Around the Queen Mary 2

I was impressed with the decor around the ship on which we were passengers for a week. It is the oldest of the Cunard Four Queens (the rest are Queens Victoria, Elizabeth, and Anne), and in line for refurbishment in Hamburg next year. Let’s go “bottoms up” and explore some of the decor and patterns …

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The Deep Blue Sea. And something else.

We are back in US waters, in the North Atlantic heading south to New York. The wake Wave Whitecaps The two above photos were taken through a window on Deck 3. The artifacts are defects in the window, and water stains caused by rusting window frames. Secondary waves, parallel to the wake Morning sun on …

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Once again, just the Sea and the Sky…….Oh, wait! Tanker!

The Queen Mary 2 sails out the mouth of the St Lawrence, and heads down toward Nova Scotia. We have a Sea Day with no port calls. From our balcony. Sea and Sky Sea https://videopress.com/v/WmTXTKxL?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true In the morning, gray sea and sky When we returned to our cabin after lunch, conditions had changed a bit. …

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More adventures down the St Lawrence in Canada.

The Queen Mary 2 gets underway late in the afternoon, just after our Mark Steyn group comes together for a taping of Mark’s regular show. Yesterday, we traveled from Quebec City overnight to Saguenay up the Fjord, which we totally missed. We did hear the ship moving, but it is remarkably stable. This morning we …

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OMG!! A surfeit of little black kittens!

I just returned from my second day of volunteering at Purrfect Pals Cat Shelter, and this is what greeted me at the door when I first walked in. 4 black cats. Fiona, Earl, Glenda, Earl, Henrietta Yep, there are actually four! Can you see the missing kitten? I really couldn't figure out which was which, …

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Scenes from the Cat Shelter

This weekend I started my volunteer gig at a cat shelter, Purrfect Pals in Arlington, Washington, a few miles north of my house. They are a no-kill shelter whose motto is Every Cat Matters, and they sure do put that into practice! My work is very free-form, no set schedule and no set duties, other …

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The rest of the story…from the Fair

Well, it's "later" now, so here are more of the things, people, and animals we saw at the Evergreen State Fair. First, let's get the politics out of the way. Both the Democrats and the Republicans had booths in their commercial building. Please notice the two booths. Please note that the Democrats have twice the …

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Pinpoint Illumination: When the light’s just right.

Often, when I'm sitting out in my back yard, I see a bit of sunlight that's at exactly the correct angle to show off just one leaf, or one frond, or one rock. My yard is surrounded on three sides by vegetation: tall trees in the mini-forest on the west side, the south neighbor's tall …

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #409: Best Ever Images

Actually, it's not too difficult for me to choose my five best-ever photos. I'm not a professional photographer, and I am amazed at the excellent quality I can get from my iPhone camera! Before I got my first smart phone for my 70th birthday, I used to poo-poo all the people who were holding up …

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Perhaps not the best day to drive to Mount Rainier…Smoke on the water, in the sky, in the trees…

Well, the winds have finally brought the Eastern Washington wildfire smoke to Western Washington. We had already made plans to drive down to Mount Rainier, so we just decided to go anyway. The sky was already smoky when we left home, and this was the freeway on I-405 going southbound. Smoky Skies, I-405 South The …

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