The Last of the Fall Foliage

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A posting by New Hampshire Garden Solutions:

New Hampshire Garden Solutions

Well, the last of fall foliage colors have just about faded. With the initial colorful burst of all the different maples over it is up to the oaks and beeches to end the show and they’ve been doing so in spectacular fashion, as the huge oak in the above photo shows.

Oak trees come in many colors; reds, yellows and oranges mostly but also occasionally deep purple and even pink. This photo of one of our hillsides shows most of their colors fairly well but I think the brightest yellows might belong to beeches.

It’s funny but at the start of the foliage season you either don’t see or don’t pay attention to the oaks because they’re still green. It’s only when they start to turn color that you begin to notice them and I was surprised that there were so many around this local pond. I’ve visited this place…

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2016 Retrospective

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I have 9,326 photos that were created in 2016 (not counting the ones that I’ll be taking on New Years Eve).  Some of those were scanned from older photos, some were screenshots, or downloads. A lot of the files were duplicates or bracketed shots for HDR. I ignored those and chose a subset for a retrospective of the year. It was an election year and I have a few photos of some of the candidates, even one of the guy that won. Enjoy the tour.

January

Jeb Bush campaigns in Peterborough, NH

The Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, which is the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s largest wildlife sanctuary, is located in Topsfield and Wenham, Massachusetts. Much of its 2,800-acre landscape was created by a glacier 15,000 years ago. – Wikipedia

Peterborough Labyrinth

The Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, which is the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s largest wildlife sanctuary, is located in Topsfield and Wenham, Massachusetts. Much of its 2,800-acre landscape was created by a glacier 15,000 years ago. – Wikipedia

The Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, which is the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s largest wildlife sanctuary, is located in Topsfield and Wenham, Massachusetts. Much of its 2,800-acre landscape was created by a glacier 15,000 years ago. – Wikipedia

The Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, which is the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s largest wildlife sanctuary, is located in Topsfield and Wenham, Massachusetts. Much of its 2,800-acre landscape was created by a glacier 15,000 years ago. – Wikipedia

February

Chris Christie campaigning in Milford, NH

Alex Carr’s Birthday

Chris Christie campaigning in Milford, NH

March

Mason Quarry

April

May

Mom’s 95th Birthday

June

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

July

Poltrack Garden

Pickity Place

Sunset at First Encounter Beach in Eastham, MA. In 1620 a hunting expedition from the Mayflower landed and met with the Nauset Tribe.

Seagull

Alex has a taste of a lemon

The Edward Gorey House, also known as the Elephant House, is the home on Cape Cod in which Edward Gorey—author, illustrator, puppeteer, and playwright—lived and worked from 1986 until his death in 2000. The house currently serves as a museum celebrating Gorey’s life and work. Gorey had a respect and passion for animals, cats in particular. The activities of the house, from art education to interactive exhibits, reflect Gorey’s support of animal welfare.

Sunset at First Encounter Beach in Eastham, MA. In 1620 a hunting expedition from the Mayflower landed and met with the Nauset Tribe.

Rain showers over Cape Cod Bay

Saint Paul Bluegrass Band

American Flag at Pickity Place, Mason, NH

In 1797, a station authorized by George Washington was established at this point on the Cape, with a wood lighthouse to warn ships about the dangerous coastline between Cape Ann and Nantucket. It was the first light on Cape Cod. In 1833, the wood structure was replaced by brick and in 1840 a new lantern and lighting apparatus was installed. In 1857 the lighthouse was declared dangerous and demolished, and for a total cost of $17,000, the current 66 foot brick tower was constructed,[7] with a first order Fresnel lens from Paris. Along with the lighthouse, there was a keeper’s building and a generator shed, both of which can still be seen today. In 1932 the lamp was upgraded to a 1000-watt beacon. The Fresnel lens system was replaced first by a Crouse and Hinds DCB-36 double rotating light and then by a Carlisle & Finch DCB-224, with a second unit as backup. Unfortunately, the Fresnel lens was largely destroyed when it was removed, but fragments are on display in the museum on site. Finally, in 1998, a VRB-25 optical system was installed.[3] The present location of the lighthouse is not the original site. It was in danger of falling down the cliff due to beach erosion, so the structure was moved 450 feet (140 m) to the west. The move was accomplished by International Chimney Corp. of Buffalo, New York and Expert House Movers of Maryland over a period of 18 days in July, 1996.[3] It is now on Cape Cod National Seashore property, bordering the Highland Golf Course. After an errant golf ball broke a window, they were replaced with unbreakable material. The lighthouse grounds are open year round on Highland Light Road in Truro, with tours and the museum available by the National Park Service during the summer months – Wikipedia

Pickity Place

August

Caribou Farms Summer Party

Caribou Farms Summer Party

Hummingbird

The corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus) is a North American species of rat snake that subdues its small prey by constriction.[4] It is found throughout the southeastern and central United States. Their docile nature, reluctance to bite, moderate adult size, attractive pattern, and comparatively simple care make them popular pet snakes. Though superficially resembling the venomous copperhead and often killed as a result of this mistaken identity, corn snakes are harmless and beneficial to humans. Corn snakes lack venom and help control populations of wild rodent pests that damage crops and spread disease – Wikipedia

Close of the day in New Ipswich at the Smithville Reservoir.

Accidental art at the auction

Epiphyllum is a genus of 19 species of epiphytic plants in the cactus family, native to Central America. Common names for these species include climbing cacti, orchid cacti and leaf cacti, though the latter also refers to the genus Pereskia – Wikipedia

155th Children’s Fair at the New Ipswich Congregational Church

Vying for a place at the table

September

Nine-O-Nine B-17, part of the Collings Foundation collection of WWII aircraft. The original “Nine-O-Nine” was assigned to combat on February 25, 1944. By April 1945, she had made eighteen trips to Berlin, dropped 562,000 pounds of bombs, and flown 1,129 hours. She had twenty-one engine changes, four wing panel changes, fifteen main gas tank changes, and 18 Tokyo tank changes (long-range fuel tanks). She also suffered from considerable flak damage.

Wings of Freedom Tour – Collings Foundation WWII Aircraft

Rusted remnant of heavy equipment

(L-R) Lisa Beaudoin and Laura Lynch – NH House (Hillsborough District 25)

Swamp on Dudley Road, Towsend, MA

Dublin Gas Engine Meet

Memorial Hall – 1894 in Townsend, MA

The Democrats have the volunteers

Sunset at Smithville Reservoir

Dublin Gas Engine Meet

Dublin Gas Engine Meet

Wings of Freedom Tour – Collings Foundation WWII Aircraft

Dublin Gas Engine Meet

Smithville Reservoir at Sunset

Wings of Freedom Tour – Collings Foundation WWII Aircraft

Dublin Gas Engine Meet

 

October

Fish and Chips at The Grog Restaurant in Newburyport. MA

Empty windows of an empty mill in Antrim, NH

Waterloom Pond in New Ipswich, NH

Former site of Pleasure Island amusement park in Wakfield, MA. This marshy area is popular with birds.

Autumn in the Monadnock Region

Great Blue Heron fishing at Parker River Wildlife Refuge

Sundial in the garden

Annual Pumpkin Regatta in Goffstown, NH

Great Blue Heron fishing at Parker River Wildlife Refuge

Smithville Cemetery, New Ipswich, NH

Roland Coates’s current project is a commission piece for a client on River Road

Not watching the race

Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos) is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico, in particular the Central and South regions, and by people of Mexican ancestry living in other places, especially the United States. It is acknowledged internationally in many other cultures. The multi-day holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died, and help support their spiritual journey.

Autumn in the Monadnock Region

Fall Foliage Art Tour – Work table for artist Roland Coates.

November

Polka Time

Puzzle Time at Thanksgiving

Trump Fence

Tick

Green door on building in Jaffrey, NH

An “escape room” was the theme of Parker Weber’s birthday party. The kids had to solve puzzles to get the passwords needed to disable the “bomb”

Qulling projects by Angelika and Mary Weber

Qulling projects by Angelika and Mary Weber

Look what I saw at the Green Center

Qulling projects by Angelika and Mary Weber

December

Music Jam at People’s Place in Gardner, MA

Music Jam at People’s Place in Gardner, MA

Smithville Reservoir

5th Annual Holiday Open House at the New Boston Historical Society

5th Annual Holiday Open House at the New Boston Historical Society

Christmas Eve at Susan and Brad’s Home

5th Annual Holiday Open House at the New Boston Historical Society

5th Annual Holiday Open House at the New Boston Historical Society

Music Jam at People’s Place in Gardner, MA

A Flight Aboard the Tondelayo (B-25J)

Build your own B25J  Mitchell Bomber at Amazon.com

Plexiglass nose of the Tondelayo, a B-25J Mitchell Bomber, part of the Wings of Freedom Tour at Manchester Airport

I wanted to experience what it was like to ride in the same type of war plane that my Uncle Ed Poltrack flew in the South Pacific in WWII. I’ve seen photos,  taken the virtual tour posted on the Collings Foundation website and read some of Ed’s letters and flight diary accounts.

When the Wings of Freedom Tour visited Manchester Airport I had my opportunity. Before the flight we had to rotate the blades 9 times to clear out the pooling oil, something common to all radial engines.It was a thrill to hear (and feel) those twin 1700 HP Cyclone engines roar into action. After take off, I was able to crawl into the nose behind the machine gun with another “crewman”.  This is a war machine and nothing about it is comfortable. We were flying low and slow, I can only imagine my uncle flying over the ocean with a jacket, gloves, oxygen mask, fully loaded with bombs and being under constant threat of being shot at.

This aircraft is capable of flying at 272 MPH and has a sevice ceiling of 24,200 feet, we were just taking a slow ride

This video has three parts, take off, flight and landing. We had to sit in jump seats behind the pilot during takeoff and landing. After we were airborne we crawled on our hands and knees through a tunnel into the nose of the aircraft behind the front machine gun. That was quite a view. The video is long but imagine doing this for hours, in frigid cold with an oxygen mask on with the chance of being shot out of the sky.

Wings of Freedom Tour – Tondelayo

Build your own B25J  Mitchell Bomber at Amazon.com

There are more than one hundred surviving North American B-25 Mitchells scattered over the world, mainly in the United States. Most of them are on static display in museums, but about 45 are still airworthy.

A significant number of these were brought together for Catch-22, a 1970 war film adapted from the book of the same name by Joseph Heller. When Catch-22 began preliminary production, Paramount hired the Tallmantz Aviation organization to obtain available B-25s. Tallmantz president, Frank G. Tallman ended up finding war-surplus aircraft, and eventually gathered not only pilots to fly the aircraft but also a ground support crew to maintain the fleet. – Wikipedia

The Collings Foundation, located in Stow, Massachusetts sponsors a Wings of Freedom tour across the United States. When I learned they were flying a B-25 into Manchester airport,  the same aircraft my uncle piloted in the South Pacific, I knew I had to see this.

New Hampshire Chronicle was at this event and I was interviewed when I told them about my uncle. The segment can be seen by clicking on this link.

B-25J Mitchell Bomber – This is a different configuration than the one my uncle piloted. The clear plexiglass dome was replaced with a shorter nose fitted with two fixed 12.7mm machine guns and a 75mm cannon. I remember him commenting that it was quite loud.

Before the flight, we had to rotate the blades 9 times to clear the oil from the cylinders. It takes two people to move each blade.

Tondaleyo was a exotic dancer. She danced at places such as the Cotton Club. She was considered one of the most flashiest women of her day, with diamonds, furs, and minks galore. She’s also credited for being the first black woman to own a nightclub in New York.

I’ve seen photos, read my uncles flight diary, but I wanted to experience what it feels like to be in this war machine. It is hot, smells of oil and is incredibly loud. During take off I was seated behind the pilots. Thumbs up and away we go.

Crawling through a tunnel in a flying airplane was an interesting experience, but what a view of Manchester, NH

Didn’t see any enemy aircraft

Mid September Flowers

Flowers in spite of the drought

New Hampshire Garden Solutions

The pink turtleheads (Chelone lyonii) are blooming in my garden; one of the very last plants to do so. A friend gave me this plant many years ago and I think of her every time I see it bloom. That’s one of the best things about giving and receiving plants; they come with memories. I don’t know the origin of this plant and have never known if it was a native or a cultivar but it does very well and asks for nothing. Pink turtleheads are native to the southeastern U.S. and don’t seem to mind dryness in spite of naturally growing near water.

The white heath aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides) is a plant that is so loaded with small white flowers along its stems that it doesn’t look as if you could fit one more on it. For that reason it has another common name; the…

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More Mid July Flowers — New Hampshire Garden Solutions

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Pickerel weed likes to grow in shallow water and the large amounts of it growing along the shoreline of the Ashuelot River tell the story of how low the water level is. We still haven’t seen any more rain than a quick moving downpour or two and I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much […]

via More Mid July Flowers — New Hampshire Garden Solutions

Mid July Flowers

Another crop of summer flowers from NH Garden Solutions

New Hampshire Garden Solutions

This beautiful hedge bindweed (Calystegia sepium) blossom hints at the rain we finally got last weekend. It wasn’t enough but it helped. Though for many years all I ever saw were white flowered hedge bindweeds it has gotten to the point where all I see now are these bicolor ones. Bindweeds are perennial and morning glories are annuals and one good way to tell them apart is by their leaves; morning glory (Ipomoea) has heart shaped leaves and bindweed has narrower arrowhead shaped, triangular leaves.

Our native wintergreens are starting to blossom and chief among them is pipsissewa, in my opinion. Pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellata) flowers often show a blush of pink. Five petals and ten chubby anthers surrounding a plump center pistil make it prettier than most of our other native wintergreens. Pipsissewa flowers are from 4-6 inches tall and nod toward the ground…

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More Mid June Flowers — New Hampshire Garden Solutions

We’ve had hot dry weather in this part of New Hampshire but ox eye daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare) continue to delight. When I saw these in a small meadow by the side of the road they shouted JUNE! so I had to stop and visit with them. It’s hard to have a bad day while living […]

via More Mid June Flowers — New Hampshire Garden Solutions

Confuse-A-Cat

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Happy Caturday,

Does your cat seemed bored? Call Confuse-A-Cat.

 

Lowly Weeds

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This year folks will dose their lawns with gallons of broadleaf herbicides in their vain attempt to eliminate certain flowers they consider weeds. Personally I’m in awe of how these plants can continue to survive in the midst of the onslaught of chemical warfare.

I’ll never have the pristine solid carpet of green that one sees on advertisements, but I can do get the opportunity to look closely at these “weeds”.

Dandelion the king of lawn weeds, time to make some wine

 

I see a number of both white and purple violets in my lawn. Time for a flower salad