This Time with Pictures

Hey, I managed to get outside and snap photos this past week.  Guess what I took photos of?  Birds?  Dachshunds?  Art work?  All three? 

It's possible I'm getting predictable here. 

The Pied-billed Grebes who live at the Montlake Fill have chicks, and they're always fun to watch.

And this Cinnamon Teal started walking right towards the path we were on, until he noticed the Hounds and took off.

The Hounds are ever vigilant, striving valiantly to protect me from joggers, other birders, bunny rabbits, and rampaging teals.

You shall not pass!

On another lovely day, we ventured farther afield to the Woodland Park rose garden:

I had not intended to go there.  My intention was to walk around Green Lake, and find something to sketch there, but about ten minutes into that plan it became clear that something was blooming there which caused my eyes to water and my nose to itch, and this was not making me happy.  So I tossed the Hounds back in the car and tootled on down the road to the nearby garden.

I looked for something to sketch there, but felt overwhelmed by the abundance of good stuff. 

So I threw the Hounds in the car and looked for somewhere else to sketch.  I had not intended to go to the Ballard P-Patch garden, but it was only a few miles away and I was curious about it, having somehow missed it during last year's P-Patch explorations.

It was a pleasant little spot.

I had also not intended to go to Golden Gardens park that day. 

But it's only a short ways from the P-Patch garden, and it was sunny, and the dogs hadn't really walked much at all, so off we went.

That was our Friday adventure.  On Saturday, we returned to the Fill to check on youngsters again, and found these delightful Mallard ducklings:

Along with another Pied-billed Grebe chick:

Later that same day I joined the Seattle Urban Sketcher group for their monthly outing.  We went to McMenamin's in Bothell, which is a 1931 junior high school that was renovated into a hotel with several restaurants.

I tried to draw some of the buildings--this is a composite of two views--the main entrance doorway, and an outdoor patio.  I wasn't very happy with my efforts. 

The buildings were not making me happy, and there were too many people everywhere--in addition to the regular guests of the hotel, and our group of 25+ sketchers, there were people attending a graduation ceremony and another group at a bridal shower, plus a whole slew of families with young tykes heading for the swimming pool.

My general idea of a good people-to-space ratio is along the lines of one per acre or so.  McMenamin's ratio of twenty per square foot was rather irritating.  But then I wandered across the parking lot searching for respite, and nearly tripped over a tiny garden tucked behind the Hawaii-themed North Shore Lagoon restaurant.  And nobody was there!

I spent over an hour there, just basking in the sunshine and sketching in splendid solitude. 

Speaking of sunshine, the current forecast for the Puget Sound calls for four days of 85+ weather.  This is too hot.  It's not too hot if you have air conditioning, but sadly, I don't, nor do any of my friends.  I've got the doggie wading pool ready to go, though, so at least the Hot Dogs should be happy.

Stay cool!