Monday, June 29, 2009

Meet the new member of the family

Lewis joined our family earlier this month and this was our introduction. He napped through our introduction and initial photo op.

Big brother Winston joins Lewis and me. These are our two youngest grandkids. (Last 2 photos taken by Marianne.) More photos on my other blog and on Marianne's blog.


Thursday, June 25, 2009

Orange lily closeup

Orange lily and water drops

Verified words? - 8-th edition

Here are more of the "word verifications" I spotted while commenting on blogs; along with my impression of their meaning. Each one has been verified against dictionary.com and wikipedia. First edition was posted as Round 1. Today's words:

knope
dictionary.com - NOT a word, suggested "knop "(small knob)
wikipedia - NOT a word, suggested "known"
Lew's definition: knope - absolutely no way, no how!!

socroad
dictionary.com - NOT a word, suggested "scrod"
wikipedia - NOT a word, suggested "social"
Lew's definition: soc-road - the path to a teenager's room.

skinglo
dictionary.com - NOT a word, suggested "skiing"
wikipedia - NOT a word, suggested "skiing".
Lew's definition: skin-glo - what happens the first day at the beach after a long winter.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Day lilies

Our day lilies have begun to bloom. We should have one (or more) of these beauties to enjoy for the next several weeks.



Monday, June 22, 2009

Jordon Lake, NC

On the way to Bro John's, we cross this arm of Jordan Lake southwest of Raleigh. The lake was named for B. Everett Jordon, a North Carolina senator from 1958 to 1973. The lake was created by the Army Corps of Engineers to provide flood control, water supply, water quality, recreation, and fish and wildlife conservation. The dam is on the Haw River and the lake extends 5 miles up the Haw and 18 miles up the New Hope River. Information on the recreation areas is available from the NC Division of Parks and Recreation. There areas for fishing, boating, camping and hiking. Below is a shot of one of the boat access ramps.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Lynne's lilies

SIL Lynne has planted a variety of flowers around their yard. This is a small sample of her lilies.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Colorful birds

Bro John and Lynne have some bird feeders behind their house which can be seen from the kitchen and screened portion of the deck. Goldfinches were regular visitors. The would fly down from the trees and perch; looking all around before eating. Then they would disappear in a flash of yellow back into the trees. (These two images were taken through the screen, giving the soft focus effect.)


I took these two sitting on the steps outsid the screened portion of the deck. This goldfinch was in his tree, about 30 feet away and 20 feet up. This gray bird sometimes joined the gold finches. (All images were cropped.)


Saturday, June 13, 2009

Honeymoon spot??

We are in NC to celebrate the 60-th birthday of Marianne's brother! I left this image to post automatically after we arrived to surprise him. Will catch up on comments and your posts when I return.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Deer at dusk

We have seen the deer a few times recently and last night after dinner, Marianne spotted one through the dining room window. When the second one appeared, I got my camera and went outside. It was a little after 8:30 PM and overcast. The deer above was in the middle of the field, about 250 yards away. The one below was about 500 yards across the field. Both images were cropped severely.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Car-pinions

I came up behind this car at a red light today. There were also slogans on the roof and rear fenders. Could this be a blog on wheels?

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Splish splash he was taking a bath

or "Water, water every where, nor any drop to drink."

with apologies to Darin and Coleridge.


Sunday, June 7, 2009

Our small garden blooms

We added a few flowers to the bed beside the garage and they are blooming nicely. The lily on the right is full of yellow buds, but the orange one on the left is a few weeks from blooming.

Pin cushion

Tickseed (new)

Salvia

Lemon symphony (new)

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

New grandson!

My youngest daughter gave birth this morning and the little one (actually good sized at 9 lb, 4 oz)is named Lewis, after his Grandpa! She sent an email from her blackberry, and then called (while we were replying to her message). Both mother and son are doing fine.

Feline stares

A couple of days ago Marianne and I were sitting out on the deck and Buster came to the door to see what we were doing. He is an indoor cat (our choice, not his) and just stared inently at us through the screen door. We aslo spotted some of the neighborhood kittens (strays) in the field. I walked over to the fence to get a closer look and three scampered away. This one stopped to see what I would do and after a couple of pictures, ran to join his siblings.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Canada Geese

Some of the Canada Geese have stayed. The large flocks of several hundred have been gone for a couple of months. I have heard, but not seen geese around dusk for several weeks. There is a creek beyond the trees at the edge of the field and I assumed they were down there. Then I spotted a few fly low over the field. The past few days a flock of about 30 has gathered at sunset to carry on a loud conversation, sometimes well into the night.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Clematis blooms

These beauties started blooming a few days ago.