UWFA Lecture: Enjoying Birds All Year in the Pacific Northwest
Birds and birding in the PNW throughout the year” is part of the UWFA Lecture Series. Today we present our very own UWFA members, Vicki King and Donna Hahn. They are inviting you to join them on two virtual birding walks on March 10 at 1 PM. One walk took place during the winter; the other one took place during spring migration. We saw more than 30 commonly-seen birds in our region at close range and talked a bit about their biology and behavior during these walks. It runs just under 50 minutes. We hope you’ll enjoy the recording of this presentation. See the presentation (on DropBox)
Please join us this coming Wednesday, February 10, at 1 p.m. via Zoom as our own UWFA President Christine Newcomb gives a lecture entitled “Porcelain: Art and Objects of Desire”, based on visiting porcelain manufacturers in Germany. Christine’s talk will encourage you to bring out and put to everyday use those pieces you might have tucked away in your cupboards.
It was a good day to be at the beach, this morning! No rain, few people and just enough trash to keep us 8 Team members busy for an hour and a half!
We received words of gratitude from several beach-goers and two crew from Seattle Parks grounds maintenance, including an enthusiastic Sean Hermes, director of the grounds crew. He is hooking us up with the Parks Volunteer Coordinator so we can match our volunteer efforts to the actual parks crews’ needs for help. They gave us a gajillion hefty garbage bags, so you won’t have to BYOB (Bring Your Own Bags) for the next decade… or at least for the next several outings, anyway.
Many interesting things were found, today: a bouquet of yellow roses, barely de-petaled from the tides; a cremation-urn tag from the cremated remains of a beloved pet; a boogie board minus its boogie; a pair of adult undies… (uh, andwe’ll just let that go without further comment); a couple of nice cloth shopping bags (we threw them away, just in case...); a broken beer bottle tangled up with a fishing line gone bad (an enormous fish must have gotten away, angering the fisherman!); some water toys; and what appeared to be a homeless encampment among the sand dune bushes.
About the encampment: I was informed that, during this time of pandemic chaos, the parks are currently not actively removing encampments. This will change when the crisis ends. Thank you for understanding this and accepting that it is what it is. We simply moved on and silently wished the (absent) campers well.
Thank you, one and all, for a successful beach clean-up! It is a bit like an organized “treasure hunt”: you never know what you’ll find, which probably intrigues the brain, fooling you into thinking that picking up trash is a blast! I am delighted that YOU think so, too.
We will be picking a day during Thanksgiving week to go out to clean up a beach, based on the weather forecast and tides. If you feel like getting outside for a genuine treasure hunt, and giving thanks for your ability to do so–to be mobile, to be able to help the environment and people’s enjoyment of it – then please join us for our next Day At The Beach!
The Clean Beach Team offers an opportunity to be outdoors, walking the beach among friends, and doing something helpful for the environment—all at the same time. We will meet every 2nd and 4th Thursday on both saltwater and fresh water beaches. We will send an e-mail two days before, on Tuesdays, with the time, meeting location and weather forecast. Clean Beach Team cleaners will bring their own garbage bags, but if someone forgets to bring them, we will have bags to share. We recommend wearing sturdy hiking boots and working gloves. And bring your smiles and cameras—for “before” and “after” photos! For more information or to join the group, please contact the leaders Claudia and Ron Green .
The French Conversation Group’s annual Bastille Day party on July 14th was historic. It marked not only the 50th anniversary of our celebration of “le Quatorze, but also 50 years of Yolande Siki’s leadership. Since the late 1960’s our “professor”, mentor, and friend has guided our efforts to improve and maintain our French fluency with enormous wit and patience.
“Yolande Siki has not changed a bit”
With her help, beginners have blossomed, practiced speakers become more confident and the truly fluent have provided incentive and encouragement Everyone has looked forward to brief bi-monthly escapes into French and enjoyed the friendships grown from our shared experience.
The 14th’s festivities began on a familiar note: food, drink, talk, laughter. Our activity even drew a condo resident who followed the sound of his favorite language to the club room and asked if he could join the party. He could, and he did, running upstairs for another bottle of wine.
“Not a crumb was left”
And for dessert, a Bastille Day cake with a frosted Eiffel Tower and an inscription to Yolande. Happily, Francois Siki was with us to help toast his mother with ample champagne, thanks to hostess, Helen Szbalya.
Finally, Laurel Lisez led the ritual singing of La Marseillaise. We may still stumble in the shaky spots in words and music, but we clearly remember the past chorus of old friends, those who always took the high notes and the basses who boomed below. Fifty years of memories ……!
Ever wondered how the Eastern part of Switzerland looks like? Here is your chance to listen to all the adventures of a group of Tuesday Trekkers, hiking in the Lower Engiadina.
Wednesday, February 28, 2018: Hiking in Switzerland, presented by Sandy Wood for the Tuesday Trekkers
Scrafitto-decorated homes, celebration of cows returning from the alms, “knoedel soup” in mountain huts, new snow on glorious mountain peaks, trains & buses never a minute late, larch forests turning golden, endless Heidi-land views, aching muscles and delightful camaraderie…. all were part of three unforgettable weeks that 19 Tuesday Trekkers recently spent hiking in the Swiss Alps. Ten days based in Peter & Tina Schiess’s tiny village of Sur En in the far eastern Alps, and then ten days traveling by scenic train to hike in other parts of the Swiss Alps. Truly a trip of a lifetime!
“Hats for Sale, all proceeds go 100% to the UWFA scholarship fund, all hats are handmade and all hats are unique, come try them on and we have mirrors to let you see how good you look in them!”
Tina Schiess and Dagmar Shannon trying to convince a potential buyer
That was the rallying cry to bring in the customers at the Hat Sale on November 12th at Metropolitan Market on 5250 40th Avenue NE. The store manager had graciously agreed to let us sell our hats right in front of the store entrance on a Sunday between the hours of 11:00 and 3:00, their busiest time. So Kay Gordon, Gay Hardy, Hady de Jong, Tina Schiess and I went to work selling.
Well, sell we did and we made just over $1000 with the hat sale that day.
Well, you may ask where do these hats come from? The hat sale was introduced to us by our member Kay Gordon. Kay is so wonderful and generous that she has been knitting hats for years and has such a great philanthropic reputation that people give her yarn for her hat projects. Well guess what, Kay, who makes many of the hats herself, and we have recruited some of the knitters from the stitchery group to donate their hats also to this sale, lets us keep 100% of the proceeds we make from selling the hats at “our” sales.
Hady de Jong donning one of the hats
And the following Monday Kay, Hady and Tina did another sale at the UW Hub and again sold almost $400 worth of hats to benefit our Scholarship program. Taken together that is a serious infusion of $ into our scholarship fund and all thanks to the power of one!
The one who had the idea, who made the most hats and who is present and sets up at every sale, Kay Gordon. Kay, we thank you and we salute you!
Of course we also give much thanks for the many knitters who contribute their hats to us like Barbara Archbold, Lynn Bradley, Hady de Jong and many others and to the ladies who volunteer to sell the hats.
Table of the UWFA with hats
Well done, everyone, I suppose it is now time to knit more hats so we can replenish our supplies and get ready for next year’s sale.
We are still looking for more knitters and Kay has yarn and patterns that she will gladly share with us. So will you join us and knit for scholarships!
The Tuesday Trekkers were lucky enough to be in the lower Engadin Valley for the Alpabzug or celebration of the cows coming down the mountains on September 23rd. The cows summered in mountain pastures above the towns of Ftan and Sent, and the villagers (and tourists) welcomed them with alphorns, big bells, traditional costumes, and, of course, fancy flowers and headdresses for the cows.
Wel-dressed cows Photo: Peter S
We took postal buses from Sur En to Scuol and then to Ftan, and milled around the central square and village streets and slopes waiting for the cows. Two alphorns led the procession, followed by a cacophony of bells, bells, bells. Beautifully decorated cows paraded down through the meadows and streets to a big pasture.
The Bell Ringers Photo: Peter SA family affair Photo: Peter S
While the cows meandered around the pasture, the villagers and tourists feasted on local food–wursts, raclette, plum cake and other pastries, and wine and beer. It was delightful to sit at long tables in the sunshine with cows and beautiful mountain scenery all around.
The trekkers recovering Photo: Peter S
After the Ftan celebration, some Trekkers went up a ski lift and then hiked back to Scuol or Sur En. Two members just kept running around the village looking for each other–and keeping the rest of us in stitches. And some of us went to Sent to watch more cows come down the mountains. The cows milled around the fountain in the main square, were sorted out and led off to their winter homes.
The Tuesday Trekkers had an opportunity to visit with Tina and Peter Schiess in Sur En, Switzerland, to explore their place and hiking grounds. Our “base camp” was Gasthof Val d’Uina in Sur En. It was a fun-filled week with hiking and sight-seeing. Below is a summary of all the activities while at Sur En. After that, some went on to ride the “Glacier Express and Bernina Express (UNESCO World Heritage Site)”. Others did some more hiking near Pontresina.
Tina’s and Peter’s second home Photo: PS
The first hikers arrived Sept. 19. and below you see the various activities.
Sept. 21: The early arrival took a bus to Scuol and gondola to Motta Naluns. From there we hiked up to Naluns) and then across and down to the Prui Hut where we had lunch. Then hiked down to Ftan and bus home.
Sept. 22: All here now. Took bus & train via Zernez to Ofenpass in the Swiss National Park. Hiked North over mountains to S-charl where we caught bus back to Sur En.
Sept. 23: Took bus to Ftan to see the cows come home and share in the celebration. Explored Ftan before returning home.
2017-09-23 Alpabzug Ftan Photo: PS
Sept. 24: Took bus east through corner of Austria and Italy to get ski lift at Wattles. Hiked over pass at border of Switzerland and Italy, with lunch at Sesvenna Hut. Then down Uina Valley and Schlucht to Sur En.
View of the Galleries Photo: PS
Sept. 25: Bus to Sent. Hiked from Sent via Val Sinestra to hut at Zuort. Then down road to Vna, bus to Crusch and walked home.
Sept. 26: Helmets, harnesses, carabiners! Some visited Sculpture Park in afternoon.
Sept. 28: Bus to Scuol and lift to Motta Naluns. Then hiked via Fuorcla Champatsch and Val Laver to Zuort Hut. Returned via Vna and Ramosch. Crusch and home.
Sept. 29: Took bus to Tarasp Castle. Afterwards some went to folk museum; some explored Scuol.
Sept. 30: Goodbye to Peter, Tina & Sur En and off to further adventures.
We will post more detailed reports about the various hikes and activities and in time you can visit the UW Photo Gallery for a sampling of the scenery and hikes.
In March the German Interest Group met in the home of Tina Schiess. After enjoying delicious treats, the group discussed Fasching, very similar to Mardi Gras and celebrated in some European countries with music, elaborate costumes and masks. Who is behind the beautiful mask? (Magdalena Tobe)
