SLIPPERY OBSERVATIONS – February 7, 2017

This morning’s walk was neither rewarding or enjoyable. It was a beautiful morning but only 30 degrees F and the windchill was 26. I bundled up, headed out the door and then realized that the road was frozen and very slippery. It was like walking on a 3.4 mile long ice rink that had hills!

All my concentration went into walking and not falling down instead of enjoying the scenery and taking beautiful photos. Fortunately all that concentration paid off and I never went down.

I did spot one snowman along the way but I’m afraid he’d already lost his head.

snowman

One significant observation I had was that the ADA ramps are a huge hazard. I realize they are great for wheelchairs or for people who can’t go up and down stairs but it’s a whole different story when things are frozen. The gentle slope on this ramp was impassable without slipping and that yellow traction pad was the slickest thing I encountered on the whole walk.

icey-ada-ramp

Another thing that was more of an experience than an observation was walking on roads with tiny shoulders. If I walked out in the road where cars had been driving I could get some pretty good traction but when a car was coming I had to get out of the road and onto the shoulder. That little traverse was pretty tricky without falling down. I could just imagine if I slipped with an oncoming car, oh the horror!

Front Street was no exception. You can see the ice on the road as well as the sidewalks.

icy-front-street

I was very happy to be home safe and sound. I think the next time I run into slippery streets I’ll pass. I hope you didn’t slip and slide on our walk this morning. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

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LET IT SNOW… January 6, 2017

As most of you know I’m kind of a wimp when it comes to walking in anything less than ideal weather. I don’t like walking it the rain because of my camera, I don’t like the wind because of potential “Widow Makers” and I especially don’t like walking in snow!

As a kid growing up in Nebraska I walked twenty miles, up hill, both ways and in twelve foot snow drifts to school so I’ve had my fill of walking in the snow. OK maybe I exaggerated a little but you get the idea.

This morning I woke to “SNOW”! It was 26 degrees F so the roads were icy and the snow is sticking around for a while. Instead of going out for a nice long walk I poked my nose out the door and took a couple of pictures for you enjoyment. I know in the whole scheme of things it’s not a lot of snow but it’s a rather rare event in my wee town of Coupeville.

This is some of our back yard.

back-yard-snow

The poor plants in these planters really got beaten down and I’m quite sure they will be dead by spring.

back-yard-snowy-plants

This is the view from our front porch. Like I said it’s not a lot of snow but I have to say it sure is pretty.

snowy-front-porch

With any luck, a little warmer temperatures and some rain it will all be gone by tomorrow and we can go walking again, or not. Have a great week ahead and make it a good one!