These gorgeous flowers are from the P-Patch at East Republican St and 20th Avenue E here on Seattle’s Capitol Hill.
They are of the genus Ranunculus— commonly known as Persian buttercups (Ranunculus asiaticus).
Wednesday/ air mail from Japan 🇯🇵
Check out the air mail envelope that contained my purchases of Japanese stamps from a seller in Asaka, Japan (in the Tokyo metro area).
He wrote my name and address in perfect print— something I absolutely cannot do with Japanese characters!
Issued Feb. 2, 2015
Perf. 13 x 13¼ | Stamp 22 mm x 26 mm | Printing: Photogravure | No watermark
3791 A3351 10 ¥ | Multicolored | Japanese crested ibis (Nipponia nippon)
[Sources: colnect.com, 2021 Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue Vol. 4A]
Issued Mar. 11, 2026
Perf. 16½ | Design: Maho Shimada | Stamp 50 mm x 35 mm | Printing: Offset Lithography | Printer: Toppan Edge Co., Ltd. (Toppan Printing Co., Ltd.) | No watermark
JP 2026.03.11-01c 500 ¥ | Multicolored | Woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige “Arashiyama in Full Blossoms: Famous Places of Kyoto”
[Sources: colnect.com, Google Gemini Flash]
Tuesday 🌆
The daylight hours are still stretching longer, and we have reached the first 9:00 p.m. sunset of the year here in Seattle.
I am standing on the corner of East Thomas St and 13th Avenue East and using a 4x telephoto lens.
Thurday/ the Olympics, noir 🌄
Here is an hour before sunset (now 8.47 pm), with the sun behind the clouds at the top right.
I am looking out towards the Olympic mountains from 13th Avenue E and East Mercer St.
Wednesday/ running up the Mountain ⛰
From today’s Seattle Times.
I did not know that this was a thing: racing up to the mountain’s summit, and back.
Sunday ☀️
It was mostly sunny today here in the city, with a high of 63°F (17°C).
The flower du jour here from Seattle’s Capitol Hill is a rock rose (the shrub’s genus is Cistus), with its crinkled ’tissue paper’ petals and bright yellow stamens in the center.
Rock rose flowers are short-lived, and once out of the bud, most last only a day or two!
Saturday/ Mr Woodpecker visits 🪶
Mr. Woodpecker (Northern flicker, Colaptes auratus) pecked on the tree trunk for a few minutes, then gave up and rested on the branches of my fir tree.
After preening his chest feathers for a bit, he took off.
Sunday/ Mother’s Day 💐
A belated happy Mother’s Day to all the moms.
The rhododendrons are blooming here on Seattle’s Capitol Hill.
Thursday/ sea lions, bailing 🦭
Here’s a sea lion ‘action picture’ from photographer Ken Lambert, taken for the Seattle Times.
Sea lions and seals differ primarily in that sea lions have visible ear flaps, large flippers for “walking” on land, and bark loudly, while true seals have ear holes, short flippers, and move by belly-sliding. Sea lions are generally larger, more social, and agile on land; seals are more solitary and streamlined for swimming. – Google AI Overview
Monday/ irises 🪻
I found these beautiful bearded irises on Martin Luther King Way in Seattle’s Central District.
Bearded irises, native to the Mediterranean, have a rich history spanning over 3,000 years, from being cherished by Egyptian pharaohs and Greek mythology to becoming a cornerstone of modern gardening.
Wednesday/ English daisies 🌱
These little English daisies are soaking up the last of the sun before tonight’s 8:19 p.m. sunset.
They’re often called ‘lawn daisies’ and treated as weeds, but I still think they are pretty.
Sunday/ at the park 🌲
There was plenty of sunlight outside today (65°F/ 18°C).
Here are my pictures from Volunteer Park here on Capitol Hill.
Wednesday/ Earth Day 🌎
Happy Earth Day.
It is a rainy day here in the city of Seattle (55 °F/ 13 °C).
Do all plants have chlorophyll?
No, not all. The vast majority do (they are called autotrophs).
Even Venus flytraps have chlorophyll, but some plants are without.
Those without are called heterotrophic: they are parasitic, or feed on fungi.
Monday/ a great blue heron 🪽
There was a great blue heron (Ardea herodias) in the shallow waters yesterday, between Pier 91 and the Elliott Bay Marina.
Its patience was rewarded with a little snack.
These herons are common, year-round residents in Washington state, particularly in the Puget Sound region— which has one of the largest breeding populations on the West Coast.
Saturday/ a bandit in the tree 🦝
As I opened the side door to my garage this afternoon, a little twig fell to the ground. I looked up, and there he was.
I took a photo with my phone, and then went into the house to let Mr. Raccoon get down from the tree and vamoose— which is what he did.
They are nocturnal, but you do spot them once in a while in daytime here in the neighborhood.
Monday/ tulips in the P-Patch 🌷
It was a cool, drizzly day here in the city (56 °F/ 13°C).
By late afternoon, it was time to get away from all the insanity in the news. I walked down to the Thomas Street Gardens P-Patch, where I found the tulips.
Note: A P-Patch is a parcel of property used for gardening.
The term is specific to Seattle.
The “P” originally stood for “Picardo”, after the family who owned Picardo Farm in Seattle’s Wedgwood neighborhood, part of which became the original P-Patch in the city.
[From WIkipedia]
Thursday/ robins on the rooftop 🐦
These American robins (Turdus migratorius) were on my neighbor’s roof yesterday.
The one in the first picture is female, and the other one is male.
The male has a brighter, deeper reddish-orange breast and a darker, slate-gray head.
Sunday/ little feather ball 🪶
It was a coldish, rainy Sunday here in the city today with a high of only 46°F (8°C).
These pictures of a little dark-eyed junco in my backyard are from Friday.
The little feather ball of a bird bounce-bounce-bounced on the pavers, flitted up to the fence just for a second or two, and then it was gone.
Friday/ bird of prey 🦅
Happy Friday.
Look what was in the fir tree in my backyard today, prey and all.
It is a juvenile Cooper’s hawk* (Astur cooperii).
It’s hard to tell if it’s a squirrel that the bird had caught, but that would be my guess.
*Identified with the help of Google AI, and matching the sound it had made, with its record on audubon.org.
Tuesday/ more feathered friends 🐦
I spotted a a Steller’s jay, a dark-eyed junco (a New World sparrow) and a robin in my back yard yesterday.
Later, there was a Northern flicker (a woodpecker) as well— just too high up in the tree for a good picture.
