Stanwood had a parade

Liked the horses so much I put them in twice. Also the Cheerleaders and The Firefighters.





Elvis was there too!!

Roadside waterfalls

Four different waterfalls seen from the road driving through the North Cascades. I took these on a little day trip. MB

Wednesday's Sunset for Sky Watch

I took this shot /wednesday evening.

If you would like to see more sky shots from around the world or would like to participate got to www.skyley.blogspot.com
Thank you! MB

J.P. Patches, A NW Icon

We all grew up with JP. If you lived anywhere in the PNW in the 60s. 70, 80, and on, whether you were 2 or 92, all eyes were on JP. He was funny!!

J.P. was the Grand Marshal at the Stanwood-Camano Community fair this year. the parade was Saturday August 1st. A perfect small town parade.

Click on JP to see him up close and personal.


J.P. was the "Mayor of the City Dump", where he lived in a shack and welcomed frequent guests: Seattle boy scout and girl scout troops, various local and national celebrities, and his cast of supporting characters: Sturdley the Bookworm, Esmerelda (portrayed by a Raggedy Ann doll), Ketchikan the Animal Man (a sort of Jack Hanna character), Boris S. Wort (the "second meanest man in the world"), LeRoy Frump (a character obviously based on Art Carney's Ed Norton), Tikey Turkey (a rubber chicken), Grandpa Tick Tock (a grandfather clock with an elderly face where the pendulum would be), The Swami of Pastrami, Ggoorrsstt the Friendly Frpl, Miss Smith (a motorcycle riding delivery woman who told mostly awful jokes), Superclown (a JP like superhero), J.P.'s evil counterpart P. J. Scratches, and J.P.'s girlfriend, Gertrude. Virtually the entire supporting cast, male and female, human or non-human, was played by the versatile Bob Newman.

The Gleaner

I was so excited when I saw this old tug today when I was in
Coupeville on Whidbey Island today. I remember I took a shot of this boat last year (June 18-08 blog) and tried to find out any info about it. Marcel in Sitka had seen it before. I didn't find any info then but today I found it may have been built in 1908 and named the Erik Foss and I found a picture of The Gleaner with another boat.(www.excaliber1908.com) It looks like this is living quarters to who ever owns it now. Click on the first picture and you can see many flower pots. I like this boat and think it is neat looking and who wouldn't want to own a Tug boat. MB

My Koi Pond

These are some of my Koi. You might want to click on the picture to see them better. This is a natural pond fed by a small creek and there is a waterfall for the overflow. The creek then goes underground under my pastures and becomes a creek again in the woods across the road.
I have over 20 Koi of this size and they have been in the pond for many years. The pond is real low now because it has been so hot and dry. No rain--very unusual here. They come swimming by when I whistle for them. The pond is very natural and brimming with pond life so I seldom feed the fish and they seem to be doing ok on whatever they find.

Hercules

A cool refreshing picture of the Tug Hercules on Possession Sound off whidbey Island.