Monthly Archives: March 2018

Fire

Photograph taken on Sunday, March 11, 2018 by Henry
Fire

Fire

After church today, Dorothy and her friends went downtown to visit another friend who is working on Capital Hill this semester and who also has a part time job at a book show near Eastern Market. They visited some other friends on the way home. I fixed a surf and turf for dinner—flank steak and salmon—and then started a fire going in our fire pit. Most of the kids stayed inside but Dorothy came out and chatted with me for a white. I had my camera and took quite a few pictures of the fire as we talked. I like the pale blue, plasma-like flames in this picture.

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Nobody Here But Us Chickens

Photograph taken on Saturday, March 10, 2018 by Henry
John, Cathy, and Grace (with Chickens)

John, Cathy, and Grace (with Chickens)

As I mentioned yesterday, Dorothy is home for spring break and brought four friends with her. Today we drove out to our friends farm in the outskirts of Poolesville. The chicken’s are not really a featured attraction and visitors are not supposed to wander out into the field with the animals. One advantage of being friends with the owners, however, is a little more latitude when it comes to where we are allowed. The kids (and I’m counting Cathy among them) enjoyed catching chickens and putting them back inside the enclosure. Here are John, Cathy, and Grace, each with a chicken.

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Stretching

Photograph taken on Friday, March 09, 2018 by Henry
Stretching

Stretching

Dorothy came home for spring break and brought four of her friends with her. They arrived at about 5:00 PM and I got home a little after 6:00. I fixed a very non-standard shepherd’s pie for dinner, using chicken instead of the more traditional lamb or also quite common beef. There were meat eaters in the crowd but a few who were not eating red meat. Also, fresh shepherd is so hard to find this time of year. Cathy, as is her wont, sat on the floor and stretched. This is most everyone, gathered in the living room, joining in.

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Matryoshka Doll Set

Photograph taken on Thursday, March 08, 2018 by Henry
Matryoshka Doll Set

Matryoshka Doll Set

This set of ten matryoshka dolls is another find from my mother-in-law’s house. Matryoshka dolls were first made in the late 19th century. This set is different in both shape and painted design from any set i’ve seen (although to be honest, I haven’t seen a huge number). Typically, except when depicting actually individuals, the outermost doll is female.

This set of ten nesting dolls range in size from about four inchest for the largest, outermost figure to about five-sixteenths of an inch for the smallest.

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Clouds at Dusk

Photograph taken on Wednesday, March 07, 2018 by Henry
Clouds at Dusk

Clouds at Dusk

Cathy and I went to work together today. Since she had an appointment during the day, she took the car, which meant she picked me up after work. The front of my building faces northeast, so the wrong way, generally, to get sunset pictures. Nevertheless, there was a little color in the clouds low in the sky, behind the trees along the edge of the parking lot. I have to say, I’m really happy about the woods next to my building. I don’t get out into them as often as I might but if there were another building with its inevitable parking lot, it would be a terribly boring place. As it is, this small piece of land has been sitting idle for about 25 years. There is a sign on the corner advertising the upcoming development. That’s been unchanged for at least 15 years. One day it will be bulldozed and paved, but for now, it’s a nice bit of parkland.

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Cathy with a Chinese Dragon Hat

Photograph taken on Tuesday, March 06, 2018 by Henry
Cathy with a Chinese Dragon Hat

Cathy with a Chinese Dragon Hat

We’ve been going through things at Cathy’s mom’s. We’re getting rid of some things, either throwing away, recycling, or donating. We’ve also kept some things, of course. In the first pass, some things get kept to look at again later. That was the case for this Chinese dragon hat. We don’t know when it came into the house or whether it was given or bought.

It’s quite festive, although not really Cathy’s style. I’ll be posting pictures from time to time of things found. Some of them we’ll keep but probably not everything. Taking the things from two houses (hers and ours) it’s not like we can fit it all into one (ours). So, we have to part with things we might otherwise keep. I’ve also started going through my own things with an eye towards downsizing. The sooner the better. It’s amazing the amount of stuff you can accumulate over the course of a lifetime (and we’re not even done, yet (as far as we know).

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American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

Photograph taken on Monday, March 05, 2018 by Henry
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

With a specific name like Turdus migratorius, you might thing the American robin is only here part of the year. After all, migratorius implies it migrates. Well, it does. Nevertheless, for the overwhelming part of the 48 contiguous states, the robin is a year-round fixture. Their summer breeding grounds extend from the southern states (and include the mountains of central Mexico) to cover all but the most arctic portions of Canada. In the winter they move south, with their northern limit right around the U.S.-Canadian border. So, if you live in Canada, their arrival is a sure sign of spring. The birds we see in the summer may not be the birds we see in the winter but frankly, they all look pretty much alike. We often see them eating berries on the holly in our front yard. This time of year, as it begins to warm up, they are active pulling up worms, as this one was doing before being so rudely interrupted by me.

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Helleborus orientalis

Photograph taken on Sunday, March 04, 2018 by Henry
Helleborus orientalis

Helleborus orientalis

This is the older Lenten rose I mentioned the other day (see Thursday, March 1, 2018). It was brought in a pot from our yard in Gaithersburg and lived in that pot for a year while we rented and until we moved into our current house. It was one of the first things we planted when we moved here so it’s quite well established. There is some bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) next to it that really needs to be moved so it doesn’t get smothered by this giant thing. This giant thing could also be split into three or four without doing it much harm. The hellebores are tough plants native to the Caucasus.

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Kai

Photograph taken on Saturday, March 03, 2018 by Henry
Kai

Kai

With George and Carmela here for the weekend, it was a good time for a family dinner night. Not everyone could be there but those of us who were had a nice time with Indian food from Bombay Bistro. Not surprisingly, Kai was often the center of attention. Babies and toddlers have a way of doing that. He it poised to make the transition to toddler, as well. He took an unaided step this evening and we all clapped. He looked around, started clapping himself and then sat down. It is not, apparently, the first step he’s taken. It won’t be long before his parents are having to run after him. He’s as cute as ever and he enjoyed pieces of naan along with his teething biscuits. He also loves orange wedges, which great grandma brought out after the meal.

It was warm in the house this evening so he was without shirt, as you can see in the picture. His cheeks are rosy but he seemed quite happy, even if he looked uncomfortably warm.

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Sunset

Photograph taken on Friday, March 02, 2018 by Henry
Sunset

Sunset

When it comes to taking a picture every day, there are—as you’ve probably noticed—when I have a hard time finding something to photograph. I could easily skip those days and no one would really miss them. On the other hand, by forcing myself to take pictures every day, I get out more often than I would. If I could say to myself, “It doesn’t matter if you go out today. You can just skip today like you’ve skipped other days.” But when I haven’t skipped other days, that won’t work.

Sunset

Sunset

Days when there are events are easier because I generally know I’ll be able to take pictures of people. Tonight was such an event and consequently I didn’t bother taking pictures all day. Instead I worked in my basement, sorting old papers and things (mine this time). I was pretty sure there would be people I know that I could photograph in the evening. Then, after driving to Bethesda with Cathy and Margaret, and after they went inside, I parked the car and saw the sunset. I still took pictures inside but these are going to be enjoyed by more people than pictures of people that a lot of folks don’t know. Not that a lot of folks actually see them, but whatever.

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Lenten Rose ‘Mango Magic’

Photograph taken on Thursday, March 01, 2018 by Henry
Lenten Rose ‘Mango Magic’

Lenten Rose ‘Mango Magic’

The Lenten roses are just starting to bloom. This one, called ‘Mango Magic’, is the earliest of them (this year, at any rate). This one was planted in the fall of 2014 and it doing quite well. Another planted at the same time is taking its time getting going but seems to be doing better than last year. I have a bunch that Brady gave me that were being thrown away after being thinned out when she worked at Brookside Gardens. Those are nearly white. The largest of the Hellebores that I have, the first to be planted shortly after we moved here, is quite massive and has deep, wine-colored flowers in great profusion. I particularly like that one with the sun is shining through the petals.

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