Clematis

Photograph taken on Wednesday, May 05, 2021 by Henry
Clematis

Clematis

We took a walk in the neighborhood this evening and I took this photo of a clematis growing on a mailbox a few blocks over. Whether you pronounce it KLE-ma-tas or kle-MA-tas, it’s a pretty thing. We have a few of them but none are doing exceptionally well. One doesn’t get enough sun (it was there when we bought the house and we talk about moving it but so far it hasn’t happened). Another was overshadowed by a rose bush. The rose is gone now but the clematis needs a bit more support than it has.

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Shady Grove Steeple

Photograph taken on Sunday, May 02, 2021 by Henry
Shady Grove Steeple

Shady Grove Steeple

We started going to church in person today. We went twice last year, when the services were outdoors and with the weather being so nice, we started again today. We plan on making it a regular thing. Although we’ve become a bit accustomed to our stay-at-home Sunday routine, we felt we needed to get out with people a bit more. It was a lovely day and there were a pair of hawks circling the church for a while. I had my camera with me and after the service, I took a few pictures, mostly of the rhododendrons blooming in the woods to the south of the church. With the flowers in the shade and the steeple in the sun, it was a little tricky to get this picture, but I think it turned out pretty well. On the way home from church we stopped at Lake Needwood and I took more pictures of our native Piedmont or mountain azaleas (Rhododendron canescens) in the woods there.

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Glen With A Duckling

Photograph taken on Saturday, May 01, 2021 by Henry
Glen With A Duckling

Glen With A Duckling

It was duckling rental pick-up day where Dorothy works and we went out to help. Mostly I took pictures but I did help with the actual process for a bit. Cathy did more than I did. But having pictures is nice, of course. This is Luke, nephew of the farmer, and all around cute kid. He and his sister posed for me a few times with ducklings.

The weather was beautiful and we had a great time being out on the farm. It was well organized and went very smoothly, although the place got a little busier when the winery opened. We really enjoyed visiting with folks, especially Glen’s parents and grandparents, and while we were tired by the end of the day, it was a day well spent. Chick rental is coming up, followed by turkey rental. It’s amazing to see how much they grow in a week. Educational and fun. And the kids enjoy it, too!

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Columbine

Photograph taken on Friday, April 30, 2021 by Henry
Purple Columbine

Purple Columbine

This columbine (Aquilegia) is growing in a container just outside our front door. It’s a almost certainly a hybrid of some sort but I really don’t know anything about its parentage. It’s a pretty, pale purple color that looks especially nice in the shade. The purple goes very well with the bright yellow centers. Any time you can combine purple and yellow, it’s a winner. These are very hardy plants and grow in relatively poor conditions, which makes the ideal for a garden, especially in a shady spot.

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Josh, Julia, and Lupin

Photograph taken on Sunday, April 25, 2021 by Henry
Josh, Julia, and Lupin

Josh, Julia, and Lupin

We visited our friends, Josh and Julia today and met their new dog, Lupin. They’ve moved into a nice house and it was great to see them getting settled in. They also helped us with some furniture moving, which was really nice. We’re trying to get a few things moved out of a storage unit and they got a couple other guys and provided the muscle (to go along with my brains?). Seriously, it’s really a lot easier when you have more people. Coming up on their third anniversary (and it’s already past by the time I’m actually posting this). Happy new house, kids!

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Seneca Bluffs

Photograph taken on Sunday, April 18, 2021 by Henry
Seneca Bluffs

Seneca Bluffs

As mentioned in today’s earlier photo, we walked on the east side of Seneca Creek today, on the Seneca Greenway Trail from Seneca Road to a little ways past Berryville Road. Actually, we went off the main trail shortly after Berryville Road and walked along a smaller trail just beside the creek. That’s where the photo of Rob, Susie, and Cathy was taken and also where this photo of the Seneca Bluffs was taken. There is what appears to be a wier or the remains of a small dam across the creek a little below where this shot was taken. You can see the Canadian hemlocks on the bluff, which doesn’t look nearly as high as it did from the top.

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Bluebells with Rob and Susie

Photograph taken on Sunday, April 18, 2021 by Henry
Bluebells with Rob and Susie

Bluebells with Rob and Susie

We met up with our good friends, Rob and Susie today and went for about a three mile walk through the woods. We were heading towards where we knew there would be Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) and it was a lovely walk. We came upon a patch of yellow trout lilies (Erythronium americanum) as seen on Saturday, May 15, 2021. We had to walk further than I expected to get to the bluebells and we could have parked closer, but the walk through the woods was really nice, so it wasn’t a waste.

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Lavandula pinnata

Photograph taken on Saturday, April 17, 2021 by Henry
Lavandula pinnata

Lavandula pinnata

We met our newlywed friends Josh and Lizzie today for lunch. It was, we think, the first time we’ve eaten in a restaurant since the Covid lock down started. We sat outside and though it was a little cool, it was really nice to be able to sit and visit with them. On the way home we stopped at Fehr’s Nursery, mostly just to look around rather than to buy anything this time. I like this little lavender (Lavandula pinnata, sometimes called fern leaf lavender). It’s apparently a native to southern Madeira and the Canary Islands and I’m not sure how hardy it is, but it’s a pretty thing.

The lavender we have in our front garden, Lavandula stoechas ‘Anouk Supreme’, is starting to come back to life. I think we probably should have trimmed it before it started to grow, so it may not have as many blooms on it this year as it did last. It put on quite a show last year and I’d like to figure out the proper care so we can get that more regularly.

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Evening Light

Photograph taken on Thursday, April 15, 2021 by Henry
Evening Light

Evening Light

The hour or so just after sunrise and just before sunset are among the prettiest times of day. The light isn’t always special but when it is, it’s very special. Even a neighborhood scene like this, looking up the street from our house can be beautiful with the late afternoon light on the tops of the trees, turning them a wonderful orange green. This photo doesn’t really capture it completely but if you’ve seen it, then maybe it will be enough to remind you of what it’s like.

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Erythronium americanum (Yellow Trout-Lily)

Photograph taken on Sunday, April 11, 2021 by Henry
Erythronium americanum (Yellow Trout-Lily)

Erythronium americanum (Yellow Trout-Lily)

In our second attempt to reach Bluebell Island, we walked south on the Seneca Bluffs Trail from the parking area on Montevideo Road. Looking at the map, this comes close to the creek just below the island. We found, unfortunately, that when you get to that point, you’re on the top of the eponymous bluffs. We could have worked our way down to the creek but decided it wasn’t worth the effort. We could see that on the far bank of the creek the bluebells (Mertensia virginica) were blooming in great profusion. We saw other wildflowers and the hike was a success, in spite of the fact that we didn’t get to our planned destination. This yellow trout-lily (Erythronium americanum) is one of our prettiest spring flowers, photographed under some large Canadian hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis).

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Geum ‘Rustico Orange’

Photograph taken on Saturday, April 10, 2021 by Henry

Geum ‘Rustico Orange’

Geum ‘Rustico Orange’

Geum ‘Rustico Orange’

Cathy, Dorothy, and I went to Stadler’s and Johnson’s this morning and the girls bought a bunch of things. I mostly took pictures although I did buy one Santolina chamaecyparissus (lavender cotton) to put in a container. We’ve not had great success with Santolina in the ground because we don’t have good drainage but I thought it might do well in a pot. I like this little perennial and thought I’d share the picture, even though we didn’t actually buy it. There is a small garden at the entrance to our neighborhood and there are a few of these growing in that. They really catch the eye.

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Easter Eggs, Part 2

Photograph taken on Sunday, April 04, 2021 by Henry
Easter Eggs

Easter Eggs

As seen in the post from yesterday, Dorothy dyed Easter eggs using natural dyes. This is what they looked like after soaking in the dyes over night, being allowed to dry, and then being rubbed lightly with a little vegetable oil. The colors were really very intense. I especially like the blue, which came from boiled red cabbage leaves. The other colors were from beets (the red), turmeric (yellow), and onion skins (a mixture of red and yellow onions, producing brown).

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Easter

Photograph taken on Sunday, April 04, 2021 by Henry
Henry, Dorothy, and Cathy

Henry, Dorothy, and Cathy

We didn’t go to the sunrise service today but did go to the 11:00 outdoor service at Fourth Pres. It’s the first time Margaret has been to a morning service since the shutdown began back in March of last year, although she’s been to an evening service. Dorothy went to the sunrise service and then got there early to get us a good spot in the parking lot for the 11:00 service. It was a good service and we were all glad we went. When we got home, we took pictures in the front yard before going in. We don’t have a lot of good photos of the three of us, so I’m glad to have one more.

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Dyeing Easter Eggs

Photograph taken on Saturday, April 03, 2021 by Henry
Dyeing Easter Eggs

Dyeing Easter Eggs

I bought a dozen eggs specifically for Dorothy and Abba to dye for Easter this evening. Dorothy wanted to try using natural dyes. She used onion skins (a mix of yellow and red onions) to make a brown color, beets to make red, red cabbage to make a surprisingly blue color, and turmeric to make yellow. They turned out quite well. Here you can see two of them, the turmeric and the onion skin dyes. She left the eggs in them overnight and when they came out, they looked amazing. When the dried they lost some of their intensity so she rubbed them with a very light coating of vegetable oil, which made them look remarkable again.

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Black Snake

Photograph taken on Saturday, April 03, 2021 by Henry
Black Snake

Black Snake

Cathy, Dorothy, Abba, and I went for a bit of a hike this afternoon. We want to walk to a place we call Bluebell Island, although it doesn’t actually have a name. It’s an island and it’s covered with Virginia bluebells, though, so the name seems fitting. The trail we took was quite overgrown, though, with roses, briars, and all sorts of other things. We had brought clippers but between the weeds and the wet, we eventually gave up. We came back by a slightly different route and were just coming out of the woods when we happened to come across this black snake. I’ve never seen this before, but he ‘rattled’ his tail as though he were a rattlesnake. Apparently that’s something they do sometimes. It was a bit freaky. Dorothy and I especially enjoyed Cathy and Abba’s reactions. Let’s just say that they were not big fans.

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Daffodils

Photograph taken on Friday, April 02, 2021 by Henry
Daffodils

Daffodils

Cathy, Dorothy, and I went up to Pennsylvania today to do a bit of work in the front yard. There is a small garden bed along the front of the cabin and it had become very overgrown. At the work day on March 13 we cut the small trees that were growing in it but today I dug up the roots of some of them. It was hard work and made a little harder because I wanted to avoid killing the peonies, irises, and lilies that were starting to come up among them. I didn’t take many pictures on this visit but I did take a few of the daffodils growing on the dam.

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Chionodoxa forbesii

Photograph taken on Saturday, March 27, 2021 by Henry
Chionodoxa forbesii

Chionodoxa forbesii

It’s been more than a couple years since I planted any new bulbs but of course, one of the beauties of bulbs is that they come up pretty reliably every year. Tulips aren’t that long lived, but daffodils and some of the smaller, more ephemeral blooms will likely be coming up long after I’m gone. This is one of my very favorite blooms, Chionodoxa forbesii, also known as glory of the snow. I like the fact that it blooms so early but I think my favorite thing about it is the amazing blue color. I really need to plant more of this.

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Ficaria verna

Photograph taken on Sunday, March 21, 2021 by Henry
Ficaria verna

Ficaria verna

Dorothy, Cathy, and I walked on the Seneca Greenway Trail this afternoon, parking where MD 28 crosses Seneca Creek and walking downstream. We only saw a few other people and it was a very pleasant walk. It’s relatively flat, with only a few ups and downs to deal with. The birds were out in force and we heard them all around, although we weren’t stopping to see them so much and didn’t really get very close to any. I did stop to take a few photos, including of this fig buttercup, also known as lesser celandine. It was formerly classified as Ranunculus ficaria but is now Ficaria verna. It’s an invasive, non-native species that grows in many of our wetlands.

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Meadowside Spring

Photograph taken on Sunday, March 14, 2021 by Henry
Meadowside Spring

Meadowside Spring

Cathy and I went for a walk near Meadowside Nature Center this afternoon, heading upstream on North Branch Rock Creek. On the west side of the creek, back into the hillside a little, is this spring. I have no idea how long it’s been enclosed in stone but it has the look of something done quite a few years ago. For all we know, it predates the nature center and was built when there were homes or farms along the creek. There wasn’t a lot of water coming out but there was some, possibly enough for a small home if you work it right.

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Pennsylvania Work Day

Photograph taken on Saturday, March 13, 2021 by Henry
Elizabeth Wielding The Chainsaw

Elizabeth Wielding The Chainsaw

We had our first official work day at the farm today. There were twenty people there in all. That including two pre-teenagers, although they definitely did their fair share of work. I think people generally had a good time and we got a good amount done. Clearing the inside face of the dam was something that way way overdue and Ted’s crew handled that with the help of the new Stihl pole saw. My crew worked in the overgrown orchard. It’s been so long without being cleared that it’s not even obvious which trees should be there and which are weeds. That will be easier once the leaves are out. We made a really good start, cutting huge multiflora roses and other small shrubs and some trees that I was sure about. Meanwhile, Dorothy’s crew worked in the cabin and did an amazing job cleaning, especially upstairs.

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