August 03, 2020

Sycamore Leaves

August 03, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

I took a pictures of sycamore leaves with holes through the window of my office. They are easy to find on the tree; I estimate that 25-30% of the leaves have noticeable holes. I looked at the pictures enlarged on my computer screen…searching for caterpillars…but didn’t find any. There are probably several different insects making the holes. Notice that sometimes the hole leaves the vein intact….other times the hole crosses a vein. Sycamore leaves are tougher than tulip polar and maple so it takes a caterpillar with stronger mouthparts to eat the leaves.

The tree seems to be mostly recovered from the damage of last spring (cold weather late in the spring) but there are still some dead branches and brown leaves from that time. They are increasingly covered with green leaves getting larger and larger as the summer progresses and new leaves are still forming on all the branch tips. Every time a thunderstorm comes through, we have some leaves on the ground. I walked around the deck and took pictures of some leaves that fell recently….and found holes in every one!

2020 08 IMG_1223 (2).jpg — I also noticed that a branch broke in the upper part of the tree. It is too high to get down without a tree crew. It’s in our back yard so I am leaving it for the time being. I’ll watch it during the next storm. It appears to be firmly wedged in the other branches (i.e. going no where soon). If it falls, it will go on the yard or chaos garden….and it appears to be mostly leaves.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Interrupted lawn mowing. My husband tried to mow the grass between rainy days even though the ground was still very wet. He did the front and sides…then started on the back. It stays wet longer than other areas of our yard since water drains in that direction. He stopped about halfway through. Hopefully, he’ll be able to get it mowed before the rains from Isaias get to the Maryland area.

July 31, 2020

Ten Little Celebrations – July 2020

July 31, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

I’m celebrating that everyone in my family is healthy and staying vigilant. We’re all in states that have a growing number of cases, though. As usual – I am looking back of the month and highlighting 10 little celebrations.

Large Monarch caterpillar. Toward the end of the month, there were caterpillars on the milkweed in our front flowerbed. One morning I walked out and saw a large one almost immediately.

It was eating way…probably getting close to the size to pupate. I’ll look around for the chrysalis in the bushes nearby in a few days.

Cantaloupe in the CSA share. Yummy melons…one of the best foods of summer.

Regenerative landscaping webinar. Sometimes a webinar just comes at the right time. This one had so many interesting ideas. The one that I’ll probably try first is over seeding with mini-clover instead of grass seed in the thin places of our yard.

Morning hour on the deck. I love the quiet time on the deck first thing in the morning. I enjoy my morning caffeine, create a Zentangle tile, read a little….usually with our cat as company.

2020 07 IMG_0551 (26).jpg — **Neighborhood pond in the morning.** Lots of interesting things at the pond --- different every time…birds, turtles, plants, insects.

2020 07 IMG_0551 (15).jpg — **Milkweed.** Blooms, pods, insects (milkweed bugs and beetles, aphids (aargh!), Monarch caterpillars). The plants are little worlds of activity.

2020 07 IMG_0777 (6).jpg — **Summer sunrise.** It’s getting easier to get up and out to catch the sunrise.

2020 07 IMG_0875 (37).jpg — **Mt. Pleasant.** Venturing out just a little…early enough that there are not very many other people around.

Western Regional Park (Howard County, Maryland). A place I hadn’t been before but worth discovering.

2020 07 IMG_0688 (4).jpg — **Goldfinches.** Looking out the window at the right time.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

NOAA Get into Your Sanctuary! Events. There was a post on the NOAA feed about this; relatively short notice but maybe ‘just is time’ is good enough. The events are live 7/31-8/2. I am planning to watch as many of them as I can. https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/visit/giys.html

Observations at the grocery store. When it got to the grocery store, the sun had only been up for about 10 minutes, so the short drive was scenic with the glow of morning light. As usual – there weren’t very many people in the parking area or in the store and everyone was wearing masks. I noticed that most masks were similar to mine but there two outliers: a woman that was wearing something that looked more like a gas mask and then a shield over that and a staff person that was wearing a mask that looked like it was very thin (had been through a lot of washings).

There was a sign saying that the carts were sanitized when I approached the area to get my cart – so I didn’t wipe the cart down again but did use the hand sanitizer station for my hands.

Things seemed well stocked although some of the store brand products we bought previously have not been replenished; the more expensive ‘name’ products are available.

I am enjoying the SCAN app my store provides. My bags are loaded as I shop (in the way I want them) and the checkout is as close to contactless as one can get inside the store! I wonder if all grocery stores will develop this kind of app for their customers.

July 29, 2020

Zooming – July 2020

July 29, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

I’m not taking as many pictures these days…but there are still plenty to choose from for the monthly zoom post. The locations this month are my yard, my neighborhood, Howard County’s Western Regional Park and Howard County Conservancy’s Mt. Pleasant Farm. Enjoy the slideshow for July 2020!

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

2020 07 img001 (12).jpg — **More Zentangle tiles with circular voids.** I’ve continued to make tiles with circular voids…. another name for bubbles. It’s interesting how many variations there are with the starting point of a few circles on a tile.

Coronavirus uptick. We are having an uptick in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in Maryland. Hopefully, it will stabilize and decline but that might be tough with the surges happening elsewhere in the country as well. The decisions the local school systems made to be virtual for the first half of the school year are looking better and better. In the early summer we though that maybe the community spread would be very low by the time school started….and then we’d worry about the increase in cases as the ‘flu season’ started…maybe have to go virtual then. But the level of cases never went a low as we thought they might this summer…and now we are seeing an upward trend.

Outside hour to start the day. After a day of poor air quality kept me inside, it was great to return to being outside for the beginning of my day. As I passed by the front door, I stopped to step out and take a picture of sunrise…about 2 minutes after sunrise. The cat did not join me on the deck – preferring to stay indoors and meow loudly.

July 28, 2020

Walk at Mt Pleasant – Part 2

July 28, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

Continuing from yesterday’s post…..

2020 07 IMG_0875 (36).jpg — I took the wide path across the meadow toward the rock wall. I wanted to photograph the tree within a tree – a maple that has roots halfway up the trunk. I came to the shady side first. What a difference the sun makes! I think the early morning sun on the other side made for the best picture I’ve ever taken of the tree.

I also took pictures up and down the stone wall from that point…uphill (the way I was heading) and downhill (where I had come from….the path I’d used to cross the meadow being the break in the vegetation on the upper right side of the second picture.

The rock wall is always an opportunity to talk about local geology…and lichens and mosses…and what might live in a rock wall. Of all the places at Mt. Pleasant, the rock wall was where I missed the field trips with children the most.

I got back to the gravel drive and walked toward the Honors Garden. I stopped to photograph the flowerpot people in summer garb and remembered hand made ‘hook’ on the black smith shop.

The witch hazel that was blooming back in December (yellow petals like streamers) now has green immature seed pods. I’d never though to look closely at the small tree in front of the main building this time of year…so it was the first time to photograph the seed pods at this stage.

I got to the Honors Garden. The small pond near the entrance almost always has frogs. This time of year, they are green frogs. They were visible in and near the water. I walked around and then started hearing them – a rubber band chorus of 2 or 3 frogs. I went back for more photos.

There were lots of flowers, of course. I was somewhat disappointed that there were not a lot of butterflies. Maybe it was not quite warm enough for them to be active. The Joe Pye Weed was not quite blooming yet. The light was still great for photography. I liked a backlit fern; the stems contrast dramatically with the fronds.

2020 07 IMG_0875 (51).jpg — And then I spent time trying to photograph an orb weaver spider web! It was a good finale to my morning walk.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Air quality alert. I’m glad I enjoyed some extra time outdoors yesterday because today there is an air quality alert and I will stay indoors. It turns out that the alert is not about ground level Ozone….it’s particulates (PM2.5) based on the Maryland Department of the Environment site. Our alerts come from Maryland now rather than the EPA because of Maryland’s higher standard of air quality – the desire to warn groups that are susceptible to air quality health issues. It seems like during the pandemic, everyone would need this type of information.

July 27, 2020

Walk at Mt Pleasant – Part 1

July 27, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

I got up at my regular time and was out of the house a few minutes before 6; the sun was up but it was still very much the ‘magic hour’ for photography when I got to Howard County Conservancy’s Mt Pleasant Farm. There were only two other cars and I didn’t see any other people around before I headed out on my walk. I hadn’t been there to walk around since back in January….completely missed the spring which I usually get to observe many times as I volunteer for school field trips that come there…but not this spring. I noted a sign about social distancing and no large groups. The picnic tables looked so pristine and lonely. There would be plenty of space of a group of 10ish to eat lunch far enough apart; it would look odd to me since I am used to the school groups that often ate there after a field trip and were almost always more than 100 people.

2020 07 IMG_0875 (2).jpg — On a positive note – the orchard has fruit this year. In 2019 a late frost caused all the blossoms/newly forming fruit to fail. I thought it might have happened this year too but there are fruits on both the pear and apple trees. The pear might not have edible fruit (I think they are usually bigger by this time)

But the apples have a lot of green fruit that will be begin turning red soon.

The door to Montjoy bar seemed to not fit as well as they did at one time…they sag a little. I wondered how long ago they were painted.

The trumpet vine was growing profusely over the arbor near the children’s garden. Insects were enjoying the flowers. I made the mistake of walking under it and a bee flew around my head for some distance beyond. Not sure why I was attractive to the bee.

There were lots of meadow plants in bloom – horse nettle, thistles, Queen Anne’s lace, bindweed, a pleated mushroom. Something to photograph at every turn.

I’m not usually keen on landscape pictures but there was mist coming off the ground and it added dimension to the contours of the land. The sun had been up for about 45 minutes. I could already tell that the mist was burning off as I walked…could feel the high humidity.

The bird houses have been refreshed and painted. The background paint is a light blue and then natural things are painted over the blue. It’s a nice change in the meadow even though I also appreciated the old natural wood houses with occasional patches of lichen and moss. There is a sign on the pole cautioning to stay away because they are tree swallow homes. I wonder if they put the signs on after they knew it was a tree swallow using the house rather than a bluebird.

The meadows looked very lush and growing wild. The place looks more overgrown than most summers…and I think it is more than not mowing as much. There are not as many people around. There are even ripe blackberries in the meadow than haven’t been picked. During previous summers, the campers ate blackberries as soon as they were ripe!

The stream seemed to be running more in the channel closest to the beach area rather than the one we used to think was the deeper one. It was running slowly…the last rainstorm already mostly drained off. It felt a cooler down at the stream in the deep shade.

Most of the milkweed was past blooming with tiny seed pods forming although I did find two flowers– one in the meadow and one in the garden area near the flowerpot people. Both had interesting insects:

Milkweed beetles meeting each other – moving around quite a lot….another insect further down that didn’t move during my picture taking.

There was a bee on the flower in the other garden. I watched it as it went to several small flowers – trying to avoid bee butt pictures!

The rest of my hike report in tomorrow’s post…

July 26, 2020

Surprise! Monarch Caterpillars

July 26, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

I’d planned to work in the front flower bed in the early morning – cutting down 1) the milkweed that was being overrun by aphids and something that caused the leaves to curl and 2) the day lily leaves that were beginning to turn yellow. I took a ‘before’ picture.

20200725_075749(0).jpg — Before starting – I checked the milkweed plants for Monarch butterfly caterpillars. Aaargh! They were on almost every plant – even the plants that looked terrible and were full of aphids.

Change of plans. I opted to cut out the worst aphid infestation and move caterpillars to better plants if I couldn’t leave them where they were. It was slow going. After I finished with the milkweed pruning, I started on the day lily leaves and pulling weeds. I found a red maple seedling.

There were 10 tulip poplar seedlings – and I probably didn’t find all of them since I only worked about a third of the bed. The sheer number of tree seedlings surprised me because I’d already pull quite a few from that flower bed already this year.

There was one black-eyed Susan flower that has been missed by the deer.

I took an ‘after’ picture that wasn’t as dramatic as originally planned and still a lot of work to do…but I’m hopeful about having a small group of Monarch butterflies this year. I’ll continue monitoring the plants and moving the caterpillars to the healthier looking ones. There are plenty of places for the caterpillars to make their chrysalis; I’ll try to do all the clearing out of the day lily leaves before the caterpillars are big enough to leave the milkweed to find their spot to pupate.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Assessing risk. My daughter told me about the model from Georgia Tech at https://covid19risk.biosci.gatech.edu/. It has a zoomable map of the US showing counties and placing the cursor on a county provides the current risk level of attending an event (you can select the size of the event) that at least one person present will be positive for COVID-19. This is a good way to assess the risk for being with groups of people – ignoring the reduction in risk that social distancing, masks, environment can provide. With the increasing number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in so many areas across the country, this is a way to roll up all that data for where you live in a way that may be more actionable …something to look at before deciding on a particular activity away from home.

July 25, 2020

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 25, 2020

July 25, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Native Americans Crossed the Pacific Long Before Europeans | The Scientist Magazine® - Using DNA to find more definitive answers.

Forest Surprise: A Wolf Story – West of Flagstaff ---- probably a Mexican grey wolf male…trying to find a new territory and exploring a restored forest appealing.

See Archaeological Treasures Unearthed by U.K. Residents During Lockdown | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – The uptick in gardening and yard work leads to finding things in or on the ground…and then people having plenty of time to find out more about what the objects are. Something positive happening during the pandemic.

You Can Now Explore All 48,000 Panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt Online | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – I was glad to see this online version of the quilt is available – complete with search and zoom. I found the square for a person that I’d worked with in the 1970s and saw him at IBM sponsored conferences in the 1980s. Our early career crowd was scattered all over the country by the time he died in 1993.

Eleven Awesome Owls from Around the World – Good pictures and a short summary characterizing each bird.

Turmeric could have antiviral properties -- ScienceDaily – It’s already one of the supplements I take…as an anti-inflammatory. This study points to it being anti-viral as well.

Stain Solutions | U of I Extension – A good reference although in recent years the laundry detergents and cold water often get stains out.

Top 25 birds of the week: Wild Birds - Wild Bird Revolution – Enjoy the beautiful birds!

Solar Will Kick Most of Texas's Remaining Coal Fleet Offline – Good news for air quality in Texas. Evidently the growth of utility-scale PV production is rapid changing the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market.

Infographic: How Breastfeeding Protects Mothers | The Scientist Magazine® - Research about the mechanism behind the observation that women that breastfeed their children have reduced long term risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

83 20 07.jpg — **Circular voids.** I am starting a series of Zentangle tiles that have circular voids in otherwise dense tangles. I got the idea from some Mordecai Ardon paintings (slideshow on Internet Archive here) like Fatal Eclipse shown at the right. My first two tiles are below.

Compost bin. Between rain showers – I put on the boots I have for river field trips and got all my containers of kitchen scraps and spent flower stalks (mostly day lilies) out to the compost bin. It took 4 trips! There have been more things recently that produced more kitchen scraps than usual: fresh corn on the cob, cantaloupe, cabbage cores, and tough onion/leek tops. I’ve learned to save cucumber skins for use in smoothies so those get eaten these days and veggies like beets and carrots just get a thorough scrubbing rather than being peeled. I put all the new scraps on one side of the bin and then turned the other side over on top of it. I should deteriorate very rapidly.

Fresh flowers in the house. There are now small bouquets from the CSA cutting garden in my office and on the kitchen table. The one below is the one in my office. I like having flowers in my field of view! It’s a way I show kindness to myself.

July 24, 2020

Scenic Drive 2

July 24, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

I headed out shortly after 9 AM --- late enough that the morning rush hour was over (even though traffic is still lighter than pre-pandemic). I had set my navigation system for Western Regional Park in Howard County, Maryland since the route would take me on some scenic roads I hadn’t traveled before and the park itself was new to me. The first bit of driving was at highway speeds (on MD-29 and 32) but then MD-32 narrowed to a 2-lane road and I turned off to curvy and narrower 2 lane roads toward the park. I had not anticipated as many bicyclists, but the morning was a pleasant temperature and there wasn’t much traffic. I slowed down to make sure I could go way around them and not meet another car coming from the opposite direction.

There were few people at the park when I got there – lone individuals and a mother with a child in a stroller and 2 children beside her – one looking very tired. I parked and got out to take some pictures of the meadow. As I walked toward the meadow, I heard then spotted a catbird in a tree overhead; it was too fast for me to get its picture.

2020 07 IMG_0818 (2).jpg — There was a hillside dominated by milkweed. I wondered if the county had planted it as part of the overall effort in the schools and parks to help Monarch Butterflies. The plants are full of newly forming seed pods. A few weeks ago, the area would have been very fragrant with the flowers. Maybe I’ll return to the park in a few weeks to look for caterpillars.

There were a few other flowers mixed in with the milkweed. I didn’t notice the insect until I got home and looked at my pictures on my computer screen!

And then there was the Queen Anne’s Lace in every stage of seed production along the meadow’s edge.

There was a mockingbird getting a blackberry seconds before I took my picture…aargh!

2020 07 IMG_0818 (13).jpg — I looked down a slope to a swampy area…a froth of purple flowers with an occasional bit of yellow!

I completed a loop back to home by putting the Howard County Conservatory’s Mt Pleasant location as a waypoint in my navigation system…to stay on scenic roads as much as possible.

My drive and short walk took about 1.5 hours and was very enjoyable. I enjoy getting out and finding natural places (that are new to me) near where I live – staying mostly in the car but getting out in places where there aren’t many other people around. I already have my 3rd scenic drive mapped out!

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

**Kohlrabi fries.** I had kohlrabi in the crisper and opted to cook it like oven fries. The seasoning I put on it (no-salt) browned well. This was the first time that I cooked kohlrabi this way; the fries tasted good with catsup, but they were almost too sweet. It occurred to me that maybe I should cook them as dessert fries with cinnamon, ginger and a little sugar.

CSA grounds. I took some pictures of the cutting garden and the flower beds near the barns on the way back to my car from the barn and the cutting gardens. Everything was looking very lush with just enough in bloom to add color.

My bags with the weekly share were heavy this week because they included a melon and cucumbers and squash and onions and beets.

July 22, 2020

Last of the Day Lilies

July 22, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

The last day lily opened a few days ago so I am savoring what is left of them today – the last of the day lilies for this year. I collected the spent flowers as they fell from the stalks and took them out to the glass topped table on my deck to photograph for the grand finale of their season. The orange ones were the most plentiful, the yellows were the largest and the dark red (purple when they dried) were few but spectacular.

I like the textures and shapes of the dried flowers. Many still have deep yellow pollen showing. The flower collection is back inside now…waiting to see if my husband wants to do some macro photography with them. Eventually they will go out to the compost bin.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Big cooking day. I like to fill the oven when I turn it on at all during the summer. This time I had it on for an hour with the salsa meatloaf going in first….then a zucchini squash custard (45 minutes)…then corn on the cob (30 minutes). I sautéed an onion to top the meatloaf. Good eating! It also felt good to clear the crisper of the last of the corn, onions, and zucchini since I have another CSA share to pick up today! I still have beets, leeks, fennel, carrots, and cauliflower….and not much freezer space.

**Grapevine wreath**. After a round of yard work back in June, I made a small grapevine wreath. Now – a little over a month later – it is thoroughly dry. I like the way it looks, particularly the little tendrils. I’ll add a festive ribbon and use it for indoor holiday decoration….or maybe I’ll use a ‘ribbon’ of orange or apple peel. Then the whole thing could go into the compost pile in the new year.

July 18, 2020

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 18, 2020

July 18, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Listening to Silence: Why We Must Protect the World’s Quiet Places - Yale E360 – I realized after 9/11 that most of the modern world sounds at my house are from transportation: planes/helicopters and cars/trucks with occasional yard equipment. While we had a stay-at-home order with this pandemic, it became noticeable as well. There are still times when those noises are subdued or gone. I notice the bird songs in the early morning…when the other sounds don’t intrude. As we skew more toward electric ground transportation….the noise level will notch downward. I enjoy the natural sounds a lot more than our man-made ones.

Declining eyesight improved by looking at deep red light -- ScienceDaily – I wonder if this is something doctors will start prescribing!

Why your organs might reach 100 even if you don't - BBC Future – A summary of some current research areas re aging. There are a lot of different approaches with the primary goal of most being to extend healthy lifespan. Even if different organs age at different rates…they are interrelated to the body they comprise.

Maryland offshore wind farm could become stop-over for migrating sturgeon, striped bass -- ScienceDaily – I live in Maryland….so this story grabbed my attention. Will the offshore windfarm become a rest stop for fish? And they will offer a convenient infrastructure for researchers to collect data.

Where Will Climate Migrants Go? – THE DIRT – It’s something to think about now. Some coastal cities are already experiencing more flooding even without unusual storm events…and people that can move will probably do so. Will climate trends weigh in decisions about where they move? The article talks about cities and towns in the Midwest that have experienced declining population becoming ‘receiver’ locations. I wondered if people that have discovered that they can work from home during the pandemic – and can continue to do so – will be freer to move to these new locations and still have the same employer! Otherwise there is the challenge of how to sync moving to a new place with a new job.

The chemistry of cats: Allergies, catnip and urine – Compound Interest – Evidently male cats produce higher levels of allergen and have smellier urine…unless they have been neutered.

Ways to keep buildings cool with improved super white paints -- ScienceDaily – White roofs should probably become the norm….it will be hot enough without the added heat island effect caused by a lot of man-made structures with dark roofs.

How humans are altering the tides of the oceans - BBC Future – It’s happening around the world. Dredging river channels and filling in coastal wetlands cause shifts in how tides interact with the land. And then there is sea level rise too. Some places cited in the article that have experienced dramatic change: Cape Fear River in North Carolina (tidal range at Wilmington has doubled since 1880) and the same is true for St. Johns River/Jacksonville Florida. Sacramento’s tides disappeared in the late 1800s because of silt but dredging brought them back and the Thames tidal range was 2 meters during Roman times and 8 meters by the Victorian age.

Meet the Mountain Chickadee – We have mostly Carolina Chickadees where I live in Maryland…this is their relative in the western US (mountains).

Ancient Maya reservoirs contained toxic pollution: Mercury, algae made water undrinkable in heart of city -- ScienceDaily – Mercury from pigments used on Mayan building. Cyanobacteria blooms that made the water smelly and toxic. Not pleasant for a city center!

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Regenerative Landscaping lecture (via zoom). The lecture was about an hour and my big take away was about the huge environment cost of lawns…and the many dimensions of that cost. The one I hadn’t thought much about before was from the California Air Resources Board fact sheet on Small engines in California (small engines being spark-ignition engines in things like lawn mowers). Their fact sheet says: “In the early 2020s, however, total smog-forming emissions from small engines are projected to exceed those from passenger cars in the South Coast Air Basin because passenger car emissions will continue to decrease. By 2031, small engine emissions will be more than twice those from passenger cars.” For comparison – they show 1 hour of lawn mowing emits as much smog-forming pollution as driving a Toyota Camry 300 miles! This must be an issue in all areas where there is a lot of mowed turf grass – kike most suburbs. There are multiple ways to address the problem and the one discussed in the meeting was transitioning to less lawn or lawn that does not need to be mowed as frequently (or at all). Another way would be to transition to electric mowers and other yard equipment. Right now – the only gasoline powered equipment I have is the mower. I’d been thinking about an electric mower because I don’t like the noise and smell of our current machine. So - this overall air quality issue is just one more reason to do it.

Enjoyed a slideshow of Armand Guillaumin (1841 – 1927) paintings available on Internet Archive here. He was a French impressionist painter and lithographer.

July 17, 2020

Tomatillos!

July 17, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

I was pleased that tomatillos was on the list in the CSA newsletter for this week and were included in the medium share.

Last year I made green salsa. I might do that again although I am keen to try some new recipes this year. And there is a beauty to the husks that are removed….enough to prompt a Zentangle!

My first use of the pound of tomatillos I got this week was to include them as an added ingredient to a chicken stir fry I make frequently. I bought bell peppers to include but the onion and garlic scape were other items from the CSA. And I ate the stir fry over a salad of lettuce, fennel, and cucumber from the CSA too. I hope we are nearing the stage where I am not putting as much into the freezer from the CSA shares (my freezer is almost full of frozen veggies).

Other plans for the tomatillos: 1) raw in a smoothie with melon and 2) stir fry then folded into taco filling. Maybe I’ll get some hot peppers in coming weeks from the CSA and make green salsa again – but that will be a later share of tomatillos.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

**Last stem of yellow day lilies.** The multiple buds on the last stem are continuing to bloom…almost one per day. There are still two more bud that might be big enough to open.

July 15, 2020

Yard Work

July 15, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

Lawn mowing day! My husband had decided that the lower dew point and humidity would mean we could start mowing a little earlier while it was cooler. We were both surprised that the grass was still a little wet at 9:30…and the day was heating up fast. He decided to start anyway, and I started on other yard work – planning to take over mowing to give him a break – or finish up. My plan was to take the kitchen scraps that had accumulated in the garage out to the compost bin then cut the day lily leaves around the oak and some plants that were growing a bit too exuberantly over the sidewalk from our driveway to the front door. Here are the before and after pictures of the base of the oak. I’ve learned in years past that cutting the day lily leaves after they bloom encourages them to grow back fresh – looking good into the early fall. It probably means they don’t produce as many new bulbs, but I don’t need any more bulbs! The Virginia Creeper shows up more in the ‘after’ picture.

In just about every task I complete in the yard – I come up with several more. On the other side of the oak, I discovered a small English ivy climbing up onto the tree. At first I thought it might be nice to let it grow on the trunk of the tree…but as I was getting ready to write this blog post I checked to see what the Maryland Extension said about English Ivy. It’s invasive and it can damage trees by holding moisture against the trunk (fungal disease and decay) and it can be a reservoir for bacterial leaf scorch in oaks. So – I’ll be cutting the English Ivy and checking periodically to make sure it doesn’t come back.

I decided to check on the Virginia Creeper. It’s native but can take over. I’ll leave it on the oak but monitor it just as I am on the sycamore in another location around the yard.

The trimming of the plants growing over the sidewalk was done quickly but I found a lot I need to do in the front flower bed. The mint is blooming so it would be a good time to do another mint harvest.

I’ll be cutting the day lily leaves in the front flower bed too and while I am at it, I’ll cut the milkweed plants that are infested with aphids or have curling leaves.

The milkweeds have been a deterrent to the deer eating the day lily buds developing behind them, but now that the flowers are over for the season the milkweed can go – unless they have a monarch egg or caterpillar. So far, I haven’t seen any, but I’ll check closely before I cut them. On the plus side - there was a ladybug near one of the infested pants that might reduce the aphid population.

I’ll leave the milkweeds that have a flower forming

Or have a colony of milkweed beetle nymphs!

Since my husband opted to mow more this time, I had time to sweep up the tiny acorns (immature) that had fallen on the driveway and put them in the mulch around the oak.

I will divide up these next tasks into 15-20 minute chunks easily done in the morning….finish them this week as follow-on to the lawn mowing.

July 14, 2020

Found on the Ground

July 14, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

I walked around my yard and looked for interesting things on the ground. I was a little surprised at how many things I found! My rule was to not move anything…just take the photo as it appeared on the ground. Toward the front and north side of the yard, I found oak leaves from last fall that had blown into the garage, a wasp nest that had blown down from someplace, an arc of grass clippings, some plants overflowing into the concrete trough below the gutter’s downspout, an anthill, a sycamore leaf and some mushrooms in our neighbor’s yard (I used the zoom for the last one).

In the back and the south side of the house there were tiny yellow flowers (weeds), sycamore leaves (rust and decaying green), a cabbage white butterfly enjoying the tiny yellow flowers, a tulip poplar leaf, the invasive plants under the trees at the edge of the forest, a mushroom, some clover, a cherry leaf and water droplets on a weed.

It was a short walk on a morning that was heating up; already warm enough to have the cabbage whites active. I was glad there were still water droplets too. Overall – I’m always pleased that there seems to always be something interesting in our yard.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Looked at a reference from last week’s Zoom meetings… savored The MoMA exhibition Safe: Design Takes on Risk from 2004 (19 short audios and then pictures).

July 13, 2020

Bird Feeder Camera Snippets

July 13, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

Every week – I download the videos accumulated on the bird feeder camera and note any of special interest. Here are some recent finds:

On 7/6: A male finch appeared to be feeding a fledgling. The young bird found balancing on the perch somewhat challenging and kept flapping its wings to say in place. It also couldn’t seem to figure out how to get seed directly.

On 7/8: There was a squirrel that tried to get seed from the feeder. The springs worked to shut off the seed holes, so the acrobatics were for naught.

On 7/9: The bird feeder camera captured the goldfinches which I also photographed with my camera (included in the 7/10 blog post). It was interesting to see the different angle of the action. The bird feeder camera didn’t start recording until the house finch was already gone.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Last of the day lilies from the flower bed. The deer got more of the day lily buds than I did. I cut the last stalk that survived because it was tangled in the branches of a nearby bush. The buds should open nicely in the vase on our breakfast table. They will be dark orange…. descendants of the bulbs by mother-in-law bought about 30 years ago.

The two stems I cut a few days ago are blooming in the vase upstairs in my office. There are still several buds developing…should keep my office in fresh flowers for 3-4 more days.

Once the day lilies are gone, the front flowerbed is going to be all green. I thought I’d have black eyed susans but the deer have eat all the buds this year already! I’ll rely on the CSA cutting garden for the rest of the summer.

July 12, 2020

CSA Cutting Garden

July 12, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

After I picked up my veggies at the CSA barn, I got my clippers and walked around to the cutting garden now that it has blooms. I’ll come home with a small bouquet of flowers every week! The row of sunflowers was just beginning!

I had a jar of water for the cut stems and worked as fast as I could since I was still wearing my face mask and realizing that it was making me very aware of the heat. I was glad to get back to the car and get the air conditioner started. Once I got home, I took the veggies out of the bags and figured out how to get it all into the crispers. It was easier than the previous week because there were not as many veggies with huge tops (i.e. carrots were without tops and fennel was not in the share again).

Then I put the flowers I’d cut into a vase with some waning day lilies. They’ll easily last until CSA pickup day next week!

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

**Yellow day lily opened this morning.** A yellow day lily bud had opened overnight….what a wonderful greeting when I walked into my office first thing in the morning.

Watermelon lemonade. The watermelon I bought at the grocery store was not as flavorful as usual, so I am using it up making watermelon lemonade. I processed the watermelon chunks, a splash of lemon juice and ice cubes in the Ninja…and it’s a slushy summery drink that has a good flavor and is not overly sweet! It’s a wonderful pink/red color too.

July 10, 2020

Neighborhood Pond in the Early Morning – Part 2

July 10, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

2020 07 IMG_0551 (2).jpg — Aside for seeing the green heron with a fish…there were other things to see around the pond as I made the circuit. The frogs I was hearing when I first approached were Green Frogs based on their calls (like a strummed rubber band) and then I started seeing them – jumping from the bank – plopping into the water. There were some already in the water…with just their head above water. One was on some debris under the cattails. Those three were still enough for me to photograph.

The pond has a street on one side, the back fences of yards on two sides, and then a milkweed meadow on the 4th. It was recycle day for the neighborhood and the truck rumbled around the neighborhood while I was at the pond.

2020 07 IMG_0551 (21).jpg — There are lots of plants to see around the pond: peaches hanging over the fence from someone’s back yard, mushrooms in the grass, horse nettle, vetch, clovers, and dandelions.

2020 07 IMG_0551 (9).jpg — There were all stages of cattail around the pond. They are usually where I see the male red-winged blackbirds perched; I did manage to photograph one but most of the birds were in the trees or on fences.

2020 07 IMG_0551 (10).jpg — The milkweed meadow was in bloom. The bees and milkweed beetle were enjoying the bounty. A few plants were coming up in the mowed area (growing faster than the grass).

There were some silent animals around too: a rabbit

And a painted turtle that I almost stepped on. I was just looking more closely at the pond since I usually see one in the water or up on some debris. And then I looked down…and saw it about a foot away from me. This one was well up the slope from the pond. The temperature was in the lower 70s…..and the turtle was probably just thinking about moving. It didn’t budge while I took my photographs.

For all the animals – I used the zoom rather than trying to get close. The morning pond was their home and I left them to enjoy the morning.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Finches at the feeder. We have House Finches at our feeder frequently…and occasionally get Goldfinches. There was a little drama yesterday that involved both. A female Goldfinch arrived first. Then a male House Finch followed by a male Goldfinch. The males appeared to have a territorial interaction and the male House Finch departed.

July 09, 2020

Neighborhood Pond in the Early Morning – Part 1

July 09, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

2020 07 IMG_0537 (1).jpg — Our days have been hot and humid recently. I started on my walk just after 6 AM when the temperature was in the low 70s and the humidity was about 90%. My destination was the storm water retention pond in our neighborhood. The moon was still visible above the trees. The day lily leaves and Virginia creeper at the base of our oak looked very lush as I picked up sticks that had fallen on the driveway. I’ve learned to cut the day lily leaves after the bloom period so that they grow back fresh and lovely in August and into the fall. That job will be done in the next few weeks.

I saw a black feather on the sidewalk along the way. Maybe from a crow?

2020 07 IMG_0537 (4).jpg — When I got to the pond, I heard frogs and red-winged black-birds but didn’t see them immediately. I took pictures of the calm pond…the humidity clouding the air at first – the reflections on one side of the pond looking hazy. Then, a short time later, some reflected color from a different angle that darkened the vegetation to silhouettes.

I heard some splashing and then a bird larger than a red-winged blackbird flew up into a tree. My first thought was maybe a heron. I found it through the zoom on my camera. It was a Green Heron with a fish!

It started moving to swallow the fish and this sequence is from just after the bird stilled after getting the positioned and swallowing.

The green herons have so many different ‘looks’ because of the way they can move their necks. There are times they don’t look all that much like a heron.

But then they stretch out their neck. Sometimes the way they hold up the feathers on the tops of their heads, they look a little like a roadrunner!

I’ll post about everything else I saw at the pond tomorrow.

July 08, 2020

Veggies into the Freezer

July 08, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

The day before the pickup of the CSA share and the crispers are still relatively full….it’s time to do some freezing.

The leafy greens (kale, lettuce, cabbage, arugula, spring greens) - I cut up coarsely and stuffed gallon Ziplocs. I can use them in smoothies or stir fries. They are easy to break into small pieces once they are frozen.

Fennel top was chopped and placed in a smaller bag. They might go in soup - or maybe a smoothy. They have a stronger flavor so I will use a little at a time.

Garlic scapes are cut into pieces and in a plastic container. They will be easy to use in stir fries.

The summer squash is in chunks. They’ll be great in smoothies and stir fries….or thawed and processed into custards.

On the plus side, I managed to use the beets (including the tops), the scallions, the snow peas, a small head of lettuce, the carrots (with tops), the broccoli, the cucumbers, and some of the summer squash. It’s not that I didn’t eat a lot of veggies….just that the CSA supplies an overwhelming amount of them this time of year! At least I don’t waste any of them….but my freezer is getting very full.

Unique for Yesterday:

Catching up on Fashion as Design course. I enjoyed the Fashion as Design Coursera Course back in April. I didn’t complete all the assignments, so I am still getting updates for the class; the instructors are adding to the course material. The latest offering included some zoom meetings about fashion related to news (specifically masks, the pandemic, Black Lives Matter) and a panel discussion on how designers have approached the pandemic crises and the nature of ‘emergency’ itself. And then some videos and a forum on makeup. I signed up for both meetings that will be held later in the week and watched the videos immediately.

A wedding with the bigger celebration being postponed to the 1st anniversary. There was a July wedding planned for a family member that lives in Texas which I had sent along a gift and regrets that I couldn’t attend. Now it’s been changed to be a dramatically reduced event with just bride, groom, and the 2 sets of parents….and then a big celebration planned for the 1st anniversary. A good plan! It’s something to look forward to in 2021.

July 07, 2020

eBotanical Prints - June 2020

July 07, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

25 botanical eBooks found in June 2020! The volumes are all freely available on the Internet. The whole list of 1,920 books can be accessed here. Sample images and links for the 26 new ones are provided below. (click on the sample image to see a larger view). Enjoy!

There are several series this month:

7 issues of The English Garden magazine from the mid-2010s
2 issues of Your Garden magazine from the 2010s
2 volumes from Asa Gray published in the mid-1800s
2 volumes from Johann Zorn published in the 1790s
2 volumes of camellias from the mid-1800s
2 volumes from H.A. Weddell from the mid-1800s
3 volumes from Augustine Pyramus de Candolle from the early to mid-1800s

The most surprising to me was the Hesperides, sive, De malorvm avreorvm cvltvra et vsv libri quatuor by Giovanni Battista Ferrari published in 1646….about citrus fruits. The wild forms are quite different than the ones we know today in the grocery store!

Recueil de planches de botanique de l'encyclopédie * Lamarck, Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet de * sample image * 1823

English Flower Garden:a monthly magazine of hardy and half-hardy plants * Thompson, William * sample image * 1852

The English Garden - October 2015 * Mahon, Stephanie * sample image * 2015

The English Garden - July 2015 * Mahon, Stephanie * sample image * 2015

The English Garden - December 2015 * Mahon, Stephanie * sample image * 2015

The English Garden - January 2016 * Foggett, Clare * sample image * 2016

The English Garden - April 2016 * Foggett, Clare * sample image * 2016

The English Garden - August 2015 UK * Mahon, Stephanie * sample image * 2015

The English Garden - September 2015 UK * Mahon, Stephanie * sample image * 2015

Your Garden - Autumn 2016 * Colls, Stephanie * sample image * 2016

Your Garden - Autumn 2011 * Lee, Mara * sample image * 2011

Genera florae Americae boreali-orientalis illustrata. The genera of the plants of the United States illustrated by figures and analyses from nature V1 * Gray, Asa; Strague, Isaac * sample image * 1848

Genera florae Americae boreali-orientalis illustrata. The genera of the plants of the United States illustrated by figures and analyses from nature V2 * Gray, Asa; Strague, Isaac * sample image * 1848

Auswahl schöner und seltener Gewächse als eine Fortsetzung der Amerikanischen Gewächse. Erstes [-Drittes] Hundert. V1 * Zorn, Johann * sample image * 1795

Auswahl schöner und seltener Gewächse als eine Fortsetzung der Amerikanischen Gewächse. Erstes [-Drittes] Hundert. V2 * Zorn, Johann * sample image * 1796

Iconographie du genre Camellia V1 * Berlese, Lorenzo * sample image * 1841

Iconographie du genre Camellia V2 * Berlese, Lorenzo * sample image * 1843

Iconographie du genre Camellia V3 * Berlese, Lorenzo * sample image * 1843

Chloris andina essai d'une flore de la region alpine des Cordilleres de l'Amerique du Sud 1855 V1 * Weddell, H.A. * sample image * 1855

Chloris andina essai d'une flore de la region alpine des Cordilleres de l'Amerique du Sud 1857 V2 * Weddell, H.A. * sample image * 1857

Hesperides, sive, De malorvm avreorvm cvltvra et vsv libri quatuor * Ferrari, Giovanni Battista * sample image * 1646

Icones pictae plantarum rariorum descriptionibus et observationibus illustratae * Smith, James Edward * sample image * 1790

Icones selectae plantarum quas in systemate universali ex herbariis parisiensibus, praesertim ex Lessertiano V1 * Candolle, Augustin Pyramus de; Turpin, PJF; Delessert, Benjamin * sample image * 1820

Icones selectae plantarum quas in systemate universali ex herbariis parisiensibus, praesertim ex Lessertiano V2 * Candolle, Augustin Pyramus de; Turpin, PJF; Delessert, Benjamin * sample image * 1823

Icones selectae plantarum quas in systemate universali ex herbariis parisiensibus, praesertim ex Lessertiano V3 * Candolle, Augustin Pyramus de; Turpin, PJF; Delessert, Benjamin * sample image * 1838

July 06, 2020

July Yard

July 06, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

Our yard is entering its summer exuberance. We’re still getting enough rain to enable rapid growth of grass and bushes. Even the shade loving plants are lush at this time of year. I take a round of pictures every time we mow the lawn. My husband always starts the mowing, so I have time to take pictures and complete a few other chores before it is my turn.

2020 07 04 093848.jpg — I took the kitchen scraps that had accumulated in the garage container back to the compost bin and took a picture of a fly on a leaf of the nine bark bush before I shaped it with the pruners (and then carried the clippings back to the compost bin).

There were small mushrooms growing in the grass that I noticed on my way back from the compost bin. I was glad I noticed them then since they probably didn’t survive the mowing.

There were black-eyed Susan buds and clover in the front flowerbed (along with the day lilies). The black-eyed Susans will provide some color once the day lilies are done for the year although I did notice that there are several plants that have already had their buds eaten by deer.

The small holly that I trimmed a few weeks ago is growing a lot of new leaves right now. They’ll get a darker green as they mature. The prickles on the leaves keep the deer away.