A Taste of Spring

Since so much of the country is buried in snow right now, I thought a little spring color was in order.

Vashon Island, Washington

March 30, 2014

I'm linking up with Good Fences

at the Run  "A" Round Ranch Report.

Woodpeckers and a Bike Eating Tree

We've been seeing a lot of woodpeckers at our feeders.  They don't stay long, but because of the loud cheep that announces their presence I'm alerted to their arrival and can grab my camera.  This male Hairy Woodpecker seemed to be enjoying the late afternoon sun shining on his back this afternoon.

A female Hairy Woodpecker was at the feeders earlier in the month.  Even without the bright red patch she's a flashy bird too.

I'm linking up with Eileen's Saturday's Critters.

My entry for Gaelyn's Foto Friday Fun 81 is Index #6661,

taken October 7, 2012, on Vashon Island in Washington State.

Woodpeckers spend a lot of time eating in trees, but this is a case of a tree doing the eating.  The bike is embedded in the tree and has been a legend on Vashon Island for some time, with many different explanations of how the bike got there.  The real story appears to be that the bike was abandoned by a boy in 1954, but it likely was repositioned a time or two to get it into the position it's now in.  It was featured in a children's book "Red Ranger Came Calling" written by Berkeley Breathed, a former resident of Vashon.  Sadly, vandals removed several pieces of the bike this past summer, but over the years this has happened before and pieces have been replaced.  Many photos show the bike with handlebars, which were not there at the time of these photos.  A local bike shop owner is on the lookout for pieces to replace what was taken.  

That's my son and his daughter in the photos in the collage above.  And, just for fun, and because legends always need to be embellished a bit, that's what I did in the shot below. 

Little Brown Barn

When we were in Washington in January we saw this little brown barn on Vashon Island, just a short ferry ride from downtown Seattle. The setting is typical for Vashon Island, situated on hilly ground with big trees and lots of plant life growing around it.

Most of the barns on Vashon were small barns, reflecting a subsistence-farm culture and were part of small family farms.

This one is still in use, and there were several sheep in the pen close to the barn. The one below was very interested in what I was doing.

If you like old barns, you can see more by clicking on the barn below to go to Barn Charm, hosted by Tricia.

Red Barn on Vashon

We saw this cute little barn on Vashon Island while we were visiting the Seattle area in January. If you look at the side, it almost looks like a face. To see more old barns click on the barn below to go to Barn Charm, hosted by Tricia.

Photo Shoot on the Secret Path

Today Lyra & Bright & I went on a photo shot along their secret path. They brought their new cameras and I brought mine. It was a beautiful walk through the woods near their house. Vashon has some beautiful scenery over the water and of Mt. Rainer, but a quiet walk through the woods along the secret path was very enjoyable.

Update

We are in Vashon today. Yesterday we went to the Garden Show with Darryl & Julie & Bright & Lyra. Today Marty and I went to the Home Show. I'll try to get some garden show pictures up tomorrow. We are thinking of going to the zoo in Tacoma. I got the girls some kid's cameras and they want some photo ops of the animals. The photos in the previous blog entry were taken by Bright on her new camera. She has great fun taking them!

Marty's Alter Ego

We had a little excitement on our trip after we got to Vashon. Elaine was totally surprised to see Marty's alter ego start to show!

Vashon

We're here on Vashon this morning visiting with Darryl & Julie & Bright & Lyra. Bright & Lyra declined to have their pictures taken, so I took a picture of the yard. The little trees are the ones that got planted at Darryl & Julie's wedding party. We're off this afternoon to Port Angeles.