Magnuson Part II

For this day in between the remembrance of the crucifixion and the Resurrection of Jesus I decided to post Katie and my second walk at Magnuson Park that we took on Tuesday April 4th. I wonder what agony the followers of Jesus had during the time in-between.

Katie was hoping that we would see the blue heron her and Andrew had seen on their walks through the wetlands. We were excited to have that hope realized on this day.

Bufflehead Ducks

Red Winged Black Bird

I love having walks with our girl.

The lake was calm on this day and there was no rain during our walk.

You can just barely see Mt. Rainier in this photo.

Looking forward to tomorrow and celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Such a great time of rejoicing.

We are having rain, rain and more rain. Here in Northeastern Washington more roads have washed away and traveling is getting more complicated for a lot of people. Everyone is looking forward to a good dry spell and for all this water to recede. We still have good access to town and everything we need.

Here is a collage of our smiley granddaughter next to her smiley daddy when he was a wee one.

Baby equipment has really come a long way since 1981!

Are you preparing for an Easter service and Easter meal at your home?

Gargoyles on the Quad

The University of Washington in Seattle was established in 1861. The gargoyles I zoomed in on are located on buildings in the Liberal Arts Quadrangle, commonly known as the Quad.

While we were admiring the Cherry blossoms and the Magnolia blossoms at the University of Washington I enjoyed zooming in to get a closer look at the gargoyles on the different buildings on the quad. I also took some close ups of the School of Art and Music buildings.

Gargoyles are figures often carved into the architecture of old churches, usually in the form of a grotesque animal or human. Many times gargoyles in Gothic churches were attached to the gutter system of the roof, with the mouth of the gargoyle acting as a spout for rainwater, helping keep the masonry from being destroyed.

The University of Washington is a real treasure for the state and city of Seattle. We have two graduates of the University in our family and one more who will graduate in 2018.

Enjoying lots of cuddle time with our new granddaughter. We had an exciting wind and thunderstorm event today. Haven’t had time to upload new photos but will soon. Saturday we are headed to a junk show. We have some items we are on the lookout for. I’ll let you know how it goes. Tomorrow is Palm Sunday and we enter Holy Week. I’m so glad Jesus came to earth to save us. Have a wonderful weekend.

More Than Cherry Blossoms…

…we spotted these beautiful Magnolia blooms, too.

There were more than Cherry Blossoms blooming at the University of Washington. Hope you enjoy these images.

Now here’s the view we are enjoying for the next several days.

This is our favorite view. Photo credit to Kimberley LaDuke

https://www.facebook.com/kimberleyladukephotography/

Magnuson Park ~ Seattle

Magnuson Park is a 350 acres park on Sand Point at Pontiac Bay, Lake Washington, in the Sand Point neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The park is the second largest in Seattle, after 534 acres Discovery Park in Magnolia.

Established in 1900 (military use 1922-1975)

On Tuesday March 28th our daughter Katie and I had a stroll in the park.

Katie and Andrew live on the edge of Magnuson Park while Andrew is attending the University of Washington. He is working very hard on an Aeronautical Engineering degree.

We had an umbrella in hand on this day that sprinkled on us off and on.

Hooded Merganser

I think this is a white breasted nuthatch.

Sun steps…

I think this is a ring necked duck.

Katie and I are headed for another walk at Magnuson tomorrow and this time we’re hoping for a sunshiny day.

Linking up to ABC Wednesday created by Mrs. Nesbitt and administered by Roger and his mighty team!

Reflective Five on Friday

Last Friday after I picked up my sister Vera from the airport we headed to Chihuly Garden and Glass in the shadow of the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington.

Here is the Space Needle in the background of a Chihuly Glass art piece in the outdoor garden. Now I’ll leave it to you to spot the reflections of the Space Needle in Chihuly’s glass balls that are in that garden.

I shared some photos of the Chihuly Glass Museum earlier this week here.

Thank you to Amy at Love Made My Home and to Susanne for Friday’s Fave Five for hosting these Friday parties.

After I took my sister to the airport on Monday for her to flight back home we’ve been getting our winter pruning done at this old house. The Pear tree is done and the apple tree is half done. I finally trimmed the lavender way back the way I was told to do and my hydrangeas are trimmed, too. A local garden store is having a Hellebore event this Saturday with a discount on them and I’m thinking of adding another variety to my current plant. We have a quiet weekend except for the Super Bowl game on Sunday.

Our church has a great Super Bowl themed Sunday with 2 pastors going head to head in a sermon battle. Don’t know yet if we’ll have guests here to watch the game yet. Hope you all have a great Friday and weekend ahead!

My Friday thankfuls #1 thankful for sister time. #2 thankful for talented artists. #3 thankful for accomplishing yearly chores. #4 thankful for quiet weekends. #5 thankful for my church family.

D is for Dale Chihuly

“I want People to be overwhelmed with light and color in a way they have never experienced.”~ Dale Chihuly

Chihuly Garden and Glass is located in the shadow of the Space Needle at the Seattle Center. On Friday the 27th of January I picked up my sister Vera from the airport and we headed straight to the Seattle Center to enjoy the art of Dale Chihuly. This was something my sister wanted to see.

The Glasshouse, a 40-foot tall glass and steel structure, was inspired by Chihuly’s appreciation for conservatories and includes a 100-foot long sculpture.

There are several rooms with themes and Chandeliers was one of them.

Ikebana and Float Boat. Dale Chihuly has always loved the water. As a child in Tacoma, Washington, he would beach-comb to find Japanese fishing floats.

The Mille Fiori from the Italian for a “thousand flowers,” this unique series is comprised of a variety of works.

The Persian Ceiling, an immersive experience in color and shape.

The Sealife room.

Linking up to ABC Wednesday for D is for Dale Chihuly. Thanks to Mrs. Nesbitt and the great team of ABC’ers.

Chihuly Garden and Glass

While we were enjoying the art of Dale Chihuly my Dear was home smoking a couple Pork Shoulders for our Carnitas Street Taco dinner on Friday night. We invited our Western Washington kids over to enjoy the meal and to visit with their Aunt Vera. We added guacamole, pico de gallo, beans and other goodies to our meal. D is also for a delicious dinner and for Dear who is a great chef!

Sky of Blue, Sea of Green…

This is another one of those posts that is all about the history of my soccer enjoyment. For a Seattle Sounders Soccer fan and season ticket holder our 2016 season ended with our boys capturing the Gold Cup. The thing that makes it amazing is that we were in last place in the middle of the season with any hope of making the playoffs questionable. Then from the bottom we had a turn around, a new coach, a new player, a new inspiration. Injured players recuperated and came back strong. The team had a strong determination and new vision. On Tuesday December 13th Josh, Laura and I drove downtown to be a part of this history and enjoy the parade and rally. Josh and Laura just got back from Toronto on Sunday and were able to be at the final game and cheer on the Sounders with 2000 or so fans. It was now time for the Washington State Fans to come out and give the team the thunderous appreciation we wished they could hear in Toronto!

15492219_10154179358653589_437076264013511389_n This photo above is from their victory celebration in Toronto, Canada.

We found our spot close to Seattle Center and waited for the parade to come to us. Josh bought this flag to take to Toronto with him and Laura since it has a likeness to the U.S.A. flag.

I turned around at one point and saw some of our friends from Northshore Community Church.

This little guy was so cute. By the way Stefan Frei, our goalie, was the MVP of the game with his save of year that will go down in soccer history, too.

Finally the trolleys with the players approached with all the fans along the route joining in the procession.

Nicolas Lodeiro holding the MLS Cup out the window for all of us to see. The added flag is from his home country of Uruguay. Lodeiro is a player who came to our team at our lowest point and with his playing ethic and spirit helped our team make a turn around.

Some past players that the Sounders fans always enjoy seeing, Kasey Keller (former goalie) and Roger Levesque, a fan favorite for many years who is now retired from soccer.

We met up with more friends and joined the throng headed to the Seattle Center for the rally.

Look at that green beard! This is part of the Sounders band.

Walking under the monorail tracks to the center.

The Trolleys stopped and our team captain Osvoldo Alonso raised the MLS Cup Champions flag next to the statue of Chief Sealth (Chief Seattle), whom the city of Seattle is named after with historical controversy. Alonso is a Cuban born soccer player who defected to the U.S.A. and is now a citizen of the United States.

Our group selfie amongst the sea of green! You might be wondering how all these people were able to get off work to attend this parade and rally in the middle of a work day. Brad Evans issued this for all the Sounders fans…

Our daughter in law actually submitted this to her boss to fly to Toronto last Friday. He said it was a very compelling reason to miss work. This excuse form was used by some for the parade and rally, too.

This is Zach Scott, another fan favorite who has been with the team from the beginning. He led the crowd in the Jingle Bells Song the team has always sung in the locker room after an away victory. This was Zach’s last season with the Sounders. He will be missed.

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way, Oh what fun it is to see Seattle win away, hey! It was fun to hear a crowd of thousands sing along.

15401060_1200744436629254_9196882971506577376_n 2016 Seattle Sounders MLS Cup Champions! Look at that sea of supporters behind them!

15390679_10154194292473589_572307301539503003_n The following day the Sounders flag was raised by Coach Schmetzer and Governor Inslee at the capitol building in Olympia, Washington.

It was a fun event to attend and we were happy to brave the crowds and the cold to be a part of history. For the record and in case anyone out there is concerned, I do not worship soccer or soccer players but I enjoy soccer and have an appreciation for the skill and stamina it takes to play this sport. Since watching our sons and daughter play soccer in the 90’s I’ve grown in the understanding of the game and have learned to appreciate the development of play between the players on the field.

Now I’m headed to the kitchen table to finish my Christmas cards so I can get them in the mail tomorrow! We are below freezing in temps here on our hill in the Seattle suburbs. Brrr. Good day to stay inside and work on our Christmas greetings. Hope you all are cozy and warm.

Seattle Sounders F.C. ~The Champions!

There was a lot of cheering going on at this old house on Saturday evening when our Seattle Sounders won in penalty kicks against the Toronto Football Club. This was our first ever win of the championship cup and Seattle is buzzing. There is a victory march and rally planned for Tuesday. It looks like the weather for the march and rally will be as cold as it was in Toronto for the game.

It’s no secret our family are huge Seattle Sounders Soccer fans and that we’ve been season ticket holders since the beginning in 2009. We’ve waited for 8 years to see our team win the MLS Cup Final! We are so happy for our boys and #thismoment in their franchise history.

Our Josh and Laura were able to travel to Toronto, Canada for the game. Their trip there got very complicated when their plane experienced mechanical issues. It ended up being a 24 hour trip to get to Toronto with delays and re-scheduled flights for them. They arrived in Toronto, checked into their hotel and took a nap before the Saturday evening game.

Brrr…it was cold. All the Sounders fans were tucked up in an upper tier in the corner of the stadium.

And at the end of 120 minutes they were able to take this happy photo having been able to experience the first ever MLS Championship Cup win!

Here are some photos from over the years of us enjoying games or representing with our Sounders gear in other parts of the world.

On the river Thames in England.

Dear with his Sounders jersey in a garden~ Cotswolds, England.

Dear outside Gloucester Cathedral in England.

Outside Old Trafford in Manchester, England.

… the Sounders simply willed themselves to the crown, and when Torres’ match-winner hit the back of the net it almost felt like a sort of destiny. For all the fire the Sounders came through to get here, what are a few more licks of flame?

Drink this in, Sounders fans. It gets no better than sitting atop the league. After the wildest season in MLS history, the trophy is coming home.

We are drinking it in here at this old house.

Discovery Park Seattle

We woke up to a beautiful day on Friday November 6th and decided to explore a part of Seattle we had never been to before. Discovery Park is located in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood, and is the largest park in the city. Entry is free. The Discovery Park Loop Trail is a designated National Recreation Trail, 2.8 miles long with an elevation change of just 140 feet. It passes through both forest and open meadows, offers extensive views, good prospects for bird watchers, and can be hiked or jogged year-round.

We walked to the highest point on the Loop Trail. A sign points right toward a viewpoint near the old chapel that looks out over the South Meadow. What you see from this viewpoint is the Puget Sound, The Olympic Mountain Range and Bainbridge Island.

The little white World War II chapel perched on the hill at Discovery Park has been given historic landmark status and given a second chance to remain standing on a spot that overlooks Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. Before there was a park here, this area was Fort Lawton and it is thanks to the fort that this large park is available to Seattlites who wish to explore an urban trail.

While Fort Lawton was a quiet outpost prior to World War II, it became the second largest port of embarkation of soldiers and materials to the Pacific Theater during the war. The fort was included in the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure list. Fort Lawton officially closed on September 14, 2011.

One of our goals while at Discovery Park was to see the light house on West Point. We stopped at the visitor center and asked about driving to the lighthouse and we were happy to learn that since we were 62 or over we could get one of 8 special parking permits to park at South Beach close to the West Point, otherwise we would have had to hike there. If we were prepared it would have been easy enough for us to take the South Beach Trail and walk/hike but on this day we were happy to drive.

The West Point Lighthouse has a Victorian-era Beacon. It was built in 1881.

North Beach on Shilshole Bay.

South Beach on the Puget Sound looking towards the West Seattle Bridge with Mt. Rainier barely visible. Squint and you can see it.

This last mosaic is a photo of South Beach with a couple navigating the rocks on the left of the photo. I zoomed in on my photo to get a closer look at them. When I took this photo I didn’t realize we’d have a nice encounter with this couple. They had hiked down to the beach. When we made it to our car and started back to the visitor center to hand in our parking pass we saw them starting their walk back and we decided to roll our window down and ask them if they wanted a ride back. They were happy to accept and we learned they had just arrived the day before to the Seattle area from Milan, Italy. They were here for a very short time to see their daughter who was attending a special course at the University of Washington. We were happy to share our experiences in Milan with them. They were navigating our city by bus and other public transportation.

We would like to visit Discovery Park again in the future to see more of the park in a different season.

I’m linking up to Mosaic Monday with Maggie at Normandy Life. Click over to see more mosaics from around the world.

We have enjoyed a quiet weekend with a mix of rain, high winds and a little sunshine. We were home mostly except for church this morning and have eaten all of our meals in. Why do I feel like I need a pat on the back for that or that you even need to know that? Hope you had a good weekend in or out!

Summer Ends in Seattle…

We had an errand in West Seattle and on our way we enjoyed this view of the Space Needle.

On the way back from West Seattle we traveled on the viaduct and had views we don’t usually have when we head to Seattle. We thought we’d have lunch downtown but the parking proved to be impossible and there was more traffic than usual because of an afternoon baseball game.

I’m sure some of you recognize this logo.

The skies were so beautiful on this last day of summer over the skyline of Seattle.

We stopped outside of the downtown area at a Mexican Restaurant we’ve wanted to eat at for a while with simple and free parking. We are happy to have this beautiful and vibrant downtown to enjoy when we are in the mood and happy to be able to escape the hubbub of Seattle to our northeast burb in quieter environs. We enjoy a little of the city and a little of the country while living in between!

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: Seattle