House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)

Photograph taken on Sunday, June 12, 2022 by Henry
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)

House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)

After church Cathy and I went to the Agricultural History Farm Park and walked around a bit. We expected the shade garden to be past it’s prime and although it’s not at its peak, it was still quite nice. We were sitting on a bench and this little fellow (or lass) came and went a few times, bring things to his (or her) young in the nesting box. The Master Gardeners’ exhibition garden was also quite nice, coming into its own as the summer heats up. The dahlias are coming up, as well, and promise a wonderful display a bit later on.

We have wrens in our yard and generally have a pair raising two or more broods each spring in a ceramic nesting ‘box’ (it’s ceramic and spherical, so I hesitate to call it a box, but whatever). Some people get tired of these noisy little birds but we love them. We also have bluebirds in the neighborhood, although we see them in other people’s yards more than in our own.

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Rose ‘Dr. W. VanFleet‘

Photograph taken on Sunday, June 05, 2022 by Henry
Rose ‘Dr. W. VanFleet‘

Rose ‘Dr. W. VanFleet‘

A few years ago my cousin Lyn rooted a rose that’s been growing in his yard for many, many years. It grows and blooms prolifically and it’s become established on our back fence. We had a few flowers on it last year and more this year. Although it looks like ‘New Dawn‘ it only blooms once, so I’m guessing that it is ‘Dr. W. VanFleet‘, of which ‘New Dawn‘ is a repeat flowering sport. ‘New Dawn‘ has the distinction of having plant patent number 1 (October, 1931) and it shares with ‘Dr. W. VanFleet‘ very shiny, disease resistant foliage and lovely, pale pink flowers.

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Veterans Memorial Bridge, Columbia, Pennsylvania

Photograph taken on Saturday, June 04, 2022 by Henry
Veterans Memorial Bridge, Columbia, Pennsylvania

Veterans Memorial Bridge, Columbia, Pennsylvania

I’ve posted a photo of this bridge before, when we stopped for breakfast at Coffee and Cream on the way home from Lancaster in January (see: Monday, January 3, 2022). We liked this little place so decided to have breakfast here again on our way home from Lititz. I actually fixed myself breakfast before we left the AirBnB and we both had coffee there, so it was as much about stopping at a familiar place as anything else. Being here in June is a little different from January. There were more people about and some small boats out on the river, as well as the greenery on both banks.

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Carly and Jon

Photograph taken on Friday, June 03, 2022 by Henry
Carly and Jon

Carly and Jon

As mentioned in my previous post, we drove up to Lititz, Pennsylvania after work yesterday. This morning Rob, Cathy, and I went into Lititz proper and walked around a bit. Rob and Cathy bought a few things, including some Wilbur chocolate. My tastes are a little different and I bought some unusual meats from The Savory Gourmet. I got a pound each of camel and kangaroo. We’ll see. Not cheap, but also not something you see every day so worth a splurge.

The main event was at 3:00 and the wedding itself was lovely. The reception was at the Brick Gables, which appears to be a restored barn. We had hors d’oeuvre outside and then moved in for the actual reception. This photo, as you have probably guessed, is of Carly and Jon at the head table. After a few speeches and a little talking, we had a nice dinner. The bulk the reception was taken up with dancing, which was loud, as you might expect. I took quite a few photos and we had a nice time. By the time we got back to our BnB we were nicely tired and ready to sleep.

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Our AirBnB Outside Lititz

Photograph taken on Friday, June 03, 2022 by Henry
Our AirBnB Outside Lititz

Our AirBnB Outside Lititz

After work yesterday Cathy and I drove up to the AirBnB that Susie had found for us outside Lititz, Pennsylvania. We were all coming for Jon and Carly’s wedding this afternoon and (not terribly surprisingly) many hotels were mostly books up this time of year. This place was a real treat, though. It’s a short drive from downtown Lititz, very quiet and comfortable. We got in at about 8:00 PM last night and this is the view from the porch this morning. What a lovely place for a long weekend. Of course having such good friends for housemates made it all the better.

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Silas and Two Goats

Photograph taken on Monday, May 30, 2022 by Henry
Silas and Two Goats

Silas and Two Goats

We went up to Pennsylvania today along with the rest of the family. Some had gone up the day before and spent the night, which was nice although the youngest apparently woke up in the middle of the night and cried a bit, making sleep a little rough for the rest. It was a very hot day but always good to be there. Mom and I finished putting the new screen up on the porch and Dorothy did a good bit of weeding in the flower bed in front of the cabin. Other than that, we mostly just sat around, ate, and talked. Standard fare for a day at ‘the farm’. We walked over to our neighbors’ house to see their goats. There were a few young kids that could get through the fence quite easily and although we tried to keep them in, they’d simply come out again. I took advantage of the situation and took a few photographs, including this one of Silas with two goats.

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Hannah and Thea

Photograph taken on Sunday, May 29, 2022 by Henry
Hannah and Thea

Hannah and Thea

I went to the evening service with Dorothy today. Tommy had asked if I might come and take some photos during the dessert fellowship after the service. This is something they started in the summer of last year (or maybe the year before) and tonight was the kickoff for this summer. I took quite a few photos but many of them are of people I don’t know. I know these two, at least a little. They are Hannah and Thea. It was a lovely evening. The dessert provided was a wide variety of cupcakes. Apparently last year they kicked it off with ice cream and then, as fortune would have it, it was unseasonably cold and ice cream wasn’t as popular as it might have been. So, this year they didn’t take any chances with that. It would have been fine, as it turns out.

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Gotelli Conifer Collection

Photograph taken on Saturday, May 28, 2022 by Henry
Gotelli Conifer Collection, U. S. National Arboretum

Gotelli Conifer Collection, U. S. National Arboretum

I have always enjoyed the U. S. National Arboretum at New York Ave (US 50) and Bladensburg Rd (US 1) in Northeast Washington. Probably my second favorite parts, after the rose garden in bloom, is the Gotelli Conifer Collection. William Gotelli collected more than 1,500 plants from around the world for his South Orange, N.J. garden. He donated his collection to the Arboretum in 1962. I can attest to the fact that it has changed considerably over the years as the various plants have matured. I’m sure there have been losses, replacements, and additions. Nevertheless, it’s a testament to what one person can do if they have a passion. We often are too tired by the time we get to this part of the Arboretum, so I asked specifically if we could make that one of our stops this trip.

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Hosta Garden

Photograph taken on Tuesday, May 24, 2022 by Henry
Hosta Garden

Hosta Garden

This basin has been outside our front door since we moved here. Up until a couple weeks ago it has an hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Nana Gracilis’) in it. I recently took that out and put it in the ground out front and we reused the container for some small plants. As you can see, there are two varieties of miniature Hosta (one of them is ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ but I’m not sure what the other is), some mondo grass (Ophiopogon japonicus), and a few other things. I think the green malachite stones go very well with it.

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Patio Garden

Photograph taken on Saturday, May 21, 2022 by Henry
Patio Garden

Patio Garden

This is the corner of our patio, looking pretty good, if I say so myself. In the barrel is a David Austin rose called ‘Gabriel Oak’ that should have its first flush of blooms in the next week or two. In front of that is a Portland rose called ‘Rose de Rescht’ that I thought had died but which was hanging on. I repotted it and it seems to be thriving. I’m going to try to take better care of it, now. Both of these roses have really strong fragrance. In another half-barrel I planted another David Austin rose called ‘Lady of Shalott’ which is growing taller but with fewer buds, so far. Of course these are new and will be much better next year, but even in their first year, they should be nice. And they are supposed to repeat very well.

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Peony

Photograph taken on Wednesday, May 18, 2022 by Henry
Peony

Peony

Cathy and I went up to Seneca Creek State Park this evening to see the Schwartz Peony Garden. It’s perhaps not quite at peak as of today but there were plenty of blooms. There’s a bit of variety in peony flowers and lately I’ve been drawn to the simpler, single flowers, particularly the pale colors. Of course I also like some of the extremely dark and vibrant colors, so it’s not just one or the other. This one, especially in the light we saw it, really caught my eye. The petals look to me as though they were expertly fashioned out of porcelain. It’s just absolutely lovely. Lovely and fleeting.

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Flower Arrangement

Photograph taken on Monday, May 16, 2022 by Henry
Flower Arrangement

Flower Arrangement

Margaret had a visitor today who brought her this lovely flower arrangement. Writing this now over a month after the fact, the arrangement is gone, of course, but it lasted a surprisingly long time and was on the table next to Margaret for all that time. It was such a thoughtful thing to bring and of course, the visit was a blessing, as well. If anyone wants to visit her, don’t hesitate to give her a call. You don’t have to bring flowers, naturally, but we’re not going to turn them down if you do.

Sometimes Margaret will tell us to put them in the kitchen or dining room where we can see them but lately we’ve been ignoring her and leaving them in her room. They were brought for her, after all, and she really should get the benefit of them. We’re in that part of the year when things are blooming in the yard, so we’re not short of flowers ourselves, anyway. I have three new roses this year and the first of those is starting to bloom, which is really nice.

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Dorothy, Justin, Sara, and Cathy

Photograph taken on Saturday, May 14, 2022 by Henry
Dorothy, Justin, Sara, and Cathy

Dorothy, Justin, Sara, and Cathy

Washington Christian Academy was having a event today that combined a few events they’ve had separately in more normal years. In addition to the standard was the fact that this is WCA’s 60th anniversary year, so there were activities celebrating that fact. We were later getting there than we had planned because we stopped to put air in a partially flat tire of a semi-stranded motorist. We also didn’t really stay all that long, but it was sure good to see a few friends. Bill, the former headmaster, was there and seeing him and chatting briefly was a real treat. We also ran into Justin and Sara as we were about to leave, which is when this photo was taken.

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My Office

Photograph taken on Tuesday, May 10, 2022 by Henry
My Office

My Office

Like many folks whose work is mostly on a computer, starting in March of 2020 and for about a year I worked entirely from home. Then I started going back into the office a little. Since the beginning of the year I’ve been in more often but still generally only two days a week. If the situation were different at home I’d probably go in more, possibly even going back to full time in the office. Instead, I connect to up to three different workstations from my home computer, switching back and forth between them to get various things done. I’ve had two of them for a long time but the third I just recently got to do some benchmarking on. I won’t have that long term. Anyway. I took a picture of the set up, which also shows some of the photographs I have up on the walls. At the top is Nick Weber’s rose garden, then a nearly 360° panorama taken late in the day at White Sands, New Mexico. Below that is Great Falls of the Potomac.

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Phyciodes tharos (Pearl Crescent)

Photograph taken on Sunday, May 08, 2022 by Henry
Phyciodes tharos (Pearl Crescent)

Phyciodes tharos (Pearl Crescent)

Dorothy, Cathy, and I went to Great Falls today. The river was quite high and the bridges to Olmsted Island were closed but we enjoyed seeing the raging rapids anyway. We walked down the canal to widewater. There were more herons about that we’ve seen on a single outing any time we could remember. We saw a black snake, a few ducks and a family of geese. We saw a fairly large snapping turtle, as well. This butterfly, a pearl crescent (Phyciodes tharos) was on a leaf by the side of the tow path and I was able to get quite close before it flew off.

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Nerodia sipedon (Northern Watersnake)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, May 03, 2022 by Henry
Nerodia sipedon (Northern Watersnake)

Nerodia sipedon (Northern Watersnake)

A little further along Rock Creek from where we saw the azaleas in bloom, we happened to go down onto a stony area along the creek. Cathy was turning over rocks looking for interesting colors (and she’s hoping to find garnets). She turned over a rock that looked promising, started screaming, and ran past me jumping up and down. There was a snake under the rock, enjoying the residual warmth that the stone had collected during the warmer part of the day. This is a northern watersnake (Nerodia sipedon sipedon). Kind of cool, actually, but Cathy wasn’t convinced.

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Rhododendron periclymenoides (Pinxsterbloom Azalea)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, May 03, 2022 by Henry
Rhododendron periclymenoides (Pinxsterbloom Azalea)

Rhododendron periclymenoides (Pinxsterbloom Azalea)

After work Cathy and I went for a walk on the northwest branch of Rock Creek. The wild pinxsterbloom azaleas (Rhododendron periclymenoides) are in bloom. That’s what’s shown here. Unlike the Glenn Dale hybrid azaleas, which is what most people think of in terms of Azaleas, at least in our area, none of our native azaleas are evergreen. The flowers are also a bit different, but that’s not a bad thing, either. I think native as well as other non-evergreen azaleas should be used more than they are. I’ve got two Exbury azaleas and if I had more space, I’d have more.

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Carolyn and Paul

Photograph taken on Tuesday, May 03, 2022 by Henry
Carolyn and Paul

Carolyn and Paul

I visited Paul and Carolyn last June (see Wednesday, June 23, 2021) and Dorothy and I went to see them again this afternoon. It was a lovely visit, including having their eldest and youngest children (who are adults, of course) there with us. If you know the Ks then chances are you love the Ks. I know I certainly do. They mean so much to me and have meant a lot to a lot of folks over the years. Dorothy is now (quite a bit) older than I was when I first met them, which was back in 1974. We talked quite a bit about what Dorothy is doing and what her plans are for the future. It was a great time and something we should do more often.

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Dot, Steve, and Iris

Photograph taken on Sunday, May 01, 2022 by Henry
Dot, Steve, and Iris

Dot, Steve, and Iris

We had a family get together today, outside in the big tent that’s set up where mom lives. It was quite warm when we got there so it was nice to be in the shade of the tent. Then a storm rolled through and it came down in buckets so it was even nicer to be under cover. The little ones enjoyed getting wet in the rain. In this photo, Iris (right) is trying to convince Steve (center) that he should be a contestant on Survivor. As you might be able to tell from his expression, he’s not convinced. And Dot (left) is amused by the whole thing.

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Cathy Visits the Ponies

Photograph taken on Saturday, April 30, 2022 by Henry
Cathy Visits the Ponies

Cathy Visits the Ponies

One more post for today. After our wandering around the western part of the county and visit to Susanna Farm Nursery, we came back to where Dorothy was staying and took the dog for a longish walk. It was warm but really pretty out. There is an abandoned house at the back of the property and there were two black vultures in the upstairs and they weren’t happy when we came close. We didn’t go inside. After we got back, Cathy spent some time grooming a couple of the ponies. I enjoyed sitting on the porch and chatting with Dorothy. All in all, a very pleasant day.

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