Two Books with William Russell Flint Illustrations

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The week’s pick from my recently browsed books on Internet Archive are two written by W.S. Gilbert and illustrated by William Russell Flint. The Scottish artist was known for his watercolors of women….and the illustrations from these books offer some examples of his work.

Princess Ida; or, Castle adamant (1912)

 The artist was long lived (1880-1969) so many books with his illustrations are still copyrighted. I wonder how (or if) his depictions of women changed over the years; certainly fashions changed a lot over the 1900s and the role of women changed with two world wars, more access to education, and the roles of women in industry/business.

17 Months in COVID-19 Pandemic

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17 months into the pandemic and whatever optimism that I felt earlier about the vaccines helping the country return to normal this fall has evaporated. Last spring, I was very optimistic that by this time, I would be planning fall foliage/birding trips…that maybe we would be able to do the Staunton River Star Party – camp out on the field with other amateur astronomers. Now I am not looking seriously at any non-family related travel. I am hoping to be able to make another road trip to Texas for my mother’s 90th birthday in the early fall.

I’ve already posted about the road trip I took to Texas during this last month. It was the second one this year and very different than I expected when it came to COVID-19. The first trip was back in April-May just after I was fully vaccinated. At that time – I felt relatively secure and hopeful that the pandemic would be waning over the summer; the hotel had COVID-19 precautions in place and many people were wearing masks. I became more anxious as the second road trip progressed. The delta variant was surging in some areas when I drove from Maryland to Missouri to Texas, but other areas seemed relatively untouched. I limited my activities in Springfield, Missouri (one of the early places that the delta variant filled the hospitals); there were two indoor events I attended for a wedding in Dallas where it still seemed safe. By the time I started home, the delta variant was surging in more areas, no one was wearing a mask along my route except me (even in the hotel), and I was anxious enough about the possibility that I had been exposed to buy and use the at-home antigen test even though I never developed any symptoms. Based on statistics – if I was exposed and had a breakthrough infection, it would not be life threatening but I didn’t want to risk any ‘long COVID’ issues or expose others. It was reassuring to test negative with two tests. I was grateful that my daughter had convinced me to upgrade from cloth masks to KF94s last spring before I made my first trip. They are the mask I have been wearing since April.

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The dominant emotion I feel now about COVID-19 is sadness – for the lives damaged and lost since the vaccine has become widely available…for not being with my family as much as I would like or traveling to places I enjoy…for the self-destruct aspect of the US culture that continues to surprise me (it is hard for me to accept its pervasiveness)…for the failure of leadership, particularly at the state level.

Mask mandates for indoor settings are something that can be helpful in the short term…but vaccine mandates might be even more important. With the full FDA approval of the vaccines, maybe vaccine mandates will become more widespread. They are already beginning to happen in health care, military and school settings. It will be a long slog with legal challenges, unfortunately.

I am conscious of activities I won’t be restarting anytime soon – as long as the delta variant continues to cause spikes in cases:

Flying. COVID-19 is just one of the reasons. The increased number of incidents with unruly passengers is another. I was disheartened that some airlines recently declined to mandate vaccines for their employees.

Eating in restaurants. I’ll enjoy take out but with the delta variant there is no way the filtration systems can make it safe to eat in the same indoor space with other unmasked (while eating) patrons.

Any spaces where there are a lot of people. Theaters are not a place I would want to be; same for stores during times when a lot of people are shopping. Even parks are problematic if there are large numbers of people.

I am going to the training for the fall programs where I have volunteered in years past. Most of the programs are outdoors…I’ll do some of them this fall…skip the ones that have an indoor setting.

Last spring – I expected that the August post might be my last about my COVID-10 pandemic experiences. But it isn’t over yet. So frustrating….and sad.

Racoon at the Bird Feeder

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My husband put our bird feeder and camera (Reolink Argus) back up while I was returning home. I checked it a few days after I was back and discovered that the image was askew; a squirrel had perched on the camera and jumped onto the feeder on the very first evening…moving the camera and its solar panel!

But – the different angle captured a racoon visit the evening before I checked! The different angle was not good for bird viewing but one of our better views of a racoon (use the arrows to move through the images). All the action took place in about 15 seconds!

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The racoon was probably a female with kits (note the belly). The young would be moving around on their own by now but still getting nourishment from the female.  This one did not look as big as some I have seen so maybe it is her first season with young

Yard Work

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My husband maintains the lawn part of the yard while I am away – but the bushes and flower beds are left for me to get back in control when I return. The milkweed was dominating the front flowerbeds….but there were no caterpillars (or signs that there had been caterpillars) on the plants; it was time to cut them down. There were some black eyed susans that came up through the day lily leaves beginning to bloom.

With the milkweed gone, the black eyed susans show up more. In my next round I’ll do my annual cutting of the day lily leaves to have fresh green ones growing until first frost.

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The Virginia Creeper is growing better than ever on the oak tree. I am leaving it alone this season.

I trimmed the Virginia Creeper growing into a window ledge. There were some ants underneath the leaves on the ledge….not good. I’ll monitor to keep it lower than the ledge for the rest of the season.

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The plant has suction cups that hold it to tree trunks and bricks…not as damaging as rootlets that some other vines have. I still cut the vines on the exterior of the basement because they were about to reach the siding and I did not want them to grow on or under the siding.

While I was cutting the milkweed – I noticed several things to photograph: 1) blooming mint. I have harvested it in years past but am opting to just let it grow among the day lily leaves now.

2) an insect exploring the nine-bark bush. I love the varying leaf color on the bush. It is growing well now, and I am reluctant to trim it because I like the lush and colorful new growth!

3) a zoomed images of a black-eyed susan flower.

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Our tiny holly has berries this year; they’ll start to turn red soon. I cut back the growth of the old bush (dying) behind the holly to maximize the space for the young bush.

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The ferns and grapevine are growing better than ever before under the deck. We are trying not to bother them although I worry about accidently rolling over them when I get the wheel barrow in and out.

The second morning of yard work, I took two wheelbarrows of trimmings from the chaos garden. There is one cone flower there….otherwise it is lemon balm gone wild, some blackberry canes, other invasives….leaves and sticks from the sycamore. There is still more to do in the coming weeks.

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The sycamore is already dropping its leaves…which is normal. The ones on the yard will be chewed up when we mow the yard. The ones on the stairs to the deck will be swept off and onto the yard before we mow.

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When I was taking the last load back to the brush pile at the edge of the forest, I found a red maple leave on the ground – already looking very much as all the leaves will look in upcoming months.

My goal is to work in the yard for 2 hours a week….trying to get it done first thing in the morning – when the temperature is the lowest of the day.

Great to be Home Again

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I’m about over the flurry of activity that follows a road trip – emptying the car, replenishing groceries, and doing laundry. Shedding the few pounds of weight and heighted anxiety accumulated while traveling is still a work in progress.

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Going to our local farmers market was something I missed while I was away; it felt good to go to the market and come back with fresh produce to fill my refrigerator crispers: onions, collard greens, spaghetti squash and tomatoes.

I’m also thinking about the trip in retrospect at this point.

  • What do I remember most about each state?

    • Texas – I spent the most time away in the state – enjoying seeing family in person. It was hot and very sunny. The speed limits are high and the drivers are usually going at least 10 miles above – sometimes a bit scary. The employees at the Walmart closest to my parents started wearing masks on the last few days (a new mandate from corporate) and a lot of the customers were wearing masks as well. Lots of mosquito bites. Hazy skies (maybe from the fires or maybe just the way Dallas is in summer). Josey Ranch Lake and the Pocket Prairie nearby were pleasant in the early morning…always some plants or wildlife to see there.

    • Missouri – No one was wearing masks even though the state was in the national news for their Delta variant outbreak. People seemed friendly but I got the impression that they didn’t like that I was wearing a mask when I went indoors at rest stops. The rest stops along I44 are not as frequent as in other states and traffic is heavy with lots of trucks (and they sometimes seemed to be playing games passing each other and slowing down car traffic). I had a near accident on I44 when a pickup with a camper on the back must have forgotten how long the combination was - pulling over too soon after he passed me (almost forcing me off the road to avoid being swiped by the camper). A few mosquito bites from sitting out on my daughter’s patio at dusk. I enjoyed the Springfield Botanical Garden.

    • Kentucky – The one overnight in a hotel on my road trips to Texas/Missouri. The highway is scenic, and the rest stops well placed. I recalled the road trip I did with my daughter in 2005 when she was learning to drive; there was a segment in Kentucky that I remembered being scenic; when I got home I looked back in my notes and it was the interstate between Louisville and Cincinnati rather than the route I take now. Signs that feature horses and bourbon seem to be everywhere.

    • Oklahoma – Just passing through. It’s a little harder drive since most is not interstate – no formal rest stops. The toll roads are a hassle. It’s not as pretty as I remember growing up – not as many big trees. Maybe it’s the way the highways have been developed; in the 1960s we were driving a lot of the way on two lane roads.

    • Illinois and Indiana – Just passing through. Rural. There are rest stops frequently enough and they are well tended. The traffic is a lot less than in Texas and Missouri. Plants along the roads are not mowed --- lots of blooms and seeds. I wondered if they are intended to provide food for migrating birds and butterflies.

    • West Virginia – My favorite segment of the trip. Even though I’m seeing it at highways speeds – the forests and mountains are gorgeous. The state does a good job with rest stops along the highway as well. I want to find out more about new national park in the state – New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.

  • I also noticed plants along the way as I drove and at the rest stops. Many of rest stop areas are transitioning to native plants; some even have pollinator gardens. The plantings are something to savor for the few minutes at the place…as the traffic on the interstate continues to roar past.

    • Wild/wood hydrangeas

    • Chicory

    • Sunflowers

    • Oaks

    • Red buds

    • Sweet gum

    • Maples

    • Cone flowers

    • Butterfly bush

I am very glad to be home!

Road Trip Home

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I break the road trip between where my parents live in Texas and where I live in Maryland into 3 8-hour chunks…seeing my daughter in Missouri along the way.  There is still some tweaking I want to make to the route, but it is much better than trying to do the drive in 2 days through Virginia, Tennessee, and Arkansas.

The first day of my preferred route from Texas to Maryland is from Carrollton, Texas to Springfield, Missouri through Oklahoma. It is the most difficult day of trek because 1) most of the miles are not on Interstate (so very few ‘rest stops’) and 2) I don’t have a toll tag for the turnpikes in Oklahoma. On the plus side, there are improvements being made along the route – particularly the part through the Choctaw area of Oklahoma and I will probably get a Texas toll tag which will work in Texas and on the Oklahoma turnpikes before I do the drive again. I also realized that there is a state park in Oklahoma just off the highway where my husband and I camped on a fall foliage trip about 40 years ago…well positioned for a picnic/rest stop. I took a few pictures along the road the first day – the Oklahoma Welcome Center, a stop along the turnpike (I was surprised that I had my feet in the frame….and that my feet looked so narrow), and the Missouri welcome center.

The next morning, I left Springfield, Missouri shortly after 7…heading for Frankfort, Kentucky.  There was a lot of traffic on I-44; the traffic (particularly trucks) was reduced after I passed St. Louis. The highway through Illinois and Indiana is rural but there are plenty of rest stops. And then the highway is very scenic in Kentucky. The first part of the day was somewhat challenging because of the traffic but the highway was good and the scenery in the second half of the day made the drive enjoyable. I had originally planned to get takeout for my dinner but opted to eat what I had in the ice chest and a protein bar; it was disconcerting that all during the day – through areas with low vaccination rates and high infection rates with the delta variant of COVID-19 – that no one was wearing masks. And the hotel was back to business as usual. I didn’t want to risk a breakthrough infection (I am vaccinated) and bring in home to my husband so I was putting on a mask any time I was indoors and running my air purifier in the hotel room.

The last day of the trek – from Frankfort, Kentucky to my home in Maryland – is my favorite. The route is scenic and fun to drive – lots of curving Interstate through Kentucky, West Virginia and into Maryland. It also has the highest density of highway rest stops of the whole 3 days. It was helpful to stop a little more frequently and move around – otherwise I get achy and stiff on these long road trips. The traffic picked up the closer I got to home…but, like the other two days, I arrived at about the time my nav system had predicted when I stated out in the morning!

This route works very well for me although I realize that the curvy Interstate in the second half of the trek will not work for winter road trips. I hope the COVID-19 cases will not still be at a high level along the route in October because I would like to make at least one more road trip to Texas this year.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 7, 2021

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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.

A roadrunner taking a dust bath wins the 2021 Audubon photography awards – This gleaning list is big on bird photos! This is the first one.

Top 25 birds of the week: Conservation – This is the second. These posts encourage me to get outdoors in areas near my home to photograph birds!

How giraffes deal with sky-high blood pressure – Multiple differences between giraffes and humans when it comes to blood pressure!

Permafrost Thaw in Siberia Creates a Ticking ‘Methane Bomb’ of Greenhouse Gases – The article is about what happened in summer 2020…made me wonder about what is happening this summer in Siberia. This along with the fires that seem to be worse each season are signs that climate change is happening faster than anticipated…that the models might be optimistic rather than realistic.

Plastic, the Trojan Horse – A study that found plastic accumulation in foods may be underestimated. Not good.

Smoke Across North America – Lots of fires this summer. My husband told me that the local astronomy club has cancelled several nights they’d planned for observing because no stars were visible through the haze here in Maryland.

How the sun affects our skin – An infographic about vitamin D, sunburn and skin cancer.

This catfish doesn’t just move on land, it reffles – Plecos – from the aquarium trade – are now invasive in warmer waters in the US. They do have an interesting way of moving on land (videos of their reffle)…..this means if found/caught they shouldn’t be left on the bank to die (since they will easily move back to the nearest water). The article didn’t say what to do with them (presumable kill them).

Drought, Heat Taking a Toll on National Parks in Southwest – I’ve enjoyed so many of the parks mentioned in this article – Saguaro, Grand Canyon, White Sands, Petrified Forest. It has always been dry there…but now it is getting drier and hotter.

Take a Virtual Tour of Artworks Inspired by Efforts to Preserve Plant Biodiversity – A virtual site of an exhibit not at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery in Exeter, England. Watch the 5 minute video about the site….then enjoy the exhibit here.

eBotanical Prints – July 2021

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20 botanical print books browsed in July and added to the list. There still seem to be a lot of botanical works to discover and browse – freely available from various sources on the internet. All the volumes this month are found on Internet Archive.

The first 7 volumes browsed in July were produced by Johann Hieronymus Kniphof using a process called “nature printing” that flattened the plants to produce the image…making them look much like herbarium specimens.

My favorite volume of the month was probably Thomas Taylor’s Drawings of Fungi --- maybe because they were so different from the other volumes.

Toward the end of month – I started the Jakob Sturm series; there are more to enjoy browsing in August! Online it isn’t obvious that the engravings were small (no more than 5 by 3.5 inches); they were made to be affordable to more people when they were originally published in the 1800s and remained in print through the early 1900s!

The whole list of 2,187 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the July books is at the end of this post.

Click on any sample images in the mosaic below to get an enlarged version. Enjoy the July eBotanical Prints!

Botanica in originali V7-8 * Kniphof, Johann Hieronymus * sample image * 1758

Botanica in originali V3-4  * Kniphof, Johann Hieronymus * sample image * 1758

Botanica in originali V5-6 * Kniphof, Johann Hieronymus * sample image * 1758

Botanica in originali V9-10 * Kniphof, Johann Hieronymus * sample image * 1758

Botanica in originali V11-12 * Kniphof, Johann Hieronymus * sample image * 1758

Botanica in originali V1 * Kniphof, Johann Hieronymus * sample image * 1758

Botanica in originali V2 * Kniphof, Johann Hieronymus * sample image * 1758

Horti botanici bononiensis plantae novae vel minus cognitae * Bertoloni, Antonio * sample image * 1838

Florula Guatimalensis * Bertoloni, Antonio * sample image * 1830

Herbier général de l'amateur, contenant la description, l'histoire, les propriétés et la culture des végétaux utiles et agréables 1839 (2nd series, 5) * Loiseleur-Deslongchamps, M.; Lemaire, Charles Antoine * sample image * 1839

Flora gallica, seu, Enumeratio plantarum in Gallia sponte nascentium * Loiseleur-Deslongchamps, J. L. A (editor) * sample image * 1836

Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz V1 * Thome, Otto Wilhelm * sample image * 1903

Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz V2 * Thome, Otto Wilhelm * sample image * 1903

Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz V3 * Thome, Otto Wilhelm * sample image * 1903

Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz V4 * Thome, Otto Wilhelm * sample image * 1903

Drawings of Fungi * Taylor, Thomas * sample image * 1839

J. Sturms Flora von Deutschland, in Abbildungen nach der Natur BD 1 * Sturm, Jakob; Krause, Ernst Hans Ludwig; Missbach, Ernst Robert; Lutz, K.G. * sample image * 1906

J. Sturms Flora von Deutschland, in Abbildungen nach der Natur BD 2 * Sturm, Jakob; Krause, Ernst Hans Ludwig; Missbach, Ernst Robert; Lutz, K.G. * sample image * 1900

J. Sturms Flora von Deutschland, in Abbildungen nach der Natur BD 3 * Sturm, Jakob; Krause, Ernst Hans Ludwig; Missbach, Ernst Robert; Lutz, K.G. * sample image * 1900

J. Sturms Flora von Deutschland, in Abbildungen nach der Natur BD 4 * Sturm, Jakob; Krause, Ernst Hans Ludwig; Missbach, Ernst Robert; Lutz, K.G. * sample image * 1905

Texas Morning

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I kept checking the sky at sunrise all during the time I was in Texas. The sky was clear for most days and the sunrise color washed out. Then there was a day of light clouds that reflected the color. I noted that the palm that had looked ruined after last winters deep cold has recovered.

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My parents’ backyard has changed since one of the large mulberry trees was cut. The cosmos flowers are large and blooming profusely.

The naked lady lilies are not as numerous and will probably shift to the shadier parts of the garden. They were the thickest around the old tree but now the area is too sunny for them.

There are still mulberries in the yard. They are well trimmed and will probably last a few more years. The one closest to the house has leaves sprouting from the trunk! I sat in a comfortable patio chair and took some zoomed pictures. There are even some high key pictures in the mix.

I turned a bit and noticed that the moon was still up. I balanced my camera on my knee. That was steady enough to get even the highly zoomed image!

The pecan tree that used to be between 2 mulberry trees is growing rapidly now that one is gone. The tree trimmers had done a good job in taking off lower branches and the tree will quickly become the dominate tree in the garden. It might get above the remaining mulberry this year!

It was a great morning to be outdoors photographing the garden…until I noticed a mosquito buzzing around me. A sign that it was time to go indoors…

Vicarious Macro Photography

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While I was on my road trip to Springfield, MO and Carrollton, TX – my husband started a macro photography project: handheld and in the field. I asked him to email me some of his initial results and was impressed with the collection he sent. I selected 4 to include in this post.

His project started with a webinar and some new gear (some of which will fit on my camera too with the appropriate adapter). The blue-purple flower in the pictures is chicory. I expect we’re both going to enjoy macro photography forays well into the fall!

Josey Ranch Birds in July – 2

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I walked around to the Josey Ranch Lake boardwalk on the other side of the cattails….and saw another kind of heron after a few steps onto it: a green heron was on the end of the boardwalk!

I had seen green herons at the lake before. Back in June 2018, I saw young birds feeding in the shallows near the cattails.  This year I saw at least three birds in the same area but on snags or up in trees.  Some of them were clearly juveniles based on their plumage…although further along in development than the birds in 2018. At this point the youngsters are flying like adults. The one with fuzz on the top of its head is certainly a bird that hatched this year!

As I walked back to the car, I spotted a feather in the grass. Perhaps from a Canada Goose? There were a few at the lake. They give a nice size compassion when they are on the shore with the swans (the swans are huge!).

Josey Ranch Birds in July – 1

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There always seem to be interesting birds at the Josey Ranch Lake in Carrollton TX. They are somewhat acclimated to people because of the walkers that frequent the circuit around the water; most people stay on the paved surface and the birds are close or in the water. I went to the lake several times over the past 2 weeks. At first, all I see are pigeons, grackles and swans. But even those birds are photogenic. There is a lot of variety in the pigeons. I use the zoom on my camera to take portraits. There was a rotating group moving out on some rocks at the lake’s edge to get a drink.

The swans appeared to be preening a lot and there were feathers that surrounded them. I wondered if they were molting.

And then I spotted a different bird – a yellow-crowned night heron! It flew up onto the boardwalk (the one that was flooded when I was in the area last May). I had seen this species before at the lake. It always surprises me how hard it is to spot. I’m usually close before I see it; this time was like that – as soon as I saw it, I stopped and took pictures. Eventually the bird became aware I was there but didn’t fly away. More pictures. Then it flew out across the water toward the morning sun.

The mesquite trees on the banks of the cattail end of the lake had beans. I was more interested in the foliage for photography….took a high key image as I made my way around to the other side of the cattails on the paved trail.

More on another bird I photographed at Josey Ranch in tomorrow’s blog post…..

Zentangle® – July 2021

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The July Zentangle tiles are neatly divided by shape and where I made them. The rectangular tiles were made in Maryland and finished with Ultra Fine Sharpie colored pens that are running out of ink. I’ll buy some new pens for the August tiles.

The square tiles were made in Missouri and Texas…finished in Texas with gel pens left over from my sister’s teaching years. I had a few instances of smeared ink (the gel pens don’t dry as fast as the Sharpies). But it was fun make selections from a largish box of pens – riches of glittery color.

At home or traveling – making Zentangle tiles is something I manage to fit into almost every day!

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. “Zentangle” is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 31, 2021

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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.

Climate Change Responsible for Recent Decline of Eastern Monarch Butterflies – I know that the milkweed in my Maryland yard is not as healthy looking and I don’t see as many butterflies as I did in the 1990s…it’s a sad trend.

Top 25 birds of the week: July 2021 and Perching – A special treat – two collections of bird photographs in this gleanings post!

The parenting penalties faced by scientist mothers – There are no single or quick ‘fixes’ – moving forward requires thoughtful approaches. The status quo is not acceptable or sustainable!

True Grit: Adventures in Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Research – My husband and I saw red-cockaded woodpeckers in Florida during a birding festival field trip…so I tend to look at articles that appear in my news feed about them.

Florida Breaks Annual Manatee Death Record In First 6 Months Of 2021 – Florida seems to be a less appealing place to visit these days. Manatees were an animal my husband and I always wanted to see there and now they are starving to death because the seagrass (their food) is dead or dying in polluted waters. Other animals are probably impacted as well.

Chaco Culture National Historical Park: Hard To Reach, Filled With The Unexpected – I’ve only been to Chaco Canyon once….in the spring when it wasn’t overly hot. There were not many people on the windy, cool day we were there. The sounds of the place increased the sense of history in the ruins.

Air pollution during pregnancy may affect growth of newborn babies – There are so many aspects of the human impact on our environment that overwhelm what our bodies can handle…we should probably assume that there will be health impacts – particularly noticeable in the very young and the very old.

Burrowing Owls Face an Uncertain Future – They need holes from small colonial mammals….areas that are not plowed.

U.S. Power Sector Sees Biggest One-Year Drop in Emissions in More Than Two Decades – Picking up the pace as more renewables come online.

‘Inflammation clock’ can reveal body’s biological age – Maybe this turns out to be a good diagnostic to prompt interventions to extend healthy lifespan (via treatments on specific types of inflammation).

Better Homes and Gardens Browsed in June 2021

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Internet Archive has quite a collection of Better Homes and Gardens magazines that I started browsing through in June…37 volumes in all during the month. It will take at least another month to finish the rest that the archive has available. I selected a sample image from each volume (links at the bottom of this post) and grouped them by decade. Click to see an enlarged version of any image below.

The 1940s were before I was born so purely historical from my perspective. Some of the pictures look almost modern – the child in the snow suit with the shovel, for example. Gardens can look the same from just about any time period, however the people in them don’t; I was surprised at how dressed up women are depicted sometimes even ‘working’ in the garden. The little girl helping with the dishes looks dressed up too.  Technology often dates pictures although the camera shown on the August 1940 cover was about the size of a point and shoot today. The food almost always looks way more complex (more time consuming to prepare) that what we typically prepare today.

The 1950s were too early in my life to remember clearly. The flowers could be modern pictures. The eat-in kitchen is dated but functional (no dishwasher or microwave though); the green glasses look like the ruby red glasses I have today. A story about Cape Hatteras was in a 1957 issue.

I remember the 1960s since I started school in 1960. The flowers and gardens relatively timeless…and garden sheds were catching on. The office could function today….with the addition of a laptop; I liked the location of the window. Kitchens were changing and some designs did not ‘stick’ (like the kitchen in the round). Dishwashers were appearing. Double sinks with counters were becoming common in bathrooms…but ruffles over the mirror must have been a passing fad. Shag carpeting! Picnic baskets were more common than ice chests/coolers for meals away from home – very different than our picnics today.

In the 1970s I finished high school and college. The page describing salad greens from 1970 does not include kale, arugula, or cilantro! It was a decade of more house plants, cheesecake, vegetable gardening, and decorating with crafts as many people were challenged to live well with less spending power because of inflation.

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The 1980 volume included a page describing different kinds of pasta. I didn’t notice at the time how many more kinds they were…we usually just bought thin spaghetti and elbow macaroni during the 80s.

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1940

Better Homes and Gardens - July-December 1940

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1941

Better Homes and Gardens - July-December 1941

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1942

Better Homes and Gardens - July-December 1942

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1943

Better Homes and Gardens - July-December 1943

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1949

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1950

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1951

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1957

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1958

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1959

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1960

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1961

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1962

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1963

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1964

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1965

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1966

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1967

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1968

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1969

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1970

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1971

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1973

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1974

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1975

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1976

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1977

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1978

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1979

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1980

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1981

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1982

Better Homes and Gardens - January-June 1983

I’m continuing to brown through more magazines in July…..so expect another post in a month or so to continue on from 1980.

Ten Little Celebrations – July 2021

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Half of July was at home in Maryland…and half was a road trip from Maryland to Missouri to Texas.

Wegmans. I celebrated being comfortable doing my own grocery shopping in the store (early morning….still masked). Maryland’s vaccination rate is high and the infection rate low (although trending upward). The pandemic has honed my appreciation of ordinary activities….things that were curtailed during the peaks of COVID-19.

Getting a haircut. Another ordinary activity that I didn’t do (or put off) during the pandemic. I wore my KF-94 mask and discovered that my stylist is South Korean (he commented…”this is a good mask, made in my country”).

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Starting the morning outdoors (on the deck). Last summer I developed an appreciation for being out on the deck in the early morning -  enjoying a light meal, reading or making a Zentangle tile. It is a little celebration at the beginning of the day.

Farmer’s Market. What a thrill to buy my favorite veggies from the Farmers Market. I love the changes in selection as the season progresses. Celebrating the ongoing harvest!

South Mountain rest stop encounter. One of the deprivations of the pandemic was causal encounters…so the trucker that I encountered at the vending machines during the first rest stop of my road trip was something to celebrate. A little conversation…a wonderful beginning for my travels.

Scenic drive through Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky. I enjoyed the 8 hour drive from my home in Maryland (between Washington DC and Baltimore) to Frankfort, Kentucky… a celebration of curvy highway through lots of forest…no traffic problems.

Springfield Botanical Garden. Celebrating hydrangeas, hostas and day lilies…on an early summer morning.

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Xeriscape Garden. A small, lush oasis within walking distance of my daughter’s house in Springfield! It’s another reason to celebrate their neighborhood.

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Josey Ranch Pocket Prairie in Carrollton, Texas. I celebrated the place looking more and more like a real prairie!

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Green herons. I saw three green herons at Josey Ranch Lake; probably one adult and 2 juveniles. They are so well camflauged – I always celebrate seeing these birds and three at one time was a special treat.

Zooming – July 2021

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The images this month are from Maryland, Missouri and Texas! The collection is skew toward plants but here are a few birds and dragonflies. There are at least two high key images as well. Enjoy the slide show for July 2021.

Josey Ranch Pocket Prairie – July 2021

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The Josey Ranch Pocket Prairie in Carrollton, Texas is a place I visit almost every time I am in the area (since I found in Spring 2019). It’s been interesting to see the place develop over the years. Last week when I visited in the morning – before the day got seriously hot – it seemed like it was mostly tall grass at first.

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Taking a closer look - there were wildflowers still blooming. Many also had seed pods too. They are hidden gems in the tall grass. There was a large rabbit that was on one of the paths, already in motion before I saw it. This small prairie surrounding by ball fields and tightly packed houses across the busy street is an oasis for more than the plants!

Here are some posts from previous visits to the Pocket Prairie:

April 2021

July 2019

April 2019

Carrollton Yard – July 2021

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The back yard in Carrollton, Texas is a sunnier space that when I was here in May (a big tree had to be cut down). And it is summer. There are some cannas that are some of the tallest I’ve seen.

The hydrangeas are waning…the Queen Anne’s Lace is not as abundant as earlier…there are some round yellow-orange blobs of fungus in the shredded wood left from the big tree…they are almost the same color as the cosmos that are blooming in the newly sunny patch…a few Naked Lady Lilies and other shade loving plants are under the pecan tree which is growing rapidly now that the old mulberry is not overhead.

There are metal sculptures that I always notice among the plants – always there but looking different because of the changes of the plants over the season.

In the front yard, the ferns have spores forming on the underside of the fronds and there is only one daisy left.

The red yucca has seed pods developing among its flowers.

In a patch of dirt where some plant has died back, I found an large,empty snail shell…even though haven’t seen a snail in the yard before!

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Overall – the garden in Carrollton has changed quite a lot since May. Having the big tree gone has changed things more than the usual cycle…this next year will be one of transition for the corner of the yard that was very shady and is now full of sun.

Springfield Yard and Xeriscape Garden

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Last time I was in Springfield, the priority was getting my daughter moved into a new house – exhausting work. This time I am savoring the yard. I walked around several times….marveling at how beautiful it is, noting a few things that need to be done but nothing critical. It is relatively low maintenance. I am starting to think about the various areas as mini gardens.

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The Driveway Garden has two hollies flanking the extra parking area – a male and female. The female tree is full of green berries which will be red by winter…pretty and food for birds as well.

The Back Garden has a dogwood that may be problematic (some dead branches and overall not looking healthy) but underneath the Queen Anne’s Lace is blooming and some other plants (that will also provide food for birds. I’ve been watching a small rabbit nibbling on the plants around the brick patio every morning when I nibble my dark chocolate in the garden room. The hosta plants have already finished blooming. There are some legume type plants that are blooming behind some evergreens and a stand of poke weed that will have purple berries in the fall. There is a wood hydrangea that still has dried flowers from last year along with light grene flower clusters on the ends of this year’s growth. Overall – a lot of shrubs, trees and perennials…very little grass.

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The Side Garden has evergreens on one side of the stone walk and ferns on the other. I might move one of the yard chairs to this always shady area.

The Magnolia Garden is under a huge magnolia tree. There was some damage to the leaves from the extreme cold from last winter that I noticed last time I was here but those leaves were dropped and the tree looks wonderfully lush at this point - full of shining green leaves, developing seed pods and waning flowers. There are a few ferns and hosta under the tree. My daughter cleared away the thick layer of magnolia leaves and is planning to encourage (or plant) more of those types of plants under the tree.

The Front Garden is dominated by some big trees. The river birch and oak are the largest. The oak was probably planted when the house was built in the 1950s. Many other houses in the neighborhood have a large oak in the front.

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There is also an oak leaf hydrangea between the house and the big trees that is blooming; it’s a great shade loving plant!

We took a walk in the neighborhood to a city park that includes a Xeriscape Garden maintained by volunteers. Kudos to the people that do the work there! It is a mini-botanical garden. The arum seed clusters are attention getting! The variety of plants there would make it worth visiting any time except (maybe) the winter. I was pleased to see that goldenrod was included. There was also some sculpture among the plantings.

Overall – the gardens of the yard and the nearby Xeriscape Garden are something to look forward to see during future visits.