time for the Fair

Fire Trucks

Buck and Belle and kids and dog

Mountain man

Naja Shrine clown unit

Central States Fair and Range Days Rodeo parade

Rapid City, SD

August 20, 2011

Queen Anne's Lace

 Anne of Denmark (1574-1619)

Contrary to popular belief, Queen Anne's Lace flowers were not named after Anne, Queen regnant of England.They apparently honor Anne, of Denmark, patron of the arts and  Queen Consort, wife of James I.

One story attributes the single maroon floweret in the center of Queen Anne's lace to the fact that Anne pricked her finger while creating the fancy lace and that is the resulting drop of blood staining the pure white of the lace. For reasons unknown to botanists this is the one "flower" in the umbel that does not form seed, it may have something to do with attracting pollinators.

afternoon Glories

Grandpa Ott's (heirloom morning glory)

On cloudy days, Grandpa Ott stays awake well into the afternoon. Love these guys, plant once and they reseed themselves every year. Even when my garden predators eat all the leaves as far as they can reach, Grandpa Ott blooms on and on.

baby Predators

Hoping that these two little darlings don't turn into the "Terrible Twins", garden predators! They look so cute and Disney-esque at this age, but they already know about drinking the birdbath dry. What else is Mama teaching them???

hello, lil Hummerbird

lady broad-tailed hummingbird (I think)

Not so lucky as some of you who have summer residents, we get the hummers when they come through on their southward migration in August. This little lady has been visiting for several days, and I am delighted to have her. I was really delighted to get a picture of her, that is a an ongoing challenge!

robin Candy

chokecherries

They make yummy jelly, but the young robins are enjoying them so much, I don't have the heart to snitch them. We'll just enjoy Aunt Nancy's Back Fence Grape jelly on our toast instead.

a Riddle

Why does my hummingbird feeder turn the trees upside down?

soon, soon, Soon...

It is Back to School time

If you need a bathing suit for your offspring or new lawn chairs, good luck. But, these are the days of the nickel folder and dime pencil and penny ruler sales for all of us buyers of school supplies.

My college kid has purchased her books, and college kid list of things, but teachers collect bags full of all the usual schoolstuff, too. Our school kiddos are sometimes in need of the basics that first day, especially when new shoes and jeans are on family shopping lists in rough economic times.

You might be surprised how much your child's teacher spends out of pocket to make sure the kids have what they need . (No surprise here, of course to my blogfriends in Education.)

One of the neatest 1st day of school moments I have ever seen was when my friend, the kindergarten teacher in a very low income school, gave each of the kids a new box of crayons. These little kids were thrilled, it was "my first box of pointy crayons in my whole life!"

with humble Thanks

Art Alley tribute

Today, our deeply saddened community says a final farewell to two dedicated young police officers who tragically lost their lives last week in the line of duty, protecting and serving as they had sworn to do.

Rest in Peace, Officer Nick Armstrong and Officer Ryan McCandless

Wishing a speedy and complete recovery to Officer Tim Doyle, both physically and spiritually, the lone survivor of this tragic incident.

Please thank your own law enforcement officers, firemen and first responders for their service and dedication to your community.

Art Alley grafitti artists tribute

upon Reflection...

self portrait

This week we welcome thousands of bikers (read that Harleys) to the Black Hills for the 71st Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally! We live 2 miles west of US Highway 16, the main drag to Mt. Rushmore, the rumble of motorcycle engines is audible 24 hours a day. Every conceivable bike, costume, tattoo, decoration and hairdo is somewhere in your immediate neighborhood, wherever you might be. We are glad to have them visit, along with the tourists who ride human powered bikes, you meet nice folks from all over the country and the world in local restaurants and grocery stores.

I was intrigued by the reflection in the back window of this RV from Alberta, Canada, it didn't occur to me that I was taking my own picture as well.

whatcha readin' there on the Porch?

Then followed that beautiful season... Summer....
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

what's new, Pussycat ?

Mr. Suspicious from across the road

Did you know that polydactyl cats are considered good luck by sailors? They were common on the sailing ships coming in and out of colonial Boston harbor and are seen quite frequently in New England and northern New York.
Geographers often trace back early settlers' origins in the midwestern states to a New England home using cultural items. One of these items are the mitten footed cats. If there is a significant number of polydactyl cats in an area, chances are some of the folks who settled there brought their feline friends with them from the New England  area. Cats were a valued commodity both on shipboard and in farming communities for rodent control, so settlers packed their cats along with their household goods when moving west.

a dove Above

Early morning mourning dove, sun barely up, almost a silhouette.

high summer Hollyhocks

Against the brick wall of the 19th century building across the road from camp, they have been growing there for countless summers. 

But, did you know...hollyhocks were commonly planted around the outbuildings of a homestead. A refined lady did not have to ask for directions to the outhouse, she just looked for the hollyhocks and took care of things from there, saving her dignity.

all on a summer's Day

Daughter on the Dock

in the olden Days...

 

...they might have been pirates!!

a day for Kites

Not a "kite eating" tree, just Dick and Maggie's kites tethered to dry after a dip in the Lake.

from the Daybook

 

Daily ledger, Matthew Sax's store 1820, a quick note to someone about Solomon Rosevelt's corn

someone getting ready to sew the  family's clothing

a gill of rum was about 4 oz worth

We still have the daybooks from the Store, a fascinating read for history buffs. Just reading through the sales for any given day paints a picture of early 19th century America in Clinton County, NY at the Landing and its trade area. 

click on photographs for ease of reading

morning has Broken

sunrise over Mermaid Rock

Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the word

Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day

As Sung by Cat Stevens

lyrics by Eleanor Farjeon

dog day Afternoon

Mr. Burton Booth, dog extraordinaire

90 degrees, a bazillion percent humidity, all of us, including my dog nephew, headed into the Lake for a swim.

welcome to Musket Point

Camp

Saxe's Landing

Saxe's Landing, the place of my childhood summers. Barefoot children, Coppertone, rowboats, rafts, perch and sunfish, apple orchards, black raspberry ice cream.

Matthew Sax is my ancestor, the remains of the wharf still exist, the ledgers from the general store are still legible from the 1820s, a fascinating story all by themselves. "The Landing" is less than 10 miles from the Canadian border. The "store" at the wharf was built in 1822, replacing those buildings burned by the British during their retreat back to Canada at the end of the War of 1812.

next, a ferry boat Ride

Lake Champlain Transportation Co. 

The Plattsburgh

heading west to the New York shore from Grand Isle, VT

the wild blue Yonder

Over Middle America, heading East

Hello again, have returned from missed flights, unexpected stay in the Windy City and a week's visit to see family on Lake Champlain, Saxe's Landing, Chazy, New York. Some things were more fun than others.
More to follow

checkin' on the Kiddos

Violet-green swallows

waiting for chow

you kind of lost your focus, Son

emerging Constellation

• The Full Buck Moon –  July is normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. (New Farmer's Almanac)

The full Buck Moon, is flooding the night sky with light, making the usual constellations barely visible. A piece of  wire fence and a garden stake make a constellation of their own, keeping the flesh and blood bucks in velvet from eating their starry companions.

cool, clear Water

Canyon Lake Park spillway

dolphin or Whale?

Delphiniums get their name from the Greek delphis, meaning dolphin. I think they look more like the beluga whale calf at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. However, since "whale" traces its roots to a Latin word for "seapig", I guess delphinium is a more dignified moniker.  Seapigium, not so much.

Shedd Aquarium's beluga calf, Nunavik

did you want some Cake?

whitetail fawn

Baking birthday cake, putting dishes in the sink, look out the kitchen window and there is a small visitor. Mom was resting in the thicket behind him. We grabbed a couple of photos through the garage door. They declined our invitation for cake, and took off with "flags" waving.

Celebration!

Happy Birthday, Sweetie

eyes on the Prize

 

This is Paula

Paula is one of those retrievers who will swim endlessly after a frisbee thrown in the lake.

Paula is headed for the gazebo, she totally missed the frisbee floating to her left.

Paula aims to retrieve a duck instead.

"Paula, turn around, you stupid dog."
 Paula finally draws a bead on her frisbee.

Paula returns proudly to shore and shakes cold water all over a shrieking little girl child.

Paula barks and barks then rolls in goose goobers.

Don't you wish Paula was your dog?

The End

make a Wish

Torenia Catalina Midnight Blue

Meet Torenia, commonly known as the Wishbone flower. Ok, I never saw the "wishbone" until I brought the photos I took into Photoshop and looked at the macro shots. Do you see it??

It is a gorgeous little shade plant that I am growing for the first time, supposed to be friendly to hummingbirds.

We shall see if the returning migrants give it a stamp of approval.

a question of Horsepower

4 Horsepower and no Horsepower

is this a Cowbird?

The mountain bluebird is watching for his open range companions who should be arriving in their summer pasture any day this week. Will he be startled when Angus and Black Baldies show up instead of Jerseys???

Why in the world do they sell "beware of dairy cows" signs out here in the prairie grasslands instead of ones for the omnipresent beef animals? No idea.

prairie Afternoon #4

little flake of the empyrean

prairie afternoon #3

Happy 88th Birthday to my dad, Robert Booth!

He and my mother (Helen) were, and still are, the inspiration and expert references for a family of birders, conservationists, gardeners and nature observers.

4th of July

Happy Birthday, America!