Afternoon sun

The sun returned Sunday after the rain and left a wet deck and fluffy clouds.

Invasion of the starlings

Today the starlings took over our yard . . .

and then flew across the street to see what they could find.

Greening of the grass

The last few days have been more spring like - warmer and some rain - and the grass finally turned green in the late afternoon sun.

After the rain

Sun filtering through the mist Friday morning.

Raindrops

Verified words? - 5-th edition

Here is another post of some of the "word verifications" which appeared when I commented 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:

codingit
dictionary.com - NOT a word, suggested "coding it" (they understood)
wikipedia - NOT a word, no suggestion
Lew's definition: cod-ing-it - What computer programmers do.

casku
dictionary.com - a NOT a word, suggested "cask"
wikipedia - NOT a word, no suggestion
Lew's definition: cask! U - What to tell the bartender when a pint isn't enough.

psyisid
dictionary.com - NOT a word, suggested "psocid" (tiny winged insects)
wikipedia - NOT a match, no suggestion
Lew's definition: psy-is-id - Sigmund Freud's moto.

Skyline - Chimneys

New moon at sunrise

Just before sunrise today

Sleeping in the sun

Zoey loves the sunny spot in our dining room after her breakfast.

Then and Now - Oak tree

Here are two shots of the oak tree in our back yard taken June 2008 and again at sunrise this morning. Marianne (lower left above) was taking a photo of the thermometer hanging on the back of the house.

Morning fog and geese

Yesterday there was fog, and the geese waited for clearer skies before taking to the skies in their search for food and water.

Tanks and poles

A view to the northeast from near FSK Mall on the southern side of Frederick. The white tanks are over a mile away. This area is shopping and industrial.

Sun and lilac buds

After a week of hazy skies and clouds, but little rain, the sun has returned for a brief visit. I checked our yard and found the lilac buds are showing a little color.

Skyline - Bird and windows

Close encounters of the feline kind

Marianne and I have at times chronicled the critters that visit our yard. Thursday she called me to come quick and bring my camera and we witnessed this 5-minute encounter between squirrel and neighborhood cat.

This cat (and others) has tried for months without success to corner one of the squirrels that munch on the acorns under our oaks. This fearless squirrel just kept on munching as the cat peered around the tree. Oops! A distraction next door.

No problem - back to lunch.

Getting closer.

Face off!. And our Buster joins the watch (from inside).

Time to check out things over by the deck. The squirrel went merrily across the deck and around the corner of the house. The cat followed and looked around the corner, then hungrily went back to the tree, hoping for another chance.

Foot bridge Sumantown Road

On my trip though the back roads of Frederick County to photograph Bennies Hill Road Bridge, I spotted this foot bridge crossing a small stream beside Sumantown Road.

Skyline - Cornices

Cornices along West Patrick St. in Frederick

Poetry in stone

Signs of spring

A few days ago it was 10 degrees with snow - now it's 70. Two sure signs of spring are the farmers cleaning the barns and preparing the fields; and the motorcycles are roaring. The Harley dealer had a lot of bikes out in front of the shop and quite a few buyers looking - (don't know how many were buying!).

Verified words? - 4-th edition

Here is another post of some of the "word verifications" which appeared when I commented 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:

mifaryo
dictionary.com - NOT a word, suggested "Marya" (a form of Mary)
wikipedia - NOT a word, suggested "micro"
Lew's definition: mi-fa-ryo - musical scale for those of us who sing off key.

yonspa
dictionary.com - a NOT a word, suggested "NSAP" (network service access point)
wikipedia - NOT a word, suggested "yona"
Lew's definition: yon-spa - Old English for "the hot tub's out back".

unets
dictionary.com - NOT a word, suggested "enets" (the Uralic language spoken by the Yeniseian) and "units"
wikipedia - NOT a match, suggested "units"
Lew's definition: u-nets - the population of us bloggers.

Two signs that winter is not over

Tree and its shadow on Tuesday

and icicles on Wednesday

but they are predicting 70 F next Sunday!

Then and Now - Snow

Then - February 1983

We don't get many big snows here, but every now and then we do. This one was above the wheel wells on my car and really piled up when we shoveled the driveway. Also note the size of the trees - what a difference in 26 years.

Now - March 2009

Rear Window View - Snow

7:35 AM snowing

10:01 AM beautiful

2:16 PM clearing

Farm - by Bennies Hill Road Bridge

Bennies Hill Road is a narrow winding road that crosses Catoctin Creek south of Middletown. I took some pictures of the 1879 bridge (now being restored) last week. This farm lies along the creek at the bridge.