Some Eye Candy

Getting camera peripherals organized...ha ha.

I had my small point and shoot Canon at the recent mud-bath event - another time another story - and an elderly gentleman (probably my age) came up with his Canon DSLR model and looked at me and asked what I was shooting with and we discussed briefly photography and cameras. He admitted, and I have NEVER had a man photographer admit this to me, that he usually shoots in Auto mode with his big fancy camera! I explained that with my point and shoot I do not have to worry about too many settings, but my Canon DSLR is usually in Aperture mode. I have gotten comfortably used to that. I admit that I rarely use about 75% of the camera's marvelous settings.

Due to an upcoming trip this fall I have decided to buy a "bridge" camera which means you get the advantage of a DSLR without the weight of too many lenses.  I now have that new camera with its attached lens and it is a different brand from my Canon and absolutely a complete difficult change for an old lady like me. (If you are totally uninterested in photography you can scroll to the bottom for your reward for my sitting in the heat and humidity in the mornings and trying to figure out why this does not focus easily!  It is one of the stupid 100 settings, I know.)   

The photographers' group online recommended that I download the 400-page guide from some guru. The brand is a Sony and most of the professional photographers in the group have told me it is a devil of a camera to learn.  I downloaded some guide...not sure it is the one they recommended but am having a heck of a time getting the focus I want. For those of you who know anything about cameras and want to drool the non-removable lens is a 24mm-600mm. Takes a lot of battery power to drive this.

I have also set it to silent mode, which means if I am not careful, and I do try to be careful, and shooting in sports mode and failing to turn it back I get 25 shots of the same thing! When you do not hear the clicking noise, it is both a pro and a con.

It does weight slightly less than my Canon and they say it is super weather sealed.  Anyway, I have a steep learning curve ahead before my October trip and already my computer is getting too full of images.  Now the next step is to buy more memory?  I deleted almost 1,000 digital images today and I stopped shooting in RAW/JPEG and just shoot in RAW.  

OK, now for the reward of some eye candy;  my yard is brimming with butterflies!

 

Chasing Our Tails or the Human Tinkering Issue

I wrote recently about a "meadow" trip that I took. Meadows are now the new thing to promote among environmentalists. 

First, what is a meadow? According to Merriam-Webster, the word's origins are: "Middle English medwe, medowe "grassland kept for hay, pasture field," going back to Old English mǣdwe, ... going back to West Germanic *mēdwō- (whence also Old Frisian mēde "pasture, meadow," Middle Dutch māde, mēde), "": most simply a flat land covered in grass.  Some definitions include hay or alfalfa, but I am talking about fallow or unused lands.

Let us use a definition by some Sierra Nevada scientists (my favorite group of people):    

A meadow is an ecosystem type composed of one or more plant communities dominated by herbaceous species.
It supports plants that use surface water and/or shallow ground water (generally at depths of less than one meter).
Woody vegetation, like trees or shrubs, may occur and be dense but not dominant.

Yes, a meadow can be for animals to graze or it can be fallow and maybe mowed once or twice a year to keep down fire threats to nearby communities or private lands.  A meadow can also be a wetland community edging other bodies of water.

We have lost many wild meadows because of our changes to this land.

A more bucolic image comes to mind for most of us with flowers and flying insects allowing romantic long walks with vast views.  

But let me tell you about the reality of  "managed meadows" first and then we can discuss the issues later. 

Why? Why does mankind want to restore meadows to certain areas? If you asked my husband he would say it is for the quail. He misses the song of the quail. Not good enough? Well, meadows can store rainfall and release it over time to other areas, protecting against erosion.  Meadows maintain groundwater storage which is a precious resource that is disappearing in many areas.  Meadows are sponges that filter out pollutants as well.  Meadows are also homes for rich biological diversity including many endangered insect and plant species.  

We toured this meadow in early spring before its beauty could surprise us.

It involved about 80 acres that are managed by a consortium of government and college agencies.  It is a study that has been conducted over a number of years.  It seems to involve a lot of work.

Routine plowing of the soil to disturb some plants and to provide habitat for ground birds and to break up dense clumps of grasses that small birds cannot walk through.

Routine burning of sections of the land in fall to minimize invasives, monoculture, etc.  We also visited the Longwood Gardens meadow below.

The above sign was at the Longwood Gardens meadow for education to the public.

Above is, perhaps, an invasive version of Helianthus (related to the sunflower) that they are letting go over a substantial area...perhaps for the beauty of watching the goldfinch in fall?

Large paths are cleared for scientists and students to work, machinery to move and visitors to walk.

Longwood created birdhouses for some of their insect eaters.

Well, that is enough for now.  Maybe next will be a post of my view of the pros and cons.

You Can Always Talk About the Weather

The seasons are big shifting as the first day of summer comes to my area with its predictable heat and humidity.  Greenland and the arctic are loosing permafrost (as was predicted but not for decades) and Colorado just got two feet of snow at the 7,000 foot level, which is also unusual. My yard is working its way to a hellish summer, but surprisingly the June weather is perfect this week.  Yes, weather anomalies are normal while not predictable.  It is not the incident which we must accept but the trend for more frequent anomalies and anomalies of greater proportion.  Whole communities are burned to ash or drowned in rising waters.    Entire agricultural communities have been destroyed in drought and flood.   

I have accepted that mankind is changing the world dramatically in many ways (not just the weather/climate) and I accept that we can destroy this planet so easily in both little and big ways and that we are basically too naive or distracted to realize our power.  If you are a believer in a higher power, you may assume that there is a benign force that will pull us away from the cliff at the last minute while introducing a lesson in sin.  Perhaps you assume that the higher power is not benign and just an entity with an intellectual curiosity about the evolution of all the living things he/she has installed on this blue planet and watches with fascination as we destroy  ourselves.

I do not know.  I do  know  we ignore at our own peril.

I will not argue with you on the whys of this danger, because beliefs are not weak opinions open to easy change, and I do not like argument.  These are life-long postulations hung on the hook of certainty and security, and I am not able to reach that high and unhook them and then catch you as you fall..  I will discuss with you about mankind's ability to influence this planet, though.

I do believe finally in good and evil, but evil is hidden in camouflage and beauty and good is shrouded in sweaty work and sacrifice.  

Free Days

This past week was a late return from our Father's Day weekend, going through the mail and checking on food and doing about 4 loads of laundry as we had hiked and river canoed. Yes, boring and trite stuff that we all do and which seems to take more time than it deserves. Then there is the yard and garden to revisit. 

Also on the schedule was a Wednesday evening meeting where hubby was giving a Powerpoint slide on the artificial creation of meadows. It is a new trend primarily to return fallow farmland to the meadow bird species. It sounds interesting but is a real effort because on the East Coast meadows most naturally return to woodlands. Maybe I will write a post on the work if readers are really interested. This meeting was supposed to be followed on Thursday by a visit from acquaintances up north who wanted a fishing adventure to celebrate a birthday and then the day after their departure a visit from son and daughter-in-law. My mind was going in circles trying to get a clean and well-stocked house before they arrived. Make sure bedding was all clean, rooms dusted, and lo and behold, they both canceled at the last minute!

It was a feeling like going 90 miles per hour while reading the Google maps very carefully and then finding you had come to a dead end/full stop at the edge of a forest!  Or like walking a tightrope and finding the floor was only a few feet below.

I usually love free time but must admit that I was pretty disoriented until this afternoon.  I have been given a four-day weekend with no plans.  Actually, I still feel a little lost...

Those Crazy Weekends with Young Adults

My daughter has generously planned a Father's Day weekend for my husband. He loves fishing and canoeing. So that is part of the trip. The cabin has a hot tub which daughter and her hubby and grands love...so swimsuits are needed. I am deciding what type of camera gear to bring. Also with my husband's tick issue, I am packing tick repellent, tweezers, and alcohol. I am packing a small first aid kit even though I think my daughter has one.

The weather is going to cooperate, so little in rain gear is needed.

I have packed water shoes and hiking shoes because...who knows?

Daughter asked for 6 camp chairs, 6 beach towels, and with sunscreen all goes into a large bag.

Hubby is trying hard to keep his fishing gear to a decent size.

Anyway, my point is that even though we are leaving today and coming back midday Sunday (48 hours), we have TON of stuff.  Definitely a first world get-away problem.

Saying Goodbye is Always a Surprise.

I have lost many off my blog list. Too many! It is the way life is. Many if not most of my bloggers are my age.  Oddly a blogger just recently wrote that she hoped we would be around to say good-bye to her! Many of you may have not read Bill's blog about baking and dealing with his love for learning French,  but like a candle's flame, he is now gone.

https://www.malpezzifuneralhome.com/obituary/william-reith

Not What You Want to See

It had been a long and hot day at a booth working with children and teenagers and parents and grandparents. There was a gentle breeze blowing through the large tent that started to increase as the festival ended.  The tractors were back in the barns and the animals were being loaded onto trailers.  Our phones all kicked in with severe storm warnings as we hurried to break down chairs, tables, tents, and put assorted giveaways back into boxes.  By the time we were back in our cars and heading out to dinner somewhere, this is what I saw from my car window!

It moved through rapidly and dumped a bucket or so of rain, but moved on and left sunshine by the time we got to the restaurant.  

I Am Getting Too Old For This

Yesterday was a very full day as I helped out in a food pantry garden during a green festival celebration. Lots of vendors selling organic honey, organic soaps, rain barrels, solar panels, electric cars, you name it! Our table and garden made contact with over 200 adults and children in a five hour period, so I was pretty tired at the end of the day. We joined a friend and her family to celebrate a birthday that evening, and I am sure I was less than coherent throughout the meal, even with only two glasses of wine and a gallon of water.

This was the endcap to an exhausting week of hubby getting a medical diagnosis regarding a new diet and changes to what we eat.   I had warned him about not being more cautious in his outdoor activities, but he seemed to just brag about his adventures.

He has been diagnosed with the "alpha-gal allergy". (It has nothing to do with any females he knows!) This is an allergy one gets to mammalian meat after a lone star tick bite. He had been having esophageal inflammation which they automatically said was acid reflux, and then they said it was probably due to the antibiotics he was on due to a mild infection he got from a tick bite, and now, after blood tests, they have diagnosed this meat allergy. There are various levels of an allergic reaction to mammalian meat products depending on your blood numbers.  Some can eat dairy products without issues and others can go into anaphylactic shock and into the hospital.  It is recommended that you carry an epi-pen in case. 

We had heard about such an allergy and know a few friends that have it in this area, but it seems to be increasing its span. It has been misdiagnosed in the past (unless they run the blood test) probably due to the allergic reaction not happening until 5 to 6 hours after the food intake.  Therefore, some people may have it and because it is a mild reaction, they did not know.  Now of course, they are tracking it more carefully with this blood test.

Currently, his numbers are on the low side, but we meet with the allergist next week.  I have so many questions.  Wondering if he can eat chicken on a BBQ that also has also cooked steak, wondering if he can eat cheese on pizza, wondering if he can eat ice cream!!

Wondering if I have to give up eating lamb!

What Was the Question?

Whether to talk (write) or not, that is the question. Some of the bloggers I read apologize for their political comments when they get to a place in their thoughts where frustration and amazement make them "bloviate". I am of the opinion that as long as you indicate where the post is going, the readers can avoid reading or get involved. It is your blog after all. I am a strong advocate for free speech. How can I consider all sides of an argument if most of one side opts out of participating?

But, having said that you must also honor those who disagree with you in your comments.  BUT only rational disagreement.  Name calling reflects the immaturity of the commenter and does not move the conversation toward a meeting or even changing of the minds.

While I do not like the polarization that seems to be a global disease these days, I am not a fan of retreating into a private world forever and pretending it will all work itself out.

Last week we attended a dinner with friends.  We have known them a few years and they are the kind of people who come from "good stock."  The wife grew up on a farm in a large family and has all the strong skills that were needed and which served her well when she married a man in the Air Force and had most of her life to mold into that dynamic career of his.  Military wives rarely get choices in where they live and whether they can have a career. This is especially true if they are married to a man who becomes a three-star General in the Air Force. 

This couple did many amazing things and still do!  They took in military foster children and saved lives.  They had three beautiful children of their own.  She, like us, loves gardening and was featured in the magazine Fine Gardening a few years ago.

Where am I going with this?   Prior to the dinner on their lovely patio, my husband was drifting into politics, as he sometimes does because he loves this country, he loves the environment and he is depressed at how we are treating both.

I came in on the middle of the conversation where the former Lieutenant General said something very calmly to the effect that he learned while in the military to follow orders and stay out of politics and he was keeping that model.  The conversation moved onto something else.

I was thinking that the retired military should not opt out of commenting on politics.  They risked their lives and the lives of others for this country and certainly should be clearly spoken and listened to as they have an important perspective on so many issues.  He is no longer on active duty.  I do realize that he may feel he could drift into areas of security that cannot be discussed.  I respect his opinion to stay out of the arguments and discussions, but I am so glad that many Generals and Admirals, etc. are clear where they stand and feel free to speak out when the time warrants.

Adding a Little Clarity

Below are two photos which had the same editing as the photos in the prior post. The second photo below got the one additional tweak and since this is architecture I am sure you will see what I was working toward. The first photo in the prior post was not the best subject for my examples and I apologize for my laziness in rapidly selecting it. These two below (back to the book barn) are much clearer in the edited changes.

As I wrote, most photographers use the first version, but I tend to favor the second. It avoids the lens distortion. It makes the building more static and not so energetic. What I did was edit the perspective making the vertical lines fit an over imposed grid in the software.

Do you have a preference? 

For the Anal Retentive

Below are two photos that have been manipulated in Photoshop and Topaz Studio...two software packages for photography.  This photo was taken at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania.  The photos are slightly different as one received one last change that I sometimes implement, except I have noticed that professional photographers do not usually do this. Do you have a preference between the two? I will tell you in the next post what was done if you do not figure it out or if you see no real difference.  There are pros and cons for each treatment, I guess.

A Very Very Quick Tour

I did not post this on Facebook because these things can be taken as bragging or "my life it greater than yours." I do not know my bloggers personally---at least most of them---so I can share without feeling I am bragging. I am just sharing my fun weekend. Along with the book store tour I got this below.

It is a gardening wonder.  The heavy canvas bag contained, two pairs of garden gloves, hand lotion, sunscreen, three heavy-duty garden tools. a pair of really good boots, a garden calendar, a blank journal to write about my garden and a bottle of nice white wine (which is already gone...).

We also visited the famous Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania established by the wealthy Pierre S. du Pont of chemistry fame.  "By the mid-1930s, Longwood had grown from the original 202 acres to 926 due to Pierre’s purchase of 25 contiguous properties over the years."  A well-funded trust was left behind when du Pont passed on to keep the gardens going much as they are today.

I will post just a few photos below (having taken over 200), for those of you who have not had the opportunity to visit this garden.  The photos just capture a hint of the variety and beauty of the gardens.

We had a picnic beforehand packed by my daughter.  It was in a large and well-shaded picnic area just outside the garden gates.

The wide open spaces gave my grandson a chance to show off his skills.  He landed upright on the opposite side without touching the table!

The above photo was missing my youngest grandson who was finishing a sports game and arrived later.

The conservatory was large and beautiful.

My peonies were almost done and because this was a climate range or two cooler, the peonies were wonderful.

Above was the Italian garden area.  So much more I could show you, but this will have to do.

Died and Gone to Heaven

The above title is pretty much what I posted on Facebook the other day with one of the photos below to enhance. This past weekend my family took me on a two-day adventure for a belated birthday. We went to a major garden, a nice restaurant, an overnight at a small hotel, a state park and then finished with a book barn! The grands were so good about not being bored because these were not the types of activities they find fun or interesting...except for being out of doors! Photos on the family may be to follow in another post.

Above is the Baldwin Book Barn in Chester County in Pennsylvania. This independent book store was founded in 1946 by the Baldwin family.  It is located in a five-story barn built in 1822 which continues to have all the charm of that history.  

Part of the barn was home to the Baldwins for years.

The store contains thousands and thousands of books: used, really old, first editions, new books, those signed by the author, etc.  It is a paradise for some of us and was truly a step back in time when I entered the front door!

There are narrow hallways and tuckaway rooms, tiny wooden stairways that take you up to mysterious corners and more rooms covering the four stories of the barn with plenty of chairs everywhere to sit, catch your breath, and read!

Two elderly folks greeted us with exceptional warmth and charm.  It was as if you were visiting your grandparents!  

Books are EVERYWHERE including some grouped in grocery bags on the main floor.  Those in grocery bags have been priced but not yet shelved and rest in corners here and there.  Some prices were only 4 or 5 dollars with others much more.

There are expensive pricey first editions that you can actually hold in your hand and smell the leather covers and peruse.  There were very old books in another area with inscriptions on their flyleaf telling the history of the gifting of the book on long ago Christmases.  My son found one inscribed in 1809!

There are children's books for the grands to look at although it is not a place for toddlers.  We stayed only about 20 minutes due to time constraints, but I got four books and hubby got 2 and we tried not to spend too many dollars.

The book barn is located in a lovely rural area in the Brandywine district among the open lawn and woods.

Do You Have a Healthy Personality?

There was a cartoon going the rounds on FB showing a women talking on the phone responding to cancellation of some social or volunteer event. She was sad, on the phone, that it had to be canceled and the minute she hung up she was doing the happy dance and joyful that she had no plans for that weekend. I can relate.

This prior week we have had an endless parade of workers ( washing the deck and house, painting the front of the house, cutting back tree branches in the woods that are moving into the yard, working with our garden helper that I wrote about previously who is piecing his life together and who now may have a full-time job and move on...).

I am the person, as I have written many times before, that might not leave the house for days or even weeks unless I ran out of food. Thankfully I am married to a social butterfly who goes crazy if he has not got every other day scheduled for some event or project or meet-up.  Thus, I get thrown into some of his adventures whether I like it or not. It is good for me, I know, and I must fight my nature to be a hermit.

I also have been blessed with family activities that are wonderfully draining.  This past weekend, the Sunday was spent with my daughter and her family celebrating Mother's Day with hanging out and then dinner out. 

Midweek was our gardener meeting preceded by a lecture on how to propagate native seeds and followed by scheduling with others on upcoming activities and booths.   Hubby has managed to schedule two activities on the same Saturday, so guess who has to fill in for him?

At the end of this week I am assisting with two high school classes on a presentation on the "Living Reef Action Campaign" which means more oyster talks and me working a computer and helping hubby think on his feet.

This coming weekend is another full two days with my beautiful children and grandchildren at Longwood Gardens and a tour of a mushroom farm, and a picnic with some cooperating weather, and whatever else outside Philadelphia as a belated celebration of my birthday!  (All I asked for was a spring picnic,  but they went a bit overboard.)

Only one oyster class next week, and I am hoping to avoid it.  

I retreat and revive with my photographs and photo-painting, taking an online class or two, and reading three four books at one time:  " The  Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish which is  thus far intriguing; Cowboys are My Weakness by Pam Houston which is raw and ready and which I purchased because I found her non-fiction Deep Creek Finding Hope in the High Country so beautifully sad and compelling allowing me to virtually visit my beloved Colorado; and now just starting to read Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards.  In the last case, I am reading the actual book which is beautifully put together and formatted.  I guess it is a 30-year-old classic, but glad I finally found it.

Actually, in my schizophrenic way, I  also am also at times listening to "Innocents Abroad" by Samuel Clemens (Twain) through LibrVox (free public domain audio books) and finding that he was never held back by needing to be politically correct.  

Maybe I am NOT an introvert...maybe I just have a very short attention span with a motor that is always idling and that is why I need to retreat from others!

Still Life

One of my favorites in the flower family, and I have many favorites, is the peony. My peonies open their huge fancy blooms in May and struggle to remain upright in the spring rains, even with my careful fence supports, and thus I frequently cut their heavy, richly scented heads and put them in a vase before they fall into wet clumps on the ground. They are old world beautiful and certainly lend themselves to bouquets and art.  Some can live for hundreds of years and the petals are edible!  For centuries peonies have been used in still life paintings. I am not there yet with photography...but I keep trying.

The original

Too rich in color for my taste.

Mothers

The mothers in my neighborhood are singing arias with elaborate trills.  They are resting in the early gray dawn of a rainy day shaking the drops of water from their feathers and getting ready for the marathon harvesting of insects to feed their young.  

I am hoping that you are having a loving and lovely Mother's Day. When this day arrives I tend to feel "less than". While my mother was not an abusive person, except when she got mad and did not talk to us for days, she was overwhelmed with five children, and as I became an adult and mother on my own, I realized why we did not have that close relationship pictured on cards and in movies. Her days were long and hard and we never could afford a babysitter. She was not close to any of the other mothers that we knew and that must have made it harder facing challenges on her on. She was pathological about having a clean house, even locking us outside for the day while she cleaned. She made it clear that she thought I was too full of myself, and perhaps I was. But perhaps I just needed someone to stand up for me as the eldest and go-to babysitter, and that was me.

I also feel dismayed on these days knowing there are people (my husband) who were very close to their mothers and miss that love and attention every single day. They are sad knowing they will never see their mother again. Some others have lost their mother tragically early as a former colleague of mine to ugly cancer.

I also feel dismayed on these days for those mothers that have lost a child and will not get that phone call or Mother's Day card on this day.  This day is a sad reminder for them.

So, please enjoy your day, but also remember for many this is a day to just get through, and if you know someone getting through this day, give them a call and talk about your friendship and how much they mean to you.

Engines That Idle Rather Than Rust

"Its such as you learn my mind! You appear to grasp so much about this, such as you wrote the e-book in it or something. I believe that you just can do with some p.c. to force the message home a bit, however other than that, that is great blog. A fantastic read. I will definitely be back."

I usually delete the dozen or so comments like the one above. They always come from "Anonymous" who reads my blog pretty often and is full of praise in broken English. Anonymous does not have an interesting blog of their own, though. They usually link to some odd ad for products I do not need or links to some place in India for soldiers on R&R.  But I do have to admit they are faithful commenters.

I have not been blogging because I have been busy with the annual plant sale which is our biggest fundraiser each year.  While it only lasts half a day there is almost a full week of prep.  We sell our plants at really low prices, and we make around 5K.  My Solomon's Seal went pretty fast as did my Hellebores and my toad lilies.  Next year I will dig up the spreading turtle head (Chelone glabra) and my obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana) which is in the mint family and spreads -  vociferously-mine are the traditional white blossoms.

This year the exhaustion of three days of prep and plant moving and the half day on my feet talking to strangers plant lovers truly exhausted me.  In my early 70's now, I do begin to feel the wear and tear on both body and mind as the day wears on. We are all old-timers and I could see the younger of us with her recent knee replacement hobbling about, and the slightly older gal who had back surgery last month keeping her posture straight, and the older of us who has arthritis in her back finding places to sit every once in a while.

I also went on an all-day meadow exploration trip just a few days before (which I may write about).  This is a planned and planted meadow funded through a consortium, which is the new push to re-create more natural habitats on fallow farmlands for animals and insects and natural plants.  I was with a group of naturalists and master gardeners.  We talked the hour and a half ride to the meadow and the hour and a half ride back home.  As an introvert, this was like running a marathon for me!  I enjoyed the whole thing immensely,  but my brain and body completely shut down when I get home and I could not even find the energy to talk to my husband!

With all this activity I have been sleeping a little better, but it is more intense with lots of confusing dreams.  Last night I was in France buying tickets to a play and later returned to enter the play only to find I was exactly one minute late and the door shut in my face.  I was very angry and saying some nasty things about the French which embarrassed my husband and then I got on a train waiting for him to catch up only to find I was on the wrong train heading to far north France and not just the other side of the city to our hotel!  I was more exhausted and angry in the dream than frightened.

I do not think it is fair that my dreams are just as exhausting as my days.  Here is hoping your spring is now like the gentle blossoms that nod in the cool breezes...not a marathon!