Yard Work

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The grass was dry enough to mow by about 10…and the temperature was in the mid-70s, an occasional breeze. My husband started out with the mowing while I picked up twigs/small branches that had blown out of our oak and sycamore…to take back to the brush pile. I took the small amount of kitchen scraps we’d accumulated to go back to the compost pile; it included some spent flowers I’d purchased…and some that I’d brought in from our own garden.

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I decided to cut down some of the milkweed in our front flower bed. It is not beautiful…and I since I’ve discovered the meadow of milkweed near the neighborhood stormwater pond, I don’t need to have a huge amount. Last year I didn’t have a single Monarch caterpillar. After I’d cut some of the big stalks down, I discovered that there were a lot of day lily buds behind them. I hope that cutting the milkweed doesn’t make the buds more vulnerable to deer. I’ll cut the day lilies as soon as the bugs are large enough to open.

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There are lots of other buds over by the bird bath and they are very exposed. The deer are not intimidated about coming up that close to our front porch! They’ve been like that for the past 4-5 days…so hopefully the deer won’t find them for another week or so. At least one stalk may be mature enough to get cut in a day or so.

Under the deck there are two kinds of ferns that are doing well this year. I was surprised that there is a small holly there too. Holly is an understory tree but I’m not sure it will do well in the deep shade under our deck. I’m leaving it alone for now.

I had plenty of time to look things over because my husband didn’t turn the mower over to me until he got thirsty. I got 3 or 4 rounds in the backyard before he was back. I’m glad he is feeling better but miss the workout of mowing more of the yard.

Unique activities for yesterday:

The 2nd CSA share. So many good things for a summer salad. I used a small amount a few hours after I got home: red leaf lettuce, summer squash, turnip, radish, arugula – a little chicken for protein. The crispers are still very full. I’m in the mode of having a huge salad every day while we have the huge amount of greens!

Since we have 2 pounds of summer squash – I’m letting my husband choose between custard and muffins. That will be a morning project since I don’t want to use the oven on a hot afternoon. Our air conditioning is good…but why make it work harder. I like cooking first thing in the morning anyway.

Deck Drapery Project

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Our screened deck is on the west side of our house, so the afternoon sun has always been a challenge. We had two sets of rolled shades that lasted about 10 years each before they began to fall apart (we’ve been in the house about 25 years). This time we opted for indoor/outdoor drapery. The drapes we purchased are light green and have metal grommets for hanging. Our initial experiment was to see if the hooks already above the windows would hold them (and, if so, we would simply add a few more hooks to make sure the last gromet on each side would have a hook).

We hung two of the panels up just before a blustery thunderstorm came through. The drapes got wet, but they stayed on the hooks!

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So – our next step is to add the additional hooks and create some tiebacks to use when we don’t need the shade (there are already some hooks that were used to tie the pulls for the old rolled shades that can anchor the tie backs). Even on sunny days we’ll enjoy our deck in the afternoons (when it’s not too hot).

Unique activities for yesterday:

Sycamore leaves. There were thunderstorms and winds…..and then sycamore leaves on our deck. And down in the yard.

I arranged a size sequence of leaves to show how much the size varies. The leaves continue to grow larger as long as they are on the tree so as the season progresses there are more very large leaves. This year the tree is scraggly with the damage from the late frost in May. It still has lots of new leaves developing and – I hope – will look better as the season progresses.

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There were leaves on the stairs from the deck down to ground as well. Note the dark mass under the leaf on the right side of top step. It’s racoon poop!

I looked at the bird cam videos and the racoon visited early Sunday morning (6/21)…and left a ‘present.’ (Two views of what the bird cam captured are below). I think the racoon must come through the yard relatively often since I found 2 poop piles when we mowed the grass on the 13th.

Another color of day lily. The darker orange day lilies are beginning to bloom. Once the buds are developed enough to continue opening, I cut them…denying the deer a flowery treat.

Slideshow of Collected Images

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I enjoy browsing vintage books online (usually on Internet Archive) and gleaning images that I like from the old books. I created a slide show of some from this month – one from each source. The botanical prints are a continuing interest and I’m always pleasantly surprised when I find books of prints that I haven’t seen before. There are quite a few books about birds too. I mix in art and history books. Sometimes I realize that because the books are old…every image is a bit of history. When there is an image of a child, I realize that the individual is probably already buried; many are from a time that childhood was a dangerous time of life and some might not have survived to adulthood; others could have lived a very long time but would be improbably old by now. The image is just an instant of the past – unreal in the sense that is frozen. The depictions of places people lived and the things they were doing is also historical. There are 36 images in this show.

I have discovered that I like to take a break and just watch the images play from the folder I collect them in for myself (as many as I like from each volume). I use the Windows File Explorer – Picture Tools – Slide Show. Once it starts you can change the speed and shuffle/loop with a right mouse click.  It’s relaxing to look at interesting….often beautiful…images.

Unique activities for yesterday:

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Chairs and wagon on the deck. I enjoy my breakfast on the deck and listen to birdsong. There are a couple of items on the deck that we don’t use very much….they have been there for a long time without getting much use. The white chairs were purchased in 1984 – the year after we moved to the east coast….and have been moved with use from Virginia to our first house in Maryland and now to this one. My best memory of them is from shortly after we bought them, and my grandmother visited; we ate our lunch around a table on the patio sitting in the chairs – dogwood petals falling from the tree overhead.

The wagon is more recent…probably purchased in 1992. There was a trauma involving the wagon just as my daughter was learning to talk clearly. My mother was pulling her in the wagon down the slope of the driveway and my daughter fell out. She lay sprawled on the concrete and looked up and said, “Was that an accident or on purpose?” We moved it to our current house when my daughter was 5 years old…but I’m not sure we’ll move it again.

Black Squirrel

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We have lots for gray squirrels that come to our deck – trying to get seed from our feeder and water from the bird bath. Yesterday was the first time I’d seen a black squirrel there. Its the same species as the typical color squirrels. The black color means that both parents carried the recessive gene. I noticed that the pink color of the skin (ears, front paws, along the tail) was more noticeable because of the higher contrast with the fur color.

The first time I saw a black squirrel was in the mid-80s at Dumbarton Oaks. The tail looked scrawny and the squirrel seemed more aggressive. The tail on the one that came to our deck was about the same as the other squirrels around. It didn’t go all the way up to try it get seed out of the feeder but made a thorough search of the area below the feeder and got a drink at the bird bath before heading out. I wonder if we will see it again.

Unique activities for yesterday:

Rain in the bird baths. Rain showers came through – some quite heavy. But the sky was bright enough that I decided to photograph their impact on our birdbaths. The larger one among the day lilies just looked turbulent. The smaller one in the back was more interesting with the impacts of the rain drops on the water surface more defined.

Lots of cats. My daughter took a picture of this house in her neighborhood in Missouri as she took her daily walk. How many cats do you see? And they appear to be social distancing!

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Pinning the Day

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Does it matter what day it is? During this time while we are still not leaving home very often – there are fewer things that prompt us to keep track of which day it is. Some are self-imposed:

  • We do the laundry on Saturday. It is a habit not a requirement at all.

  • I do the grocery shopping on Thursday. Since I retired, that has been the day most of the time. It’s changed slightly now to every other week rather than weekly.

  • I call my parents on Tuesdays. My calls used to be ad hoc and sporadic…but I opted to set an item on my calendar to remind me as the pandemic stretched on.

Then there are the calendar items that are externally determined. These are the ones that are so reduced at this time.

  • The time slot for our CSA share is Wednesday afternoon…every week until the end of October.

  • The two-day Mid-Atlantic Climate Change Education Conference virtual sessions are 2 days later this month.

  • The Climate and Sustainability Webinars are every other week through the end of August.

And that is all that is on my calendar! There are the recycle (Wednesday) and trash (Friday) that prompt us to remember the day of the week; they are not on the calendar and, so far, we have remembered them. I guess that is an indicator that we are still syncing with the calendar – pinning the day – even as we have less interactions that demand that we do so.

In general, I think we are more focused on the present…enjoying whatever we are doing now and for the next few hours…savoring our time today rather than thinking about the weeks ahead. There is an appeal I haven’t experienced all that often in my life.

Unique activities for yesterday:

Watched Stonehenge’s Summer Solstice Livestream. English Heritage had a Facebook Live event from Stonehenge. The summer solstice is a big event at the stones each year, but the pandemic has forced its closure…so this was a great opportunity to see the event without traveling! There was thunder and birdsong…and the stones. I clipped a couple of images from the sunset as I watched. Hopefully they’ll make the video available for playback from their Facebook page.

Gleanings for Week Ending June 20, 2020

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article. Note: I am skewing toward the visual with the collection this week. There seemed to be a lot of them as I was looking through my feeds.

Mesmerizing Video Shows Swimming Feather Star  - A short video of a beautiful organism…aptly named.

Photographer Reveals the Beauty of Beetles Through Macro Photos – An intersection of science and art…a visual treat.

Woman Sets Up Backyard Bird Feeder Cam to Capture Feathered Friends – A more sophisticated bird cam that the one I have….it’s a kickstarter at this point.

Top 25 birds of the week: June 2020 - Wild Bird Revolution – Celebrating birds (there is another ‘top 25’ this week as well)!

Breathtaking Photos of the Milky Way Shining Above Bioluminescent Water – Awesome night landscapes.

Fisherman Finds Suspected Medieval Statue in Spanish Riverbed | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – Maybe with the faces removed? The story behind the statue still TBD.

Top 25 birds of the week: Birds in Flowers! - Wild Bird Revolution – Birds and flowers…probably my favorite group of  the ‘top 25.’

Molecules that reduce 'bad' gut bacteria reverse narrowing of arteries in animal study: Promoting a healthy gut microbiome may be a powerful strategy for lowering cholesterol and other heart attack risk factors -- ScienceDaily – Eating differently could help…but eventually we might take ‘medication’ that helps us reduce or eliminate the unhealthy gut bacteria even if we are not as mindful about what we eat.

Study Suggests Human Relatives Were Genetically Compatible - Archaeology Magazine – Using genetic distance values to predict that hybrid offspring of Neanderthal and Denisovan would have been health and fertile…and thus explaining why modern humans have traces of their DNA.

Travelling for pleasure: a brief history of tourism – A little history lesson of travel…..more of a virtual experience right now rather than planning to travel anytime soon.

Unique activities for yesterday:

Still life. The petals are falling off the bouquet that I bought at the grocery store over 2 weeks ago. I like the curves of the petals against the pattern of the scarf I have on the tabletop.

Eggs with garlic scape. One of my favorite ways to have eggs….and only available during the early weeks of the CSA. This ‘first time for the year’ was for lunch with some left-over corn muffins I made a few days ago. Dessert…a few hours later was the last of the strawberries I got at the CSA.

Just being in the outdoors. I ate breakfast and lunch out on the deck. It felt a little cool for breakfast – made worst by the very cold breakfast smoothie - and then warmer and muggy by lunchtime. This month I have been intentionally spending more time outside and broadening what I am doing there…it is not just about lawn work or hiking or nature photography…I am reading and interacting with the cat and writing blog posts (i.e. making the covered part of the deck a ‘room’ of our house). The point of it all is to just be outdoors. The only negative would be if I was allergic to something, but it seems that most of the pollen that bothers me is not around right now. All I am experiencing is the positive.

Neighborhood Pond

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Earlier this week I made a circuit of our neighborhood’s stormwater pond. I noticed the painted turtle on a rock just breaking the surface. The morning was still cool, and the turtle was warming up. It stayed were it was the whole time I was at the pond.

As I continued around the pond, the light changed enough to make the water look more interesting around the turtle. This was my artsy photo of the morning.

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A few years ago, the county cleaned out our pond and eventually replanted the slopes with vetch and clover (I am guessing…since there is a lot growing there now). The crew that maintains the area has finally decided to not mow the slopes as frequently, so we have flowers.

Another area they aren’t mowing has turned into a milkweed meadow.

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There were mating milkweed beetles on several plants close enough to the edge for me to photograph without being in the taller vegetation.

But – the highlight of the morning was a fledgling red-winged blackbird! I was hearing a lot of red-winged blackbird calls and had seen both males and females around the pond as I walked. A female flew up from some cattails and, when I looked more closely at the area she left, there was the fledgling. It is still mostly bald on its head and the tail feathers are very stumpy.

The female kept an eye on me from the cattails a little further around the pond.

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Unique activities for yesterday:

Wegmans shopping. Grocery shopping has become a bit more adventurous these days. This is my second time in the ‘new normal’ for grocery shopping. I’m not quite comfortable yet.

I printed out my list in the order I traverse the store rather than hand writing it like I did the first time; the scanning app the store provides really does need to incorporate a list function since switching in and out of the scan app and the Our Groceries app (that I use for my list) is too much flipping around on the phone.

Shopping every two weeks rather than each week is still a little challenging but I am sticking to the strategy. This time my cart was very full because the store had both toilet paper and paper towels – which it hadn’t the week before.

I am getting used to wearing a mask; it didn’t feel as strange as it did last time. However, the day was very humid, and my glasses fogged more frequently.

Overall – it was another good experience and right now I can’t think of anything I’ll be doing differently when I shop again in 2 weeks.

CSA Begins

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Our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) finally started this week. The cool weather in mid to late May slowed down the development of the items normally ready in the first weeks of June. I am so ready for the glut of fresh veggies! We sign up for the medium share which is always a bit overwhelming in the beginning. Last year I was traveling a lot in June and the freezer got filled up very rapidly. I did learn to prep and freeze leafy greens for use in smoothies….my favorite summer breakfast.

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The farmer has added signs to the side of the barn where the shares are distributed emphasizing the changes this year because of the pandemic. There were yellow markers sprayed on the gravel 6 feet apart so the line could space out appropriately. For the first day of the season, everything worked very smoothly – even for the two people in front of me in line who were new to the CSA this year.

The first share of the season included (from left to right):

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  • Butter lettuce – I had the outer two rounds of leaves in a salad almost immediately.

  • Radishes – I cleaned and froze the leaves to use in smoothies and had one radish in the salad with the butter lettuce

  • Garlic scapes – I will have these cooked with scrambled eggs or as a topping on chili or in a salad. These are one of the treats of getting veggies from the CSA.

  • Collards – I had a choice of kale, collards or chard and picked the collards because I already have some kale left from the grocery store and I like collards better than chard.

  • Strawberries – These will be gone very quickly…another treat of the first weeks of the CSA.

  • Red leaf lettuce – I could have gotten Romaine, but I opted for the more tender and colorful red-leaf.

  • Spinach – I was pleased it was in a bunch rather than having to weigh leaves -  always slow going. I cut the root end off the bunch and cleaned the leaves thoroughly before putting it into the same bag as the radish leaves….to use in smoothies in the upcoming week.

 That’s quite a pile of veggies!

Unique activities for yesterday:

Climate and Sustainability Webinars (via Zoom). The first one was yesterday and was focused on healthy soil. They continue every other week for the remainder of the summer. I’m looking forward to the upcoming topics: regenerative gardening, regenerative landscaping, what can the pandemic teach us about being (un)prepared for climate change and other global disasters, the power of individual choice and climate change is bad for your health. I am already way over the number of education hours needed to sustain my Master Naturalist certification for 2020 but these are too interesting to pass up!

Turkey Vulture. Just before the webinar started, I noticed a vulture swooping low over our yard…and then – Surprise!!!e - it landed on the roof of our covered deck. It seemed to be making eye contact with me through the window.   I see them frequently soaring over the landscape….but usually not at such close range! I took a picture zoomed a little then zoomed more to get more detail on the feet and head.

30 years ago – June 1990

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Thirty years ago – June was a busy month. I had rejoined the work force part time and my daughter was adjusting to day care very well. The high with her in June 1990 was her enjoyment of a small swimming pool. The first time was a little too cool for her, but she still liked being outdoors and in the water. The next time was warmer and even better.

The low with her was a trip to the hospital early one morning when she had croup. I held her in the vapor tent, and she got better…enough that they didn’t have to medicate her. There were evidently other children with the same problem that night. We were all very hungry for breakfast when we go home.

I picked 7 pounds of strawberries at a farm that is now a housing development. It only lasted a couple more years after 1990.

We had a chipmunk that came up to our deck. My mother-in-law put out seed for it. The baby and the cat were intrigued by the rodent’s antics.

We were on the wait-list for a senior living facility for my mother-in-law…hoping that she would get in before I went back to work full-time and she would be alone in the house too much of the time.

We were primed for a bit of travel in early July….a weekend away for a road trip.

Unique activities for yesterday:

More pictures from Texas. Since I had yard pictures from 2 of my 3 sisters, I asked the other sister for a picture and she sent more than one: sunflower, lantana, hibiscus….and a bunny!

Then she realized that there was more she wanted to share: lavender hibiscus, blue salvia, dusty miller, and red yucca.

Her yard probably has less grass as the years go by! She has quite a riot of color.

Grapevine Wreath

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When I was working in the front flower bed, I found a wild grapevine growing up through one of the bushes. It’s native but not growing in a place I could let it continue. I pulled it out but instead of carrying it back to the brush pile with the blackberry vines and grass and weeds….I kept it…thinking I would make a small wreath. I’d learned how in some class I had taken over 30 years ago; simply coil the vine and then twist until it holds the coil.

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I got busy with other things and didn’t remember my plan until the next day. It occurred to me that it would be its most flexible before it dried. When I examined it more closely, I realized that it had some small branches of the bush I had pulled it from; its tendrils were stronger than the twigs’ attachment to the bush. I untangled the twigs and then began the wreath making. I opted to make the wreath with the leaves intact – knowing they would dry up and be easily crumbled off before I would add a red bow or a sprig of holly next December. Of course – I might decide to put a red, white, and blue bow on it for the 4th of July.


Unique activities for yesterday:

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Pretty fly. It seems like every time I take a quick look at the front flower bed there are different bugs to photograph. This one was on the milkweed. I only got one picture before it flew away. The black lattice of the wings and the red of the eyes are quite striking. I used my usual technique: taking the picture with my cell phone as close as I could focus then clipping the part of the image I wanted to show with more magnification.

Fallen day lily. Sometimes the color deepens as the flower ages. The day lilies I brought inside are on the second round of flowers. The flowers start out a robust yellow and then are almost orange when they are ‘spent.’ This dried one is from the first round. It detached itself as the second round started.

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Cardinal nestlings. My sister sent me a picture from her house in Texas. The nest is in a boxwood by her front door! Now that we are all at home more, we have time to savor these natural events.

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Magnolia blooming. I love to photograph the big white magnolia flowers, but we don’t have a tree in our yard. My sister in Texas has one…and took a picture!

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Flowerbeds in the Morning – Part 2

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One of the advantages of cool mornings is that the small critters move a little more slowly – making them easier to photograph. It was in the mid-60s on the morning I went out to work in the front flower beds – and took a few minutes for some photography. The first insect I noticed was a small damselfly flying around and then landing on a day lily leaf. I sat there in the sun long enough for me to get a picture with my phone. I clipped the best part of the image.

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I used the same technique with the bee on the clover. The bee was working its way to all the tiny flowers.

The oak had a lacewing larva several years ago, so I always check the lichen for another; I didn’t fine one this time…. But there was a slug moving over a lichen patch.

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Later – after I finished most of my work, I noticed a fly on a milkweed leaf. It too was a little sluggish because of the temperature.

Overall – I was pleased with the photographic results – concentrating on taking focused pictures without using the digital zoom on the phone – then clipping the portion I wanted for macro viewing.

Unique activities for yesterday:

First Fawn. When I first went into my office about 6 AM – I saw a doe and fawn in our backyard….headed toward the forest. By the time I got the camera turned on and zoomed, they were at the forest edge. This was my first fawn sighting of the year. Last year we had a doe with 2 fawn that came through the yard frequently all through the summer. There don’t seem to be as many deer this year; the path into the forest is growing over with vegetation and my day lilies have not been eaten. It would be good if the deer population were trending lower – although I enjoy seeing them in the forest.

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New low weight for the year. I’m 7 pounds lower than my max weight for the year! I celebrated with dark chocolate for breakfast – of course.

Flowerbeds in the Morning – Part 1

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I was out early on a morning that started out in the 70s – to do a little work in the front flowerbeds. I got sidetracked by some of the vegetation and did some photography before I got any work done.

There are a few clover plants. I leave them although I am often tempted to eat them. Supposedly they are edible from root to blossom! I’m letting them go to seed and hope that they’ll grow amongst the day lilies again next year.

The wild strawberries have grown better than usual this year. They cover the area near the down spout from the gutter. They’ve even crowded out the mint that used to grow in that space….and the horse nettles are not growing there this year either.

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I did notice some black berry vines against the wall of the garage. They are wild and only produce tiny berries….and the thorns are bad. I pulled/cut them.

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I left the Virginia creeper climbing up to the brick for now. When it gets to the window level, I’ll cut it. It looks artsy at this point….in the mottled light.

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The milkweed is up but is late blooming this year because of the odd May temperatures. I haven’t seen any monarch butterflies yet this year or any evidence that the milkweed plants are being eaten by anything…not even aphids (yet). There are some with curled leaves which I’ll probably cut down in an effort to keep the rest of my milkweed patch healthy in the event that the Monarchs come and need the plant for egg laying/caterpillars.

But the best discovery of the morning was that the day lilies are blooming…and the deer have not even nibbled in the area (in previous years we’d be on our second wave of day lily leaves and the bud stalks would be chomped)! I cut two stalks with open flowers and large buds to take inside.

Tomorrow’s post will feature the small critters I discovered….and managed to photograph.

Unique activities for yesterday:

Mowing the yard – finding a baby oak.  The grass is growing fast with the combination of warmer temperatures and periodic rain. We waited a day or so since the last rain. The dew was dry by about 9:30 when we started. There is one place that stays wet in our backyard – where the extra water from our neighbor’s sump pump runs down the slope from their yard into ours. The grass is very lush there and – so far – seems to be thriving with the extra moisture and not too damaged by being mowed when it is wet. I noticed an oak seedling and pulled it out so I could photography it rather than mow over it. Part of the root did not come out of the ground, but the acorn did! If I were doing pre-school field trips, this would be an excellent specimen to share with the children.

Overall – my husband and I were mowing/working for about an hour. He did more of the mowing this time and I trimmed low hanging branches from the plum, maple, and tulip poplar. There is still one low branch on our cherry tree that I almost always manage to hit (with my head) and it is too large to cut without endangering the balance of the tree.

Gleanings for Week Ending 6/13/2020

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Why some older adults remember better than others -- ScienceDaily – The article seems to be more about the technology that enables these studies….hints at findings that may eventually be actionable.

The World’s Forests Are Getting Younger and Shorter, Research Finds - Yale E360 – This article is a little confusing. It says that ‘climate change is altering the age and structure of the world’s forests’….but it’s more than climate change. It’s also land use decisions (like logging , conversion to agriculture, introduction of invasive species) that have changed the forests. I was disappointed in the article although the last sentence seems obvious: “We as a human society are hitting these forests so rapidly with so many different changes that they can’t keep up.” Now the big question is – what are we going to do about it?

Remains of 60 Mammoths Discovered in Mexico | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – North of Mexico City.

Photographer Captures ISS Transiting the Sun in First Solar Photo Shoot – A challenge…requiring lots of planning, practice….and then success!

Top 25 birds of the week: LBBs - Wild Bird Revolution – Little brown birds…. they are everywhere.

Ancient Roman Mosaic Floor Unearthed Beneath Italian Vineyard | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – Finally returning to a site first discovered in 1922 and making this find within a week of starting excavations. The mosaic floor is well preserved a few meters below the vineyards surface and is thought to date from the 3rd century AD.

The Infant Gut Microbiome and Probiotics that Work | The Scientist Magazine®  - Evidently the infant microbiome has changed in the past 100 years…even among breastfed babies. And maybe that explains some of the immunologic problems in young children. There are indications that the probiotic helps babies nutritionally and immunologically.

Two bacteria allow spittlebugs to thrive on low-nutrient meals -- ScienceDaily – One of the bacteria uses aerobic glycolysis to process glucose to synthesize 7 essential amino acids plus 2 biproducts that the other bacteria uses to create ATP to produce 3 additional essential amino acids. It’s a similar two cell type process used by cancer cells.

An Encounter with Mating Gopher Snakes – Springtime out in nature…. this article from Idaho.

The gilded mummy of Lady Isaious | Egypt at the Manchester Museum – A Graeco-Roman Period mummy from the 1st century CE.

Unique activities for yesterday:

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A large Zentangle tile. I printed a page (on card stock) from The genera of the plants of the United States illustrated by figures and analyses from nature by Asa Gray and Isaac Sprague published in 1848 available from Internet Archive.

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Then I used the lotus as the ‘string’ for an 8.5x11 Zentangle tile. Like most strings….it mostly vanished. It took me about three days working for short periods of time to finish. Next time I’ll use more colors so that the botanical print ‘string’ remains more visible.

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

A Year Ago

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What a difference a year makes….

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Last June I made the road trip from MD/PA to MO twice (beginning and end of month) to help my daughter move to Springfield MO. On the first trip we were in one car and I was in the passenger seat when we drove into St. Louis…was able to take a picture.

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The only sightseeing we did that trip was to the Springfield Art Museum when the key to the house my daughter had rented would not open the door and we had to a few hours waiting for the landlord.

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The highlight of the drive leaving Springfield on that first trip was a luna moth at our first rest stop.

On the trip toward the end of the month, we took a break before the movers arrived to visit the Springfield Botanical Gardens….saw zebra swallowtails in their butterfly house and a clever Monarch butterfly life cycle playground.

This June I am not traveling at all because of the pandemic. I am also not volunteering. Last June – between the two road trips – I was volunteering with two organizations: Howard County Conservancy field trips (there was a particularly memorable session with preschoolers learning about trees) and Brookside Gardens in their Wings of Fancy exhibit.

I miss the traveling and volunteering but have so many things I enjoy doing at my house that I am not feeling the pinch as much as I thought I would by this point. I credit the forest view from my house and the pleasant company of my husband and cat too.

Unique activities for yesterday:

Browsing National Geographic magazines. I’m slowly working my way through the digitized versions on Internet Archive (issues from 2009 – 2013). They always have wonderful pictures. So far – I’ve been limiting myself to 1 or 2 per day…giving myself time to savor the stories in each one.

Cat on the deck. Our cat is an early riser but not as early as me. He can be loud if he wakes up and no one is about so I listen for meows when I am out on the deck in the early morning….and encourage him to come out with me rather than waking up my husband. The cat usually settles down for a nap even if the birds are active around the deck. He wakes up and does some grooming when I start moving around…ready to go inside. I took a picture of him as he finished. He doesn’t look like he was ready to move but he got up immediately when I headed for the door.

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The cat is 19 years old and has a cauliflower ear and is missing part of his jaw….still able to go up and down the stairs in our house although he chooses to not do it as frequently as he did years ago.

Sycamore in the Morning

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Unique activities for yesterday:

Sycamore in the morning. I was out on the deck before 6 AM. The temperature was already in the 70s and the sun had come up a few minutes before. It was the best time to be out since it was already humid, and the temperature was only going up. I ate my breakfast while enjoying the birds waking up in the forest. A squirrel came up near the bird feeder and looked through the screen at me – leaving again. Our cat was keeping me company. The sun came up enough that the top of the trees of the forest started catching the morning light. I took some pictures of the sycamore: the leaves that had blown off, the leaves damaged by low temperatures in May (or maybe something else), bouquets of perfect green leaves against the blue sky, Virginia Creeper growing up the twin trunks.

Window into the forest.  I was back in the house about 7 and happened to look out the kitchen window at the prefect time to see the sun stream into the interior of the forest – the red maple and tulip poplar and black walnut in the foreground. It happens for a few minutes every morning.

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A Zentangle Prompt

It’s tangler’s choice today. Instead of trying a new pattern – pick ones from the last week to make again – in a new combination or as a monotangle. Take your pick from: FAUX WEAVE, FEATHER FALL,  MEER, ROSCOE, SAND SWIRL, SAFFLOWER, SQUID, TRIADZ, GINGO, TUMBLEWEED, TWISTEE, and UNDLING.  Or maybe decide to take a break and just admire a mosaic of your tiles made over the past 6 days. Here is a mosaic of my tiles for the past week.

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

Blue Jay Photo Shoot

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Unique activities for yesterday:

Blue Jay photo shoot. I was in my office early and responded to a nearby blue jay call by grabbing my camera and going to the window. The bird was on the deck railing but on the move before I could get my camera turned on. It flew down to check the seed scattered under the feeder. Unsatisfied with that, the bird flew into the sycamore and started some great moves…quite the model bird. There were times I thought that he saw me through the window and treated me as an audience.

The temperature was still in 50s and the bird sported fluffed out breast feathers to provide more warmth. It is surprising how much fatter a bird can look when they are cold – all with a small reorientation of their feathers.

It all happened in just under 30 seconds. The bird flew off to the left.

A code orange air quality day. I spent an hour on the deck reading before the temperature climbed into the 70s (and kept going) …. already aware that there was an air quality alert for our area. I opted to not work in the yard. My husband took a walk in the neighborhood a little later and came back saying that it felt hot and humid even though the temperature was only about 75. We stayed indoors for the rest of the day. I wonder what caused the air quality issue. I heard pre-pandemic level traffic noise while I was out on our deck; our part of Maryland is in stage 2 of COVID-19 recovery as of last Friday at 5 PM. I’ve been at home since then so the traffic noise from outside my neighborhood is my first direct observation of the change.

A Zentangle Prompt

Experiment with the DIVA DANCE pattern in all its forms: waltz, foxtrot and rock ‘n roll! So many possibilities.

Here is a tile I made yesterday based on the prompt: Make a tile with TWISTEE and UNDLING

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

eBotanical Prints – May 2020

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

eBotanical Prints – May 2020

There are 16 new books this month. The volumes are all freely available on the Internet by clicking on the hyperlinked title. The whole list of 1,895 books can be accessed here. Sample images and links for the 16 new ones are provided below. (click on the sample image to see a larger view). Enjoy!

There’s quite a variety this month starting with 6 volumes of Florists Journal from the mid-1800s and 3 books that could be finished with watercolor paints (or Zentangles) from the later 1800s. Following that come two botany texts from the 1800s (the one with the color illustrations was published more than 40 years before the one with drawings)  and a book about trees with photographs of winter/summer versions of the same tree (this is a good book to learn the shapes of different kinds of trees with the oak being the ‘sample images’). Then there are two volumes by Hooker of northern British American plants and the last one with a sample image is plants from around Paris. The last volume for the month is a website and I included it because it is a current – and excellent – reference for the northern forest…lots of detailed illustrations.

Florists Journal V. 1-2 (1840-1841) * How and Parsons (publishers) * sample image * 1841

Florists Journal V. 3-4 (1842-1843) * How and Parsons (publishers) * sample image * 1843

Florists Journal V. 5-6 (1844-1845) * How and Parsons (publishers) * sample image * 1845

Florists Journal V. 7 (1846) * How and Parsons (publishers) * sample image * 1846

Florists Journal V. 8 (1847) * How and Parsons (publishers) * sample image * 1847

Florists Journal V. 9 (1848) * How and Parsons (publishers) * sample image * 1848

Jack-in-the-Pulpit (poem) * Whittier, John Greenleaf * sample image * 1883

Flower Designs * Bradford, Marcia A.  * sample image * 1882

Floral Birthday Book * Sharrad, Alice B. * sample image * 1888

Fourteen weeks in botany : being an illustrated flora * Wood, Alphonso; Steele, Joel Dorman * sample image * 1879

Bingley's practical introduction to botany * Bingley, William; Frost, John * sample image * 1831

Trees and their life histories * Groom, Percy; Irving, Henry (photographer) * sample image * 1908

Flora boreali americana, or, the botany of the northern parts of British America V1 * Hooker, William Jackson * sample image * 1829

Flora boreali americana, or, the botany of the northern parts of British America V2 * Hooker, William Jackson * sample image * 1829

Atlas de la Flore des environs de Paris * Cosson, Ernest; Germain de Saint-Pierre, Ernest * sample image * 1882

Woody Plants of the Northern Forest - A Digital Atlas * Jenkins, Jerry * 2019

Unique activities for yesterday:

Noting the sycamore recovery from May frost damage. There are small dead leaves on the tree but there are also green and growing leave of all sizes.

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Processing mint. I worked on the front flower beds pulling grass and cutting vines growing up through the bushes. I also cut a basket full of mint. It’s growing fast right now and the tender leaves are excellent additions to smoothies, salads, and tea. They smell so good! I rinsed the whole ball of leaves and stems, let it dry a bit, separated leaves from tougher stems and processed all those tender parts in the Ninja. Small pieces compress a lot. They are now in a gallon Ziploc in the freezer, pressed thin so that I can easily break the contents into whatever size I want.

Day lily buds. There are day lily buds coming up through the leaves. I was excited to see them. I’ll have the flowers to bring indoors soon. Maybe the milkweed that is in the same flower bed will hide the buds from the deer (in prior years, the deer had gotten most of the buds before they could bloom). I’ll cut the buds this year as soon as they’re big enough to bloom in water. There are also black-eyed susans amongst the day lilies and milkweed. Hopefully, they’ll provide flowers later this summer. The deer generally leave them alone

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A Zentangle Prompt

Make a tile with TWISTEE and UNDLING (feel free to add another pattern or two of your choice).

Here is a tile I made yesterday based on the prompt: GINGO and TUMBLEWEED

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Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts  here.

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

The New Normal – New Goals

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

The New Normal – New Goals

Many of the goals I’ve had for years still make sense –

  • Steps per day

  • Books per month

  • Mindfulness (meditation and Zentangle) every day

  • Weight control

  • Writing (words) per day

  • Giving back

But the way I achieve them might be different…the balance has shifted. For example – the steps are now all on my own instead of being part of hiking during volunteer gigs. I have increased my reading a little….it fills time that I might otherwise fill watching too much news. Mindfulness has shifted toward Zentangle – I think because I am trying new patterns…invigorated by the increased variety. My husband and I are changing our eating habits…what better time to do it than when we are at home for every meal; I’m not sure he is losing weight, but I am (slowly). I find myself writing about different topics these days because I am filling my days differently. The most substantial change in my goals – and one I am still struggling – is with giving back; my volunteer activities are gone right now (and probably until a vaccine is available) so I find myself paying more attention to financial donations – but it’s not the same.

Now – as we’re entering the 2nd phase of our ‘stay at home as much as possible’ – I’m thinking of new goals for this summer and into fall.

Maintain our vigilance re COVID-19 preventions: distance from other people, face mask, hand washing, no face touching…still at home as much as possible. We are getting out for groceries and CSA pickup….but still taking precautions.

Enjoy the covered deck to relax outdoors. I’ve always wanted to use our covered/screened deck more…but I haven’t. Now I have established a goal to be out there at least an hour every morning which I started on June 1. So far – it’s been nothing but positive. I choose the hour that is the best temperature and usually our cat joins me. Bird song and walls of green leaves…best hour of the day!

Do more for the yard than mow the grass. I learned to mow leaves last fall and have taken over mowing at least half the yard from my husband so far this summer. Now I am ramping up to do more clearing out of the flower beds and trimming of bushes and trees.

That’s enough for goals…if I am comfortably achieving all of them through the next month…I’ll add to the list later.

Unique activities for yesterday:

Getting to know my daughter’s cat virtually. I am in Maryland…my daughter is in Missouri…and that’s where the new cat in the family is. My daughter has been texting pictures to us. The cat was supervising the lawn mowers this morning. Even in a pandemic – grass mowing is something that must go on.

Tom Roberts paintings. A little art…a little history. Internet Archive has a 171 image slide show of his paintings. He was Australian and painted portraits, places, and activities of his time. The last category was probably my favorite….and is reflected in the sample images I’m including with this post.

A Zentangle Prompt

Two patterns today: GINGO and TUMBLEWEED. I like both these patterns (although I usually just use one of the tumbleweeds as a string rather than a ‘pile’ of them).

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Here is a tile I made yesterday based on the prompt: Three patterns for today’s tile: SAFFLOWER, SQUID, and TRIADZ. This was the first time I used SAFFLOWER patterns in a garland. They do very well for the border of the tile!

Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts  here.

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

The New Normal – Relationships

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

I try to put something new into every day…something that is not just routine…that stretches me in some way. It’s the best way I know to put a positive spin on being at home virtually all the time during the pandemic….and trying to stay resilient to the wave after wave of negative news. I am appalled by the racist behavior exhibited by police (and other parts of our government). All Americans need to take as stand against racism – particularly when it is in institutions that every American should be able to trust.

The New Normal - Relationships

Being at home for months changes relationships to other people.

There are no interactions with people like I had through my volunteer activities – leading hikes for school field trips at Howard County Conservancy, introducing visitors to the Touch Tank animals at Robinson Nature Center, and maintaining containment/assisting people that came to the Brookside Gardens Wings of Fancy exhibit. I enjoyed my conversation with fellow volunteers as well. Similar conversations happened when we attended birding festivals too. There is no replacement for those short duration, stimulating interactions. The partial substitute I’ve nurtured is watching a variety of videos of wide ranging topics (astrobiology, birding, zoo, Coursera lectures to name a few, and a virtual Cape May Spring Festival). The reason videos are only a substitute rather than a replacement is the one-way nature of watching a video; there is no interaction or relationship --- even if you are learning something new from watching the video.

Then there are the synchronous but virtual forms of relationships that allow real-time communications; phone calls and Zoom sessions are two examples. These are OK and they probably allow maintenance of long-standing relationships…but they aren’t the same as being in the same place and face to face. They are often more planned, not as frequent, and can be awkward.

The only face to face relationship maintained through the pandemic is with my husband. It’s a good thing we get along well! We have shared some projects, but we also have activities we enjoy on our own and our house is big enough for us to be ‘alone but not too alone.’

So – what is the new normal when it comes to relationships? It’s a work in progress. I am not keen on Zoom meetings. I do enjoy the more frequent phone conversations with family members. My husband, and I are probably doing more shared projects around the house than we did previously. I’ll be thrilled when we get a vaccine for COVID-19 and I can get back to my volunteer gigs. Travelling is something that we can look forward to as well.

Unique activities for yesterday:

SongSleuth app. Every morning that I sit outside, I realize I am hearing birds that I don’t recognize. When I came indoors today, I looked for an app that might help me identify more of the birds in our forest that don’t come to the feeder where we can easily see them. I opted to try SongSleuth. I’ve done a ‘test’ with a Carolina Wren (in the forest…and I knew what it was) to learn how to record something…select the clip…and then see what the app tells me. The app identified the bird! I’ll take my phone out with me tomorrow morning to see how well it works identifying birds whose songs I don’t know. By the time I go out in the field with the app…I need to be well versed in its use!

Gustave Caillebotte slide show. Internet archive has 258 images by this French painter. He was also a patron of the arts, particularly the Impressionists. The slide show has a brief biography under the panel that displays the paintings. I enjoyed the gardens and botanical images the most but his choice of subjects and perspective (buildings and city scenes, people on balconies…rowing….refinished a wood floor) were interesting too.

A Zentangle Prompt

Three patterns for today’s tile: SAFFLOWER, SQUID, and TRIADZ.

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Here is a tile I made yesterday based on the prompt: Make a two tangle tile today with ROSCOE and SAND SWIRL. SAND SWIRL is one of my favorite patterns. It’s easy and the result varies….emerges as the pattern is completed.

Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts  here.

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

Gleanings

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Gleanings for this week

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Volunteers Spot New Sites in Aerial Images of England - Archaeology Magazine – Volunteers and lidar scans…a productive combination!

Seven highlights from 70 years of the National Science Foundation - The Bridge: Connecting Science and Policy - AGU Blogosphere – Deepwater Horizon oil spill, public radio and television, ozone hole, strong curricula for introductory science, deep-sea exploration, student opportunities, and COVID-10 response. It seems like the list it too skewed to recent years.

We don’t need nearly as much protein as we consume - BBC Future – Another recommendation of getting nutrients from food rather that highly processed food or supplements….and moderation too. Skewing the diet toward protein at the expense of other nutrients is not healthy!

The Coolest Kingfishers from Six Continents – I’ve seen the first three! All three in south Texas and the Belted Kingfish elsewhere too.  Kingfishers are an easily recognized shape….heavy bill, bigger head relative to body…etc.

How Americans are coping with COVID-19 stress -- ScienceDaily – This report was prior to the additional stressor of George Floyd’s death….the racism of police evident in the videos of the event and the response to protests that seems too militarized. It seems like 2020 will be a pivot point in our nation’s history and how we all respond to the stressors of the year is important in the outcome. I hope that we can show the best of ourselves…our utmost caring for all people and our planet that is our home.

Ice Arch Persists Despite Warm Arctic – It won’t last long…the ice arch which prevents sea ice from drifting south generally breaks up in June or July. Last year it broke up in mid-April.

'New' Footage of Benjamin, the Last Tasmanian Tiger Ever Seen Alive | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – A 21-second video from 1935.

Top 25 birds of the week: Seabirds - Wild Bird Revolution – I’ve seen most the North American birds in these photographs….except for the puffins.

Babies know when you imitate them -- and like it -- ScienceDaily – Most parents probably realize this to some extent…but the research teases out more specifics about how babies respond to knowing they are being imitated.

The remarkable power of the prickly pear - BBC Future – Grown as a crop for food in arid areas and then using the waste left after the food is extracted to generate biofuel. Wish we had more processes like this.

Unique activities for yesterday:

Aftermath of thunderstorm. I did another early morning in the outdoors – noting the aftermath of the thunderstorm the night before. Both birdbaths had been filled by the rain. The one in front is surrounded by day lily leaves…I’m not sure how often it is used by birds, but I like the way it looks from our front door.

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The sycamore tree trunk still looked very wet. I had forgotten the Virginia creeper climbing up. There were a few sycamore leaves that were blown into the yard…but the wind must not have been too bad.

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The wetness of the leaves kept some of the maple leaves flipped over. It’s always surprising that the underside is so light in color.

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Finally, I noticed a dead bee just before I settled into my chair. It must have gotten into the screened part of the deck and not been able to escape.

The rest of my outdoor time I spent making a couple of Zentangle tiles….and listening to the birds.

Mint as a fresh veggie. Mint grows so easily and comes back year after year. My front flower bed has a lot of it…enough to use it for more than a garnish. I cut a handful of stems and strip the leaves – it is the leafy green in a smoothie with chocolate protein powder. Yummy!

A Zentangle Prompt

Make a two tangle tile today with ROSCOE and SAND SWIRL.

Here is a tile I made yesterday based on the prompt: Three patterns to combine in a tile today: FAUX WEAVE, FEATHER FALL, and MEER.

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Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts  here.

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.