I have had a lovely summer so far. Judi had asked me the other day how it was going and I just texted her a bunch of photos. So I decided to do something similar with this. Oh, BTW, the little kitty got a name. He’s Pippin, my little pipsqueak. Maybe I’ll post a couple of videos of him later. But now, on to the show!
The Unistellar EVScope2 that the school received thanks to a grant from the Miami County Foundation (I wrote the proposal for it). I’ll be spending many a clear night getting a handle on this bad boy before I start sharing it with the community and my first astronomy class. Here I am with the telescope to give an idea about its size.The moon on June 13. There is a bit of an artifact on the shaded side – not sure what to do about that. Yet.The moon on Jun 15. Hoping the skies are clear when we get to full moon!This is a lovely box turtle who crossed my path while I was walking the Green Trail at Twin Creek Metropark. Here’s me, Pippin (front) and Reesie (back) sitting on my basement steps during a tornado drill on May 26.Awww, Pippin found the perfect cat bed. And Reesie got the perfect comforter.Oxeye Daisy – I think at Maple Ridge.According to Picture This (the plant ID app I use), this is a Deptford Pink (a species of Dianthus). Pretty and not an invasive. Taken at the same park as the Oxeye Daisy.Me and mum having lunch at Amy’s backyard after shopping at the Yellow Springs Street Fair. Mom’s shirt says Inclusion in rainbow colors (using element symbols to spell it out). My shirt is for Madeleine’s Salty Lark Pies business. This sign at Island Metropark made me chuckle. On the list of rules behind this sign, it does say no fires allowed at the campsite. It looks like it would be a neat place to sleep overnight, but no fire and no nearby bathroom means I’ll never partake of it. Oh, and there’s the bit in that I don’t actually camp.One of the nice things about being an adult in the summer and on vacation is that, if I get a whim to get carry out and eat at a nearby park, I can do that. Yay! Adulting! I’m at Aullwood Gardens Metropark by the Stillwater river.Very zoomed in photo of a red admiral butterfly. It was nice of it to pose for me. Can’t recall which park I was at. I’ve been at quite a few this summer.I did some art this summer! I finally finished painting the stepping stones which I bought for my pocket prairie. I had painted the turtle and the moon, but the others still needed painting. And all of them needed baking to, I dunno, seal the acrylic to the stones? No idea how they will hold up as stepping stones.More of my art from this summer. Egg cups which I’ve had for ages just waiting for me to draw on them with markers. (Thankfully, 5 of the 6 included markers still worked. Sorry pink!) And my bee bath! Waterproofing it now for eventual use as a bee bath in my pocket prairie.I went on a butterfly walk with the Miami County Parks District. There were quite a few of us on the walk and we saw lots of butterflies. But this dragonfly was not about to be upstaged by the butterflies and posed for all of us to admire.Reesie and Pippin napping on the sofa beside me.Dad and mom having chicken dinners from Versailles Poultry Days at the shelter at Maple Ridge park.
My sister and I were able to take a hike at Glen Helen Nature Preserve on Thanksgiving afternoon.
The beaver dam on Yellow Springs creek. The area is now a wetlands thanks to the beaver population. Glen Helen Nature Preserve.Another view of Yellow Springs creek.Evidence of beavers at Glen Helen.Look! It’s Yellow Springs! The source of the spring & the name of the town.A closer view of the stone structure that protects Yellow Springs origin.Yellow Springs creek at Glen Helen.Craggy stones at Glen Helen.
On July 12, 2022, I drove up to Elsa Frohman & Judi Grant’s house because the three of us were going to travel to Traverse City and beyond. We left the next morning after breakfast at a nearby diner. Our first stop at a road stop had some irate gulls with strong opinions.
