Snow Stamps Skies Ships

Welcome to John's Island. In this post ...

1. Snow in Seattle.

2. Vintage stamps from my stamp collection.

3. Colorful Seattle skies.

4. Ships spotted recently.

5. Nature snaps.

Enjoy all or scroll to a segment of interest.

Snow in Seattle

Since groundhog day, February 2nd, we've had a week of truly wintery weather. Snow has been with us, off and on ... small accumulations at night resulting in slushy, slippery morning commutes.

[click on images for better view]
The snow seems to annoy one of my hummers.
The good news for the birds ...
so far, the temps haven't been too cold.
Upper 20s to lower 30s F
(about -2C to +1.6C)

A sunny morning allows a look at the snow
accumulation on the Olympic Mountains.
The shadows help reveal the foothills.

The snowcover on homes across Puget Sound
reveals a community in the Bremerton, WA, area.
Near bottom, State Ferry running between
Bainbridge Island and downtown Seattle.

How is this snow related?
Well, when out snapping the two images prior, I happened 
to notice Robins in a nearby tree. This isn't a great capture
but it tells the good news ... spring is on the way.

Stamps

Over the years I've shared items from my stamp collection. It's time for another look. I'll tell you in a moment what sparked featuring stamps in this post.

The stamps above are called "Poster Stamps."
In the early part of the last century, people
enjoyed collecting Poster Stamps. The stamps
were usually issued by companies
 as a form of advertising.

The Northern Pacific Steamship Company
issued these stamps as a way to encourage
travel on their ships. The NPSC ships
sailed between US Pacific Northwest
and Asia ... usually Japan.

It's a bit of a challenge to get a nice large image of a stamp ... I start by scanning them at 600 dpi and then editing in photo software.

Just one stamp, greatly enlarged.
The title on this one ...
Deck Scene - S S Northern Pacific

Postage Stamps ...

Lewis and Clark Expedition 1804
honored in 1954 with this 3 cent stamp.

Critters are frequently on stamps ...

The American Bald Eagle 6¢ stamp was issued
by the USPS in 1970 as part of a block of 4 stamps.
See next image.

In this block:
American Bald Eagle
African Elephant Herd
Haida Ceremonial Canoe
The Age of Reptiles

Looking back into my stamp collection was sparked by a postcard I received from my niece. She knows I love old postcards, but I don't think she was aware of my stamp collection. Her postcard is a perfect blending of the two collections. The image on the card features vintage stamps!

Postcard from my niece! 😊
Thank you Emma!

More from the stamp collection in future posts.

Love critters?
Check out Saturday's Critters
AND, another great spot
for sharing It's a Small Town Life

Skies

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

Sunset Panorama January 23, 2025
The scene along the western horizon can't be
captured with just one shot, so I had to put
together a panorama.

January 26, 2025

Clear sky after sunset January 28, 2025

Go and check out more Skywatch images at the Skywatch Site! 

Ships

CMA CGM Container ship arriving Seattle
January 18, 2025

The military ship is roughly 4 miles from my window.
The sailboat provides a nice scale.
Olympic Mountain Range in the distance.

Low morning clouds lifted just in time to snap
this shot of an Evergreen Container ship
headed southbound to Tacoma, WA

Yes, there's a ship in the stamp collection. 😊

Nature

While out on a recent walk, I noticed this plant with
silvery white pods that reminded me of silver dollars.
Snapped the picture above, got home and used
Google Lens to discover it's called a
MONEY PLANT! 😊
The scientific name is Lunaria biennis.
Have you ever seen it?

While out on a walk on January 31, I happened to 
notice these Daffodils breaking through and
buds looking strong. The scientific name is
Narcissus. Daffs are very well adapted to our
Pacific Northwest climate and are always some
of the earliest to bloom! I will try to give updates
on these beauties.

I often like to wrap up a post with a closing thought. Today's is one I recently found on Social Media. It may take a moment but the thought comes through perfectly describing the state of the Union in the good ol' USA ...

Thanks for stopping by John's Island. 

Here we go again

January 2025

Books

Bob King's Magnificent Aurora is one of the most 
beautiful and informative books I've seen in a long time.
I purchased my copy direct from the publisher: Sky and Telscope
As far as I know, the book is not available in a digital version.
Link for more info or to order.

A new Coloring Book

On my recent West Coast Adventure, described in my 3 blog posts last October, my BIL (Brother-In-Law) was along and introduced me to a delightful adult drawing book printed in Japan. The book consists of postcards and gives an example of a completed drawing on one card, with another of the same image that needs to be colored in. Link for more info about Daiso Products.

Cover

Example of inside page.
The left side is a completed image
on a postcard size of paper.
The right side is for you to 
color in! And send!

All you need  ... Color pencils and time.
This is fun!

History - Postcard Folder

As most of you will know, I collect old railroad memorabilia. Some of my favorite things are the postcards published by the railroads in the early 1900s to entice travelers to take the train on their next adventure. What you see below is an unused folder featuring scenes on the Great Northern Railway which provided service from Chicago to Seattle and is referred to as one of the first transcontinental lines.

Scenes on Great Northern Railway
From the Oriental Limited
Chicago - Seattle early 1900s

Combine Harvester in the Grain Fields
Big Bend Country, Washington

Harvesting Grain in the Red River Valley

Passenger Train in the Cascade Mountains
of Washington

Oriental Limited Emerging from
Cascade Tunnel on Great Northern Railway

Oriental Limited through the Cascades, Wash.

Trout Fishing on the Skykomish River,
Washington. On line of the G. N. Railway

Washington Log and Loggers.

Totem Pole, Pioneer Square,
Seattle, Washington

Mount Tacoma and Part of City of Tacoma, Wash.
(Printed BEFORE renamed Mt Rainier!)

27 Wenatchee, Washington Apples

Power Station, Tumwater Canyon, Wash.

Wenatchee, Wash. fruit orchard in bloom.

Kootenai Falls, Montana

Falls, Spokane River, Spokane, Wash.

Wheat raised by Irrigation in Montana

Hotel at Belton, Montana
Entrance to Glacier National Park

Steam Breaking in Montana

Back Cover of the Folder
The Great Northern Oriental Limited
on Sea Wall between Everett and Seattle, Wash.

Swindoll Quote

I happened to find this on another blog where the person used it as their profile statement. Although it doesn't say anything about the blogger, it sure is a powerful statement and one I thought worth sharing.

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our Attitudes." Charles R. Swindoll

Ships

As usual, I have a few pics of ships to share. I love watching the ships come and go in the Port of Seattle.

The early morning fog had just lifted and the sun
was lighting up this container ship nicely.

A Foss Tug on a windy/rough afternoon.
Wonder what the Captain thinks on a day like this.

Skies

Waxing crescent moon with Venus bright below
and to the right.

Clearing sky overhead but clouds to the west
created an unusally colorful sunset.

Birds

Thanks to my SIL (Sister-in-Law 😊) I just discovered SWANRISE which is an event north of Seattle. A company called Skagit Land Trust puts together tours to see Trumpter Swans who spend the winter in our area. The tours go out in the morning to watch the birds wake up and take off for the day. In the evening tours watch the birds return to Barney Lake where they spend the night. All of this year's tours are sold out, but I plan to get on the list early next fall. 

Link for more information.

A good source of info is Cornell Lab

Love birds? Check out 
Saturday's Critters!

Range Map for Trumpter Swans
provided by Birds of the World
at Cornell Lab

My first picture of one of my hummers
visiting the feeder. I never get tired of
these little birds.

Progress

This is what progress sounds like ... click the video below. The activity is going on at Pier 90 right along the Waterfront Trail I've posted about. What they are doing is driving piles into the ground to provide for new construction at the Pier. City leaders tell us this may take the better part of a year. We will see. The video is probably longer than you'll want to listen. The first two images show you the scene. The large crane is one of the largest marine cranes I've ever seen.

Pile Driving at Pier 90

The whole process for the crane to pick up a pile and
drive it deep into the soil takes almost 2 hours.

Thanks for stopping by and have a good rest of January!