Kaleidoscopes

or How to Have Fun on a Rainy Day

Another weekend of heavy rain, so Ward and I decided that since we couldn't get to our outside chores, we shouldn't do the inside ones either. (Like our logic?) So off we went to see an exhibit of kaleidoscopes. The exhibit was celebrating the 200th anniversary of when Sir David Brewster first displayed one.

The exhibit was held in an old mansion and featured major kaleidoscope artists from around the world. The pieces were beautiful from both the inside and on the outside. As well as the kaleidoscopes themselves, we saw paintings and quilts with kaleidoscope themes. Below are some pictures of what we saw. I tried to take photos of what we saw through the eyepieces with limited success, but you'll see a few of those anyway.

The design in each square of this quilt was made by individual pieces that were pieced with amazing precision.

These were made from gourds.

This was a kaleidoscope wagon with a big kaleidoscope in the middle and other ones around.

Ward checking out the view in the wagon. 

The majority of the works were for sale and ranged in price from $95 to $28,000. But you could still pickup most of them and look inside.

Look closely to see what this picture is made up of.

There was only a light rain, so we also walked around the grounds of the mansion.

A sculpture dedicated to the arts.

And how lucky are we that this whole afternoon was free.

Thankful Sunday--May 22, 2016

I am thankful for nature's miracles.

Friday was sunny all day for the first time in a long time. So after work, I scurried outside to soak up the sun and do a little yard work. While pulling weeds, I pulled up a new oak tree with an acorn still attached. I am always amazed that plants can come from such small seeds and am delighted when I find the remnants of one. So for the warm sun and recently sprouted oak I found, I am thankful.

(Can't let this post go by without the saying, "Mighty oaks from the little acorns grow")

A Second Look--May 18, 2016

I'm beginning to sound like a broken record. We've had more rain. If you look closely, you may notice rain drops on some of the pictures. About half of them were taken when there was a break in the rain yesterday--meaning I took them when it was only sprinkling instead of pouring. While I didn't get out as much as I wanted last week, the plants were very happy. The emerald green everywhere is proof of that.

We put up another bird feeder near our back doors and we're all enjoying the view--especially the cats. While various birds have come by, it is visited mostly by house finches and goldfinches. And among all of the birds, we have seen more than one fight going on over feeder rights. They look so sweet, but these birds are no pushovers.

Here are some things I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

Cranesbill

If you look carefully, you can see a sunflower seed in the house finch's mouth.

Even though it was raining, the bumble bees were visiting the rhododendron. 

I haven't seen a lot of rabbits this spring. I don't know if that is by chance or that the foxes had a good winter and there are plenty of them around to prey on the rabbits.

Goldfinch

The first purple sage is blooming.

I'm not sure what this is except some kind of snail or slug. I was struck by its white color because I usually associate brown and grey with these creatures. I have no idea if this true, but for a little while I imagined that I was seeing an albino creepy-crawly. 

Buttercups

The squirrels are enjoying the fallout from the new feeder.

The bearded iris have joined the Japanese iris that started blooming last week.

The baby bluebirds have gotten so big that they all don't fit in the picture. Compare this week's picture to last week's. Both were taken from the same distance above the nest.

Kinetic Sculpture Race

or How to Have a Really Fun Day

Last weekend, Ward and I went to the Kinetic Sculpture Race in Baltimore. It's an annual race that's been on our list of things to do for several years and we finally made it happen. It lived up to it's reputation of a really fun thing and I think this will become an annual thing for us.

For those of you who aren't familiar with a kinetic sculpture race (like I wasn't until a few years ago), it's a race using human powered works of art. The race we saw was 14 miles long and went up and down steep hills, into the Chesapeake Bay, and through sand pits and mud pits. There were a variety of participants from middle school students to work groups to civic groups.

Below are pictures from our really fun day.

We gathered with the racers and other crowd at the AmericanVisionary Arts Museum which sponsored the race. The contestants were putting finishing touches on their vehicles and there was an air of excitement and fun in the crowd. You see two of the contestants in this picture (FiFi, the Poodlecorn Unicorn and Monsters of a Middle School Brain.)

Each entry had to go through a safety check to show that their brakes worked by stopping on a "dime". This Monsters, Inc. entry passed.

The Chicken is the mascot of the race and Chickens are everywhere along the race helping.

This entry, Leg Power, was the first to break down and they were not able to finish the race. However, they made it further than the one entry that didn't make it out of the starting gate because of bad brakes.

Crowd participation was encouraged with costumes and ride-alongs like this outhouse and ghost buster. The outhouse had a dog in the bottom who seemed to be enjoying itself.

We watched the first part of the race on a hill with a great view of Baltimore's Inner Harbor. If you look carefully, you will see a couple of the racers in the far lane of the street.

Next we joined the race at the waterfront where the sculptures had to enter the water down a boat ramp and make their way around the dock and up the ramp on the other side. This sculpture, Tick Tock the Croc, was so long it had to swing much wider to make the turn than the other entries.

This entry, Flying Phoenix, was in the ACE class which meant that he had to get out of the water by himself.

However, others (Stumti the Tremendous Stork) were pulled out with the help of their pit crew.

The OMHS Scorpion, separated into two pieces and dumped the pilots into the water. However, they were still able to make it out and rejoin their entry together on dry land to continue the race.

This is the mud pit crew waiting for the first contestant. The pit was particularly difficult because there was a speed bump getting in and getting out of it.

It didn't matter if you had a large vehicle ( Golden Eyedra)...

or a small vehicle (Hydra), they all had a difficult time. This one fell over and the pilot took a dive into the mud.

After the mud pit, we headed back home after a full day of fun and amazement. We missed the awards ceremony, so we didn't know who won until a couple of days later.
Below are some of the winners.

Grand Mediocre Champion: The Bee's Knees, 

Engineering: Birdie, The Sculpture Vulture (Birdie was made mostly from milk jugs.)

Art: King Bal-Tut-More

Best Bribes:  Wheel of Misfortune

Want to know more:

I've just barely scraped the surface of this event. You can go to the Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture website to learn more.

A Second Look--May 11, 2016

We are continuing with our rainy, cloudy, and cool weather. However, it's still warm enough for everything to continue growing. Green is everywhere with just a few trees left to leaf out all of the way. These are mostly the oaks. The hummingbirds are here and we've put up our feeder. So far, a few have found it and that causes a bit of excitement every time it happens.

Unfortunately there are plenty of weeds to feature in the weed showcase. They are the happiest of all from the ample rain we have gotten. But I don't have space this week for that. In the meantime...

Here are a few things I saw this week

 during a Second Look.

The azaleas are in various stages of bloom. If you look closely, it looks like some pruning
has been done on this bush. The deer have helped us with that.

Star of Bethlehem

Another woolly bear on the move.

Black-capped chickadee

The Japanese Iris continue to bloom, but the bearded iris are still just budding.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit. I haven't seen this wildflower for a couple of years since it got accidentally cut down with the lawn mower. I was very happy to see that it had returned.

All of the rain is bringing out some interesting fungus.

Goldfinch

Rhododendron

Geranium, hosta, peris japonica

House finch

Baby bluebirds, 7 days old