Happy Halloween at the Governor's Mansion

Happy Halloween everyone!

This evening after my wife and I got off work, we decided to head out and take some pictures. We hadn't been to the State Capitol in a while so off we went. As it was just about dusk we were trying to get in as many photos as we could before it turned completely dark. I'll probably share a couple of other photos in a few days. They had colored lights on the fountain which was beautiful. We took quite a few there, then moved on to the Legislative Building. The lighted dome at night really is impressive. While we were there we noticed some people with children in costume so we decided to check it out. They were heading to the Governor's Mansion to Trick or Treat. My wife said "Well, we don't have any kids with us but let's go see what's going on anyway". I didn't think the people in line would appreciate us walking right past them but my wife taunted and double dog dared me to go for it. I couldn't help it, I folded. We headed up the driveway past the hundred or so parents and kids that were in line. When we got up to the front of the mansion this is what we saw. Governor Christine Gregoire and her husband, the First Gentleman Mike Gregoire were dressed up in Toy Story costumes handing out candy to the kids and having their picture taken about every thirty seconds or so. It looked like everyone including them was having a pretty good time. Again, since our kids were with grandma, not with us tonight, we didn't have to stick around long, just enough to snap a couple of photos then on our way we went.

Floral Friday - Bobcat

From our recent trip north to the Seymour Conservatory in Tacoma, I give you Orchidaceae Colmanara Wildcat "Bobcat" as my contribution to this week's Floral Friday. I really liked the way the light made the colors so vivid.

For more wonderful Floral Friday shots click the link below.

Light Our Way

The mornings are a little darker, a little cooler each day it seems. By the time we get off work, stop off at the grocery store, then make it home this is about the only light there is. I can't wait for the weekends this time of year. Then we can actually get out and do something in the daylight.

Remember Whensday - Krise - The Early Years

Future Farmer of America? Nope. Future wife? You got it! Seeing as it's time for Remember Whensday again, my wife Krise was kind enough to dig out one of the old family albums and bare her cute little grin for all the world to see. As you can see in the lower left corner this photo was taken in April of 1981. She was four years old and hard at work on her grandma's John Deere plowing the garden with her trusty helper Mickey. The thing that really gave her the qualifications for the job was the Mack Truck hat. That sealed the deal.

For more Remember Whensday memories click the link below.

He Walks on Water?

As I mentioned, this past Saturday after work I headed to Capitol Lake to photograph the beautiful fall colors. While I was there I was fortunate enough to catch this guy chillin' on a log, as well as a variety of colorful foliage. Down at the other end of the lake however, there was a miracle a happenin'. A seagull that walks on water. Of course as soon as he saw me he just stood there as if nothing was going on. Show off!

Monochrome Weekly - Halloween Mishaps

It appears that someone, while preparing their yard for the upcoming holiday, wasn't quite careful enough and ended up getting "a head" of themselves.

See the world of Monochrome Maniacs by clicking the link below.

Scenic Sunday - Sumac on Fire

Staghorn Sumac at Capitol Lake. Taken about twenty feet from where I took yesterday's photo. I hope everyone had a great weekend.

For more Scenic Sunday shots click the link below.

Say Cheese

Seeing as the weather cooperated today I decided to go out after work and photograph some of the wonderful fall colors down at Capitol Lake. As things worked out you're going to have to wait until tomorrow to see those. This Great Blue Heron convinced me that he needed to be front and center on today's post. This is the boss of Capitol Lake. You might remember I posted a night shot of him not too long ago. I don't think anything spooks this guy. I could just about walk right up without him even moving a muscle. The only thing he did was turn his eye my way.

SkyWatch Friday - Keep Out The Rain

I thought this photo would express how we feel around here lately. We had such a wonderful warm summer that lasted longer than usual. Then when the weather turned, it turned all at once. Wind, rain, gray skies all day long. It seems like we ticked off Mother Nature. As I was leaving work this evening and heading to my car I spotted this. Blue skies on one side, dark clouds on the other. I don't know how much good the barbed wire is going to do to stop those clouds from rolling on in, but I did think this would qualify for my SkyWatch Friday shot.

Click the link below to check out SkyWatch Friday photos from around the world.

Remember Whensday - A Boy & His Dog

Okay, I'm going to take another chance here and post an old photo of myself again. This one must be from about 1968 or 1969. I would have been eleven or twelve at the time and posing here with our English Bulldog Meg. She was such a wonderful friendly playful dog. She loved to go for rides in my old chevy, and I don't think she missed one of my baseball or soccer games. Judging by the ultra sharp clothes I was wearing here I would say I was either on my way to church or some special event. Okay, feel free to print a copy for your dartboard now.

This blast from the past is my contribution to "Remember Whensday."

For more Remember Whensday photos click on the link below.

Ruby Tuesday - T'maters

As often happens I wasn't prepared for my post tonight. Right after work my wife and I headed to the local aquarium/fish store to buy a couple more fish. I gave her an aquarium for her birthday last week, and soon after we had trouble. You see, one of the (friendly - community) fish that we bought turned out to be a cold methodical killer. One day after we brought them home one of our little neon tetras was missing. The first thing I did was look around the aquarium and on the floor to see if it had jumped out. I didn't find a dried up carcas with carpet fuzz on it so we thought maybe it was hiding. Day two, another neon missing. Still no proof of what was going on. Day three we came home and witnessed the unthinkable. One of the Kribensis (Latin for cannibal) had killed the last neon and was in the midst of chewing on it's remains. That did it! Out he came and back to the store he went. We took his buddy along with him just in case. Anyway, back to the original story here. So after work tonight we went and picked out a few fish to add to her tank that we know are nice and mellow. This leads me back to my post. Not having taken a photo today I had to quickly search the archives. I didn't have to look far. We were at a friend's house about a week ago when I spotted these juicy red tomatoes. We'll just let them be our contribution to Ruby Tuesday.

For more colorful Ruby Tuesday photos click on the link below.

Monochrome Weekly - Are You Out of Your Gourd?

Fall is in the air. The temperatures have dropped and the rain has started to fall. The trees are some of the brightest colors I've ever seen. Soon strange looking creatures will come knocking at the door wanting us to contribute heavily to their parent's dental bills. Yep, Halloween is just around the corner. Everywhere you look there will be witches, ghosts and rubber skeletons. Are you prepared?

For more wonderful Monochrome Weekly photos click the link below.

Scenic Sunday - Centralia City Light

I believe this is the first post that I've had trouble fitting the whole name into the title space provided. You are looking at The Centralia City Light Hydroelectric Power Plant in Yelm, Washington. This is the point where the water spills over the hillside through the twin tubes at the far right of the photo and heads down to the powerhouse and the Nisqually River. Besides being an interesting place to go watch some awesome hydro power, I thought it would surely qualify for Scenic Sunday.

To see more Scenic Sunday photos click on the link below.

Till We Meet Again

Tonight's photo is one that my lovely wife requested I post. A couple of weeks ago when we went to the local Cider Mill, as we were heading back along the pumpkin patch we spotted this tiller taking a break. I'm guessing he's worked pretty hard lately and deserves some time off. Soon enough the pumpkins will be gone, the corn all sold and it will be time to get back to work again.

Dual Purpose

How could one be so lucky as to take one photo and get a "Two For One" special? Taken a week or so ago before the skies opened up and turned a dull shade of gray, this versatile shot covers both "Floral Friday and SkyWatch Friday in one.

To check out these two wonderful blogs click on their respective link below.

Just the Sax Ma'am

Just one more shot from last night's concert at our daughter's high school.

Drum Roll Please

Tonight was a crazy night. Besides my wife and I both working full days, two of our three kids had something going on this evening. Our youngest went to her first Girl Scout meeting and our middle (PITA) teenager had a concert. She plays saxophone in the school band. Heaven forbid we miss even one of the concerts. Sooooo, we drop off the Girl Scout, rush over to the High School to catch one of the best concerts we have been to. You wouldn't believe how really good they were, the band, orchestra and the choir. One of the hits of the night was the string section performing "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin. By the time the concert was over it was time to pick up the Girl Scout, have a late dinner, a quick post to the blog, then to bed. A good night was had by all!

Basking

On a recent walk through a local nature trail we spotted Mr. Turtle here lounging on a log, working on his tan. I wonder what he's thinking about the forecast for the next week or so. Rain, followed by rain. I can't say we don't need it though. I'm sure most of you have read the blogs from the Pacific Northwest over the past few months bragging about our glorious summer. Well, it seems Mother Nature has flipped the switch and it's going to get wet. Bring it on!

Monochrome Weekly - State Capitol

The State Capitol, or should I say The State Legislative Building is one of my favorite local spots to photograph. Whether it's inside or out, sunny or gray, in color or black and white it's hard to take a bad photo of anything that poses so very well.

For more Monochrome Weekly photos click the link below.

Capitol Lake Colors

On the way home this afternoon we remembered it was time for a Scenic Sunday shot. Following my wife's suggestion I veered off the freeway and stopped at The Red Lion Inn which sits on a hill overlooking Capitol Lake and Interstate 5. Just so you have some point of reference look at the far end of the lake where the supporting pillars are. It's hard to tell from this angle, but if you've followed this blog for a while you might recognize that dock from this previous post. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

For more Scenic Sunday shots click the link below.

I'll Take This One

Backing up just a little, here's our youngest daughter selecting "just the right" pumpkin. Of course, about five minutes later she went about fifty yards from this spot and picked out another "just right" pumpkin to replace the first one. How many of you parents have had the identical experience?

Floral Friday - It's a Dandy

First of all I wanted to let you all know that yesterday was my lovely wife's birthday. I won't whisper her age, that would only get me hurt. She had a wonderful day, and I believe one of the best birthdays she has had in some time.

Also, I want to thank those of you that followed my "Cider Sunday" series this past week. We had a great time going, and couldn't wait to share at least a part of it with all of you. For today's post I thought I'd turn our attention to one of the most under-appreciated flowers, the dandelion. We pass them by all the time, writing them off as a nuisance, just a weed. Maybe, but I thought I would make it my contribution to Floral Friday.

For more wondrous Floral Friday shots click the link below.

Cider Sunday Part 5 - A Life Lost

In yesterday's post I showed you Lattin's Country Cider Mill, a wonderful local farm, cider mill, petting zoo and much more. If I only showed you yesterday's photo and the accompanying write-up I wouldn't be telling the whole story. Right now Lattin's is going through a very tough time. You see that's the rest of the story. This past Sunday we not only went to Lattin's to let our seven year old pick out a pumpkin and feed the goats, we also went to show our community support to some good people that experienced something terrible recently. You see on the morning of Thursday September 24th the unthinkable happened. One of the employees, Kay Langford was shot and killed at Lattin's by her ex-boyfriend. The owner, Carolyn Lattin risked her life to stop the man but could not. After he killed Langford he, as many cowards do, attempted to commit suicide by shooting himself in the face. He failed. I'm writing about this not just to tell you about a local killing. Several days after the murder my wife and I read this article in our local paper The Olympian. I thought it was well written and echoed our sentiments exactly. Just to let you know, we were by no means the only ones there supporting these fine people. The place was crowded with kids and adults buying pumpkins, pies, jams, good barbequed food but mainly letting Carolyn Lattin, her daughters and the rest of the people there know that it was going to be okay.

Cider Sunday Part 4 - Lattin's

Hopefully I'm not boring you all with this past weekend's events. After we left the "Cider Sunday" festivities at Tumwater Falls Park we decided to go over to Lattin's Country Cider Mill, a local farm where you can pet goats, pick your pumpkin out of a huge patch, buy fresh pies and jams, & much much more. We had our seven year old with us that day and she really wanted a pumpkin. Even though it's still pretty early and we explained that if she carved it now she'd end up with a moldy orange glob by Halloween she was still sure she wanted one. My wife said okay knowing that at the very least she would end up with some pumpkin seeds to bake. Besides getting the pumpkin our daughter had her face painted and fed a number of the animals there. It really is a wonderful place for the family to go. I'll be posting more on Lattin's tomorrow. The pumpkin was by no means the only reason we went there. Please stay tuned.

Cider Sunday Part 3 - Here & Gone

Carrying on with our "Cider Sunday" series, part 3 moves away from the homesteaders and cider squeezers and on to the spawning salmon, and there were LOTS of them. Not only did they have two large tanks filled with salmon, but there were plenty working their way up the ladder toward the falls. Representatives from The Department of Fisheries were on hand educating the kids (and some of us adults) on fishy reproduction. We walked down just below the falls to see what was going on there. When we first saw the salmon pictured here he was thrashing around in the water wearing himself out. He slowed down and moved over to the calmer water to rest for about ten minutes or so. When he felt like he was ready up he came. These shots were taken about fifteen feet from the falls themselves. In order to clear them he would have to jump about eight to ten feet. We ended up leaving shortly after taking these photos so I'm not sure if he made it or not. More tomorrow.........

Cider Sunday Part 2 - Divine Intervention?

In yesterday's post I showed you students, uh... I mean homesteaders smashing apples into cider. Even though the event was called Cider Sunday that's not all that was going on. As we walked on to another area we saw a man helping a boy with something. On closer inspection we found that he was teaching him, as well as other kids, how to take several lengths of twine and wind them together tightly producing a length of rope. I have to compliment this man, (pioneer cell phone & all), on his patience. He really was good with the kids. After getting home and looking at this photo though it looks like someone was getting a little help from above.

For more amazing Monochrome Weekly shots click the link below.

Cider Sunday - Part 1

I mentioned in yesterday's post that today we were going to "Cider Sunday" at Tumwater Falls Park. It turned out to be a fun afternoon. The Tumwater Homesteaders class (8th graders from Tumwater Middle School) hosted the annual event. The students were there in period dress showing people what it was like to be a homesteader in the 1800's. Over the next couple of days I'll show you a few of my favorite photos from it. In this shot several kids were pulling together to produce some apple cider. Before they press the apples though, just out of frame on the left there were more kids with piles of apples which they were quartering and putting into pots to dump into the press. As you can see in the photo, the press was just about to get too hard for the one boy alone to turn so the second boy in the hat is just about to grab on and help. Do you think they were trying to show a little bit of muscle for the pretty girl in the blue dress?

The Salmon are Coming! - The Salmon Are Coming!

This Sunday is going to be a busy day at Tumwater Falls Park just south of Olympia. Not only do the salmon return at this time every year, but it's time to bring the family to "Cider Sunday", an annual apple press. The Washington State Department of Fisheries will be there educating the public on pretty much anything salmon related, while at the same time people can bring their own apples to have them squeezed into cider. My wife has informed me that we'll be going there, so you can bet I'll take the trusty Nikon along. Two years ago I had decided to go to the park to photograph the salmon spawning. I asked a beautiful young lady if she wanted to go with me. Now that lady is my wife.

I Can See Clearly Now

Do you ever feel like you're okay, but everything around you is a little fuzzy?

Click the Floral Friday link below to see more of what gardens grow.