An Unusual Fence

One of our good friends, Richard, lives in the United Kingdom. He enjoys photography as a hobby. Although he is not a blogger, he is a loyal follower of John's Island and enjoys following a number of other blogs including the Good Fences meme, hosted by Tex of the Run*Around*Ranch Report. Richard has sent us pictures to use for Good Fences in the past and recently sent yet another fascinating fence he found in the area around Norfolk County, UK. This is quite a unique brick fence and we sure thank Richard for sharing! Can you imagine how the bricklayer put this together?

Find more Good Fences here. Thanks to Tex for hosting.

As long as we're posting for the memes, here are two for SkyWatch Friday. First pic was snapped on the afternoon of April 23rd. After several days of unusually warm, mostly sunny, and dry weather, the clouds rolled in and it was a bit stormy. We like the way the sunlight plays with the clouds.

Looking across Puget Sound from Seattle.
Bainbridge Island and the foothills of the Olympics
in the distance.

Again, the clouds create the magic ...

Sunset April 22nd

Find more SkyWatch photos here.  Thanks to Skywatch co-hosts Yogi, Sandy, and Sylvia!

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.

April - Around the Neighborhood

Does this give away my neighborhood?
Why someone would pay for a big billboard like this,
I don't know ... but I do LIKE it. :-)

All natural Spring arrangement.

Same as above with colored pencil treatment.
How do you like it?

Question: Which one of these do you like best?
Number 1

Number 2

Number 3

California Poppy

What do you see in this unusual cloud formation?

Another shot of the unusual cloud.
The rest of the sky was mostly clear.

Deep in the trees right in the city.

Wonder how this is on an icy day?

From my window I see the flag in the distance.
It's a good wind indicator.
Wind from the South.

Same flag as above, but close up.
Wind from the North.

Something for Good Fences.

More Good Fences are here. Thanks to Tex for hosting

Hapag-Lloyd Container Ship.
Can't resist snapping photos of big ships.

Cleaned out the produce rack and found this.
Guess the conditions for growth in my kitchen are good. :-)

We (Seattle) saved some of the good views for Parks
everyone can enjoy.

A small plaque in front of a bench in the Park (photo above).

The Mountain, The Port, and The Marina
As seen on April 17, 2016.

Known as the "Sounder" ... Rail Transit
between Seattle and Everett, WA

Sounder 101

Sunset
April 17, 2016

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.

Driving in Yellowstone 1915 - 1920

First cars to enter Yellowstone National Park, August 1, 1915 ...

From our collection ... The first (?) Manual for Motorists, 1920 ...

Those of you who have been following us for a while will know John loves ships and trains. Most of our collection is focused on trains and ships. HOWEVER, one very interesting story is the introduction of the automobile into Yellowstone National Park. The Park was created by an Act of Congress in 1872. The first Model T was manufactured by Ford in 1908. Before 1915 the only way to get around in the Park was on foot, horseback, or stagecoach. One of the first manfacturers of cars was the White Motor Company and they were anxious to get cars into the Park. In the picture above, dignitaries in a White Motor Company car lead the official automobile entourage in Yellowstone Park on August 1, 1915. (How about that license plate, WYO -1-) It soon became apparent that operators of the first cars needed some rules and regulations and thus the Manual for Motorists was born. This was a little publication handed out free to all drivers entering the Park ... Similar to the "Yellowstone Today" paper that is now handed out. We are not sure if this Manual for Motorists in our collection is the very first issue but it may well be ... we haven't seen an earlier version. Here is a scan of the whole publication for you. If you find any of this interesting, do tell us about it in the comments.

Our favorite ...

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.

Spotting Ships with VesselFinder

Saturday, April 16th, a busy morning for ship traffic ...

How to know what ship this is without VesselFinder?
It is the CMA GCM Titus - Container Ship arriving at 0530

Spotting ships is easy with VesselFinder.com. Vessels are shown on a map. Click on the ship symbol and see the name and other information. Below are three screen shots. The first is an overview of the Pacific Northwest maritime region. Next zooming in on Puget Sound. Third, Elliott Bay, Port of Seattle. The little red square around the yellow icon shows our selection of the CMA GCM Titus.

Later after sunrise, the Hanjin Tabul container ship arrived. Notice the way cargo is positioned to balance the weight load.

Leaving for Kashima, Japan, the Campanula -- bulk cargo ship. This trip ... logs.

Lots of logs on this ship!

Campanula Info

Also departing ... A Golden Energy Oil Tanker ... the Energy Challenger ...

Energy Challenger
Oil Products Tanker

Energy Challenger Info

Out, we think, for testing, as it's tied up to a tug ... Pacific Glacier fishing vessel ...

Pacific Glacier fishing vessel

Pacific Glacier Info

Lastly, a colorful set of flags on this sailboat that seemed to be an advertisement for Garmin, the GPS manufacturer.

Somebody loves Garmin!

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.

Seattle SkyWatch

Our recent photos featuring Emerald City Skies ...

Looking across Puget Sound from Seattle
Olympic Mountains in the distance.

Same scene as above with a strong sunbeam.

Stormy afternoon.
April 4

Golden Eagle on a cloudy day.
This eagle has been a regular buzzing our
neighborhood daily.
April 9, 2016

Mount Baker in the distance.
This photo taken from Sunset Drive in Edmonds, WA
April 7, 2016

Not good to snap pics while driving but had to capture this
most unusual contrail loop. How often have you seen one of
these? Generally speaking, this would be in the airspace
above Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Air Force practice?
March 31, 2016

Couldn't decide whether to put this one with blooms or skies.
Finally decided on skies.
The "normal" blue skies of Seattle with lots of blooms! : - )

Linking up with Good Fences for the photo above. Do you see the fence? Thanks to Tex for hosting Good Fences.

Sunset over the Olympic Mountains

Dusk

Same scene as above ... a bit earlier.

Sunset over Elliott Bay Marina

Sunset with a ferry and tiny sailboat in the lower
right corner ... can you see it?

Unusual phenomena like a "sun dog".
Info:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_dogs
April 5, 2016, 6:40 PM

Linking up today with SkyWatch Friday Thanks to all the SkyWatch hosts!

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.