local picks Which is Earth, which is Mars?

June 30, 2007 Sat

The month of June - GONE! So fast. . . At least the really pleasant days are beginning, and I'm still on light duty!

We've been meaning to add this picture - it's pretty much the 'after' shot of the bedroom wall that has the two boxes. Still the ceiling trim to go~~

June 29, 2007 Fri

Well, hmmmm....

Ann captures this tug at work by La Conner ~~

Also the health garden going in at Swinomish, using our recently removed from the old drop ceiling 2 X 6's~~

From Barb and Paul - Camp out yesterday at Fort Ebey, with Mike and Mary, Eric and Debra, amongst others

From the Shuttle. . .

Ahhh, reminds one of Woodstock~~
or, what a difference a day makes!

Ms. Tiz, by Ann~~

This is a great illusion -- at times she will appear to spin either way. Don't see it? Look away and look back a couple times -- blink your eyes. Eventually, you'll be able to see her spinning either clockwise, or counterclockwise.
see her spinning whichever way you want.

June 27, 2007 Wed

thanks to Jeroen, writing at the Ptarmigan Nest

He called this,
Another day at the office...

Himself, one of the oldest living Smocks, Richard, at the yacht club pig roast. I started to say the oldest, then I remembered that we must count Frances, of course -- and my mom -- both a couple years older than Dick. He wins hands down for being the most spry and feisty!

From space, the aurora is a crown of light that circles each of Earth's poles. The IMAGE satellite captured this view of the aurora australis (southern lights) on September 11, 2005, four days after a record-setting solar flare sent plasma - an ionized gas of protons and electrons - flying towards the Earth. The ring of light that the solar storm generated over Antarctica glows green in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum, shown in this image. The IMAGE observations of the aurora are overlaid onto NASA's satellite-based Blue Marble image. From the Earth's surface, the ring would appear as a curtain of light shimmering across the night sky.

June 24, 2007 Sun

Should this worry you?

The Drews are not going to like this. . .

We are so jealous ~~
click

carpal tunnel scar

tenosynovectomy scar

Tesla coil -- perfectly safe -- care to try it?

June 24, 2007 Sun

Melanie, a friend of Ann's from grade school, and her husband Randy were in town. Dick and Laura dropped by to renew acquaintances. See? People really do come to visit Anacortes.

Oh, Deer... at Becca's 40th birthday party

One thing we don't see much of in Anacortes is thunder and lightning - but we did today. Along with a torrential downpour and hail. The one armed cameraman held the camera a little crooked -- the house across the street isn't really tilted that much, though it is several degrees out of whack.

more regarding this picture, later click for details

Now, we could really use one of these around here...
thanks to DK

June 20, 2007 Wed

Thanks to TJ, answering my request for some pictures to post. Some pretty clever photo shopping has put a few Iveys into this picture - how many do you see? This is one fancy photo! Actually, I'm not sure exactly how T. J. made this picture~ Maybe he'll tell us?

With summer just hours away we are getting some pretty decent weather -- nice enough to get me out of the house for the first time in a week. We noticed that the remaining section had been added to the boat that's abuilding at the end of Commercial. Look for the pilot house to mysteriously appear overnight, is what I'm guessing will happen next.

The nice weather also filled the whale watching tour boat, seen here leaving the Port of Anacortes Harbor with a full load. Also visible is the new fuel dock, added earlier this spring. Yes, it was nice being out and about, even if a tad awkward motoring about in the Saab. Fortunately, those years spent drinking a coffee, lighting a cigarette and shifting gears while steering with one's knee - are paying off at last, sort of...

thanks to Bill L ~~
With the Fourth of July just around the corner one might be thinking: Get up and Grill!

June 18, 2007 Mon

If you happen to have any pictures that would be suitable for posting on this blog (which leaves a pretty big window) this would be the time to send them along. Until this cast comes off on the 25th it will be hard to generate pictures to display here. I could always re post the dead possum...

Long awaited wrist surgery is finally over - now the fun begins. The big bandage comes off in a couple weeks and then rehab must begin. All in all, a couple months to get right again.

I'm not just behind on the blog, but also replying to e-mails. It's just a matter of getting my energy back.

June 17, 2007 Sun

This roadside delight just happened to be directly under my car window when I stopped at a light.
Reminds one of the old adage - The quick and the Possum - or something. . . Also, Linda's favorite joke: Why did the chicken cross the road? To show the possum it could be done. . .
Anyway, UGH - or, Eww, as Evie would say~~
Dead critter picture removed by request~~ well, come on -- it was yucky~~

June 11, 2007 Mon

There is this ugly box on the wall above our bed. The cold air returns come down from upstairs and go through the wall to the furnace. So the question is: how do you hide it? Who would have thought that you hide it by making a second one? Ann figured that out -- then cover both of them with curtains.

The new box will store bed linens, etc. Sheers across the middle will complete the project, and hide the boxes. That part got delayed when my trusty 40 year old Singer zig zag began to get snarky. It's in the shop for a tune up. Last time in the shop? About twenty years ago. . . (probably the last time I cleaned and oiled it, too - before yesterday.) I was too embarrassed to take it in like it was~~

The boat taking shape at the end of the street - A section has been added behind the first, or bow section.

We're betting that this piece is part of the final assembly, too. It's sitting nearby. Going to be one BIG BOAT!

Neat invitation to my brother (the former confirmed bachelor in the family) John's upcoming wedding.

I get an early Father's Day gift - a swell new coffee bean grinder upper. The old one would only grind a cup at a time - a bit of a nuisance when making coffee for several folks at once. No more!

Noticed this on the news - a plane nose dived onto a beach. What beach? Jacksonville Beach - where the Florida contingent hangs out. Yikes!

What might this be?
Answer below~~

June 09, 2007 Sat

Dick and Laura returned from Alaska by seaplane, flying into Lake Union, north of Seattle a tad.
I took my Oly, but left it in the Saab when I switched to Dick's Honda for the drive down and back. So, these are phone cam pictures on a cloudy dark damp day. They said the three hour plane ride was exciting and fun. . .

The plane they flew was smaller than the yellow one pictured above - it is the blue and white one seen behind the yellow one, below. A five or six passenger model. The pilot flew at around two thousand feet most of the time, so the view was good.

Thanks to Bill -
A most beautiful and rare butterfly, named - appropriately - Glasswing

Congratulations to Anna, completing highschool and off to college this fall~~

With Gram and Grampa. . .

Here with Evelyn and sister Heidi

Yes, an eerie photo - thanks to The Morning News

Death by Oreo

A ball thrown from the back of a moving truck -

If you throw the ball at the same speed the truck is moving, what will happen? Think about it a minute, then see the results by clicking on the above. . .

The mystery picture above on this page: a fast camera has caught a water balloon at the moment of bursting.

After seeing this video, I recommitted myself to ALWAYS buckling up.

June 05, 2007 Tue

in the news -- my Olympus is back from the factory. It has a new back on it and a new battery case. No more turning on and off by itself and gone are the rubber bands holding it together. Also, new firmware -- which seems to be the software that operates the camera. It took me the better part of two years to begin to use even a fraction of the features on this camera. That, after using it a year or so on automatic.

Now it's like a brand-new camera. New to me. I had to go online and get the latest instructions and relearn how to set it up - trying to get close to the way it was when I sent it in. I gave it the better part of a couple hours on the first go round. All things considered I am very glad to have it back.

The more we read about the damage that's been done to our environment the scarier it gets...

Pirates of the Indian Ocean?

our fascination with robots continues~~

Thanks to Bill -
Kinetic Sculpture - click to see it work - AMAZING!

June 03, 2007 Sun

Here are some of Ann's backyard endeavors - she has been busy~~
The squash garden is growing at a lovely rate. . .

A gate! Construction and installation entirely by Ann - this area between the sheds has needed a gate for some time - no more!

You might recall that the girls have been rehearsing all year for the summer ballet. It's this weekend. We went last night and Ann took a few pictures at rehearsal~~

with Talyn

Ivey

And Danika - comprise my ballet riders, three days a week~~

Thanks to the Mayor~~
Globes - The exhibit will feature over 100 sculpted globes, each five feet in diameter, displayed along Chicago's lakefront.

June 01, 2007 Fri

The worried look. . .

Barb and Richard are watching, too~

It all worked out ok!

Cass

Nobody gets any of MY CAKE!

Ni and Ivey

Mammatus Clouds over Hastings, Nebraska. Unusual, yes? Click to learn more. . .