Camelia Stump

Here's the Camelia stump I took out to make room for a blueberry bush. I dug all around the stump, cutting off roots as I found them. Two roots remained hidden, and the stump refused to move, so I forced it out of there with two hydraulic jacks. This photo was taken just after the last root snapped.

Miss Maple's New Yellow Sweater

Miss Maple was happy to try on her new yellow sweater. She started crawling the other day, and this photo shows how she is spreading flowers from her socks to the carpet.

Aunt Bonnie's Sled Ride

Aunt Bonnie had to travel all the way from Laurens to Renton to find suitable conditions for a sled ride. Colette helped pull the sled.

Snow Mermaid

This snow mermaid was inspired by the character Ariel from the movie The Little Mermaid. The customer requirements included the seashell amulet hanging from her neck. Note that the sculpture has an anatomically correct tail.

Yellow Sweater "M"

The name of this sweater is "M"
It belongs to Emma, whose name is 'Melia, also known as Miss Maple.
Note that this photo was taken at 1/5 second with the camera set to adjust for flourescent light, with an incandescent bulb providing the light. It has the best representation of the true color I could manage. You have to feel the sweater to experience how soft it is.

Tree Moss

For years I have enjoyed the healthy crop of moss in this tree. I suppose this will be the last photo of it. I like how the angle of the ladder matches the angle of the power pole.

Windfall Cleanup

All of the branches have been cleaned off the roof and cut back away from the house. Large branches will become firewood or lumber, but smaller branches were chipped and shredded into mulch. The orange chipper/shredder is resting after a hard day of work.

Arthur's Red and White Sweater

Arthur tried on his new red and white sweater Dec 23, 2006.

Flee Plus Flee Equals Six

During the Christmas holidays we had several meals with the Amboy branch of the family. There were three of us on each side of the table, when Arthur noted:
"one, two, flee," pointing at each of us on the opposite side, and "one, two, flee," people on his near side of the table. Then he pronounced, "flee plus flee equals six!"

Boxelder Tree Blown Down

Notice how the branches broke in multiple places, and only smaller limbs actually hit the house. The kayaks were right next to it. The trunk didn't break, because the roots pulled up instead. One branch got caught in the telephone lines, and now that pole is leaning as far to the right as it was leaning to the left.

Kayaks are Safe

It looks like the tree was shaped perfectly for arching over the boats. The boat rack leg is broken, so it may have actually hit them.

Red and White Sweater

The finished sweater for Arthur. It needs to be blocked.

Light Snowfall in Renton

This photo was taken through the kitchen door window, after dark, while it was snowing. There was only about one inch of snow on the ground, and it only accumulated three inches during that hour. I braced the camera against the door and turned off the flash, so it was a slow exposure.

Paper Rocket and Launcher

 
This is the paper rocket I put together, along with the launcher made from PVC pipe, bicycle inner tube, duct tape, and a 2 liter plastic bottle. I hope the children have fun with it. The PVC tube laying on the floor has a larger diameter, so that's the pipe I used for assembling the rocket. The spring clamp allows variable launch angles. 

Autumn Maple Leaves

While photographing these autumn Maple leaves...
I discovered this Bushtit bird nest...
...in the tree where all the leaves were gone. 

Beeboo Flying High

Beeboo flying high at Lou's birthday party. 

Straw Bale House in Sunizona

The owner gave me a tour of this straw bale house. It was beautiful both inside and out. You can just barely see the design in the border between the brown and the white adobe. 

This is a single twig from a tumbleweed plant. Notice the flowers near the bottom. The stickers were very sharp. The real name for this plant is Russian Thistle, and it is not native to America. 

Is this a horned toad? I think he was full grown, but only a bit larger than a tree frog. 

black lizard, with gold and green spots. These guys were all over the place, but moved quickly, and were hard to photograph. 

Bilbo Baggins' Misty Mountains (Chiricahua in foreground, New Mexico in background) 

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