Views of Sequim, the Olympic Peninsula. . .and beyond
Here’s a view of the Dungeness Cemetery. I haven’t explored it carefully but in it reside some of the region’s early pioneers whose names are attached to many of our local roads, including Cays and Lotzgesell, the road on which the cemetery is located.
A couple of weeks ago I posted what I thought was a red-flowering currant (ribes sanguineum). The day I posted I saw more of them in bloom and, woops, they didn’t look like what I’d posted. Similar color, wrong blossom. Here is the real deal, confirmed by an illustration in my handy Washington State University Extension guide. And here, from March 25, is what is most likely a salmonberry.
Actually, Peter is not a cottontail. The bunny shown here is from felted Suffolk sheeps wool and the photo barely does his cuteness justice. I discovered recently that in addition to her many other talents my friend Miriam also does felting, in this case needle felting.
Needle felting uses finely barbed needles to fuse a layer of fiber onto a base. In this case, Miriam used a base form of wool and felted it together with more wool to create and keep its form. These little bunnies are about five inches long and light as a feather. Although they look and feel delicate, they have seen plenty of action with Miriam’s grandchildren, including service as a football. Aren’t they cute?
The Suffolk wool used to make these bunnies is from a “down” breed typically raised for food rather than fiber. The wool is spongey, with less lanolin than from breeds raised for fiber. The character of Suffolk wool lends itself well to needle felting.
On the left, here, Miriam was making a bunny from the wool of llamas she used to own. She steadily punches the top layer of wool with the barbed needle and the fibers catch and mat together.
On the right, below, are some of the tools she uses in her needle felting. The yellow and green fiber is silk. The orange fiber is wool.
Happy Easter!
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries when logging was king on the Olympic Peninsula, the area was laced with spur railroads that brought logs out of the local forests. Some of the historic railways became current roadbeds but functioning railroads no longer exist here. Railroad Bridge, across the Dungeness River, is one vestage, a bridge that was restored over 20 years ago by volunteers. It is now a park and part of the Olympic Discovery Trail. Adjacent to our local Audubon Center, its caretakers are the River Center Foundation and the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.
The Railroad Bridge is a wonderful place to walk. The river teems with life and it’s a good place to see birds. Volunteers completed a ramp up to the bridge, making it accessible to wheelchairs, strollers, and bicycles. I think it’s a lovely example of an historic working bridge and the setting couldn’t be prettier.
This is what the bridge looks like from the river level. I’ll post a couple more photos of the bridge next week.
Happy Passover!
This photo is posted as part of Weekly Top Shot hosted by Madge of The View from Right Here. To see others Top Shots, click below:
I’d never seen the Sequim City Hall and wondered where it was and what it looked like. Once I found it I was immediately reminded that Sequim is a small town. The building is as small as it looks. It was built in 1973 for an estimated cost of $110,000. And its size answered my question of why the Police Department is located in offices in a shopping center. But I still wonder why there’s a light pole, below. It seems whimsical and reminds me of a barber shop.
The wetlands at Dungeness Recreation Area are full of water. . .and now that hunting season is over, the ducks are back. This guy gave me a profile shot and then took off. I like the reflections in the water around him.
These faces make me smile every time I see them. They remind me of my father-in-law, a carver who often coaxed beauty from simple pieces of wood. Last week I decided to slow down and get closer to these pieces of road art. There were faces on both sides of the two stumps. They’ve been there a while and seem to have only improved with age. Aren’t they wonderful faces?
