Category: Random issues

The Cascade Mountains of Washington ~3,000 ft., fall has arrived. September 6, 2019. Talapus Lake Trail.

Item #1: Lines. What Lines?

Washington State license plates get 2 stick on tabs. On the left is one indicating the month the license has to be renewed. On the right is one that changes color and year# – each year. The change this year was from green to black.
The photo shows such a sticker (very poorly) converted from the 2018 green to the 2019 black. This would not have fooled a 3rd grader.
It did not get by a Snohomish County trooper, either.
The driver was fined $228 for an expired tab violation. Maybe later they will think of something else to charge him with.

Item #2: Guilty
This English lady (?) has a problem with a neighbor. There has been a long running dispute so she placed a large potted plant in front of a fellow’s kitchen window. He can’t open it nor see through it. She also put up CCTV cameras directed toward his windows.
de Jong versus Johnston

She claims to be a victim but the judged sided with the neighbor.

We don’t feel “urban” enough to live in such close proximity to our neighbors.

Item #3: He missed the door It appears he missed the yellow hydrant.

They think the man had been without coffee too long. The Common Ground Coffee shop paid the price.

Renton, WA

Item #4: Fall color
Few things still bloom here in September. This yellow bloomer is a Rabbitbrush (Gray; Asteraceae Ericameria nauseosa – I think)
Left: probably Coronis Fritillaries; Right: a small bumblebee (?)

Item #5: Fall color 2

Chicory

And that, for this week, is the not so nasty news.
John

Item #1: PAX West

Labor Day weekend in Seattle brings Penny Arcade Expo (PAX West). Tens of thousands of people arrive in strange costumes to the Washington State Convention Center.
I have no idea what this is about but there are many photos here.
Seems to be a convention solely devoted to showcasing new video games. Do you care?

Item #2: Foxglove
Medical folks and others know this plant as Digitalis purpurea .
There is a small entry here:
Link

These do not grown in our dry and winter-cold environment, but west of the Cascade Crest they are found in abundance. I took the photo on Monday of this week at an elevation of about 4,000 feet. Do a search using the ‘images’ tag and you will see this pink color is common, but there are many others, including white. Thus, while very pretty, it can be very deadly to people and animals.

Item #3: Keeping with Pink
Quincy (town on our way to the White Heron Winery) has grown, and through-town traffic has increased greatly in the last 30 years. For traffic flow improvement, they built a round-a-bout. It seems to be made of pink concrete. Photo is a few days before it opened.

Thus, while very pretty, it can be very confusing to people and animals.
Here is a link that shows how complicated such things can get.
Magic roundabout

If you can see the URL link to this, note the spelling of circle as “cirlce.”

Item #4: Chew Valley
This story involves a metal detector and a place called “Chew Valley.”
A few years ago I borrowed a detector to look for metal posts that might, or might not, be along a boundary of our property. Turns out none were there. What I did find were a few metal pieces that had been thrown into, or knocked off of cars and trucks when such missed the turn and bounced into the ditch.
The side story of that search was that I could get a surveyor to locate the points I wanted, but one of them would have been a corner marker involving the County, a neighbor, and us. The county requires a surveyor to “register” such a point – and the landowner is charged a $600 fee for the privilege.
I figure the County should pay the landowner. So no go there.

Wikipedia describes the Norman conquest thusly: “… the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French soldiers led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conqueror. ”

If you are interested in old coins, reportedly worth up to £5m, about $6 million dollars, the story is: Norman coins

And that, for this week, is the not so nasty news.
John

The theme this week is “Before & After”.

Item #1: Need lunch?
Pioneer Square in Seattle is a fun place.
{Sorry about those injured; none real seriously; maybe one}
Careening truck down James Street

Item #2: Lucie goes to school

I found this item a few days ago. Now it appears on many sites. Every place on the web is searching for items that will bring attention. Interesting! Fun first days at school in East Renfrewshire, England – almost in Scotland.

Item #3: Back to Ohio Last week I heard from my sister about the animals in her neighborhood. Now comes this not so shaggy dog story from 25 miles away from her.
Spunk stuck under grate

Apparently the wide spacing of a storm water grate was enough to allow the small dog to slip through. There must be a second finer-mesh grate in the buried box. Not enough information provided in these short Facebook postings. Found more info here: Who is the doggy?

Item #4: Ariana Grande?

The small town (under 400 folks) of Maple Falls, WA looks like it did when carved out of the forest in 1888. Nevertheless Ariana Grande {I had to search her up} must have passed through and engaged a local man in serious conversation.
The Russians were involved

The man was cutting power lines and disabling meters to prevent Russian KGB agents from poisoning the U.S. with nuclear toxins that were being transferred from the power lines.
Say what?
Not only that, but he said Ariana Grande told him to do this.

The fellow needs help.

I wrote the next piece after hiking and working on a trail.

Logging & Trails The photo shows a tree on a tree. The notches in the old tree were for “spring boards.”
Here is a 6 minute video from 2010. Brad Attfield uses “spring boards” (poles) to be able to cut above the “problems” of the tree trunk close to ground-level.

Big tree, nice scenery

I have a saw and an axe, but you won’t see a video of me doing what Brad does in that video.

My picture shows a stump that appears to be buried more than it was when it was cut. I’m on the Denny Creek Trail, and such trails spill soil off to the sides, both naturally and when trail repair is necessary.

Historically, as the USA was developing, folks looking for minerals usually followed the explorers and trappers into mountainous regions.
The natives roamed these mountains too. Trails lace the mountains.

Old photos (interspersed with ads) are in a Seattle newspaper file. Photo #44 shows notches cut with an axe for springboards. A crosscut saw is leaning against the tree on the left side. Interesting photos.
historic logging

Below are before and after photos of one of the things we did on Sunday. The red circle is centered on the corner of a large flat rock in two of the photos.

The Green Hat is using the mattock (link) end of a tool called a ‘pick-mattock’ to uncover a root so it can be cut. The view is looking up-hill so small kiddies and doggies might have to be lifted at this spot. Coming down, that’s a big drop for most hikers. Many people complain of sore knees and hips. Some use hiking-poles to ease these very numerous transitions.
Our plan is to get rid of such things.
Exactly how is up to the person in charge –in this case me. Our crew leader, LeeAnne, pointed to it and said “fix it.” I said, come back in half an hour and I’ll explain my vision (my initial plan).I felt a ramp was the best concept – there are too many steps on the trail already. There were lots of rocks around, so finding what we needed would not be a problem.
Nearby, hanging into the side of the bank, was just the rock we needed for the ‘vision.’ My guess for its weight was the lowest — 400 pounds. Others guessed higher, lots higher.
My crew measured it, and dug a hole where we intended it to go. Meanwhile, I cut 2 long poles to insert into the handles of a rock net. I also talked to a fellow Orange Hat. We would need his crew to help carry. We used 8 folks. Note at the lower edge of the photo a pole and straps.
The next photo shows the finished ramp.R1 is the rock in the first photo. We made it more horizontal, but otherwise did not move it. R2 is the largest rock in our sidewall. R3 is outlined with red dots. That is the one that was carried (about 30 feet). It is slightly tilted up to meet R2. R4 is a buttress rock, with a few others later added to hold things together.
Below is a close view of the transition from the horizontal trail to the rock ramp. Even the little Yorkshire Terrier coming up the trail had an easy time completing this new section.

And that, for this week, is the not so nasty news.
John

Our Forester in very early morning sun and a deer having come to our driveway for the heads of a low growing weed. It didn’t like that I snuck (sneaked) out of the house to get the photo. See Item #4

Item #1: Landing We were sent an e-mail with a few photos gleaned from the web with added ‘cute’ captions. By “gleaned” I mean there is no attribution; who took the photo? Neither do I know who added the caption. The photo above came with: Flight ‘Hum-One’ coming in for a landing’.
When I can find the source, I can give credit. In this case, I found the photo, along with related ones, but still can’t tell if it was taken or used by the author of the site; Wild Garden Accents.

The post is from 2012, so 7 years ago, and may be inactive now. On that page is a photo and a note about providing Hummingbirds a place to perch. The site wants to sell you one of its “amazing hummingbird swings” to place within sight of your feeder.

We feed birds, but not Hummers. They do come and inspect the red stick-on bows we have on the windows – those to keep the regulars from flying into the sky reflection.

A search with “images” for Hummingbirds brings up about 70 gazillion photos. You’ve got nothing better to do – go for it.

Item #2: A different kind of landing
Take a swim
A car crashed through the glass wall of a fitness center — the car landed in the middle of the swimming pool. Three people were swimming laps as the car plunged into the water and quickly sank to the bottom.

None of the swimmers was struck or injured. Two of them swam over to help the driver escape from his car.

Item #3: a 2nd car ends in water

I could not make up stuff like this. The son wanted a Jaguar. Folks bought him a new BMW. Oops!

Kid pushed BMW into pond

Item #4: The dear Deer
I sent the photo of the baby deer to my sister in Ohio. She lives in a very urban area. However, about the length of a football field to her east is the upper (small) part of an ever widening wet area, plant habitat, and woodsy place. I think this wetness becomes a small stream that eventually flows into the infamous Cuyahoga River (it once caught on fire).
After receiving the picture, she wrote:

Cute but they are so destructive. I have two very pretty hydrangea bushes in my front beds. No flowers because no matter how much I spray with deer repellent they eat them the instant they bud!
Last week at church I watched a 10 point buck eat away at two bushes and then it laid down and stayed there for over an hour. There was a big one running thru the yards yesterday.
Did I tell you we have a coyote too!!
I love living in the forest.
Oh wait, I live in the city!!

I mentioned the deer eating her bushes to someone and they claim hanging chunks of Ivory Soap near the plants will scare (?) deer away. Why this should be so, I have no idea.

And that, for this week, is the not so nasty news.
John

work site Aug 1 & 2

First photo below:
John’s feet are in the trail. It should be 3 times as wide.
In the center of the view, past the people, there is a small cross-trail drain, for when there is lots of water (none here now).
Flat topped rocks on either side allow hikers to step across when, in this spot, the water is no more than 6 inches deep.

A large rock tipping into the trail, with only a small part showing, made the trail narrow. The photo was taken after digging exposed the size and shape of the rock. The rock will be taken out, and the hole filled. The rock will be used as a step, nearby. The person in the purple shirt holds a shovel handle in her right hand. Beyond that handle is a ragged series of rocks, in the trail. Hikers have to go up that small slope to continue. That rough ascent will be cleaned out and replaced with rock steps.
In the photo below – the center (just right of the white bucket) is where the rock was. The hole has been filled and the trail widened and a rock base is taking shape. Sorry, I don’t have a final photo, but may add one later.
Note the small white rocks (chips) scattered in the trail. These, and about 40 more ½ buckets of chips came from about 100 yards away. Years ago a rock fall destroyed the trail. Crews used sledge hammers (aka ‘double-jacks’) to break rocks and make a trail across. The result from clearing a trail across the rockfall can be seen below, follow the red dots.

Tonight I’m just doing photos. After 3 days of work on the Snow Lake Trail, I’m behind and worn out.
However, of interest is that someone -unexpectedly – spent the night up in that alpine area. King County’s Search and Rescue was at the trailhead and they went up the trail ahead of us.
The person was found and was being brought out, but not before we left at 3 PM – having improved the trail for them.

Item #1: Metallica called
I thought the initial story was interesting but did not bother with it.
This week “nice” kicked in, when the young lady got a call from James Hetfield, singer, and songwriter known for being the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter for the American heavy metal band Metallica.

Cougar doesn’t like the music

Item #2: School supplies Something for your kid’s backpack.

Item #3: Telling the dogs how to play this game The first they heard of that.

Item #4: Rare find And that, for this week, is the not so nasty news.
John

Item #1: Not my Rainbow

During the night Thursday and Friday morning an air mass from over the Pacific Ocean came ashore and pushed over the Cascade Mountains. It had just enough moisture for small droplets (mist) to form as it approached Ellensburg – about 7 AM.
I was headed to the mountains for trail work and nearing the I-90 connection I encountered the mist, and a large rainbow. During the next 20 minutes, a rainbow moved in and out of visibility. Farther west the sky darkened, rain increased, and the colors disappeared from the sky. Nice while it lasted.
And yes, we got slightly wet today. Not a lot of water in the air to begin with, and by the time it got to the crest of the Cascades where we worked, not much rain fell.

Item #2: 40,000 Toadlets

My question: Who counted them?

Western Toad young’ens are referred to as toadlets. Maybe all tiny toads are called toadlets but my spell-checker can’t find that name.

Every year there seems to be a few stories about great numbers of something causing issues. Locusts make the news frequently. This year in Whistier, B.C., it is the Western Toad. There are thousands of tiny ones, so the resort municipality has closed the Lost Lake access road, a parking lot and the events lawn. Likely more things were closed after the article was written.
40,000 toadlets force closures

Item #3: Not so tiny hail

This from the Edmonton area. LINK

Not much text, but a couple more photos and a video link.
A better video and more: Here, but I had to watch an ad.

Item #4: Onions

Saturday; an errand in the morning to pick up wood boards someone is giving away, and then in the afternoon, we go to someone’s birthday party.
Sunday I plan on digging, sorting, and start the drying of my onions.
I have 3 types of reds and 3 types of whites; both short and long keepers. Next week there will be pictures.
Until then – cheers.

And that, for this week, is the not so nasty news.
John

Snow Lake, Washington Cascades, July 22 {by John}

Item #1: Celebration of Light
I’ve no idea what this is about but in looking for something nice to mention, it was the first thing I found.
best fireworks display

There is a catch: Instead of driving, organizers say riding a bike to the festival is a great idea.
We’ll pass. Thanks.

Item #2: How to waste time

I spent way too much time reading food history this week. See Larder

This started because folks on a blog were writing about the wet weather in the central USA, namely “how was the food supply” going to be? Typical comment: Our dumb governments haven’t filled the larder. Remember the Bible’s “7 lean years?”

We have extra food in the house but none of it is “larded” (except me, of course), and we don’t actually have a larder. We do have some shelves and an extra freezer.
When I win a 40 million dollar lotto I will have a house built with a proper larder – and hire someone to be the larderer. Maybe we’ll have a saucery and a scullery too.
While waiting for the lotto win, I’ll hang a couple cans of Spam from a hook in the garage.

Item #3: Thanks for being you

The sign to the right is not one of them, but I thought it cute.

From Calgary we get mysterious signs. No not that kind. Actual printed signs – red background, white letters.
You are loved

Item #4: Sammy Seagull

“. . . she suspects Sammy Lee returns to her home in search of leftover food that the family sometimes throws over the deck in the backyard.”

Here’s an idea – don’t throw food over the fence!
I should not be giving advice on this. Sunflower seeds seem to attract every known animal.

Garbage?

For the record, the video is not hilarious. Boring is a better term.

Item #5: The Golden City
Ballarat is a town in Australia that had a gold rush in the 1850s.
rush to bust

News from the place this week is again about gold. Retiree finds 70 ounce gold nugget

This week, meanwhile, I won a dollar with a lotto ticket.

And that, for this week, is the not so nasty news.
John

Along the inner wall of an abandoned snowshed

Item #1: History alive

When the Great Northern Railway chose a logo it included the outline of a Mountain Goat. The train became “The Iron Goat.”

Today, WTA volunteers worked on a trail called “Iron Goat” just west of Stevens Pass. This trail is designed and partially funded under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and is of gentle grade, wide, and partly paved. There were some culverts to be cleaned, but mostly the folks cut a lot of vegetation and moved it out of sight. This involved much bending, stooping, and stretching. We all were ready to go home at 3 o’clock. Then I had a 2 hour drive.

This old book Iron Goat Railroad guidebook
(hardest to read) has a map, from which I’ve clipped part and made notations in red.The mountain’s low pass in this area is over 4,000 feet. The eastern slopes are more gentle, so laying tracks up was easier than coming down the western, more rugged side.
The red arrow on the right shows the route down, toward Windy Point, where the route turns and stays nearly level until the very left side of the map. There the tracks crossed a valley on a trestle, entered a tunnel that U-turned inside the hill, and came out at a lower elevation (another trestle) – now heading back east (2nd red arrow). Another U-turn brought the route still lower, and turned west again, heading toward Puget Sound and sea level.
These two links go to more modern sites with color photos, but have much less history. Link 1, Link 2.

Our “mostly brushing” work was along the old route in the vicinity of the lower red arrow, and eventually along one of the snow shed inner walls.

Item #2: Count me now Will the total be 11 million, fewer, more? Help. 2008 had the 11M.
the Big Butterfly Count
The painted lady butterfly commonly flies to the UK during the summer months, but every 10 years millions arrive in a mass migration. Good. But how do you count them? How do you get a total?

Item #3: Roadside attractions

From Monmartre, Saskatchewan
If you use Google Street View and this location
[ 50.2208, -103.4482 ]
. . . You can see a replica of the Eiffel Tower in its setting.
For our high school prom, the ladies chose a theme related to Paris, and wanted a replica of the Eiffel Tower. Apparently I was the only kid (of 15) that knew the difference between a two-by-four and a hammer. Or maybe I had the lowest IQ. Anyway, I built a small (12 feet high or so) Eiffel Tower in the school gymnasium. I don’t have a photo, but being a semi-pro photographer, I sure my father took photos.
I came across this story: “5 roadside attractions to check out in Saskatchewan” – Link . This article will also answer the burning question, What is a bunnock?, and what is the Game of Bones.
You will want to look this up.

Item #4: Warming

Our forecast is to near 90 degrees on Sunday through Tuesday, and then 10 degrees cooler.
This will be cooler than much of the USA, but still hotter than we like it. Make a shopping trip as soon as possible.
Stay cool, and well.

And that, for this week, is the not so nasty news.
John