Mt. Pleasant in July 2017 – Part I

I took several walks around parts of Howard Country Conservancy’s Mt. Pleasant Farm last week while I was preparing for photography sessions with summer campers. There was a lot to see and I’m doing two blog posts about the enjoyable walks taken over 3 days. One morning I walked down through the meadow where I saw lots of butterflies but the ones that thrilled me the most were the monarchs. There haven’t been any in my neighborhood this year so it was something to see that there were still a few in our part of Maryland.

There were wild flowers too – which I couldn’t resist photographing.

When I got down to the Davis Branch, I watched a mud dauber wasp making a small ball of sediment to add to his nest

And I noticed that there were more larger cobbles on the ‘beach’ that before the heavy rains of last summer.

I walked over to the area where some stream restoration work was done last spring and found more dragonflies that I’d ever seen in the area. They all seemed to be the same kind but they seemed to be everywhere I turned.

There was a flock of goldfinches using the riffles constructed during the stream restored as a bird bath! Hopefully there will be some new paths that provide some better views of this part of the stream after the stream restoration is stabilized; I didn’t want to wade through the tall grass and risk ticks (Lyme disease).

On the way back up the hill, I paused to photograph the maple tree within a tree. It’s a favorite spot to share with elementary school hiking groups.

Just as I got to the top of the hill, there was a horse nettle flower that had managed to not get mowed by growing very low…and after I got home I noticed a bug was in the picture too.

Volunteering at Wings of Fancy at Brookside Gardens V-X

In the training for volunteers at Brookside Gardens’ Wings of Fancy, they told us it would take about 10 shifts to feel comfortable with all the roles; I have that many now and have decided that it’s all about getting comfortable enough to accept the variability in the people that come to the exhibit and the environment (temperature, humidity) during the shifts. There has been something unique about each of my shifts so far…and I’ve enjoyed the 30 minutes I have walking around the gardens before each shift – taking pictures there and then locking my camera in a locker while I am busy with my shift. So – here are some images and notes from my July shifts at Wings of Fancy!

Before the 5^th shift, I noticed moisture on a very thorny plant and a small green insect (grasshopper?) that was decorating a yellow flower (also full of water droplets).

I walked toward the anniversary grove and saw a very trusting chipmunk. During the unique event of the shift inside the butterfly exhibit were owl caterpillars. They had hatched from eggs laid on a canna plant. They were so tiny compared to the butterfly they will eventually become!

The walk before the 6^th shift was frustrating. I only had my cell phone with me and there were so many insects that I saw but couldn’t photography well without the zoom of my camera. I did take a picture of the construction going at the Nature Center next door to the Brookside Gardens Conservatories. Inside the butterfly house there were mystery caterpillars! They had hatched from eggs laid on a plant in the basil family – not one that is normally deemed to be a host plant. But the caterpillars were growing like crazy eating it. They were thought to be tropical swallowtail caterpillars. One had already made a chrysalis.

I brought my camera to use on my walk before the 7^th shift. I took a couple of zoomed pictures of some flowers along the boardwalk between the conservatories and the nature center.

But best picture was of a very black dragonfly…a picture I would have missed if I’d only had my cell phone. Inside the caterpillar house there were still 3 cecropia moth caterpillars but they were all huge. It won’t be long before they will all be cocoons and we’ll need other stars for the caterpillar part of the exhibit.

I took even more insect pictures before the 8^th shift – all along the walk up to the ticket taking station to the butterfly exhibit. There were bees and skippers all over the cone flowers.

And a milkweed bug on some milkweed. The unique event of the shift was that the volunteer contingent was short the ticket taker so I moved from being a flight attendant to ticket taker. It was good to be outdoors for the shift but I prefer the flight attendant role.

Before the 9^th shift, I walked over to the anniversary grove and saw the chipmunk again. As I walked back toward the Conservatories, I saw a flower that was poised to unfurl

And a wasp exploring on a nearby plant.

I walked through the parking lot to check the boardwalk and found  Joe-Pye Weed before I got there….and it was full of butterflies. I took picture of two spice bush swallowtail butterflies. One was very battered and the other in better condition.

Inside the caterpillar house the new stars were Monarch and Queen caterpillars. They were too small to tell apart (without a magnifying glass – which we didn’t have). All the cecropia moths had made their cocoons.

The walk before the 10^th shift started at the Joe Pye Weed. There were at least 8 eastern tiger swallowtails on the plants! The ones with more blue around the bottom edge of the wings are females; the ones without blue are the males.

There are beginning to be some precursors to fall from the trees

Although there are still a lot of flowers full of pollen for bees (like this hibiscus).

The unique part of shift was the key lime plant was drawing tropical swallowtails to lay eggs. Many of the visitors not only got to see eggs already on the plant but butterflies in the act. As I was explaining what was happening to a group, a butterfly landing on my hand and laid an egg on my ring (a very confused butterfly, obviously)!

Previous posts re Volunteering at Wings of Fancy: prep, I, II-IV.

Adventures with CSA Veggies – July 2016

By the beginning of July, I was becoming overwhelmed with vegetables from our weekly medium share from Gorman Farms Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). I was not eating all the veggies each week in June and the crispers were never empty. I was thrilled to have guests right after the 4^th of July; I sent home all the excess with them – filling the ice chest they had brought for the purpose.

I have strategies to keep veggies for a little longer: basil in a glass of water on the counter and

Greens (like carrot tops) in bins that I save from salad greens purchased in the winter.

Now when I see the board, I’m already thinking about what I’ll make. I’ve enjoyed make dark red (chocolate) pudding with beets and zucchini (summer squash since I pick the other colors than dark green if given a choice) bread already. Something as simple as slices of cucumbers and turnips with hummus makes a great summer snack (or meal).

We haven’t gotten tomatoes yet (maybe next week), but I was in the mood for something tomato yesterday and made an excellent soup with leeks, potatoes, summer squash, basil and carrot tops….in a spicy ‘spaghetti’ sauce. Yum!

I still may have to shred some of the summer squash to freeze for fall and winter baking before I pick up next week’s share!

Prius Prime – Month 6 – Finally a road trip

I was filled with anticipation last week – ready to make my first road trip in the car: a 3.5 hour drive between my home and my daughter’s new apartment in State College, Pennsylvania.  The trip would push the miles on the car over the 2000 mark and use up the first tank of gas. I took some pictures of the sunflower on my deck before I left at about 6:30 AM.  The unpleasant surprise came about 30 minutes later as I was driving on I70 (at about 70 mph): a rear tire blew out! I managed to get the car off the side of the road and then pulled further off when I looked at the tire. The car does not have a spare and the tire was too damaged for the temporary repair kit to work at all. I called my husband and my insurance company (since towing is part of our policy). Aargh!

While I waited for my husband and the tow truck, I took pictures. I did not take any pictures of the flat (too upsetting); it was calming to take pictures of the roadside vegetation,

critters on the still intact tires, and

closeups of some flowers.

The car was towed to the dealership and the car was ready to drive again my mid-afternoon (paid for by an extra warranty we had purchased when we found out it had no spare). I decided to start out again the next morning; charging up the car again overnight. This time it was more like I expected. I left even earlier – at 5:30. My first rest stop was the South Mountain Welcome Center. There is one on both sides of I70 about an hour into the trip so planned to stop there coming and going.

The next stop was a Sunoco – not for gas yet; it was a rest stop. I did buy gas in State College even though, the car still had about 1/4 tank of gas left. I later calculated that the car got about 2060 miles on the first tank of gas…but maybe for plug in hybrids that is a meaningless metric. Most of my trips from home are short enough to be completed as an EV which is why I decided to buy the car in the first place.

A few days later I headed home and stopped at the South Midway rest area on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. I like it better than the other options. This road trip is one I will make frequently enough that it’s worth it to find places that are easy on/off the highway and open all the time.

I stopped at the South Mountain Welcome Center and

Noticed the rocks on the façade of the structure and the encouragement to venture off the highway. Maybe I do that next time. As I came down off South Mountain, I got the only bug splats of the trip on my windshield!

Previous posts: My new car – a Prius Prime, week 1, month 1, month 2, month 3, month 4

Hungry Cecropia Caterpillars

The Cecropia Moth Caterpillars in Brookside Gardens’ Wings of Fancy exhibit are very large and I can hear them eating when the area is quiet. They are eating cherry leaves in the Caterpillar House but evidently eat maple and birch leaves as well. They are native to our area; I saw one at Mt. Pleasant Farm back in September 2014.

The moths have one generation a year – overwintering as a cocoon. Like large moths, they don’t eat as adult so the adults live a very short time…laying as eggs. The caterpillars eat until they are large enough then make a cocoon.

The caterpillars at Brookside are provided with so much food that they are making cocoons in July! One got ‘ready’ while I was volunteering in the Caterpillar House. It became desperate to leave the food plant – crawling around the rim of the pot that the cherry branches were in and then falling off into the big tray below. The caterpillar was gently moved to a display cabinet where it made its cocoon on a branch. I didn’t see the making of the cocoon but the next day, it looked like a wad of wilting green leaves and few days later it was brownish. Hopefully the cocoon will overwinter and become a cecropia moth next spring!

Fireworks - July 2017

Our local fireworks are held the Saturday after the 4th of July...so we enjoyed them last Saturday. The parking lot of the building where my husband words is our preferred viewing location since it is a convenient 15 minutes from where we live and never over crowded; it has a large lawn where a second building will be built eventually. Families bring their camp chairs or blankets; children play with inflatable toys (this year it was sharks) or small flashlights as the sun goes down.

The fireworks are to the south and I always am challenged to keep the parking lot lights out of the pictures. About 10 minutes before the fireworks started there were some small red lights that went up and down near where the fireworks were going to be; we decided they were drones – maybe filming the main crowd gathered for the fireworks near Maple Lawn (Fulton, MD). I picked a few of my best images for the slideshow below. The fireworks lasted about 20 minutes and seemed more complex than in previous years – more structure to the explosions in terms of shapes and colors.

As I watched I thought how strange that we celebrate with fireworks when they duplicate sounds of war – loud explosions, ‘rocket’s red glare,’ and ‘bombs bursting in air.’ The fireworks displays are short but they leave their wafting remains in the air…and then they are gone. There is no rubble on the ground like from war.

Battered Orange Dead Leaf Butterfly

The orange dead leaf butterfly looks like its name. The one I saw at the Brookside Garden Wing of Fancy exhibit was missing part of one hindwing…not enough to keep it from flying but enough to show that butterflies can get battered looking in the weeks  that are the last stage of their lives. It probably takes more energy to fly as the wings become less symmetrical and with less surface area.

It’s the underside of the wings that look like a dead leaf.

The upper side of the wings has a bold stripe of yellow and a powder of blue that has an iridescence to it.

I was glad I could walk on three sides of where the butterfly was slowly opening and closing its wings to get the images.

A Butterfly Minute

Last weekend, my husband and I photographed the butterflies at Brookside Gardens Wings of Fancy…and I took a lot of photographs – just as I did back in May (post 1, post 2). Instead of posting a barrage of pictures, I am going to pick some favorites and feature one butterfly at a time. Today the featured butterfly is a Pipevine Swallowtail.

In my photographs – that were all taken in less than a minute – the underside of the wings, with the seven spots that are a distinguishing characteristic of the butterfly, are clearly visible.

This was a busy butterfly – visiting 5 flowerets in less than a minute!

The butterfly seems to be in constant motion….feeding quickly on the rich source of nectar it found. I don’t think it rolled up its proboscis between flowers.

It will rest later with its wings open…displaying their deep iridescent blue at the bottom and black at the top.

Nature Photography with Belmont Summer Camp – Part 2

The second group of campers were older…up to 12 years old. Their photoshoot was immediately after the younger group and we decided not to go down the tick infested trail. They wanted to go to the forest but we trekked made a loop into the formal gardens along the way. The sweet gum trees had green fruit (above) and some of the campers took pictures of newly forming pecans. In the formal gardens, there were insects (bees and several kinds of butterflies) to challenge photographic skills.

Everyone enjoyed taking water lily pictures in the pool that is a popular backdrop for weddings at Belmont. One of the gardeners talked to the campers about water lilies closing their blooms at night…and continuing to bloom through the summer…and taking out the underwater parts of the plants during winter to replant next spring.

Then it was off to the forest. The only picture I took was of a millipede…the campers kept me too busy to notice more.

On the hike back to the Nature Center, we stopped the male and female gingko trees near the Belmont caretaker house…and the female tree was loaded with fruit. Fortunately, they were not ripe yet – since I’ve heard they smell awful by the time they drop from the tree.

Nature Photography with Belmont Summer Camp – Part 1

This is my third summer to lead a summer camp nature photography session for the Howard County Conservancy’s Summer Camp. Every year is different. This year the weather was perfect on photo shoot day. I am illustrating this post with pictures I took – the children took many more than I did and pushed the abilities of the camera’s they were using to the brink. There were two groups of campers. The younger group was the first to head out and elected to go the fastest route to the woods. Almost everyone took a picture of the path into the trees.

Looking up I noticed some spider webs high in a tree.

I took one picture since none of the cameras the children were using had enough zoom…but quickly moved on to things they could take: the root end of a fallen tree,

A tree that had fallen across a small stream and was too rotten to use as a bridge, 

Curls of grass as we headed back to the meadow, and

Caterpillars.

As we were heading back to the Nature Center we realized that the path through the cut grass contained a lot of ticks. It was tick-check time as soon as we got back to the Nature Center!

Ten Little Celebrations – June 2017

As I look back over the month, I realize that there was a lot to celebrate.

Home. At the beginning of the month I had just returned home from helping my daughter move from Arizona to Pennsylvania. As usual – returning home was celebrated. I like to travel but coming home again always feels wonderful.

3 box turtles. I didn’t do a lot of hiking in June but was thrilled that it seemed like there were a lot of box turtles around…and I celebrated seeing so many. There were two along the path between Mt. Pleasant and the Patapsco River and the third was in the cemetery at Belmont.

Receiving the Carol Filipczak Award from Howard County Conservancy. Celebrating recognition for volunteering that is love.

Daughter on the east coast. Having my daughter living in the same time zone (rather than in Arizona) is something I am celebrating this month.

Kenilworth Gardens. Lotus, waterlilies, dragonflies, turtles, birds, magnolias…so much to celebrate.

Milkweed flowers. I had so many milkweeds come up in my front flowerbed that I had to cut some of them down….but I cut the globes of flowers first and enjoyed them in a stir fry (after boiling them twice to remove the toxins). Celebrating the taste of wild food!

Peach preserves. Not sure why – but I couldn’t resist it in the grocery store and I am celebrating the decision. I’ve spread it on toast and whisked it into a homemade salad dressing. Yum!

Volunteering at Wings of Fancy. Having butterflies flying around while I’m volunteering at Brookside Gardens…a constant celebration. So beautiful.

CSA. I’m celebrating the fresh veggies from the Gorman Farm Community Supported Agriculture. It’s easy to eat enough veggies when they taste so good!

Photography with summer campers. I am already celebrating the photography with summer campers that I’m doing for the 3^rd time this summer. I’m in the prep stages but am anticipating the flurry of having 15 or so campers (at one time…a total of 5 groups eventually) all enthusiastic about photographing the natural world around them is going to be one of the highlights of the summer.

Volunteering at Wings of Fancy at Brookside Gardens II-IV

I now have a total of 4 shifts volunteering at Brookside Gardens’ Wings of Fancy. I allow about 30 minutes before my 4 hour shift begins to walk around the gardens using my phone to take pictures. (I’m too busy during the shift itself to take any pictures at all.) I’ve never visited Brookside as frequently….and there is still something new to notice each time I am there. Before my second shift, I photographed the conservatory (note the door for staff and volunteers in front of the red car…almost surrounded by foliage),

A view through the tall deer fence into the Brookside Nature Center area,

A cat bird that was close enough to photograph with the phone, and

A cluster for flowers (yellow and pink surrounded by green).

The highpoints of the day included a group of 66 pre-schoolers at the butterfly exhibit. I was at the caterpillar station (which is before the entrance to the conservatory where the butterflies are flying about) when they came through with their chaperones (2 children per chaperone). I showed them the cecropia moth caterpillars (very large), told them to look at the butterflies with their eyes – not to touch, and sent them on to see the butterflies inside the conservatory. Later when I was at the exit station, a very confused butterfly was laying eggs on one of the metal stanchions that designates where to line up for the exit; there were quite a few elementary aged children (and some grandparents) that were there to see the drama too.

Before my third sift, it was sprinkling, but I walked a short distance out the pedestrian gate to take a picture of the plantings and sign at the gate of the gardens.

Then I walked down the gravel path of the anniversary grove (just inside the gate) and found some odd white blobs on a bald cypress. When I got home I did some research and discovered they are made by the Cypress Twig Gall Midge. It will kill the twig but the tree survives.

The highpoints of the day included: a wandering cecropia moth that was determined to leave the branch of black cherry leaves to make a cocoon (the caterpillar was put into a case with a branch where it made its cocoon) and seeing some tiny parasitoid wasps that had emerged from a chrysalis (rather than a butterfly). The containment precautions that are taken with the exhibit are not just for butterflies! Exotic parasitoids could be bad for our local environment too.

Before my fourth shift, I found some developing cones on a bald cypress (to compare with the Cypress Twig Gall that I saw the previous shift (and decided to check the galls each time I go to Brookside…see how they develop), and

Took several zoomed pictures of flowers that look ‘painterly.’

The highlights of the day included a group of Garden Bloggers and a fellow volunteer with Howard Country Conservancy visiting the exhibit with her family.

I’ve grouped the best of the rest of my pictures into themes: benches (aligned with a hedge, covered with lichen and crowded by flowers, and a butterfly bench in the shade.

Of course, there were flowers (and the seed pod of the Jack-in-the-Pulpit hiding under its leaves).

Insects (a bee in a hollyhock, a tiger swallowtail on a cone flower, a dragon fly on a bench, and a gold striped dragonfly…I wished from my better camera for that last one).

Pathways (to the azaleas, new boards in the walk between the Conservatory and the Nature Center, and gravel to the anniversary grove).

On the rainy morning, I got a picture of the metal butterflies without the blinding glare of the sun and savored the water collecting on leaves.

Previous post about Wing of Fancy Volunteering is here.

Belmont – June 2017

I was asked to lead a hike yesterday at Belmont Manor and History Park – part of the ‘third Saturday’ program for June. There was a component for pre-schoolers that was done in the Nature Center. The day before the event, I decided to take the trail I’d planned for the hike (make sure things were as I expected). Unfortunately – a path that is usually mowed through one of the fields was not so I had to change my plans for hiking to the stand of Bigleaf Magnolias. I took a close-up picture of a mullein in bloom before walking back to the Carriage House to decide on a new plan.

I walked down the path and into the woods like we do for pre-schoolers. There were some interesting insects

But most of the plants along the way are invasives: multi-flora rose (below), autumn olive, and wine berries.

I decided to play it by ear and let the group that showed up to hike make some choices about what they wanted to do. The staff filled the bird feeders near the nature center so there were plenty of house finches around to observe…and mockingbirds and starlings and red winged blackbirds.

It turned out the group on Saturday included younger children and a couple were wearing flip flops. We decided on an easy hike down to the pond and saw bluebirds and trees swallows on the nest boxes. The bluebird babies were visible through the opening in the box! We also saw dragonflies and red winged blackbirds. The children found several black and white feathers during our hike as well. The younger children and parents went back to the nature center after the hike to the pond and the hike continued up to the Belmont Cemetery. We walked around talking about the research that has been done and spotted a box turtle! It was probably the high point of the hike (other than the birds).

Volunteering at Wings of Fancy at Brookside Gardens I

My first experience volunteering at Brookside Gardens’ Wings of Fancy was earlier this week. It was a ‘trial by heat’ since it was a shift on a hot afternoon for 3+ hours. Before I left home, I collected things to take that would help be stay cool in the conservatory: water bottles with ice in the bottom, a mister, a hat, and a handkerchief. I took some peanuts for a snack. Everything went in a small bag with a penguin (a little psychology…thinking cool).

When I got there, I found a shady place to park (although it would not be shady there by the end of the shift) and took a short walk through the formal gardens. It was noticeably cooler in the shade…very hot in the sun and I was glad I had put sunscreen on before I left the car. I took some pictures quickly as I walked: a magnolia flower,

A pattern made of detritus on a pool of water,

The purple poppies past blooming,

An onion tangle,

A bit of blue in lots of green (and a shady place to stand),

And climbing roses.

Then the water came on. It brightened the colors of the rocks

And the plants in the rain garden area near the conservatory.

The butterfly sculptures marked the entrance to the exhibit.

I went in the staff/volunteer door, got my purple apron and other gear, and put my stuff in a locker. The shift started with a walk through of the stations and unique aspects of the day: slow because of the heat, a group had been due earlier but not arrived, etc. I started at the exit station and migrated to the discovery and caterpillar station (cecropia moth and Julia longwing). It was a slow afternoon with only about 15 people coming through the exhibit over 3 hours. There were times that there were no people at all in the exhibit….those times I wished we didn’t have a rule again cell phones and cameras while volunteering!

It was a good first experience although the next shifts I’ve signed up for are all in the morning. I now know that the two bottles with water frozen in the bottom (and can handlers to help them stay cool) which I fill at the water fountain just before going into the exhibit, will provide cool water for the entire shift and that the mister helps me handle the heat (misting around my neck and arms helps a lot). I also wet the handkerchief to cool ‘hot spots’ that I didn’t want to spray (like my face).

Prep for New Volunteer Gig – Wings of Fancy at Brookside Gardens

I’ve been preparing for a new volunteering experience for the past few weeks – to be a flight attendant or ticket taker for the Wings of Fancy (Butterfly exhibit) at Brookside Gardens. I’d noticed the call for volunteers as the first item on the Brookside web page back in May when I signed up for a photographers session in the exhibit; I talked to one of the volunteers during the session and decided that I would enjoy doing it too.

The process was not hard but more involved that I initially anticipated. The first part was online: signing up for training in the exhibit, filling out information to allow a background check (done now for volunteer jobs that interact with the public), and several e-learning modules about Brookside Gardens in general and then about the butterflies specifically. Last Thursday, I went to the training from 6:30-8:30 PM. It was an unusual time for me to be in the gardens and I got their early enough to take some pictures of the area near the conservatory (hence the pictures for this post). I'll probably take a few pictures before or after each shift - so will see a lot more of Brookside Gardens this summer.Horsetails

The two hours of onsite training were informative. Afterwards I felt like I do after most trainings before volunteering: knowing enough to be dangerous but not nearly as much as I will after I do it a few times. The gardens request 10 shifts (of 4 hours each) over the course of the season and told us that it may take as many as 8 shifts before volunteers truly feel ‘experienced’ in the role.

Stay tuned as I begin my journey as a Wings of Fancy Flight Attendant!

Hike from Mt. Pleasant to the Patapsco River – Part 2

Continuing from yesterday’s post….into the forest we go! The first stretch was down a tree covered slope with lots of leaf litter to a paved road that had a few houses at its end. We were just crossing the road. I paused long enough to take an upward picture of the canopy. We continued downhill to join a trail in Patapsco Valley State Park.

We saw two box turtles along the hike. The first one was in better shape than the second (note the elongated holes in the top of it). The growth rings on the scutes provide an estimate of the age of turtle; the first one is probably younger than the second one.

There were a lot of invasives carpeting the floor of the forest: wavy leaf basket grass with its crimped leaves and Japanese stiltgrass being the most numerous.

I celebrated when I saw native plants like jack-in-the-pulpits, mayapples or skunk cabbage…but there weren’t many of them. They are easily crowded out by the invasives.

We followed a stream down to the culvert under the railroad tracks that brings it to the Patapsco River.

Inside a small hollow log, a fishing spider waited patiently for its lunch.

There are many large sycamores. I took pictures of a leaf newly fallen into the stream and a new leaf on a low branch near the river. The trees are too large to try to photograph in their entirety!

We clamored up the railroad embankment and stood on two tracks to see the river below. There were horsetails (vascular plants that reproduce by spores) growing on the bank by the river.

We didn’t stay long at the river; the bank was too steep to climb down and no one wanted to stand on the active rail road track for long. We headed back uphill to Mt. Pleasant. The line of 30 people elongated as we all set our own pace – going silent in the steeper sections. The day had warmed. By the time I got up the hills, I’d finished the water I carried and headed into the nature center to get more!

Hiking from Mt. Pleasant to the Patapsco River – Part 1

Last weekend – before the higher temperatures came to our area – I joined a hike from Howard County Conservancy’s Mt. Pleasant Farm to the Patapsco River. I arrived early enough to take some pictures with my new camera…make sure the connection between the camera and phone was adding geotags. It worked! After the hike, I used Photoshop Elements to display my pictures on a map and thus the path of our hike (click on picture for larger image).

I took pictures of two places at Mt Pleasant prior to beginning the hike: the plants blooming in the garden near the blacksmith’s shop

And some bluet damselflies at the pool in the Honors Garden…and bright flowers nearby.

The first part of the hike was along a mowed path that eventually went through hay fields with high grasses on both sizes. I’d worn long pants tucked into my socks to avoid ticks but being on mowed paths is still a good idea.

There were signs of civilization in the distance – but it was surprising how quickly signs of civilization are blocked by other vegetation.

My favorite picture for the first half of the hike was this wild chive among the grasses.

There was a butterfly holding onto a swaying stalk – I only got the one angle so am not sure whether it is a spicebush butterfly or a black swallowtail. I like the way the light comes through the wing.

Just before we entered the forest – I turned back for a picture of the mowed grass trail we had just come down. The second half of the hike to the river would be through the forest…and shady. That will be the topic of tomorrow’s post.

Our Yard – June 2017

There were a lot of rainy days in May and June – so far – has been relatively cool here in Maryland. The plants seem to be thrilled. I’ve already trimmed the bush beside our garage and it already needs to be trimmed again. My husband parks his car on that side of the garage and is keen for me to do the job ASAP.

The milkweed in the front flowerbed looks great – and there don’t appear to be any more caterpillars on it. Pooh!

I might cut down the plants toward the front of the bed so that the ‘predator’ lights will be more visible to the deer. So far the gizmo has kept them from eating the day lily buds.

The trees are still getting a lot of new leaves. The new maple leaves start out tinged with red.

The tulip poplar leaves are miniature (somewhat streamlined) versions of the larger leaves. Most of the flowers are fading now and the seed mods are forming.

Our oak tree is trimmed up so high (it’s close to the street and the country trimmed it high enough that fire trucks would not be damaged if they needed to come down our street) that I decided to take a picture of a leave that had fallen. The tree has grown a lot since we moved into our house 20 years ago and I like the shade it provides to the front of the house on summer mornings.

Mt. Pleasant Nature Center Expansion

The construction is complete on the expansion of the Howard County Conservancy’s Mt. Pleasant Gudelsky Environmental Education Center. I was there last weekend for an event held on terrace (upper level in this picture). The Nature Center and offices is below.

The Nature Center can be partitioned or left as one larger area. The flow of the area will make handling school and summer camp groups so much easier.

There are several topic areas: honey bees,

Watersheds display and map with high schools and a few highways overlaid on the rivers of Howard County,

A forests corner,

And a display wall for critter tanks (and a column made from a tree trunk!).

The event on the terrace overlooked the Honors Garden – very green from the recent rain. I liked that the railings were made to contain even small children!

The areas around the building are recovering from the construction. The flower pot people are dressed for summer

And the plantings along the walks are blooming.

Road Trip from Tucson – Part 2

After a good night’s rest in Carrollton, Texas we headed out for two long days of driving to get to Laurel, Maryland. Our first stop was still in Texas: a Love’s in Mt. Vernon, Texas. We both got morning caffeine: coffee for my daughter and a soft drink for me.

The next stop was a McDonald’s in Hope, Arkansas. I remembered to send a text to my husband that we were on the road. We bought French Fries and Chicken Nuggets which I ate while driving. I eat the French fries first from the container on my lap. Then my daughter hands me my portion of the McNuggets.

The next stop was a McDonalds in Cotton Plant, Arkansas. We felt a little guilty because we didn’t buy anything; just used the facilities and continued our drive.

I was in the passenger seat when we were crossing the Mississippi River to Memphis so was able to take some pictures.

We stopped at a very understaffed Exxon travel station in Arlington Tennessee. I bought another soft drink to keep me going.

The only real rest stop of the day was in Benton County Tennessee.

We got to our stop for the night, an EconoLodge in Lebanon, Tennessee, and managed to park in the shade while we ate dinner (so the tarantula and spider stayed cool enough) and were back to the hotel about sunset.

We had a large breakfast so didn’t stop until lunch time (it came a little earlier because of the time zone change). It was a McDonalds but I got a salad this time. I drove while my daughter ate.

We made a stop at a Sheetz for gasoline…and another soft drink for me.

I started eating my lunch and then took some pictures of the greenery in eastern Tennessee throught the windshield.

The next stop was the only rest stop of the day – in Virginia. There was a dogwood near the building’s entrance with fading blooms.

We were close enough to home that we went for 3 hours without another stop. The car was power washed by some rain showers along the way. The road was drying by the time we got home. We staggered out of the car. The tarantula was out of it burrow and seemed glad the vibrations were finally stopping.

It was good to be home again!