Firefighters in Prague

A little more than a year ago, I made my first visit to somewhere outside the US. My son, who had visited Prague before, took me along on a business/pleasure trip that included a lot of sightseeing and of course some geocaching, which is what brought us to this park.

The park was very crowded with school children and all kinds of activities and demonstrations like the fire trucks above. Being a volunteer fire fighter at the time, I couldn't resist checking out the truck and the gear. It was very much the same as what I was using back home.

More Cows

We just returned from vacationing in the west, including a visit to Sequoia National Park and the Grand Canyon. I thought this picture was a nice follow-up to my vend-a-moo cache from a couple weeks ago. We made a stop at a general store on the drive to Sequoia and this cow was in the side yard of the store/campground/garage/junk yard.

I like the cow, but it seems those western fellows are a little confused about where honey comes from. Oh well, they do call it "the land of milk and honey."

Fall Colors

This beautiful Maple tree was the highlight of my yard in fall. I use past tense because I no longer live here but the tree does! Note the before and after picture that was transformed for me by my son and the powers of photoshop.

Vend-A-Moo

This is probably limited to the south but I think it's a very cute way to buy milk. Kids love it, especially when the milk comes out and you hear a moo. The cow is a novelty of advertising used in parades and such. It is not usually stationed by the vend-a-moo machines.

Pictures

Photograhpy is sort of a hobby and I've accumulated quite a few shots since getting my hand-me-down camera from my daughter. The two I am posting today were taken in the only inhabited museum in America-The Eckley Miners Village. Site of the movie, The Molly Maguires, it represents the daily lives of the early miners. There are a couple of churches and the one pictured is the Protestant church and home to this grand antique organ. It's quite a place to visit and is touted as one of the darkest places around for astronomers.

Things Seen on the Interstate

Traveling 25 miles to work via interstate offers some interesting viewing at times.
Yesterday I passed a truck towing a tiny little vehicle with the name "Tiger Truck" on the tail gate. Apparently it's a line of off road vehicles used by college campuses, golf courses, military bases, farms, nurseries, industrial sites, etc. and they're made in Oklahoma. They remind me of the Volkswagen Rabbit trucks. Just too bad they're only for off road.
Then there was the trucker whose company name was apparently "Boarder to Boarder." I know my assumption about the name but it did conjure up questions as to what a boarder could be hauling to another boarder.

Snapshot Saturday?

These are a couple of my favorite photos from my hike on Mt. Le Conte. The rockers on the porch of the little cabin were very inviting and we just happend to spot the hole in the rock on the way down.

Photo Phriday II

You can see I haven't been very consistent with Photo Phriday so I thought I would post several to kind of catch up. All of these were taken at home.
The first is of storm clouds on the eastern horizon just as the sun was setting. This storm stayed to the east of us but it did provide some beautiful photo op's.
The second was a much needed drink of water for the yard and garden from an earlier brief storm.
Next is a shot of the sun flowers planted by the birds who visit the feeder. I'm amazed that the flower heads seem to get bigger every day.
For weeks we kept wondering where the humming birds were. The feeders were in place but we just didn't seem to have any visitors. Finally they started showing up but I'm not having any luck so far getting pictures with the Bird Cam. This is not a very good picture but I was just excited to see the little fellow.
Sandy caught this frog in the front yard and he posed for a picture.
This house finch seemed to be having a hard time flying and at first we thought it was hurt. It let us get very close and I think it was just a baby still getting used to its wings.
The bees seem to like the sun flowers.
And last, a little bounty from the garden. This is my first crop ever of beets and the first time I've ever pickled beets. We are looking forward to the taste test.

My Photo Phriday

I'm copying an idea from my son who is posting a new photo each Friday on his blog. Because I know he likes honeysuckle, I chose this one taken at the edge of the backyard. There's probably not a lot of opportunity to see this flower in New York.

Bird Cam II

Still don't have a hummingbird but these pictures of a male Blue Bird are awesome. The bird house was attached to a pine tree but seemed to be getting invaded by insects. I washed it out and left it to dry on the deck and the neighbor told us the Blue Birds were all over it while we were out. Moving the camera caught the birds visiting, perhaps checking it out for building a nest.

Garden Update

The Ranunculus was a surprise for Sandy whose favorite color is yellow. She created this planter arrangement.

The little gnome's lantern doesn't compare to the brightness of these pansies and violas.

This is the second planting of Lantana. The frost did a number on the first but I think they will make a comeback.

Look in the center of this picture for a sphynx moth that I have tentatively identified as a humming bird moth using this link.

After fits and spurts with late season frosts, the garden and yard are looking good. We thought we had lost 3 tomato plants but I left them in place and planted replacements. Now the originals are growing and have almost caught up with the new plants. There should be plenty to share.

Thinning the beets gave us our first taste of fresh vegetables when we added the tops to a salad.

Growing in this small space challenges my engrained experiences of planting in rows with spaces between for cultivation with a tractor. I'm thinking that square foot gardening may be the best way to go.

We created a new flower bed along the driveway with coleus and snapdragons. It looks like last night's frost may have gotten a few of them. It's hard to believe a frost this late. I'll post some pictures of it after the plants have gotten a little bigger. Hope you enjoy these pictures.

Bird Cam

For Christmas, my children gave me a camera that mounts outside near a bird feeder to automatically take pictures. I mounted it yesterday afternoon near a hummingbird feeder and was pleasantly surprised to find it had taken a couple of fairly good pictures. I need to tweek it a bit and practice the set up and focus but not bad for the first time.

There might actually be a humming bird in this one.

Top of Mt. Le Conte

Hold onto your hats! Note the gentleman's arm on the very left edge of this photo. He is holding an anemometer that measured the wind gusts at 39 mph.

Easter on the Edisto

Imagine my surpise, when researching South Carolina State Parks, to come across a link to treehouses on the Edisto River under Lodging/Unusual. A call to a couple of paddling friends and a plan was set in motion to spend Easter on the Edisto, the longest free-flowing blackwater stream in North America. I was like a kid waiting for Christmas as I anticipated the trip and the chance to spend the night in a treehouse. The weather was perfect on Saturday as we put in about 9am at Whetstone Landing just below mile marker 105 on the river. The outfitter told us to look for wood duck boxes being used as mile markers to show the distance to the ocean.

The trees were just starting to leaf out and

will soon be as green as this mossy bank.

The wisteria was a bright

spot in this tree covered

with Spanish moss.

Our accomodations included a well supplied tree house with a heater, gas cook top, futons, kitchen and cooking utensils, blankets, gas lantern, hammock, fire pit, picnic table and a

wonderful view. The sound of the river lulled us to sleep after an evening of night sounds including owls, whippoorwills and frogs and a most amazing light show of stars and lightning

bugs. The swinging bridge took us across a creek on the way to the outhouse.A luna moth found its way to our deck and the tiki torches.

I think anyone making this trip would be well rewarded with the peacefulness and the beauty. There were long stretches of river with no trace or sound of human intervention. It was a great time spent with good friends and nature.

Gardening by the "Yard"

Gardening has been a part of my life since birth. Every spring I get the fever and visions of home grown tomatoes dance in my head. Finding a spot for a garden in my new home required a bit of compromising but Sandy agreed to give up a spot of her well manicured lawn in exchange for not having to mow the slope in the backyard. With some basic skills, determination, books from the library and well intentioned advice from the onlookers, we undertook the construction of a retaining wall that we are very proud of. The digging was the hardest part and if you've ever dug deep into red clay soil you know the challenge. Once that was behind us, the actual building was fairly easy and quick. All that's left is backfilling with some top soil and deciding what to plant.

I'll be the first to admit that my gardens, like so many unfinished projects in my life, have fallen by the wayside. It feels wonderful to know not only that I did finish something but that I did it with Sandy working shoulder to shoulder with me. My world is a wonderful place to be.

I should probably add that the original plan calls for two retaining walls with a walkway between so maybe the project is only half done. In any case, there's a spot for tomatoes and okra and squash and that's good for now.