The lilies in the community garden at Republican St and 20th Ave E here on Seattle’s Capitol Hill are gorgeous.
[From Wikipedia and Google Search Labs | AI Overview]
Wednesday/ in full bloom 🪷
[From Wikipedia and Google Search Labs | AI Overview]
[From Wikipedia and Google Search Labs | AI Overview]
Saturday/ hello kitty (don’t eat me) 🦁
A reader sent in this set of photos to the South African newspaper Die Burger (The Citizen).
The reader Estelle Jordaan writes:
“A once-in-a-lifetime experience .. we were in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (in the Kalahari Desert region of Botswana and South Africa, bordering Namibia to the west).
On our early morning drive from Nossob (at Marie se Draai) we came across seven young lionesses who came walking up the road from the front. One was very curious and approached our vehicle. The next moment she first stood with her paws on our pickup’s runner board, and then upright against the pickup with a ‘high five’ with one paw against the window (luckily the window was closed!). Then she decided she wanted to explore the side mirror more closely and taste it… the damage to the mirror? A small tooth hole, and a few light scratches– but we rather see it as lasting evidence of the best memory so far.”
[Photos by Estelle Jordaan. Published in Die Burger newspaper online, Thursday Jul. 10, 2025]
Thursday/ ocelot & opossum 🐆
Researchers at Cocha Cashu Biological Station in southeastern Peru set up a camera trap to study bird behavior, but they got a surprise guest appearance instead: an ocelot trailing an opossum through the jungle at night.
The ocelot, a wild cat slightly larger than a house cat, and the common opossum, a marsupial, are usually predator and prey. But in this video, they moved in tandem— like two old friends walking home from a bar.
Intrigued, they contacted researchers in other parts of the Amazon who turned up three additional, nearly identical videos from different locations and years.
…
Opossums’ attraction to ocelots remains a mystery, but Dr. Damas-Moreira and her colleagues suspect there’s something that draws both animals. One hypothesis is “chemical camouflage.”
“Opossums have a strong smell, and a close-by ocelot might help hide the opossum’s scent from bigger predators, or the opossum’s odor might mask the ocelot’s presence from prey,” said Ettore Camerlenghi, an evolutionary biologist and ecologist at ETH Zurich and an author of the study.
Opossums are also resistant to the venom of pit vipers, a snake that lives in the Amazon. Ocelots lack that defense, and teaming up could give both animals an edge when hunting, Dr. Camerlenghi said. In North America, a similar alliance exists between coyotes and badgers, who buddy up to hunt squirrels.
Wednesday/ a green flower 🌱
We did have the hottest day so far this year here in Seattle, with a high of 91°F (33°C). I waited until it was almost dark before I ventured out for a walk.
Sunset is now at 9.02 pm.
I found this coneflower (genus: Echinacea) tonight. They usually come in purple and pink varieties. This is likely a hybrid, perhaps the ‘Green Twister’ (Echinacea purpurea) that features a distinctive two-toned appearance with lime green and magenta petals.
Monday/ stamps from Venda 🐘
The stamps of last of the four South African homelands that issued stamps, made it into my album: those of Venda. (A sample below).
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s parents were of the Venda ethnicity. The Venda people reside primarily in the Limpopo province of South Africa, near the border with Zimbabwe. They have a rich and distinctive culture, including a unique language called Tshivenda or LuVenda (I see it is simply called ‘Venda’ on Google Translate).
On 27 April 1994, independent Venda ceased to exist as it was reintegrated into South Africa to became part of modern-day Limpopo Province.
Venda’s stamps were still valid for postage, though— the 16c stamp below on the last page has a 1997 cancellation.
Monday/ hydrangea time 🟣
My hydrangea is blooming.
[From Wikipedia]
Thursday/ a little rain ☔
It was another cool and overcast day here in Seattle with 66°F (19°C) and a little rain this afternoon.
The garden dahlia, peony and borage (starflower) are from the P-Patch community garden at Republican St and 20th Ave E.
Wednesday/ stamps from Ciskei 🦉
I have expanded my South African stamp collection to include the four Bantustans (homelands) that had issued postage stamps from 1976 to 1994. Technically these are not stamps from South Africa.
Although these stamps were denominated in South African Rand, they were not valid for mail that was sent from outside the homelands.
Below is a sampler of pages from my collection for Ciskei.
After the 1994 election, the Bantustans ceased to exist, and were reincorporated into South Africa.
Nine new provinces were established: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West, and Western Cape.
[More from Wikipedia: Bantustan]-
A Bantustan (also known as a Bantu homeland, a black homeland, a black state or simply known as a homeland) was a territory that the National Party administration of the Union of South Africa (1910–1961) and later the Republic of South Africa (1961–1994) set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia), as a part of its policy of apartheid.
The government of South Africa declared that four of the South African Bantustans were independent—Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, and Ciskei (the so-called “TBVC States”), but this declaration was never recognized by anti-apartheid forces in South Africa or by any international government. Other Bantustans (like KwaZulu, Lebowa, and QwaQwa) were assigned “autonomy” but never granted “independence”.
Thursday/ Juneteenth 📜
It was a quiet and mild Juneteenth* holiday here in the city today, with a high of 68 °F (20°C).
On this last day of spring, the rain gauges still show zero for June.
That should change tomorrow, with much needed rain in the forecast.
*Juneteenth, officially Juneteenth National Independence Day, is a federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States.
So we met at Chuck’s Hop Shop in Central District for beers early in the evening. I walked back home from there, and took pictures of the flowers with my phone’s Portrait mode (so that it blurs the background).
These are cotton lavender, belonging to the family Asteraceae.
Friday/ daisies 🌼
Happy Friday.
The white daisies are out, here on Seattle’s Capitol Hill.
It is one of the largest plant families.
The central disk is actually a cluster of small, tightly packed flowers called disk florets. The ring of larger, more showy petals is called ray florets.
[Shot on iPhone 16 Pro’s Portrait mode with Natural Light filter]
Saturday/ South West Africa’s first definitives 🚂
The stamps to complete my 1931 set of South West Africa’s* first definitive stamps arrived in my mailbox today, and I promptly added them into my album.
*Namibia, since 1990. Namibia’s history spans from the arrival of hunter-gatherers like the San and the Bantu-speaking peoples to European colonialism and finally, independence.
Key periods include it as a German colony (1884-1915), a South African mandate (1915-1990), and the struggle for independence during that time, culminating in the nation’s independence on March 21, 1990.
[Source: Google Search Labs | AI Overview]
I have a mint 1½d pair coming, but the used ones that I have now with OTJIEWARONGO and GROOTFONTEIN postmarks are cool, too.
What’s unusual with this set is that the country name is in a different font for each denomination. Usually, the lettering for the country name is identical for all the stamps in a definitive set.
The 20 shilling stamp denomination at the very end of the set is an extremely high value and must have been intended for very heavy or very large parcels. (20 shillings translates to a modern currency value at least 10x than the highest denominated modern stamps!).
Furthermore: The “Okuwahakan Falls” depicted on the 1931 20-shilling stamp of South West Africa is something of a mystery. Despite its prominent appearance on the stamp, there is no well-documented waterfall in present-day Namibia known by this name, either historically or currently.
Chat GPT says it is possibly a former or obscure name for a known waterfall:
One candidate is Ruacana Falls on the Kunene River (the border with Angola).
Another is Epupa Falls, further downstream on the Kunene. Both are among Namibia’s only notable large waterfalls.
It is speculative, but “Okuwahakan” could be an old or alternate indigenous name for one of these falls.
Wednesday/ the queen of the garden 🌹
The rose is from the little rose bush in my front garden.
From Google Search Labs | AI Overview:
Roses have a long history, with the earliest evidence suggesting their existence dating back 35 million years. Fossil evidence indicates roses were present in North America as early as the Late Eocene period (38 to 33.9 million years ago).
However, their cultivation in gardens, particularly in China, began roughly 5,000 years ago. Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, wrote about roses being grown in imperial gardens about 2,525 years ago.
Monday/ Memorial Day 🇺🇸
It’s the last Monday of May, and Memorial Day in the United States— the day for honoring and mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.
The red poppy is a nationally recognized symbol, worn to honor and remember all those who have served.
Tuesday/ pink and white 🌼
Here’s a bunch of cute little Santa Barbara daisies from my walk tonight.
Monday/ stamps from Great Britain 🇬🇧
These stamps were on the envelope that landed in my mailbox today, mailed from the suburb of Northwood to the northwest of London.
(The Trump tariffs do not seem to affect my purchases of stamps on Ebay from overseas vendors. These are just envelopes with stamps in, though. I’m not sure what will happen if I order new albums and pages from overseas that come in a proper package).
Merry Christmas
Issued Nov. 2, 2004
Perf. 14½x14 | Design: Raymond Briggs | Engraving: De La Rue | No Watermark
2238 BPD1 1st Class | Multicolored | Santa with red suit looking at sunset
25th Anniversary of Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme
Issued Aug. 12, 1981
Perf. 14 | Pair of stamps with gutter | Design: P. Sharland | Phosphorized paper | Litho. | No Watermark
1163 638 18p Greenish yellow, magenta, pale new blue, black, cobalt & gold | Woman at pottery wheel (“Skills”)
Folklore
Issued Feb. 6, 1981
Perf. 15×14 | Design: F. Wegner | Phosphorized paper | Litho. | No Watermark
1144 620 18p Dull ultramarine, lemon, lake-brown, bright green, black & gold | Morris dancers ‘A Merry May’
British Wildlife
Issued Oct. 5, 1977
Perf. 14×15 | Design: P. Oxenham | ‘All-over’ phosphor | Litho. | No Watermark
1043 522 9p Reddish-brown, grey-black, pale lemon, bright turquoise-blue, bright magenta & gold | Badger (Meles meles)
Millennium Stamps— Life and Earth
Issued Apr. 4, 2000
Perf. 14¼x14½ | Design: Post office artists | Engraving: De La Rue | No Watermark
1837 BBX 2nd Class | Multicolored | Ecos Nature Park, Ballymena, Northern Ireland
[Sources: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue Part 1 Volume 1 British Commonwealth 1998, stampword.com]
Wednesday/ a story with a long tail 🐁
From capenature.co.za:
One of the Western Cape’s most mysterious mammals, the Boosmansbos long-tailed forest shrew (Myosorex longicaudatus boosmani), has made a reappearance, 46 years after it was last recorded!
[Photo by Cliff Dorse, posted on capenature.co.za]
First described in 1979 by scientist Nico Dippenaar, the shrew was recognised as a unique subspecies, geographically isolated from its relatives by the Gouritz Valley. Its limited known range, combined with forest habitat loss and climate change, led to it being listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2016.
[Photo from capenature.co.za]
Previous attempts to catch the elusive shrew using standard rodent live traps had been unsuccessful, and it was hoped that a new method – pitfall traps – would be more rewarding. But getting all the necessary gear up to the remote wilderness area, with no vehicle access, was a challenge.
Fortunately for the team, Helihack came to the rescue. This initiative is focused on safeguarding the protected area from invasive alien pines, using helicopters to reach otherwise inaccessible areas. In partnership with CapeNature, Helihack has already made huge strides in addressing this threat to the World Heritage Site. The team were airlifted to a wilderness campsite and then hiked down to set 76 pitfall traps across various habitats.
Each trap was prepared with bedding, shelter, and the occasional earthworm. At first, the traps yielded nothing—but one of the final traps revealed a small mammal with a 6 cm tail, unmistakably the long-lost Boosmansbos long-tailed forest shrew. Weighing just 13.7 grams, it was measured, photographed, and released unharmed into its forest habitat.
[Photo from capenature.co.za]
Sunday/ Mother’s Day 💐
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms!
Friday/ the woodpeckers visit 🪵
Happy Friday.
Mr. and Mrs. Woodpecker* came by today.
They were looking for ants in the cracks between the cement pavers on the sidewalk.
*They are northern flickers (Colaptes auratus)
Wednesday/ irises 💜
I found these bearded irises on my walk tonight.
Similar-looking ones online are called ‘Stepping Out’, and that may be what this white-and-purple variety is called.
Tuesday/ surface tension 💧
The weather was cool today (55°F / 13°C), with a light rain— just enough to form pearly droplets on plants with large, waxy leaves.
It made me look up the surface tension* of water again (see table below). Water has the highest surface tension of almost all common liquids.
There is mercury of course, that blows all the competition away.
On the low end, liquid helium stands alone with virtually no surface tension, and in a state of superfluidity it flows without friction or viscosity.
*Surface tension is the tendency of liquid surfaces at rest to shrink into the minimum surface area possible. Surface tension is what allows objects with a higher density than water such as razor blades and insects to float on a water surface without becoming even partly submerged.
[Wikipedia]
| Liquid | Temperature (°C) | Surface Tension (mN/m) |
|---|---|---|
| Water | 25 | 72 |
| Sea Water | 20 | 74 |
| Olive Oil | 20 | 33 |
| Whole Milk | 20 | 45 |
| Liquid Dish Soap | 20 | 22 |
| Mercury | 15 | 487 |
| Liquid Helium II | -273 | 0.37 |