Wanderings, Wildflowers

Guesses welcomed

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I’m hoping maybe Patrick or someone else may be able to help me sort this one out, found today at Webb’s Mill Bog in the Pine Barrens. I had thought it might be False Asphodel, but that’s not it.

We drove halfway to Philly almost to visit an arboretum on the grounds of a retirement community. I was mostly interested in the courtyard gardens, private patio gardens, and the wildflower meadows, but there was also a Pinetum (with native and exotic plants), a collection of rhododendrons, an experimental planting of chestnut trees, and 55 acres of natural woodlands. The wildflower meadows were a disappointment as there were no butterflies (not much was blooming), but the courtyard gardens were very pretty. Maybe when I’m old and gray I’ll find a place like that to live. My husband was ready to find a place there today after I made him traipse through the woods for a few hours. Poor guy; his knees are bad and he’s not one for walking much.

On our way back we stopped my Webb’s Mill to see what was blooming. There were lots of those white mystery flowers and the bladderworts were blooming everywhere. We had the place to ourselves; that’s a first as the last few visits to the bog have been pretty crowded. I’m not sure what else I can expect to find blooming later in the summer, but it’s always worth a visit when I’m in the area. I’m not sure how interested the DH was in the odd bog plants, but he pretended well. He’s a good sport.

Whatever

Tattered

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It’s been a long week and I’m feeling about as beat up as this cormorant looks. I didn’t have a normal lunch hour even one day this week and the weather’s been crummy and hot or rainy so that after work I haven’t been able or willing to spend very much time outside. All work and no play makes Laura pretty cranky!

I’m halfway through my training period with the new job and had mid-point evaluations today. I’m doing fine, but of course there’s always some area that *needs improvement*. Uggghh. Why doesn’t it get any easier to take criticism as I get older?

At any rate, I’m looking forward to the end of August when I’ll be finished and will either have the job or not. I’m looking forward to being able to take a day off. Just today my husband played hookey and went crabbing without me. Bum! I’m trying to find the energy and inspiration to do something fun this weekend besides clean the house and catch up with laundry. I may just sleep away the whole weekend if I’m not careful. Anyone have something fun planned?

Bunnies

7/19/07 Mid-week bunny fix

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I haven’t been very good about regular bunny fixes lately, but that’s only because I haven’t taken any nice ones lately to show off. This one of Sunshine and Boomer is from almost 2 months ago already; I like it because of the way Boomer is spooning around Sunshine and it’s sort of hard to tell where one bunny ends and the other begins! The love goes on…

Truth be told, it makes me sad to be taking pics of Boomer and some other girl bunny. We miss Cricket and our familiar routines. I miss seeing the easy way they had with each other. Boomer misses his perfect pillow and ear-washer.

Sunshine is a sweet girl and they’re getting along well, but in limited doses. Boomer is alone all day and overnight because I’m not ready to trust them together unsupervised. I imagine it will take me a while to get over that fight they had enough so that I’ll let them be together they way they seem to want to be. They make a bee-line to each other in the morning when I let them together for a bit before work. It’s the same in the evening when I get home and they lounge and eat salad and hay together until bedtime. Then I separate them for the night which feels cruel. But they’re safe that way, at least, from any odd mood that might strike them to have an argument in the dark.

Enough of that. I had wanted to post a video here last week, but for a few hours of trying I wasn’t able to get it to cooperate. Maybe there’s some problem with the video itself that prevents it from uploading. Anyway, click on the link and enjoy some bunny antics. These aren’t my bunnies, but they could be, as silly as they are.

Click here and smile!

Books

Horsey thoughts

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I’m in this really wonderful place right now – totally immersed in a book that I can’t put down. Don’t you just love when that happens? I’m little more than halfway through Jane Smiley’s Horse Heaven and already I’m trying to stretch it out and make it last a little longer. I’m tempted to read at every spare moment, but at the same time, I want to savor it before it ends. This is the first of Smiley’s books that I’ve become engaged with, not for lack of trying. I think it must be just the topic that is really interesting to me right now.

I tend to be a little obsessive/compulsive with my reading habits, in that I get hooked on a topic and read anything and everything I can find. The current horsey interest started with a memoir I picked up on the bargain rack, Chosen By A Horse and then the current issue of Vanity Fair had an article about Barbaro which led me to this book. I’m afraid there may be horseriding lessons in my future or a weekend job mucking stalls at the track down the street. Somebody save me, please!

PSA

A Cape May tease

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In case you’ve missed mention of it elsewhere or, for those of you in the know who need something to focus your anticipation with (Lynne!) I’ll pass along a link to the Cape May Bird Observatory’s newest website called BirdCapeMay.org – lots of neat features there and just the thing when a cool Fall weekend seems years away.

A few of us girls: Susan, Mary, Lynne, Naturewoman and me are planning to meet at this year’s Bird Show in Cape May 10/26-10/28. Maybe you’d like to join our merry gang for a day or an hour or two? The bigger the flock the merrier, right?

Kind of strange, but I came across this pic of me, back when I had short hair – at least I think it’s me – on a website while I was searching around for some info on Cape May. I’ve been going down for years, but don’t remember when this was. I remember that purple coat, though. The guy standing behind me must be the hawk counter; he looks very serious about it, doesn’t he?

Anyway girls, we need to get some plans together! The Fall will be here before we know it. Be in touch, okay?

Garden, Whatever

Lazy Sunday

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I didn’t even step foot out of the house until near 8pm today. It wasn’t all that hot, only in the high 80’s, but the glare of the sun kept me inside on the couch with a new book. I was lazy, but my husband got a lot done, at least. The vegetable garden is weeded and presentable enough that I might share a pic or two of our baby peppers and tomatoes. The grass is cut and the patio finally cleared of clutter.

I wanted just to share this pic of my *bog* garden – isn’t it monstrous?! Every year I warn myself not to let it get out of hand and it gets away from me anyway. The Joe-Pye Weed is beginning to bloom and is almost as tall as our new gazebo. The goldenrod and swamp hibiscus are just as tall. The purple loosestrife needs to be cut before it has a chance to make seeds. Down low under all that shade are a few plants struggling to find some sun and have a chance to survive.

Our plan had been to have an early dinner and head down to the beach for some surf fishing with my husband’s brothers, but he lost track of time and I took a longer than expected nap. Oh well. At least I had a few minutes in the garden with a nice breeze and the company of the fireflies. Wish the weekends didn’t go so fast!

Pastimes

What’s cookin’ ?

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Every now and again the cooking bug bites me and, like this afternoon, I spend a few hours in the kitchen trying out new recipes. I never really learned to cook, so I always have to start with a recipe. Even still, it manages to feel like a science experiment. Any *serious* activity in the kitchen catches my husband’s interest and before long he’s sniffing around and peaking under pot lids to see what kind of poison I’m whipping up.

Today I made a barbeque sauce with at least fifteen different ingredients and a nice bite that we’ll use tomorrow – the chicken breasts are marinating overnight. I also made an avocado and tomato salad and a corn salad with fresh Jersey white corn. I’ve sampled both already and they’re pretty yummy!

I’m curious if the rest of you have any favorite cookbooks to recommend? My father swore by the Fanny Farmer Cookbook so I bought one when I first got married and rely on it for basic stuff like what cut of meat to buy or how long to cook a poached egg. For years my favorite *everyday* cookbook was the New Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, but lately I’ve been sampling from the Barefoot Contessa Cookbooks by Ina Garten.

My friend Linda at work is crazy about her and finally I got tired of listening to her rave about the dishes, so I bought a few of her cookbooks and have been very pleased. Any recipe that I’ve tried so far has turned out wonderfully. For Christmas Eve I used her recipe for spiral ham with a mango chutney glaze and also made her recipe for baked beans that went nicely with the ham. Christmas morning I made her banana crunch muffins which have turned into a family favorite. All the things I made this afternoon were from her books also.

What I like about her recipes is that they’re simple and not intimidating; she uses common ingredients but insists on quality. I hate having to search out some oddball ingredient in gourmet shops in order to make a dish. More often than not I spend a lot of money on something that I’ll never have the chance to use again.

So, any good cookbooks to recommend? Have you done any experimenting in the kitchen lately? Please share your successes (or failures)!

Birds, In the neighborhood

Skimming

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I went fishing for photos this evening, just as the sun was beginning its earnest descent for the day, and came upon another doing its own sort of fishing.

Black skimmers are as magical-looking as they are improbable: the lipstick-bright band that highlights their underbite, the way they twist and turn over the water, alternately showing black on the topside or silver beneath. That I should find them so close to home, just down the street where the small creek widens into something resembling a lagoon, is something of a surpise. I should know better, know that it’s just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

The cormorants were waiting for something in the willow overhanging the shoreline, shadows of ducks flew overhead and landed in the water at my feet. A few night herons, silhouetted against the setting sun, the kingfishers dashing back and forth over the creek and I saw this one skimmer, far off in front of an improbably large waterfront home. Oh, how I would love to have this view out my front window!

Most often I see skimmers from my car while sitting in traffic, waiting for the bridge to go down after the sailboats pass below on the river. It’s always just a glance out the car window, that flash of silver and black, and lipstick red. This evening was a treat to see one coursing along the creek, dipping and turning as it searched the water below. But it’s only ever one or two. At Cape May, in late September, I know to look for the skimmers resting on the beach, facing into the wind, a whole gang of them, looking about as improbable as any bird could.

Just me rambling about birds, books, bunnies, or whatever!