Monthly Archives: June 2017

The Kids Are ‘Helping’

The Kids Are 'Helping'

The Kids Are ‘Helping’

Actually, after church these kids do help put things away. They put all the Sunday School and Nursery things back into the bins, they load those bins onto carts and bring them all to the storage area, where they get stacked (that part is generally done by an adult). Meanwhile, other things (generally larger, heavier, and more delicate things) are being put away, like the sound equipment. Some of the older kids help with that, as well, putting the music and microphone stands into the carrying bag. All in all, it’s a pretty well run process (as long as no one is away that week).

Today, after everything was put away, someone (and I don’t know who) decided to give the kids a ride. They came into the room and I told them to wait while I got my camera and took a few quick pictures. I also took some pictures of clematis blooming outside, but pictures of flowers are a dime a dozen.

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Ralph and Kai

Ralph and Kai

Ralph and Kai

We went up to the Farm today and everyone was there, which was great. I took what some might consider a lot of pictures and baby Kai was in his fair share of them. There are a bunch of Kai with grandpa Ralph and that’s what we have here. It isn’t the best angle for seeing their faces but if I went to one side or the other I’d get the back of one head. I got a bunch that I think are good but decided to go with this one, which I like pretty well.

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Kristine, Cathy, and Brandon

Kristine, Cathy, and Brandon

Kristine, Cathy, and Brandon

Look who we had breakfast with this morning! If you know who these people are, then I suspect you’re jealous. If you don’t know who they are then you want to. Well, you may not know that you want to but you do.

It’s hard to believe how much Brandon has grown since we saw him last, which was about two years ago (two days short of two years, to be precise). He was very good to sit with us as we talked with his mom for over an hour (closer to two). We did talk to him a little and when I asked what his favorite classes are in school he said math, science, and history. Actually, he named all his classes except English. And he likes to read, so that’s not so far behind. When I asked what he likes to read, he said fiction and non-fiction. Well, that just about covers it.

Kristine caught us up on the goings on with Brandon’s four older sisters. Never a dull moment for Kristine and Bill. Sorry, Bill, that it’s been so long since we’ve seen you. We’d love to have breakfast with you, if you ever came to town. Just let us know. And of course we caught Kristine up on what’s happening with us. We could have talked for hours more but I did have to get to work (what a hassle!). Maybe Cathy and I can go visit them sometime, before too long.

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Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

As I drove into the parking lot at work this morning I saw out of the corner of my eye that there was a heron on the pond between my building and the rest of the campus. Before I went inside, then, I decided to see if I could get a picture or two. I happened to have my 75-300mm lens this morning, so I was able to get a few reasonable shots. It let me take them, continuing to fish for a little while (I even got pictures of it with a fish in its beak). Then if flew away and I was able to snap one picture as it headed off. It is not as sharp as I’d like and I’d prefer a background that is more different to the color of the bird, but I’m fairly pleased with the composition overall.

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Lobularia maritima (Sweet Alyssum)

Lobularia maritima (Sweet Alyssum)

Lobularia maritima (Sweet Alyssum)

As I’ve mentioned, Cathy bought a bunch of annuals to go in containers and in a few locations around the house. One that she often gets is sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima), a pretty little thing with masses of small (7 or 8mm) flowers. This variety has a purple tint and it really lovely. I think they are particularly nice up close. On the other hand, I think a lot of things are interesting up close, which is why a significant proportion of my photography is of small things, viewed up close. Anyway, I hope you enjoy these little flowers.

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Tulip Poplar Leaf

Tulip Poplar Leaf

Tulip Poplar Leaf

I went out into the woods next to my building today. There wasn’t a lot that I decided to photograph. Mostly I took pictures of the sun shining through leaves. I love leaves (and I’m frond of ferns) and especially like looking at them with light shining through them. This is a leaf of a tulip poplar, or tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) and it has large leaves of a unique and easily distinguished shape. While you can easily identify dogwood by its bark, the tulip tree is identified by its leaves.

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Tanacetum parthenium (Feverfew)

<em>Tanacetum parthenium</em> (Feverfew)

Tanacetum parthenium (Feverfew)

This comes up all around our yard. It isn’t so invasive that it cannot be kept under control by judicious pulling and it certainly adds a bit of interest during a time when there isn’t a huge amount in bloom. The early spring flowers are done and the summer flowers haven’t really gotten going yet. There are Asiatic lilies blooming and the day lilies will be starting pretty soon. The Verbena bonariensis has started but the black-eyed Susans are still a good way off. Feverfew doesn’t have the most striking flowers around but they are certainly pretty enough. And there are plenty of them.

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Skipper on Coreopsis

Skipper on Coreopsis

Skipper on Coreopsis

I sat on the patio for a while this afternoon, just enjoying being in the sun. It was actually a little hot for my taste, but still nice for all of that. Also, the light is better for macro photography in the sun, when you want as much depth of field and as fast a shutter speed as possible. I was watching the insects around the potted flowers on the patio and got a few pictures of this skipper (family Hesperiidae) on a coreopsis (a.k.a. tickseed) flower. The insects aren’t around it the huge numbers we’ll have in a few weeks, particularly when the mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) starts to bloom, but they are certainly here and I really enjoy them.

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Dracunculus vulgaris (Dragon Arum)

Dracunculus vulgaris (Dragon Arum)

Dracunculus vulgaris (Dragon Arum)

Ralph told me that the other day he noticed a vulture perched on the kids old jungle gym in his back yard. Later he noticed more had gathered. At first he wondered if some animal had died and attracted them. But no, that’s not what it was. It was this plant, a dragon arum, (Dracunculus vulgaris, formerly called Arum dracunculus), a native of the central and eastern Mediterranean. This plant attracts pollinators by mimicking the smell of rotting meat. It does a good job and fooled the turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) which find dead animals primarily with their highly developed sense of smell. Black vultures (Coragyps atratus) find food primarily by sight and by following turkey vultures.

On the Missouri Botanical Garden’s page about Dracunculus vulgaris it says,

Avoid planting this perennial near windows, doors, sidewalks or other frequently populated areas where the brief but overpowering odor from the spadices will be found objectionable.

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Insect Exuviae

Insect Exuviae

Insect Exuviae

I was out in the yard taking pictures this evening and after taking a few of the rose I just posted, I noticed that there were a lot of little insects moving around in the grass. When I say little, I’m talking about insects in the 2 to 3mm range. As I walked around, they leapt away from me. I got down on the ground but when they were not moving, they were hard to find. What I did find, however, was this exuviae, the exoskeleton of some small insect that left it behind on a blade of grass. It’s about 5mm long and appears to be from some sort of grasshopper or cricket. The word exuviae is Latin and means ‘things stripped from a body.’

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Rose ‘Cutie Pie’

Rose ‘Cutie Pie’

Rose ‘Cutie Pie’

I’ve mentioned this rose a couple times so I decided that I’d finally get around to posting a picture. This is a miniature rose called ‘Cutie Pie’ and it is, really. I’ve found two roses named ‘Cutie Pie’ listed in commerce. This is WEKruruwel, Bred by Tom Carruth and introduced by Weeks in 2016. So, it’s a new rose. I’ve planted it in the large bed in the middle of our back yard where there used to be two trees. That bed needs a bit more variety and this was my start at that. I plan to add a few more roses, two at least and maybe as many as four. I’m looking at a few of David Austin’s English roses. We’ll see.

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Asiatic Lily

Asiatic Lily

Asiatic Lily

This is the first of our Asiatic lilies to come into bloom. We have been adding these every now and then and I really love them. They have such loud, hot colors and are such beautiful, symmetrical flowers. I don’t know that I could ever have too many of them. I think my favorites are the solid colors, particularly the orange and deep reds but I saw a mix of orange and yellow the other day that was out of this world. This one is relatively short, with the flower less than a foot and a half from the ground. I like that because it means it’s easier to look down into the flower. The tiger lilies are much taller but since the flowers hang down, that works out really well.

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