The Birthday Picnic

The day of the Birthday Picnic started out with rain.  My sister, K, had gone online and rented a covered pavilion for the day so there wasn't a big concern over the weather.  After the drive north to Raymond B Winter State Park, the rain was no longer an issue.  While the sun couldn't penetrate the trees, it did shine throughout the day making it a beautiful day.
There were donuts and coffee when everyone arrived.  The Yahtzee game got a workout before lunch and there were several pinochle games.  Everyone contributed food for lunch which ended with red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting instead of cake.
There were walks in the woods, a trip to the nature center and several trips to the park office since this was the closest bathroom for all of us to use.
The final three pictures are of a black rattlesnake.  Someone walking on the roadway next to our pavilion told my brother that there was a rattlesnake on the road that had been run over by a car.  My brother didn't want to see it get injured further so he got a stick and scooted it off the road.  Whether because it was hurt or it was just its nature, it proved rather fiesty - coiling, stricking out as he tried to keep it moving off the road and shaking those rattles.  My brother felt that it would probably slither off somewhere and die because there was a lot of blood on the roadway but maybe, just maybe, it didn't.
He managed to get it off the berm and moving down into the woods next to our picnic site so that no one else walking on the road would be surprised or maybe even bitten.


 

 

 

 

A rather lengthy game of Phase 10 ensued after lunch.  No one was hungry at dinnertime but the Birthday Girl had asked to stop at Amy's Tastee Freeze for ice cream on the way home.  We packed up the cars and headed home stopping for ice cream which is where the picture was taken both years.
Amy's Tastee Freeze in Middleburg, PA not only gives generous portions for not much moola but the flavors are out of this world.  Check them out if you are in Middleburg.

Have a good week.

Happy 87th Birthday Mom!

My Mom recently celebrated her 87th birthday!
Last year her birthday was celebrated with a picnic at a state park that our family spent a lot of time visiting for a day out when we were all much younger.  We had such a good time last year that the decision was made to repeat the event this year.
I have a few other pictures to post once they are downloaded from the camera but here is the picture of my Mom and three of my siblings on her birthday.
Happy Birthday Mom!
Glad you had a fun day out.

 

Annapolis, MD Day Trip

Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, 26 miles (42 km) south of Baltimore and about 29 miles (47 km) east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The city was the temporary capital of the United States in 1783−1784 and the site of the Annapolis Peace Conference, held in November 2007, at the United States Naval Academy. Annapolis is the home of St. John's College.

Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779 – January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet, from Georgetown, who wrote the lyrics to the United States' national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner".

Francis Scott Key was born to Ann Phoebe Penn Dagworthy (Charlton) and Captain John Ross Key at the family plantation Terra Rubra in what was Frederick County, Maryland (now Carroll County, Maryland).^[1] His father John Ross Key was a lawyer, a judge, and an officer in the Continental Army. His great-grandparents were Philip Key and Susanna Barton Gardiner, both of whom were born in London and immigrated to Maryland in 1726.^[2][3]

He studied law at St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland and also learned under his uncle Philip Barton Key.^[4]

From 1818 until his death in 1843, Key was associated with the American Bible Society.^[5]

Key was a founding member and active leader of the American Colonization Society, the primary goal of which was to send free African-Americans back to Africa.^[6]

Some weeks back plans were made to embark on a day trip to Annapolis, MD.  The day turned out to be one of the hottest days this summer - 97 degrees and extremely humid.  Armed with a thermal backpack containing small bottles of water that had been frozen and snacks of cheese crackers, we boarded the tour bus for the ride to Annapolis, MD
The tour consisted of a two-hour walking tour of the city including time spent at the US Naval Academy, lunch at Phillips Crab House on the dock, a 40 minute boat cruise and time on your own to explore the State House and city itself.
Our tour group was divided in two separate groups.  Francis Scott Key, writer of the Star Spangled Banner, was our guide for our walking tour.
I never learned our guides real name so he will always be Francis Scott Key to me.  He was in character the entire time of our tour and everywhere we walked and everything he spoke about related to his life (Francis Scott Key) while he lived in Annapolis during his youth and some of his adult years.

I don't know how he stood the heat.  We were all in shorts and melting in the heat and he didn't seem bothered at all even with his long pants, long sleeved blouse, vest and top hat.  

During the walking portion of our tour of the city, I took pictures of some of the beautiful buildings but forgot to jot down notes of exactly what they were.  The building below is the Greenfield Library and I think it was on the grounds of St Johns College.  Francis Scott Key went to St Johns College from the age of 10 to 17.  There were five or six other students that were conferred degrees the same year that he graduated.  Students at the college were never tested and weren't graded.  Instead, in order to be conferred a degree, students wrote a paper and defended it in front of faculty.  Today there are approx 450 students who attend St John College and the same system is used - no tests or grades, just a paper at the end of four years that must be defended.

The building below was on the campus of St Johns College.

This  building is where Francis Scott Key first got a glimpse of his future bride to be, Elizabeth and where he read and practiced law.  He and Elizabeth had 11 children.  A family member, an uncle I think he said, convinced him not to go in the seminary but to practice law instead.  He noted that he was a very, very good lawyer.  He touched on his song writing - the Star Spangled Banner as well as a number of hymns- and even gave us a short rendition of the Star Spangled Banner but kept impressing to us that his main vocation was law.  

At first I thought there was actually an owl sitting on the chimney of the building pictured above.  It quickly became apparent that the owl was a decoy placed on the chimney to keep pigeons off.

Below is the Preble Museum on the grounds of the US Naval Academy.  Now through November 2013 there is a special display, The War of 1812.

Francis Scott Key
The gentleman below portraying Francis Scott Key is also the official Town Crier for the city of Annapolis.  He was headed to Canada for a Town Crier competition on August 1st.  Our best wishes for a first place finish!

If you have the opportunity to visit Annapolis, MD, make sure to take a walking tour and visit the Naval Academy.   Cooler weather would make the trip much more enjoyable.
The weather here today is beautiful.  Cool temps and lovely breezes.  Hope you are enjoying nice weather wherever you are.

August 1st...

The August 1st picture of The Puddle Pond.  Trying to keep the lilypad under control could be a full time job.  There hasn't been any spraying from the john boat; instead, cutting the stems and hauling in with a large rake attached to a rope.  The severed lilypads are left along the banks of the pond to rot and dry.




Not sure if this is a heron or an egret or if they are the same thing.  I will need to research the differences on the internet and let you know.  This fellow will "fish" in the pond if left to his own devices.  

The easiest way to get rid of him?  Clap your hands and off he goes to the neighbor's pond.  

The little fawn that had taken up residence in the backyard moved to the front yard.  It grazes on the grass and weeds and then moves to the trees on the other side of the driveway to lay down and rest.  When disturbed by humans, it moves quickly into the woods on the wooded side of the property. The fawn hasn't visited for two days.  I miss seeing it but am hoping that it has gotten mature enough to stay with it's Mother during the day and learn the ropes of how to be a big deer.

It was incredibly hot and humid here until recently, the kind of heat that saps your energy.   That's my excuse for not posting more frequently this month and I'm sticking to it.  A coworker, ES, checks the blog frequently and recently mentioned it was time for a new post.  Here you go ES, this one is for you.  I have some pictures from a recent day trip to Anapolis, MD that I will post soon.
Hope you are enjoying summer so far.