Miscellaneous

Adiantum pedatum (Northern Maidenhair Fern)

Photograph taken on Thursday, May 08, 2025 by Henry
Adiantum pedatum (Northern Maidenhair Fern)

Adiantum pedatum (Northern Maidenhair Fern)

Years ago my dad planted this northern maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum) in his back yard. It had to be moved when the got air conditioning in their house and I took a large piece of it to our garden in Gaithersburg. I brought some of that with us when we moved to our current house and recently I divided it into five different pieces that are doing pretty well in various, more or less shady spots in the garden. I’m quite happy with it and plan to divide it again to spread it a bit more.

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Easter Sunrise Service

Photograph taken on Sunday, April 20, 2025 by Henry
Easter Sunrise Service

Easter Sunrise Service

Dorothy and I are big fans of Easter sunrise services. In particular, we have gone to the Fourth Presbyterian Church Easter sunrise service pretty regularly for quite a few years. I’ve been to a few others, including one at a little Moravian church in south central Virginia that was quite nice. Cathy isn’t quite as big a fan, liking the service well enough but not so fond of having to get up at 5:00 AM to get to the church by 6:00. Once we’re there, she enjoys it well enough. Some years it’s been quite cold. Last year, with an early Easter (March 31) it was in the low 40s. Two years ago is was right around freezing. Three years ago, however (April 17, 2022), it was very cold.

Between the sunrise service and the first ‘regular’ service we all went to the upper room for breakfast, which is a nice time to visit with folks that we don’t see often (since this isn’t our church). The 8:00 AM service is always nice, especially in terms of the music, singing familiar Easter hymns (except one where they unaccountably changed it up on us) and with an orchestra. The service ends with the choir and congregation singing George Frideric Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus, which after all these years I’m almost able to get through properly.

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Glow-In-The-Dark Puzzle

Photograph taken on Friday, March 21, 2025 by Henry
Glow-In-The-Dark Puzzle

Glow-In-The-Dark Puzzle

Glow-In-The-Dark Puzzle

Glow-In-The-Dark Puzzle

We’ve continued working on puzzles, doing those given to us by Donna, a family friend. They are mostly 500 piece puzzles and are fairly easy to put together but it’s something to do. We have a card table in our family room with a four foot square board on it. I added molding to the edge which reduces the number of pieces that get knocked onto the floor. It doesn’t prevent that completely and we finished one puzzle and found that a single piece was missing. We looked on the floor but didn’t find it. We left it there for a day or two and Cathy was on the floor stretching when she noticed the piece. I’m not sure how we missed it, but the rug we have seems to camouflage them very well.

While working on this puzzle we noticed that the surface of the pieces was a little rough. It wasn’t until we were done that we found out that it was a glow-in-the-dark puzzle. We put the boxes away while we’re working on them, to make them a little more challenging (and to avoid cheating). I set the camera up on a tripod and took pictures of it both with the lights on (the first image) and then with the lights off. The exposure was 30 seconds at f/4 at ISO 200.

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Great Falls, Virginia

Photograph taken on Saturday, March 01, 2025 by Henry
Great Falls, Virginia

Great Falls, Virginia

A week ago we had temperatures under 20°F but today it was a lovely day and we really wanted to get out. We decided to go to Great Falls on the Virginia side of the river (not that the falls are in Virginia, but we were). After stopping at the three overlooks (at one of which this photo was taken) we walked on the River Trail as far as Sandy Landing, returning to the visitor center by another route. There were quite a few people out and everyone was enjoying the spring-like day. At one point we heard a noise we couldn’t identify, it turned out to be frogs, chirping or croaking in chorus.

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Library Puzzle

Photograph taken on Monday, February 24, 2025 by Henry
Library Puzzle

Library Puzzle

Cathy brother Jim gave us this puzzle for ‘Second Christmas’ and we finished it yesterday. For a while we thought there was a piece missing but happily it turned up, having disguised itself on the rug under the table. This was a tricky puzzle, especially after we had finished the border and the red area behind the zebra, which was by far the easiest part. It’s also a puzzle where looking at the picture on the box would have made a big difference but of course we don’t do that.

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Snow

Photograph taken on Wednesday, February 12, 2025 by Henry
Snow

Snow

The last few years we haven’t really had much snow. I wouldn’t describe what we had the last couple days as a huge snowfall but comparatively it was a lot. This was out second snowfall of the year when we have gotten more than an inch, with about four inches on the ground this morning. It’s quite pretty and it wasn’t all that hard to clear the driveway or walk, so I didn’t mind it too much. Naturally mom called to tell me to hire a high school student to shovel so I wouldn’t have a heart attack. But actually, I enjoyed being out today. And it’s always nice being out in this when you know you can come back inside and get warm again when you’re done.

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Christmas Puzzle

Photograph taken on Tuesday, January 21, 2025 by Henry
Christmas Puzzle

Christmas Puzzle

One of my mom’s friends (whom I’ve known basically all my life) offered to give us a stack of puzzles. And by stack, I mean 35 or 40 of them. They are mostly 500 piece puzzles, which are a little easier then the 1,000 piece puzzles we normally do, but that’s not a problem. This is the first of those that we’ve done. In addition to the somewhat larger piece size, this one also had more unusual piece shapes, which for me makes a puzzle that much easier, because I look for pieces as much by shape as by the picture.

As you may or may not know, our family has this thing where we don’t look at the picture while we’re doing a puzzle. That makes it a little more challenging but it also gives us that much more satisfaction when we finish it.

This puzzle was missing a piece, as you can see about a third of the way up from the bottom a few ‘columns’ in from the left.

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Monet Water Lilies Puzzle

Photograph taken on Wednesday, January 15, 2025 by Henry
Monet Water Lilies Puzzle

Monet Water Lilies Puzzle

We finished this puzzle yesterday with help from Dorothy who came to spend the night after a day painting murals in Bethesda (with more to be done tomorrow). I don’t know if this is the hardest puzzle we’ve ever done but it’s certainly up there. As you can see, there are a few ares of pink but the blues and greens predominate and are scattered pretty widely throughout the image. Once we got the border done, we worked from the bottom up until we had about a third done. after that it got even harder, but eventually we got it done.

One other change on the puzzle front is that I added a rim to our puzzle table, which is a 4×4 foot sheet of MDF. I glued some molding material to the top along each edge. This helps prevent pieces from being pushed off the edge to be lost on the floor. It isn’t perfect, or foolproof, but it’s an improvement. Thanks to our friend Dave H. for the inspiration.

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Flower Valley Santa

Photograph taken on Sunday, December 22, 2024 by Henry
Flower Valley Santa

Flower Valley Santa

Santa made his way through Flower Valley this evening. Cathy was visiting her mom but I went out and enjoyed chatting with neighbors until he came. I also enjoyed watching the kids enjoying seeing Santa. I don’t know who, specifically, organized this anymore, but I think it’s a great tradition, eagerly anticipated by most families, or at least all those around us, who mostly have little kids. The parents use it as an excuse to get together and talk, so they like it, too.

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Iceland Puzzle

Photograph taken on Saturday, December 21, 2024 by Henry
Iceland Puzzle

Iceland Puzzle

We finished another puzzle in the last few days. This one wasn’t as difficult as some we’ve done, but of course they’re all challenging at some level. The sky, not surprisingly, was the hardest part of this one but the clouds certainly helped a lot. We don’t have any more on deck to do at this point, but don’t be surprised if someone gets one or two for Christmas. The mountain in this photo is called Kirkjufell (Church Mountain) and the waterfall is named Kirkjufellsfoss for the mountain behind it. It’s in western Iceland just west of the town of Grundarfjörður.

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Rock Creek Bridge

Photograph taken on Saturday, November 23, 2024 by Henry
Rock Creek Bridge

Rock Creek Bridge

We parked at the Kengla House parking lot this afternoon but instead of walking upstream as we usually do from there, we went under Muncaster Mill Road and walked downstream. This is Cathy coming out from under the bridge. If the water was much higher it would not have been easy to do, but we managed today. It was a cool, overcast and somewhat dreary day and I didn’t take a lot of photos. There were a few spots with interesting color, mostly red oak leaves or berries on the barberry bushes. We saw a few people and heard a few birds, but that was about all. We got as far as the trail up to the Meadowside Nature Center before turning back and returning to the car.

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C&O Canal

Photograph taken on Sunday, November 17, 2024 by Henry
C&O Canal, North of Great Falls

C&O Canal, North of Great Falls

We went to Great Falls today. We started by going out to the Olmsted Island overlook, as we usually do. The water was quite low. Nevertheless, I took quite a few pictures. When we returned to the towpath, we walked upstream to just above the aqueduct intake and then onto a trail down near the river. We walked that for about a mile before returning to the towpath where a large stream crossed out path. This shot is from around where we left the towpath. Down by the river I took a few pictures of geese but not a lot else.

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Puzzle: Van Gogh’s ‘Cafe Terrace at Night’

Photograph taken on Thursday, November 14, 2024 by Henry
Puzzle: Van Gogh's ‘Cafe Terrace at Night’

Puzzle: Van Gogh’s ‘Cafe Terrace at Night’

Our latest puzzle is one of Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘Cafe Terrace at Night’, a wonderful painting and a challenging puzzle. It was easier than some we’ve done but hard enough to occupy us for a while. Cathy was worried that we didn’t have any more after this but her birthday’s coming up so she’ll be fine in a few days.

We were at a friend’s house and he has a board that he made for puzzles that has a slight rim all the way around the edge, which is a good idea. Then he has another board that he can set on that so the table can be used as a table even if the puzzle isn’t finished. We have a card table with a 4′ by 4′ piece of MDF that works well, although the idea of adding a edge pieces is a good one. Maybe I’ll add that to ours. We have, on occasion, lost pieces off the edge of the board and they are sometimes hard to spot on the carpet.

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Croyden Creek

Photograph taken on Saturday, October 12, 2024 by Henry
Croyden Creek

Croyden Creek

We went for a walk on Croyden Creek today. It isn’t necessarily the prettiest time of the year, but it’s great to be outdoors. We’ve had a dry summer and had a particularly dry September, when we normally get a good bit of rain, so the creek is quite low and there’s a fair amount of brown everywhere. Of course by the second week of October, things are starting to turn brown most years, but this year more than usual, I think. Still, there’s a fair amount of green on the trees. We didn’t see any birds or other wildlife, but mostly it’s about being in the woods.

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Grand Tetons Puzzle

Photograph taken on Monday, September 30, 2024 by Henry
Grand Tetons Puzzle

Grand Tetons Puzzle

We’re back from Oregon, having had a really nice time. We enjoyed being with Brian and Lisa, we enjoyed the scenery in Central Oregon, and we enjoyed not being here. But of course it’s a vacation and it cannot go on for ever. Back home, we finally finished this puzzle. It’s a familiar scene if you’ve seen photos of the Tetons. The T. A. Moulton Barn, located in the southern part of Grand Teton National Park, is what remains of a homestead built by Thomas Moulton and his sons between 1912 and 1945 on what is called Mormon Row. I would really love to visit the Tetons at some point, whether or not we actually go to this barn.

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Valley Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi)

Photograph taken on Wednesday, September 25, 2024 by Henry
Valley Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi)

Valley Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi)

As mentioned in the previous post, Cathy and I drove up to and walked the Ray Atkeson trail today along Sparks Lake, northeast of Mt. Bechelor. We really enjoyed the walk, although at one point, fairly early in the walk, we came across this valley garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi). Cathy’s not a huge fan of snakes and although I tried to warn her, I had a hard time getting it out. She saw it, screamed and did a little dance. Although garter snakes have a mild venom in their saliva, which may be toxic to the amphibians and other small animals on which they prey, they are pretty harmless to humans. Also, they are not at all aggressive. This one let me get a few pictures before retreating into the rocks beside the trail.

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Crater Lake

Photograph taken on Saturday, September 14, 2024 by Henry
Henry and Cathy at Crater Lake

Henry and Cathy at Crater Lake

Crater Lake

Crater Lake


Crater Lake

Crater Lake

On the Saturday of our first weekend in central Oregon, we drove down to Crater Lake, about 85 miles (as the crow flies and about 100 miles by road) southsouthwest of Bend, where we were staying. When we got there, we found that the eastern half of the circling road was closed until 4:00 PM to motorized vehicles due to a bicycle event. We were told that we might not be able to find a parking spot, but “have a nice visit”.

As it turned out, we had a nice visit and found parking, although not at first. We found a spot on the western section of Rim Drive and walked on the Rim Trail. That’s where we got our first really good look at the crater and its lake. It’s also where the first two photos presented here were taken. The sun was to the southeast and there was a bit of glare on the lake surface, making it seem less blue that it did later, when we were on the south rim near the Crater Lake Lodge, from whence we could see it in all it’s blue splendor (as in the third photo).

The first twp of these photos are three-shot HDR images. The second and third are both composite panoramas, stitched together with Hugin – Panorama photo stitcher, which I cannot recommend enough. If you ever get the chance to visit Crater Lake, I seriously recommend it. We spent the better part of a day there, even driving part of the eastern half of the Rim Road after it opened. It was still closed between Skell Head and Phantom Ship Overlook for construction, so we were not able to drive all the way around.

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Harmonica Suitecase

Photograph taken on Saturday, September 07, 2024 by Henry
Harmonica Suitecase

Harmonica Suitecase

We went up to the National Apple Museum in Biglerville today for the Harvest Festival put on by The Hartley Residence. There were three groups playing, Chuck Darwin and the Knuckle Draggers, Dream Home, and Public Disco Porch. My grandfather played the harmonica and I always enjoyed his music so I chatted briefly with Billy Jones of Chuck Darwin after their set. This is his suitcase of harmonicas.

The three groups were very differenct, ranging from bluegrass to rock and roll with Hadley of Dream Home in between. I’m not sure how to categorize her music, but I plan to become more familiar with it via her two CDs.

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Cabin and Pond

Photograph taken on Monday, September 02, 2024 by Henry
Cabin and Pond

Cabin and Pond

We went up to Pennsylvania for Labor Day today. We drove and walked around a little at the Gettysburg Battlefield, first stopping at the visitor center and then going to the Peach Orchard. We met Dorothy at Presidents Coffee, getting there about the time she got off work. We went to Home Depot and bought lumber for porch railings and the stairs in the cabin and then went to the property. After unloading the lumber we took a walk through the woods to the big tree and back and this photo was taken then. We had a lovely dinner of salmon with Dorothy and her housemates before returning home late in the evening.

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American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)

Photograph taken on Sunday, August 25, 2024 by Henry
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)

American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)

We drove out to McKee-Beshers this afternoon. We didn’t get out there when the sunflowers were blooming but thought we might see birds on the seedheads. We didn’t see indigo buntings (Passerina cyanea), probably because they are migrating south. We did, hovever see a lot of American goldfinches (Spinus tristis), like the one pictured here. I got a photo of a blue-gray gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) and an eastern phoebe (Sayornis phoebe). At one area, where there are shallow ponds, we saw a green heron (Butorides virescens) and down by the river we saw a great blue heron (Ardea herodias).

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