Picture of the Week

We didn't get to go shoot anything special this week but I had so much from last weekend that I'll just put up another one of those from our Roslyn and Ronald visit.  This is a nice shot of a very obedient, patient doggy waiting for her mommy at the Brick tavern, the oldest continuously functioning tavern in Washington state.  It was featured on the TV show "Northern Exposure" in the '90's.


This coming weekend we have plans so I'll be sure to have something fresh to share next week. Seeya then!

Picture of the Week


This weekend, the first of spring, began with a bang! Saturday was an in-your-face gorgeous day. We didn't let it go to waste. We went to the mountains and went cemetery visiting! Woo hoo!

Well, we saw a lot more than the cemeteries, which I will blog later in the week. Here's a sample of another item we saw in a large degree in the small towns of Roslyn and nearby Ronald, 2 old coal mining towns just over the Snoqualmie Pass, about 80 miles east of here.


These gray, bare wood old homesteads were everywhere and are another of our favorite things to photograph.  This one I call "Set a Spell", you know "take yer shoes off - y'all come back now, y' hear?"

I have more of my shots from this weekend in our smugmug gallery already, check it out here!

Visiting Chehalis Again


Well, we went to see Rick's cousin, Melinda, last weekend and had a blast. We went to the hay farm that I put up last week's picture of the week from. They had a quite a few old barns, one was 100 years old, give or take. Unfortunately it had a lot of white plastic covering areas needing repair so we had to shoot around all that. Another barn we went to see the owls in (to no avail) was circa 1940's. They also had an interesting bridge that they had to have rebuilt that was very photographic (do you say it was photogenic if it's an inanimate object?). And horses, fields, trees, the bull, etc.

On the drive to Boistfort, though, Rick and I were chomping at the bit. There were so many interesting falling barns, silos, fences, hardware, ponds, creeks, etc. Truly a photographers' dream. We're definitely going back there a little later in the spring to get shots of some of that other stuff when we have the time and control of the vehicle so that we can "STOP!!" when we wanna!


Back at Melinda's it was the usual chaos. The little heehaws all gathered 'round Rick as he stooped down to their eye (and mouth) level. The dogs ran, herded the heehaws and chased the ball and frisbees when thrown. Sarah hasn't been out there for years and seemed to enjoy all the critter activity.

Dinner was, as usual, again, FANTASTIC. Teriyaki marinated salmon Danny caught and brought back from Alaska (I believe), a yummy salad w raspberry vinaigrette dressing and asparagus grilled on the barby beside the salmon. We ate, talked, messed with the cameras and computers and just had fun.

I was just losing my voice and headed for a pretty nasty cold that I'm just now finally over enough that I think I'll be going to meeting tomorrow.

Today we had another fun day out taking pix. We headed for Roslyn, Wa, where the 90's TV show "Northern Exposure" was filmed. One of it's main attractions is it's cemeteries. That's right - plural! There's about 8 cemeteries all packed in, one right after another!

But that's another blog.

Picture of the Week

I'm gonna have to blog this trip to Chehalis but in the meantime here's a shot from that fun day.


Rick, Sarah and I all took tons of neat stuff at Melinda's and their friends' big hay farm in a neighboring area called Boisfort. This is a bull that Rick was actually in the pen with. I kept the bull distracted while he got shots of whatever it was he was after. Turns out he LOVES the attention! He was just sucking it up. Rick, of course, had to pet him and got licked by him! Eww! Bull spit!

Picture of the Week


Last Sunday Rick found a neat history site and was reading a story about a mine fire where 37 men lost their lives. When he looked to see where this place was he discovered that it was a ghost town named Franklin that was right nearby here, at the Green River Gorge! It turned out to be a spectacular day so we grabbed our sloshing boots and headed out.

The "town" which was supposed to be only foundations at this point was even less than that. The cemetery was interesting, some of the graves were of those men (and boys) killed in that fire on August 24, 1894.  There were a few concrete structures, lots of cabling, some track for their little mine carts and some ducting for the ventilation of the mine left .  Not the most exciting artifacts but it was such a great day for a walk.

So here is a shot that I got of the trail, since that ended up being one of the most photographic parts of the whole trip:


I did some touch up work in the same program that I fixed the tree picture last week, I think it looks more artsy-fartsy, what do you think?  Oh, and most of you didn't comment on my last picture - COME ON!!! It's not that difficult, just do it!  (that would be mostly you kids o' mine!)

This coming weekend we have plans to go to Rick's cousin's place in Chehalis, the miniature donkey farm to take shots of the donkeys and border collies.  Melinda also knows of a nearby hay farm with a very picturesque 100 year old barn complete with resident barn owls that photographers visit regularly that we'll go visit as well.  So I'll definitely have new stuff to post next week - check back then!

About Me

My photo
After 2 unsuccessful marriages I spent 12 years as a divorcee, only to fall prey to another man's wiles. We had a fun 5 years together and then he decided he wanted more freedom so once again I'm single.

So I'm freshly divorced at 57 and have 5 great kids and now 7 grandkids. My kids are still a major part of my life but I'm busy helping my aging parents on Kauai.

I've lived in California, Hawaii and Oklahoma before finally settling here in Washington. I love Washington and come back to visit family, friends and take care of my garden often but will be temporarily a resident of Kauai.

I've moved 30 times in my life (no, my parents weren't in the service, at least not since I was about 2) and finally planted roots when I got my little house that I've owned since '91.

My family are Jehovah's Witnesses, I've been one since '72.