Views of Sequim, the Olympic Peninsula. . .and beyond
This miniature iris isn’t more than two inches in height. From our kitchen window it looked like a bit of flotsam. . .yet, that color. . .Husband insisted it was an iris. I couldn’t remember planting any there. But he was right. It qualifies as a classic belly flower, the kind you must get up close and personal to see. Woohoo! The daffodils aren’t far behind.
So, Iris Spotter: Here’s a post for you. Happy birthday, Honey!
We’ve had blustery winds over the last couple of days. They make me want to say inside with a good book. Obviously, others see it differently. There was a lot of windsurfing action off Cline Spit yesterday.
The wind chill took temperatures down into the 30s. Wetsuits and plenty of action probably helped but I don’t think it was a day to linger in the water. They built up a lot of speed while they sailed. Their wakes help tell the story.
At least one fellow went airborne repeatedly. I couldn’t get the shot I wanted but this will help you get the idea.
One of my very first posts on the Sequim Daily Photo was a photo of a pair of goats that resided at the Five Acre School located next to the east side of the Dungeness Recreation Area. I was taken by the novelty of a school with live animals and then charmed by the goats themselves. That was in August 2011. More recently first one, then the other goat disappeared. A neighbor confirmed what we suspected: both goats had moved on to proverbial “greener pastures.”
A week or two ago the little goat enclosure was again occupied – by a pair of spry, cute, and slightly agitated little animals. New goats! I couldn’t wait to tiptoe over a few days later and take a closer look.
The goats had settled down by last weekend. I know very little about goats but these guys are really cute. They stood watching me quietly as I took their portraits.
Both goats have thick and very soft-looking coats and I have no doubt that they are already adored by the children at the Five Acre School.
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At the end of last September’s first Balloon Festival organizers announced that they would return in 2013. Now it seems there are conflicts with another aviation event during Labor Day weekend at the Sequim Airport, the site of last year’s balloon launches. There may be ballooning as part of the event, but it won’t be the focus. One of the balloon companies featured last year set up camp here in Sequim and you can see their balloon from time to time floating across the valley. I’m fairly certain that the balloon above is now resident.
You may know that I’m married to a boat person, the kind of guy who has inventoried and identified most of the boats in most of the yards we’ve driven past in Sequim and other locations across the Olympic Peninsula.
Dear Husband is registered for a “Scamp Camp” starting on March 4th in Port Townsend. In the course of two weeks he will substantially build a 12 foot Scamp sailboat. He’s already built a mast, blocks, and cleats. Above is the latest phase, lumber for the build. This is our Scamp to be. It’s toward the bottom of a pile of about 12 sheets of mahogany marine plywood. Instead of locating his own quality wood and cutting it himself, he elected to buy a lumber package offered through his class.
The parts are precisely cut with an NC (numerically controlled) router with more precision and less waste. He has removed the precut pieces to finish before the class, which should result in a better finish overall and put him ahead of the game. That is, of course, if the cold and damp abate enough for the finish to dry, but that’s a different story.
This is a convenience you don’t get with raw lumber: named parts. It’s an extraordinary luxury for us to approach building a boat doing so many things “right.” I could fill volumes with stories of the lost puppy boats that have landed in our lives, the ones that had so much promise with “just a little work.” If you are a boat person, you know exactly what I mean. If you aren’t, well, I suppose you can consider yourself blessed. At the very least you probably lead an uncluttered life.
We’ve only had about an inch and a half of rain so far this year. I’d be hard pressed to complain about that since it rarely rains long enough or hard enough to make it truly miserable. But it leads me to admit that I’m enough of an amateur that cloudy, grey days are a challenge to me. I haven’t really learned to see the photo possibilities and yet I do prefer and like to be out of doors. So I raced out recently thinking the rain had stopped, looking for raindrops. The rain hadn’t stopped. And I hadn’t noticed, but it was windy, too, and pretty cold. It was a quick series of shots and this was the best of the bunch.
Early last year a controversy erupted between the local Sequim agent who ran our vehicle licensing office and the County Auditor. Long simmering disagreements led, eventually, to the office being shut down. This meant that any business that locals wanted to conduct in person had to be done in Port Angeles. As a former Californian I’ll spare the details, but most things short of a root canal compare favorably to my experiences with the Dept. of Motor Vehicles in that fair state. So driving to Port Angeles to register a trailer last summer wasn’t bad. Dealing with the clerk and the paperwork at the licensing office was fine. Even standing in line for 40 minutes wasn’t terrible. But seeing the new Licensing Depot front and center on Washington Street is a welcome sight. It’s in the same shopping center as J.C. Penney’s and across the street from Safeway.