This is going to be a pretty simple post with lots of pictures. We went down to Monterey this last weekend to help Terry celebrate her birthday. Otto loved all of his new adventures and gramma Terry got to shower her favorite grandson with love and attention. It was nice to hang out by the ocean and the sun. I’d like to go there again. 
US Open at Pebble Beach in 2010 anyone?
The first ten people who comment here will get something I or Megan make. Could be a real life thing. Could be imaginary. Depends on what I think you will like and my inspirations. (Note, it’s going to be something I think you will like. Actual liking not guarenteed!) The only real rule is that you have to make this offer in your own journal/blog. (and this really isn’t a rule, if you comment, you will be included!) Megan will take either the evens or the odds and I will do the others.
Meat!
The last week and a half brought some new added excitement. A few more firsts were accomplished along the way. Otto went on his first ferry ride to Bainbridge Island to attend his first art opening for Karin Schminke. Pease also got his grubby little paws onto Otto on the ferry ride back. He experienced the true joy of a baby having a bowel movement!
Josie, Neel, and Rowan came over for dinner the following night. Tiberious considers himself a baby so he fir right in with the other two. Rowan is on the left, otto is in the middle.
Momma and Otto cuddling on the couch.
Anya and Axel had a party out on Lake Washington last weekend. Momma Pease was at it again. Also a nice full moon rising near dusk.
otto and i getting some quality time watching football together. He’s also giving me a few pointers on how to drink my beer.
after the morning game, we headed out to Deirdre and Patrick’s house on vashon. That was glorious. On the water, mid 70s. So close, yet so far.
We purchased some vinyl jungle graphics from Blik (these linked are restickable) that you can place on the wall and move them around as much as you want. Otto is showing how frightened he is of the monkeys that are flying above his head. I hope he doesn’t get confused between the monkeys, lions, and pugs all around.
wheee! Talk about wacky. The Corp of Engineers were seeing material come from the lower portion of their dam on the columbia. Their assumption was that the dam might be failing. A submersible camera was sent down to investigate. To their surprise, they found a big ball of stugeon hanging out at the base of the dam. Reports have it that there were an estimated 60,000 strugeon in this ball with the largest one being 14 feet in length.
Here is the sturgeon link. They’ve also got part of the video feed from the camera.
the past weekend took us to the wonderful reaches of the olympic peninsula with a visit to the hamma hamma cabin. A wonderful place, located up the hamma hamma river valley on the east side of the olympic peninsula. we go up every 6 months or so. the winter brings hot fires, rain, and snow. the summers bring hot fires, lounging abround, and wading in the nearby river.
these pictures are from july.
the serene river scene. the mollusk massacre. slugs.
a lazy rainy day. megan, the pugs, me, and a whole bunch of rain. this hike is located outside of granite falls, wa, about an hour north of where we live. the hike, lake 22 was enjoyable with some nice views of the surrounding hills(mtns) and a nice glacier created lake on the north side of mt. pilchuck. here are a few pictures of the day. for the rest of the set click here.
A last grasp at a sunny day in western washington. The sunshine bird flies away to be replaced by its not so happy cousin gloom. I really do enjoy the short drizzly days that the winter brings but grasping the last light of summer/fall is also enjoyable.
Megan and I took off to the yurt on a fine saturday morning. Not a care in the world, two pugs in the back of the mercedes. What did i have to think about? Fine living, that’s what it is. The yurt resides in a happy place located not to far from almost there and right next to hello.
There’s really either not a lot to say or way to much to say about the whole place. A peaceful creek runs through the property. Nice views of the stars at night. The leaves are turning and falling. The motorbikes are cutting through the crisp air with the boom boom music echoing in the background. But you take the good with the eh. I always seem to enjoy myself. I’ve taken a few other pictures you can enjoy. My favorite is the frog who stopped an allowed me to take many personal photos of him.
one last set. bright tree. dark tree.
If you are interested in some good science writing, simon singh has written three excellent books. All three topics – the universe, crytography, and mathematics – are covered in some detail. He is able to write in an easy te read style. The main enjoyment of the books are the telling of the history of each subject from the past. He introduces you to the major milestones in history of each of the subjects. He is able to provide some technical background as you go along but without leaving one’s head swimming in the hard science of it all.
Simon Singh / Fermat’s Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World’s Greatest Mathematical Problem
Simon Singh / The Code Book: The Evolution of Secrecy from Mary, the Queen of Scots to Quantum Crytography
Simon Singh / Big bang : the origin of the universe
a last minute decision to go see panic at the gorge (on the 2nd of July, I know – long time ago.). i had downloaded a set from bonaroo ( i think) and listened to it. wheeee, i was sucked in again. tasty licks and the whole shebang. luckily the show was about a week out.
really, the gorge has got to be the single best place to see a concert in the us. out in the rolling plains of eastern washington, next to the columbia river. red rocks has its own selling points but as far as nature and the escape from civilization, the gorge can not be beat. denver is to close to red rocks for you to really feel like you are in the middle of nowhere.
–6:19– A cruel time on a cruel morning. A ray of sunshine flitters through an opening in the shade. Little pugs lie restless in their bed. Occasionally prancing on the floor. The time clearly apparent to them. The covers are pulled tighter around my head.. The pillow is scrunched up to support my weary rest. –6:20– Sigh, the alarm is set to go off at 6:22. It’s not really 6:20, only in my mind. The clock is set exactly 22 minutes flat. Why? Maybe to fool my self into believing I’m getting to sleep an extra 22 minutes than I actually am. Of course, at that time in the morning, the brain isn’t awake enough to fully process the ramifications of a clock moved forward. –6:21– My bladder tries to motivate me to get up. The little puggies whimper in the distance. Feed me. Let me go outside. Just a few more minutes. No really. A stray hand moves across the ground. Aimlessly hoping to bump into the glasses on the floor. No luck. I may have to lean over the edge of the bed to find them. –6:22– The clock radio powers up and a story comes to life on the radio. Do I want to figure out what the topic is or do the sound waves penetrate my ears and go unprocessed. A sweeping arm reaches over, fumbles with the clock, and deftly touches the three inch snooze bar. A nine minute reprieve. Sorry pugs, breakfast has got to wait.
By popular request, the garden (and various other plants that interest me in the backyard.) Three weeks have passed since my previous post from the backyard.
Things have begun to take off a bit. Megan’s got a tomato plant right next to the back door for when emergencies hit and she’s not able to make it all the way back to the garden in time for that fix. Raspberries are always an excellent June/July treat. Go out in the backyard and eat berries for 5 minutes or so. The pugs enjoy eating the low berries and anything that falls on the ground. The garden now and the garden before.
We’ll now move onto the garden. Little zuchinnis, the spinach and the chard consuming the middle of the garden, and the potato plant in the back corner.
As always, I’m useless when it comes to the names of flowers that Megan gets but I enjoy the vibrant red and furriness in this flower – one pic w/o flash, the other with….
One more pretty pink flower and then the herb garden on the deck.
As always, I can take no credit for these wonderful plants and the things they make me do. They are in the sure hands of Megan. If you want to look at my handiwork in the backyard, just look at the grass. Enough said.
It was either on the Discovery Channel or Animal Planet. They were loking at a couple of varieties of lemurs on the island. The sifaka are great. They skip and prance along the ground to get from place to place.
If you scroll down, there are some videos and some sounds they make.
It is quite warm today. The average temperature in May is about 64 degrees. Currently, the weather people claim it is 90 degrees outside. It looks like the weekend will have a little more of the same, contrary to previous reports of rain for the weekend
My tank was filled today with 100% biodiesel at Dr. Dan’s Alternative Fuel Werks . Currently, it runs about $0.50 higher than regular diesel but things seem to be expanding and the price shoud drop as time goes along.
I will have to investigate the possibilities of making my own biodiesel. I think that it is more of a long term goal. I need to find some other people to share the labor/startup cost/space issues.
Here is another interesting site with fun facts about biodiesel.
So now, I am constantly hungry driving around, thinking about fried chicken.
Watch this bird do the moonwalk.
I was up near Buckley for work today and I ran into this bald eagle hanging out in the tree.
Spring has been quite beautiful this year. Much too early though. The last six weeks or so have mainly been high 50s, low 60s and sunshine. Much to the suprise of all the plants and flowers in the area, they are getting an early wake up call this year.
It was so nice and happy friday after work. I decided to take a few pictures of the springtime growth.
i’m not to good with names of plants but if i do know i will tell.
here are some happy little pink flowesr from the front yard.
