Watery Wednesday # 55

From my archives. I scanned another older photo for this week's share, a man and his dog walking on the beach on a cold day. We were at Chick Beach in Virginia Beach back in 2001. My ex-Navy hubby says that the ship returning to port looked like a Naval amphibious ship that carries Marines. Today is the first time I have put socks on. It was downright nippy in our house. When I came across this photo it spoke to me. Not winter yet, it's going to warm up a little tomorrow thankfully.

"I Started Early"

~Emily Dickinson~

I started Early -- Took my Dog
And visited the Sea
The Mermaids in the Basement
Came out to look at me

And Frigates -- in the Upper Floor
Extended Hempen Hands
Presuming Me to be a Mouse
Aground -- upon the Sands

But no Man moved Me -- till the Tide
Went past my simple Shoe
And past my Apron -- and my Belt
And past my Bodice -- too

And made as He would eat me up
As wholly as a Dew
Upon a Dandelion's Sleeve
And then -- I started -- too

And He -- He followed -- close behind
I felt his Silver Heel
Upon my Ankle -- Then my Shoes
Would overflow with Pearl

Until We met the Solid Town
No One He seemed to know
And bowing -- with a Mighty look
At me -- The Sea withdrew.

Watery Wednesday is hosted by 2sweetnsaxy. You can get there by clicking here.

My World Tuesday

Yesterday after dropping a couple of items off at the post office I decided to drive over to Walney Pond to get a little exercise. Before leaving the house I told myself to remember to put the battery back in my camera and also the memory card. The battery I was charging and I had just downloaded some photographs from the card and it was still in the converter. This is the larger camera with the zoom lens attached. I was hoping to spot some birds, which I did - a hawk of some kind and a turkey vulture flying overhead. They would have made nice shots but when I turned my camera on it did nothing, and when I looked inside, no battery and no card. I mentally kicked myself and then at the same time blessed myself as I always carry my pocket camera with me and she was all charged and ready to go, along with the very important camera card. I found the scarecrow looking a bit worn out and the garden at the end of its growing season but worthy of remembing. It was a bit of a dull day and those clouds threatened to rain but it didn't start sprinkling until I reached home.

My Scarecrow

There's an old scarecrow in my backyard,

and he stands there day and night

To me he is very beautiful,

but to others he's a fright.

~Dan Turner~

1969

Have you ever wondered what the history of the scarecrow is? Why is the scarecrow so popular? There are literally hundreds of scarecrow festivals all over the world that are annual events. People really go all out creating their unique scarecrows. Earliest known written fact about scarecrow's was written in 1592. Definition of a scarecrow: That which frightens or is intended to frighten without doing physical harm. Literally that which: Scares away crows, hence the name scarecrow.

In medieval Britain, young boys and girls became live scarecrows or "bird scarers" as they would patrol the fields and chase off birds by waving their arms or throwing stones.

Later, farmers started to lean stuffed sacks of straw with gourd faces against poles.

Immigrants who moved to the United States during the 1800s brought with them a variety of ideas for making scarecrows. In Pennsylvania German farmers built human looking scarecrows called a bootzamon or bogeyman. His body was a wooden cross and his head was a broom or mop top or a cloth bundle stuffed with straw. The bootzamon wore old overalls, a long-sleeved shirt or coat, a worn woolen or straw hat, and a large red hankerchief around his neck. Sometimes a second scarecrow was built to keep the bootzamon company. A bootzafrau or bogeywife, dressed in a long dress or coat and wearing a sunbonnet on her head, was placed on the opposite end of the field. The bootzamon and bootzafrau guarded cornfields, strawberry patches, and cherry orchards.

Thank you Klaus, Sandy, Ivar, Wren, Fishing Guy and Louise for hosting My World. You can see other ‘My World’ photos or join in and share your own by clicking right here.

TODAY'S FLOWERS # 59

"Austin rose ‘Graham Thomas’ the color is very similar."

as identified by Digital Flower Pictures.

I'm sorry but I don't know the names of a lot of these flowers, the roses yes but others I am still searching for the names. I always look for identifying markers but many had disappeared.

Added note: thanks to all of you who have commented on my photos. Special thanks to Digital Flower Pictures and to Squirrel for helping me identify them. All my identifications come from Digital Flower but Squirrel also identified the Jewelweed (the darker yellow flower, fifth one down).

Castor Bean Plant

Morning Glory or Petunia

Cockscomb Celosia

Viburnum berries

Jewelweed

Japanese Red Maple

Callicarpa berries

Digital Flower Pictures described this as "Rose, obviously. It is interesting since it only has five petals, making it a true ‘single’ rose. You don’t see that too often these days."

TODAY’S FLOWER’S is a wonderful meme created by our good friend Luiz Santilli Jr. You can find beautiful and unusual flowers from all over the world by clicking here.

Camera Critters # 77

We were at Brookside Gardens in Maryland last weekend, another favorite spot we have been visiting ever since we discovered it a few years ago. The fragrance garden was on our list but it was closed off due to a wedding. Cheers to the Bride and Groom and off down another path we traveled, knowing that there were plenty of other pretty spots to look at and knowing that we will be back here again, probably next Spring.

One door closes and another door opens. We hadn't gone far when my good spotter and hubby looked up and saw this awesome sight, a bird of prey high up in one of the tallest trees in the garden.

Do you know what kind he is? I have no idea. He was too far away to get a decent shot and I cropped this one to get as close as I could. I was very happy as this is the first one I have seen for any length of time. My feathered friend perched there for several minutes before flying away. I occasionally see a lighter colored and much smaller falcon when I am driving around closer to home but always on a telephone wire and always while driving in heavy traffic, with no opportunity to grab my camera at any of these sightings.

One of the volunteer ladies came over and we chatted for a while. She didn't know what it was either but thought that maybe it was a younger bird with that light coloring.

Camera Critters is a great meme created by Misty Dawn. You can find other critter photos by clicking here.

SkyWatch Friday

My photos this week are not my own but are those of Gregg's cousin Fayette who is a wonderful photographer. She sent these to me a while back and I asked if I could post them on my blog. I thought they would make an ideal series for this week's contribution to SkyWatch Friday. Fayette and her family are shown here at a recent tournament they all took part in. They live in North Dakota and all photos were taken in that State. Thanks for letting me share Fayette.

This is a beautiful sunset with Fayette's husband in the foreground.

I should have asked the name of their dog but doesn't he look like he is enjoying himself?

This photo was taken at the horse festival when my father-in-law and his wife Celia visited the family and took part in the parade. He also went back for his high school reunion. F-in-L is sitting in the back of the wagon in the black shirt and Celia is wearing the pink shirt.

Sunflowers as far as the eye can see.

I am wondering if this is part of the Badlands.

Thank you Klaus, Sandy, Ivar, Wren, Fishing Guy and Louise for hosting SkyWatch Friday. Friday’s are a time for us all to get together and look at each other’s sky photos from around the world. If you want to join in you can click right here.

Fergus going back to the Highlands.

With his dignity in tact, Fergus is heading back to the Highlands.

To wear a doggy kilt, or not to wear a doggy kilt....

that is the question.

What's happened to my blog friends faces?

I don't know what's going on but all the blogging friends' in my side-bar have disappeared. Has anyone had this kind of problem lately? I'm hoping that when I return so will they but that particular widget left yesterday and nothing yet. Here's me keeping my fingers crossed, because I would hate to lose everyone's links.

Poor old Gregg has a stinky cold and from what I hear, our son does too. It's pampering to the max for Gregg today and I am sure son is getting his TLC from his bride of three months. Where does the time go? It only seems like yesterday that we were watching them get married.

Gregg came back at around 2.00 p.m. and did the rest of his work at home. We went out for a little while - he doesn't like to sit still for too long. Nothing too exciting, just to the post office to mail some bills - woo-hoo - and then to the grocery store to stock up on Orange Juice and a few other essentials - a double woo-hoo! I think he was glad to get back home and relax as he has that tired, bone-weary feeling that a cold gives you and as I listen to the dulcet tones of the coughing, wheezing and sneezing, I can only offer sympathetic glances across the room. That time of the year I guess. One more sympathetic glance in Gregg's direction, as the poor guy just had an horrendous hacking cough, sounded so painful!

The photo above is one I took at Brookside Gardens in Maryland this past Sunday. Another pretty place to walk around and fortunately Gregg didn't have his cold so he was able to enjoy it just as much as I did.

Watery Wednesday # 54

A study in ducks today.

To see better detail click on the photos to enlarge.

Thank you 2sweetnsaxy for hosting another great meme. You can visit by clicking right here.

Birthday Greetings to Kilauea Poetry

I just found out about the birthday of the sweet lady who hosts Kilauea Poetry. Happy Birthday, may the joy you bring to others return to you a thousand-fold. If you can, pop on over to add your own birthday greetings, I know she would love to hear from you. You will also have the added benefit of her gift to us, one delicious recipe for a very yummy birthday cake she has posted today, as well as seeing why we all enjoy her blog so much.

My World Tuesday

On Sunday we drove to Maryland and these photos were taken on our journey there and back, either while driving - not me, I was the passenger - or when we stopped at the traffic lights.

Here we see the state sign of Maryland and know we are about to cross over from Virginia. We drive for a short time on the freeway but the rest of our journey takes us through several busy, built up urban areas.

The fire station was near a busy crossroads and I found it interesting enough to take a photo.
The bright florescent strips on the firemen's coats caught our eye and I passed the camera over to Gregg . If we were stopped at a traffic light and there was something interesting on his side of the car that he wanted to take a picture of, he would ask for the camera. If it was on my sign I would take the shot. It was how we passed the time, between chatting about life in general or what we had seen that day. Our journeys go pretty fast this way.
I thought perhaps the sunlight was peaking in at an angle as those stripes were shimmering. Otherwise all was in shadow.

There were old buildings with interesting murals.
These were near a school and it looked like the scenes were painted by children.
Another fire station....
and a church.
and another not too far down the road.
The last two photos were taken while stuck in traffic looking at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC.
I hope you have enjoyed seeing a little part of our world. It's not that often that we drive through such a busy area. I wondered about the people who lived here. Would they find suburbia boring, would the country be boring? There certainly seemed a lot of life going on and I found people watching as we went by very interesting. I love to people watch, is that because I am a nosy person or am I just curious, or both? I don't like to think it's because I'm just downright nosy. How many people out there enjoy this pastime, especially when traveling?

Thank you Klaus, Sandy, Ivar, Wren, Fishing Guy and Louise for hosting My World. You can see other ‘My World’ photos or join in and share your own by clicking right here.