Post I Never Got Around To

I sometimes have an idea for post or take a picture for one that never quite makes it to the blog. It seems I get distracted by something and forget about my idea and move on.  Then while looking for something else, I run onto them. I find it hard to find the time to develop them all, so I thought I'd do some abbreviated versions before I forget about them again. Here is my first post in the Posts I Never Got Around To series. (I plan more, but we'll see.)

A Few Pictures From Around the Yard Over the Last Month, A Second Look so to speak.

You saw another picture of these cosmos in my last post, but I wanted to elaborate on one of the comments I made there. The local Girl Scout troop did a project on bees and one of the points they made was to plant plants that attract bees. To encourage that, they made bee bombs which were soil balls embedded with seeds. I wasn't sure what was in them, but this is what came up from my bombs. I think this would be a fun project for other kids. 

Stinkhorn fungi. I found these for the first time last year in another location in the yard. They come from little white puffballs in the ground. It will be interesting to see where they pop up next year.

I got two, small, inexpensive ($1.77 each) mums from Aldi's last year that came back quite nicely this year. I especially like their round form. 

We have yellow mums in the back that were there when we moved in.

They have continued to spread and fill quite a large spot. I want to do some more with this bed, but hate to disturb the mums because they are really happy in this location.

I was going to take more pictures to go with each one of these, but, well, you know.

Until next time... :)

Harpers Ferry

Last weekend, Ward and I wanted to get out of the house. We weren't in very good moods and thought a distraction was needed. After several considerations, we headed for Harpers Ferry, WV, which was about an hour or so from our house.

Harpers Ferry is a small historic town that is perhaps most famous for John Brown's Raid in 1859. Brown was an abolitionist and attacked a federal armory there hoping to start a liberation movement among the slaves. Things went badly for him and he was eventually hanged for treason.

However, there is more to see than the spot where Brown's raid took place. The town has many of the original houses that have been turned into museums. But this visit, we didn't go to study the civil war or way of life 150 years ago, we went to see a collapsible boat designed by Merriweather Lewis, of Lewis and Clark fame. We have visited Harpers Ferry a few times over the years and had never heard of this boat. We saw it online and we were curious.

Harpers Ferry is a National Park and as national parks are so good at, they had a bus service to take us into town. The day was a little cold and windy (or refreshing as Ward would say) so I didn't take many pictures because my hands were in my pockets most of the time.  However, below are a few of them.

Harpers Ferry is interesting geographically. It is at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers and is where Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia meet. We were not at a good angle for a shot, but this is where the two rivers meet.

The Appalachian Trail goes through the town, so Ward has visited the area more than I have on backpacking trips. Notice the railroad bridge in the background. There is a close up of it in the next picture.

There was a nice footbridge across the river next to the railroad tracks that we crossed to the other side to explore. However, something happened along the way back. I remembered I was afraid of heights and decided the best idea was to get back to solid ground as soon as possible. That's me hightailing it in the blue. Ward took his time examining how the bridge was built. He said the only thing that would have made it better was if a train had crossed while he was on it.

However, we did see three different trains throughout the afternoon. I enjoyed them along with Ward when I was on terra fima.

This is where John Brown's raid took place. Have you noticed that we're meandering a bit on our way to find the collapsible boat?

Not only did Lewis build his boat here, he secured other supplies for his trip.

The boat was to be carried with the other equipment and used in inaccessible areas where the wooden boats wouldn't go. The details of the boat did not photograph well, but you can get an idea of how big it was from Ward at the edge of the picture. The original boat was never found, but this replica was built from Lewis's notes.

The collapsible iron frame was covered with animal skins and sealed with pine tar. It did well in tests on the Potomac River at Harpers Ferry.  However, the exploration party didn't need to use the boat until Montana where there were no pine trees for tar to seal the seams. The other things they tried as sealants didn't work, so down it went. I was disappointed to hear that it didn't work, but probably not as much as Lewis and Clark and the others on the exposition. 

We came home in a better mood and did a little of our own exploring in our yard where we found these cosmos that seemed to have gown a foot overnight.

Thankful Sunday, October 28, 2018

I am thankful for later sunrises.

This was at official sunrise time, 7:32 am, this morning. However, the first light was peaking from the clouds about 45 minutes before that.

It seems no matter what I do, most nights I fall asleep at approximately the same time.  But I wake up according to the sun. As soon as the first light creeps from the sky into our bedroom, I'm awake. That means in the summer when sunrise is 5:30 am or so, I'm sleep deprived. But this time of year when sunrise is an hour or two later, I get more sleep. That makes for a happier me and a better day for all of those around me. So for a later sunrise, I am thankful.

One Last Day

Maine Trip, Day 7, Monday

We had one last day in Maine before we were heading home. We decided we would visit another must see for a Maine visit--a light house. Our destination was the Pemiquid Light House. We had been there before and wanted to go back because of the interesting rocky shore. Our goal was to go in the morning before it was supposed to start raining in the afternoon. We made it and left as the clouds and a tour bus rolled in.

The Pemaquid Lighthouse was built in 1835 and became automated in 1934. You might recognize it because it is featured on the Maine state quarter.

The shore is rocky and an interesting place to climb around or sit and watch the waves.

The rocks are also interesting to study. The metamorphic gneiss rock has been intruded by igneous rocks to make some interesting formations.

The actual lighthouse was closed for the day, but the museum in the keeper's house was open. I asked for a tour and this man delighted in showing us items and telling stories about them. 

We saw several monarchs here. We also saw a few at Salisbury Beach earlier in the week. Not sure if these are stragglers or they haven't started their migration yet.

After the lighthouse visit, we headed toward Damariscotta for lunch and at stop at Reny's, a Maine discount store. That was where we had the unexpected pleasure of seeing the decorated pumpkins. By the time we left, it was raining steadily, but Ward wanted to go a little out of the way to try to find Lie-Nielson that we had passed on our way to Bar Harbor. Lie-Nielson makes high end woodworking tools that Ward had read about but never seen.

Lie-Nielson is known for its high quality hand woodworking tools. They are sold all around the world, but this is where they are all made.

Ward enjoyed examining and trying out the tools in the showroom.

I asked the woman in the showroom if they gave tours and she said that there was enough time to take us on one right then. It pays to ask because that was the second time that day we got an unscheduled tour. Here our tour guide is telling us about some plane caps that are in progress.

These men were polishing plane irons. Ward was fascinated with the processes and was in seventh heaven during the whole visit. I appreciated the tour even though I didn't understand everything they were working on.

We were getting tired, so it was time to go back to my sister's house and pack our things for tomorrow's departure. However, on the way, we stopped at another Maine tradition, Moody's Diner.

Moody's has been around since 1927 and is a good, old fashioned, family-owned diner. They are famous for the many different kinds of pies they make. So what did we have? Pie, of course. Blueberry for Ward and apple for me. :)

The next day it was back to reality when we arrived home after a bumpy, but uneventful flight. I can definitely say that a good time was had by all on our trip to Maine. :)

Unexpected Fun

Maine Trip, Day 7, Monday

Monday was another sightseeing day. More about that in the next post. Today's post is about our lunch stop. We ate lunch in Damariscotta at a sandwich place recommended by my brother-in-law. The sandwiches were good and served in an interesting country store.

However, the real, unexpected treat was the Pumpkin Festival that Damariscotta was celebrating. The main street was lined with large decorated pumpkins as part of it. We saw a wide variety of decorations done by some very clever people. We didn't get pictures of all of them because of the rain, but here are many of them.

Do you have a favorite? How about a top three?