Colorful Bracket Fungus

Photograph taken on Saturday, August 21, 2021 by Henry
Colorful Bracket Fungus

Colorful Bracket Fungus

Cathy and I took a walk in Meadowside Nature Center this evening. It wasn’t terribly hot this evening but it was very humid. I took pictures of a few different types of flowers including Vernonia (Iron Weed), Senna, Helenium (Sneezeweed), Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal Flower), and Eutrochium (Joe-pye Weed). We tried to identify the leaves that looked a little like a rue-related plant. They had small flowers but it wasn’t until we saw the seeds that we were able to identify it as tick-trefoil (Desmodium Species). This bracket fungus was on the side of a fallen log. I think it’s really beautiful.

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Dinner With Friends

Photograph taken on Wednesday, August 18, 2021 by Henry
Annie, Jonathan, Ian, Susie, Rob, and Dorothy

Annie, Jonathan, Ian, Susie, Rob, and Dorothy

Cathy had to work late this evening so sadly she was not available to be at the dinner Dorothy and I shared with Annie, Ian, Jonathan, Susie, and Rob. We met at the Cactus Cantina in northwest Washington and had a lovely time. We don’t get together often enough, but we don’t all live close together, so it’s not always convenient. This is a group that’s had a few major trips together, including to Phoenix, Arizona and even more impressive, to Venice and Florence, Italy. I don’t know that we’ll be able to top those trips, but we can always dream.

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Magnolia and Chamaecyparis

Photograph taken on Sunday, August 15, 2021 by Henry
Magnolia and Chamaecyparis

Magnolia and Chamaecyparis

After church today we went to Stadler Nursery in Laytonsville. We only bought one small plant but we enjoyed looking around. I think a little later in the year we will be back to buy a few shrubs, including a dark red leaved nine bark (Physocarpus opulifolius) and possibly a crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica). I photographed varieties of both that I’m interested in. As we were out in the large shrub and tree area, I took this photo of a Chamaecyparis (possibly C. obtusa, the hinoki cypress, but I didn’t actually make a note of it). I think the juxtaposition of the big, bold Magnolia grandiflora (southern magnolia) blossom with the more delicate foliage is really nice.

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Rainbow, Up Close

Photograph taken on Monday, August 09, 2021 by Henry
Rainbow, Up Close

Rainbow, Up Close

Generally you can only see rainbows when the sun is relatively low in the sky. To reflect and refract such that the arc of the rainbow is 42 degrees from the line from the sun to the observer. So, when the sun is high in the sky, the rainbow will be below the horizon. Generally that means you can’t see the rainbow because there’s not enough rain between you and the background. Sometimes you’ll see a rainbow against a distant mountain, but I think this is the closest I’ve ever seen one. It’s between us and the trees across the street. It wasn’t obvious at first, but after looking for it a little while, it became visible and I got a few pictures before the rain moved on a bit further and it was gone.

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Jim’s Visit

Photograph taken on Sunday, August 08, 2021 by Henry
Cathy, Dorothy, Henry, Jim, and Margaret

Cathy, Dorothy, Henry, Jim, and Margaret

Cathy’s brother Jim visited us for a long weekend and of course, before he left we had to take a group photo. We had a good time visiting some rural places and he and Cathy spent a lot of time going through pictures, papers, and other memorabilia from their family’s past. We went to the Agricultural Farm Park on Thursday, McKee-Beshers and Rocklands Farm Winery on Friday, and then Rockville Cemetery, Croyden Creek, and Redgate Park on Sunday. All in all, a very nice time.

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Backyard Bric-a-brac

Photograph taken on Saturday, August 07, 2021 by Henry
Backyard Bric-a-brac

Backyard Bric-a-brac

When we bought our house, the outside portion of our air conditioner was on the back patio. I’m not sure who would ever think that was a good idea. Someone who never sits on the patio, I guess. When we replaced the furnace and air conditioner, we had it moved to the end of the house so we could actually sit outside in the summer and hear each other talk. The concrete plinth that the unit used to sit on is still there and is a sort of stage for assorted bric-a-brac. Rocks, shells, bones, and antlers make up the bulk of the collection.

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Scolia dubia dubia (Two-spotted Scoliid Wasp)

Photograph taken on Friday, August 06, 2021 by Henry
Scolia dubia dubia (Two-spotted Scoliid Wasp)

Scolia dubia dubia (Two-spotted Scoliid Wasp)

From McKee-Beshers we went to Rocklands Farm. We were greeted by Janis who took us to her garden and gave us tomatoes and eggplants. I photographed these two-spotted scoliid wasps (Scolia dubia dubia) on the Eryngium in her garden. There were probably a dozen of them on the small plant with a lot of movement. There were a few other wasps but most were this very distinctive subspecies of blue-winged wasp. We bought burgers and Brussels sprout from the Boxcar Burgers truck and a bottle of wine from Rocklands and enjoyed a warm but beautiful evening sitting by the barn. A nice way to spend a summer evening.

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American Black Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)

Photograph taken on Friday, August 06, 2021 by Henry
American Black Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)

American Black Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)

From Sunflower Field #4 we went to the parking area for field #1. There are no sunflowers there, but close to the parking area are two shallow, artificial ponds. We walked about half way around one of them and enjoyed the diversity of plant and animal life. We mostly saw insects and a few birds in terms of fauna. Early afternoon, in the heat of the August sun is not the best time for wildlife viewing. But the mallows (probably Hibiscus moscheutos), cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) and especially the American black elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) were really nice. this is the fruit of the elderberry, ripe and ready to eat.

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Another Sunflower Photo

Photograph taken on Friday, August 06, 2021 by Henry
Sunflower

Sunflower

We decided to go see the sunflowers in the McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area again today. It was quite hot but really nice. I got photo of both male and female indigo buntings (Passerina cyanea), although neither of them is really great. Good enough to positively identify them, but that’s about all. I also photographed a great spangled fritillary (Speyeria cybele). Naturally, I took more photos of the sunflowers. Cathy and Jim’s mom stayed in the car with the doors open. She could see the flowers but it’s much too bumpy for the wheelchair.

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Diabrotica undecimpunctata (Spotted Cucumber Beetle)

Photograph taken on Thursday, August 05, 2021 by Henry
Diabrotica undecimpunctata (Spotted Cucumber Beetle)

Diabrotica undecimpunctata (Spotted Cucumber Beetle)

Cathy’s brother arrived from the Chicago area today and in the evening we all went to the Agricultural Farm Park. In the dahlia garden, we spotted this spotted cucumber beetle (Diabrotica undecimpunctata) on a beautiful magenta dahlia. It’s not peak season for the dahlias quite yet, but there are enough blooms to make it worth visiting, if you’re in the area. The demonstration garden ‘next door’ is in fine fettle and also worth walking through. It’s in a lot better shape this summer than last year, when I suspect getting people to work on it was a bit harder.

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Growing Fawns

Photograph taken on Wednesday, August 04, 2021 by Henry
Growing Fawns

Growing Fawns

A month ago (see Sunday, July 04, 2021) I had a photo of one of two fawns that were in our back yard. Exactly one month later, the fawns are still roaming the neighborhood and we saw them in our yard again. They were slightly more alarmed by my presence than they had been a month ago but I was still able to get fairly close to them before they took off. As you can see, they are still spotted but the spots are less well defined and obvious. We’re slightly amazed that they’ve lived this long, being so close to a busy road with all its traffic. It’s nice to see them, but then, of course, they’re here eating our garden, which isn’t so nice.

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Eurytides marcellus (Zebra Swallowtail)

Photograph taken on Sunday, August 01, 2021 by Henry
Eurytides marcellus (Zebra Swallowtail)

Eurytides marcellus (Zebra Swallowtail)

After spending a few hours at McKee-Beshers, we stopped at Rocklands Farm for a little while. It was closing soon and we didn’t stay long but I took a few pictures, including this zebra swallowtail Eurytides marcellus on Janis’ buddleia. I’m pretty sure this is the first of them that I’ve seen and definitely the first I’ve photographed. It’s really a striking butterfly, with the bright red on the underside of it’s wings. I was really happy to get this photo. As for the rain that had been coming down fairly heavily when we left home, the roads were drying up by the time we got out here and by the evening the sky was totally clear.

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Sunflowers at McKee-Beshers

Photograph taken on Sunday, August 01, 2021 by Henry
Cathy Amidst The Sunflowers

Cathy Amidst The Sunflowers

It started raining about mid-morning and we weren’t sure about going out but decided we’d go regardless. We drove to the McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area, which we’ve never visited before. They have four fields that they plant with sunflowers, although only two of them were planted this year. I don’t know if that’s normal or not. Sunflower area #4 was the more spectacular of the two (the weeds were taller than the sunflowers in field #2). We saw a few male (and a lot of female) indigo buntings in the field, which was really nice. There were also a lot of gold finches and cardinals on the flowers, as well as butterflies. We walked all the way around field #4 as well as near the ponds on the way to field #1. That field was planted with corn, but we actually enjoyed the ponds quite a bit, with their wildflowers, etc. Highly recommended.

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Eloise’s First Birthday Party

Photograph taken on Saturday, July 31, 2021 by Henry
Seth, Iris, Eloise, and Silas

Seth, Iris, Eloise, and Silas

We celebrated Eloise’s first birthday today with a family gathering. It’s been great to meet together in person again, finally. Eloise is walking, which is very exciting. I took quite a few pictures but I particularly like this family shot of Iris and Seth with their two little ones. Iris made a Very Hungry Caterpillar cake, a la Eric Carle’s book of the same name. The cake in this photo was the secondary cake, made especially so that Eloise could eat it with her hands. The primary cake is just out of the frame. A good time was, I believe, had by all. Certainly by us.

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Family Reunion

Photograph taken on Saturday, July 24, 2021 by Henry
Family Reunion

Family Reunion

We had our annual family reunion for the first time in two years. I don’t know if you noticed, but the last year was a bit out of the ordinary. You probably heard about it. It was on the news. Anyway, we didn’t meet last year but this year we did. We moved to an outdoor location. For me, this was more like old times, as this is the yard we often camped in when we visited back in the day. The weather cooperated, with lower than normal humidity and not as sweltering as it easily could have been. There were 51 people there in all, aged about 6 months to 90 years, and we managed to get a photo or two of the whole group. Thanks again to all those who put this together and especially to Lyn for all the work he did to give us such a nice place to gather.

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Papilio troilus (Spicebush Swallowtail)

Photograph taken on Friday, July 23, 2021 by Henry
Papilio troilus (Spicebush Swallowtail)

Papilio troilus (Spicebush Swallowtail)

This spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus) was making the rounds in our front garden today. It didn’t really stay still and was a challenge to photograph. The wings were going the whole time, even when it sort of landed on the flowers and it didn’t stay on any one flower for long. Getting a picture where it was in profile was hard and any time I got too close, it would move to the other side of the garden. They’re pretty butterflies and I love to see them in addition to the more common tiger swallowtails (Papilio glaucus).

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Tiger Lilies

Photograph taken on Wednesday, July 21, 2021 by Henry
Tiger Lilies

Tiger Lilies

The tiger lilies (Lilium lancifolium) are blooming. These were all descended from bulbils that we took from lilies growing at my parent’s house. We started with just a couple and the rest came from those. We have them in a few different places in the yard but this is the largest group of them. they stand over six feet tall and they are pretty noticeable. Each year the group gets just a little larger. Last year I collected seeds, as well, although we never did anything with them. I may scatter some on our property in Pennsylvania. They should do well there.

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Blackberries

Photograph taken on Sunday, July 18, 2021 by Henry
Blackberries

Blackberries

It’s been pretty warm the last few days. Yesterday was quite brutal and while this morning was a very pleasant, it warmed up a bit in the afternoon. After church we went to the Agricultural Farm Park and walked around a largish soybean field. Towards the far end of the field there were brambles growing with wild abandon and I took a few pictures of the berries. I’ve cut all sweets out of my diet and for now, I’m not eating even natural sugars, so that means no blackberries or raspberries for me. It’s a hard thing to walk past bushes of berries and just feast with mine eyes. But I restrained myself.

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Menkapalooza

Photograph taken on Saturday, July 17, 2021 by Henry
Menkis Works

Menkis Works

Menkis Works

Menkis Works

Little Cellar Shop

Little Cellar Shop

Little Cellar Shop

Little Cellar Shop

Sewn & Thrown

Sewn & Thrown

Sewn & Thrown

Sewn & Thrown

We visited the home of some friends today. Three of their four sons and the three sons’ wives had a craft sale today, which we dubbed the Menkapalooza. They each had a booth showing their wares, starting with Brian and Naomi. Their company is called Menkis Works and as you can see, they specialize in hand crafted pottery. Then comes the Little Cellar Shop, run by Jon and Meg. They specialize in handmade candles and carved wooden utensils, as well as various other items. Finally, there is Carol and Joseph with Sewn & Thrown. As the name implies, there are fabric good and ceramics.

All three couples make lovely things and we bought a few. I’m sure they’d love to have you drop in on their respective web sites, linked above. If you do, let them know you saw this here.

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Blackberry Lily and Tall Verbena

Photograph taken on Wednesday, July 14, 2021 by Henry
Blackberry Lily and Tall Verbena

Blackberry Lily and Tall Verbena

We have quite a few of these orange-flowered blackberry lilies (Iris domestica) around our garden. Most of them are seedlings from the first few that we planted. We brought those dew from our old house and they originally came from seeds we collected in South Carolina. In the circular hawthorn bed in our front yard, they compete with the tall verbena (Verbena bonariensis) for dominance. The lavender is done and the rosemary isn’t really tall enough to be seen. This rime of year, these two herbaceous perennials provide the lions share of the color. They are both visited by butterflies and other insects and we’ve seen a hummingbird there this summer.

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