We are on the letter N for ABC Wednesday.
Thank you to our ABC team with Mrs. Nesbitt for keeping us going through the alphabet!
These photos are of the furniture nails/tacks on our dining chairs after we had them re-upholstered.
Well that about nails it!
These next photos that I took in London during our trip in September of 2013 are not the most typical tourist shots but they called out to my camera.
It’s time to jump to the letter J and come up with a post to share at ABC Wednesday.
I’m going with one of the most common birds that come to my feeders, the Junco.
This species shows much geographic variation in color. Typically, male of western population (“Oregon Junco”) has black hood, chestnut mantle, white underparts with buff sides. Eastern male (“Slate-colored Junco”) is dark slate-gray on head, upper breast, flanks, and upperparts, with white lower breast and belly. Both forms have pink bill and dark gray tail with white outer tail feathers conspicuous in flight.
Dark-eyed juncos are unique sparrows that nest on or near the ground in forests. In winter, they typically form flocks and often associate with other species.
We have had a nice variety of birds come to our feeders. It seems to be different every year except for these Juncos. They are pretty consistent.
Robins in our area do not bother with the feeders. They are content to poke on the ground and lawns. It’s always funny to watch the blue jays try to land on the feeder. They are a little too big to do it gracefully.
What are the common birds in your back yard?
When we were in England last September we traveled to St. Ives and I’m ignoring the St. and calling this Ives for my ABC Wednesday Post. Thanks to Denise Nesbitt for starting this meme and for friends in keeping it going.
St. Ives is on the West coast of Cornwall, England.
As I was going to Saint Ives,
I crossed the path of seven wives.
Every wife had seven sacks,
Every sack had seven cats,
Every cat had seven kittens,
Kittens, cats, sacks, wives,
How many were going to Saint Ives?
It was a nice train ride in and out of St. Ives. St. Ives draws the crowds and even in September it was wall to wall people in the narrow lanes in town.
We are at the letter H with Denise Nesbitt’s ABC Wednesday Meme.
How timely since my Helleborus, Lenten Rose is blooming. I’m not sure exactly what variety mine is. It looks similar to a Spring or Angel variety that I’ve seen on line.
I had to get down on my knees to take the photos because this is a humble plant whose blooms bow their heads to the ground for the most part.
This is the first plant to bloom in the middle or late winter at my house. I love that it is blooming during the Lenten season.
Hellebores are perennial and largely evergreen. They are deer resistant for some of you who have asked in previous posts.
Noteworthy characteristics: Year round foliage persists through shade and snow and is fairly deer and rabbit resistant. Flowers in early spring with daffodils and tulips.
Hope you enjoyed seeing my Hellebore as much as I enjoyed showing it. I’ll be coming around to see your ABC offering for H.
I’m also linking up to Outdoor Wednesday with A Southern Daydreamer.
Our outdoors have been cold and rainy since Saturday. I know a lot of you might still be covered in snow so who am I to complain. Looking forward to this weekend and the opening of MLS Soccer season in the U.S.A. I’ll be at the Seattle Sounders opener against Sporting Kansas on Saturday. What’s new in your neck of the woods?
My post for ABC Wednesday and the letter F is all about fun watching football when your home team is in the Super Bowl and they win.
We are first and foremost Soccer fans at my house but the Seahawks made it fun to watch football this year. This was their first Super Bowl Victory. We tailored our food around the team colors and even made blue drinks. Fans of Seahawk football will be forever faithful and enjoyed the final score. I’ll continue to be a fair weather fan.
To see more posts featuring the letter F click on ABC Wednesday. Thanks again to the host and hostesses of this weekly meme.
Before ABC Wednesday gets too far into this round XIV of the Alphabet I’m joining in. I’m looking forward to responding to this alphabet prompt each week to spark some creativity in the middle of the week.
These photos were taken at Porthtowen Beach in Cornwall this past September. We were on holiday with our son and daughter in law. Click on the photo if you’d like to see a larger image. I’ll be bopping by soon to see your B’s!
Click here on ABC Wednesday XIV to join in or see more offerings. Blessings!
Bothell is the first town that we lived in when our little family moved from California to Washington in 1988. Our kids went through elementary, junior high, and high school in Bothell. Since then part of Bothell has been renamed Kenmore. Bothell is located northeast of the city of Seattle and on the eastside of Lake Washington.
The Park at Bothell Landing is home to several of Bothell’s historical buildings. Each historical structure at the Park was relocated and restored to take on a new life at the Landing.
Now the Bothell Historic Museum, this home was built by William Hannan himself.
Born in Pennsylvania in 1853 and moving to the Northwest in 1888, Hannan bought property in Bothell in 1890. This was the beginning of a long history in which Hannan was involved in shaping much of early Bothell. He had the post office from 1894 until 1898 and was Bothell’s mayor from 1916 to 1919; he was also member of the school board, the Commercial Club, Odd Fellows and Masons.
The school bell from the second Bothell schoolhouse has been re-hung in the Landing bell tower. It is rung for special occasions in Bothell, such as the Fourth of July, the first day of school, and graduation day.
You can also see the Bridge in the background that take you across the River to the Burke Gilman/Sammamish River Trail.
While the schoolhouse itself was built in 1885, weather delayed the opening and it wasn’t until March of 1886 that the doors opened to teach the children. Miss Helen DeVoe, originally from New York state, was the first school teacher for Bothell; some of her first students were William Keener, Albert Bothell, Annie Beckstrom, and George Brackett
This cabin housed Andrew and Augusta Beckstrom and their 16 children! Their 3rd child, John, was born in the cabin, and is the first recorded birth in Bothell.
Wayne Curve Bridge located along the Burke Gilman Trail is another registered historic site. When I’m in Washington my girlfriends and I walk the Burke Gilman Trail every Saturday morning and we pass this spot twice.
1909 – Bothell was incorporated as a town with a population around 600. George Bothell was elected as the towns first mayor and another relative, AF Bothell was elected council, the town became ‘Bothell’. Gerhard Ericksen, the first Postmaster, is reputed to have said, “There are so many Bothell’s in town, let’s call it Bothell.” Many of the ‘Bothell Family’ are buried in Bothell’s historic Pioneer Cemetery
This was too much for me to try to post on the Blogger site. If you made it though all of this you did well. For more ABC Wednesday Posts on the Letter B visit Mrs. Nesbitt and the new ABC Wednesday Blog.
Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage on their site and have replaced my photos with black and grey boxes of ugliness. I’m slowly deleting those boxes from my blog and trying to update so many posts, very frustrating.
Since I had absolutely nothing for ABC Wednesday, the letter Z, I decided to cheat a bit and use my Suzzallo Library Post for Z. Look! There are two z’s in Suzzallo! My daughter and I were here last Thursday.
This is Suzzallo Library on the campus of the University of Washington in Seattle. Ground was broken for this library in 1923. The building is an example of the Collegiate Gothic style adopted by the University as part of the 1915 campus plan, developed by architects Carl F. Gould and Charles H. Bebb.
Three heroic figures of cast stone depicting “Mastery”, “Inspiration”, and “Thought” sculpted by Allan Clark stand over the portals of the main entrance.
We walked up the beautiful staircase to get to the second floor reading room.
One of the entrances to the reading room. This room has inspired comparisons with the great library reading rooms of the world. After being in it I can understand why.
Oak bookcases are topped with a hand-carved frieze representing native plants of Washington State, including salal, Douglas fir, scrub oak, grape, dogwood, mountain ash, rhododendron, pear, trillium, salmon berry, wild rose, apple, marigold, canteloupe, tulip and cherry.
The room measures 65 feet high, 52 feet wide, and 250 feet long.
At each end of the room, a paneled alcove features a hand-painted world globe hanging from the ceiling, which bears the names of different explorers.
Tall, traceried windows incorporate leaded glass which is intended to break the direct rays of light.
The room features a vaulted ceiling elaborately decorated with rich colored and gilded stenciling.
A 1927 article in The Pacific Builder and Engineer stated that “This room has been pronounced the most beautiful on the continent and is ranked among the most beautiful in the world. It is comparable only to the nave of a cathedral.”
Some more views of the outside of the building.
If you live in the Greater Puget Sound Area and have never visited Suzzallo or if you happen to travel to Seattle, I highly recommend you put it on your list of places to visit.
ht: Most of the information I’ve shared comes from a Library Guide that is free at the entrance to the Library.
If you’d like to see more ABC Wednesday, Z is for posts click on over to Mrs. Nesbitt’s.
Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage on their site and have replaced my photos with black and grey boxes of ugliness. I’m slowly deleting those boxes from my blog and trying to update so many posts, very frustrating.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 