Or - Here, There and Everywhere...
It was a busy Wednesday...especially for me.
First off was exercise. I finally got back to the gym and worked out AND now I hurt...all over.
After I got back, took a shower and got ready we were off. First stop was to Vinny de Paul. I figure since we didn't find any books the other day at Salvation Army we deserved another shot.
Vinny de Paul Selfie!!
Here we are in front of our new favorite Thrift Shop!! It used to be an up-scale Grocery and now, well, now it's a Vinny. How the mighty have fallen, eh?
Still, the neat thing about Vinny's is that they have something on sale everyday. Today was all Yellow Tags (50% off) and all Pink Tags (25% off). I mean it's already inexpensive and then...well, you get the idea.
Hahahaha, have I ever mentioned that I'm frugal?
Inside the Vinny. Behind me are all the clothes...a lot of clothes. To the right is the furniture and to the left are the knick-knacks, dishes, pots, pans, tools and other what-not. And way back there to the slight left are the books. I always drift through the furniture, glance at the tools and electronics and then meander back to the books.
A man's got to have a plan, right?
There's Carol discovering three books!!
Funny how every time we come here she 'finds' another book...or two.
Hahaha, they were all on sale and already cheap so it doesn't hurt...too bad.
And sometimes they have some nice things. This painting was framed but I shot it up close and excluded the frame.
Not bad.
And somebody there has a sense of humor.
A panda wearing a Corona Beer hat and chillin' in his Lazy Boy.
Just lose the coloring and that Bad Boy could be me...to a T!!
After our Favorite Thrift Shop, we drove on over to our Favorite Dollar Store. Hahaha, we just needed a couple things and ended up with cookies, sodas, Hot Tamales candy and spice drops. Oh, and we got those other things...I forget what they were.
Prioritize, baby!! Prioritize!!!
We went over to the Cedar River, really just a couple blocks from the Dollar Tree, to check on the progress of the sockeyes...the salmon.
Progress has gone backwards. We looked on both sides of the river...up towards the east...
...down to the west...
...and only saw these fish.
This was it. The previous day, we had seen maybe 30 or so sockeyes. Today...two.
Still plenty of time. I guess the main party is still making its way from the ocean.
But we did have one nice surprise.
Daffina Duck was back.
Yep, Ol' Daf was out there doing her 'Bazinga' thing. Diving under the water here and then popping up, 5-8 seconds later over there.
She did, however, finally pull herself up on a log for some sun time and I was able to get this picture. One crazy kinda duck.
However, we, and by that I mean Carol, think this might be just a Common Merganser and not, as we first thought, a Red-Breasted Merganser.
Then we spotted this Great Horned Owl, also known as the Tiger Owl sitting regally atop a telephone pole surveying his domain. Completely disregarding the fact that it was just a bit past noon, we were excited at seeing the Powerful Predator sitting there.
And sitting, sitting, sitting, sitting and sitting.
He seemed frozen. Stiff.
He seemed, upon some reflection, to be...not real!?!
Seems the good folk at the phone company put this Plastic Predator up there to keep the other fowl away from their lines.
It was a beautiful day. Walking along the river was great but we were on a quest to get that Bird Guide and so we set our course to Seward Park and the Audubon Society's Store at the Nature Center.
And it was still a beautiful day over at the park. Here's Lake Washington...with a duck.
Right in front, we had to walk past it and of course we got detoured. is a circular drive and smack-dab in the center of that circle is a bonanza of flowers and plants.
Hahaha, you'll get some more flowers later...count on it.
But we didn't detour too long and after just a bit got back on track for the store.
This is it. The Nature Center and on the left side is the shop. Pretty cool building, eh? It was built in 1927 by J. Frank and Catherine Redfield as a concession stand. For 15 years the Redfields operated the concessions on the ground floor of the building and lived in the second story with their two daughters.
The Depression in the 30s were challenging for everyone. In 1933-34, in an attempt to shore up there slow concession sales, the Redfields applied for a liquor permit to sell beer and appealed for permission to install a gasoline pump. Though the license for beer sales was granted, community opposition to liquor sales in the park forced them to stop after a few months. The gas pumps were never installed. The Redfields had to give up their lease in 1943. Concessions continued to operate out of the building after the Redfields left, and the park foreman used the second floor of the building as a residence until 1968
And now it's the Audubon Center.
Ain't much but it's got some fun stuff in it. Right now it has Carol in it. On the hunt. And I got a semi-reflected selfie...you can at least see my legs.
Here's Joey. He's a bit of a Birder himself and was telling us about what he's seen around the area and so he and Carol got in a spirited conversation about this bird and that one. They'd probably still be there if I hadn't reminded Joey that if he didn't stop talking then Carol would never finish shopping.
Here she is with her prize. Actually, we both had a good time chatting with Joey and looking round the shop.
We walked for a little bit around the park and stopped by the latrines where we found this art...for the men it is a Great Blue Heron. Sounds about right.
And for the Ladies, it's a cormorant.
Don't ask me, I don't know.
Oh, wait!!
More flowers!!
Yahoo!!
I do like these cone flowers.
Daisy's, sunflowers, daffodils, clover and cone flowers.
These are a few of my favorites things.
All these were taken from the island in the center of the circle drive.
Lots of spiders this year.
Lots.
Disgusting AND yucky.
And another.
Blame Carol. Please. Blame Carol.
Autumn colors...we're seeing them more and more.
And this, this is a detail from a window in the Audubon Center.
Hahaha, I just realized that they're fake flowers.
Flowers everywhere, Man!!
All good things must come to an end and so we left the flowers and headed down by the lake.
It was a great day, weather-wise. Cloudy but the clouds were around us so we had sunshine and a great view.
Looking at Mercer Island across Lake Washington.
Some more conventional ducks...look at that water!! Look at how clear it is!!
And while we were standing there, admiring the view, enjoying the breeze and soaking up the sun this guy comes swimming in from where I don't know.
But, hey, he's semi-pro!! Got himself a wet suit and all.
Then we look out and here comes #2.
Plugging along slow and steady.
Here she comes.
It wasn't all that warm a day, really.
Then I look down and get this.
The birder is trying to verify all the ducks she's seeing.
Lake Washington Selfie!!
We left the park and drove up along Lake Washington Blvd. As soon as we could, we stopped and went out for a walk.
Looking over the boat launching area, non-motor only, thank-you very much, towards Andrews Bay in Lake Washington.
That's Seward Park across the water there. It was originally known as Bailey's Peninsula until it was acquired by the City of Seattle in 1911 for the princely sum of $322,000. This was around the time of the Alaska-Yukon Exposition and so the park was named for William Seward, Lincoln's Secretary of State, who was responsible for the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867.
FYI - Andrews Bay is the only place you can moor overnight in Lake Washington...disregarding the marinas.
The Autumn Colors along the lake.
This is at the end of the boat launch, non-motor only, thank-you very much.
I took this to show just how clear the water is in the lake. This part isn't that deep but, still, it is crystal clear.
As for the no diving sign.
Duh!!
 |
| No diving? Really! I wonder why not? |
There's Mercer Island with the I-90 Floating Bridge on the left. I took this mostly to show the kind of day it was. Pretty clear where we were but all around us were clouds.
One of the many parks along Lake Washington Blvd.
'Nuff said.
Artsy-Fartsy Alert!!
Hahaha, I just wanted to get one picture with the clouds reflected in the lake.
Sorry bout dat.
Artsy-Fartsy Alert!! Part II
Hahaha, more of the same...clouds reflected, yada-yada-yada.
Artsy-Fartsy Alert!! Part III
The hits just keep on coming!!
Just a neat cloud formation.
Now this one isn't Artsy-Fartsy, although it could have been. No, I was intrigued by the shift in cloud formations here. Really odd.
Any help? Anyone? Bueller?
Along the Lake Washington Blvd, you can run, walk or bike. Oh, and you can boat, too. No swimming or diving, though.
The tree-lined lane along the boulevard.
This fellow slowly sailed across the lake and into Andrews Bay.
Hmmm, I wonder if he'll spend the night? He can, you know. It's the only place where you can do that on Lake Washington.
I'm jes sayin'...
Lake Washington Blvd Selfie!!
There's the mini!!
Some last shots at nature's beauty.
Hahaha, sometimes even I laugh at what I wrote.
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| Bad!! Bad flowers!! That's right!! Hang your heads in shame!! |
The park along the boulevard is really something else. Worth the effort to walk, bike or run along.
Driving back home.
When the Link was built they evidently paid people for some artwork to put into each station. This is one of the three around Othello Station.
I don't know.
But I know that someone paid big bucks for it.
Would you buy this? Is it art?
Well, we saw the real artwork. It was a beautiful day. We got to go shopping at two of our favorite stores, see a sockeye and Daffina Duck, Then we found an island of flowers and also found the Bird Guide we'd been looking for. Then we got to see some great sights.
Really, a win-win kinda day.
Life is good.
Hooah!!
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