Archive for category Around the house
A Hint of Spring
Posted by nbdog in Around the house on 23-Apr-2012
The deer ferns are starting to appear, one of the first plants to emerge from winter dormancy. I think the way the little spiral shoots unfurl is so elegant.
Deer fern in our back yard
Just Too Cute
Posted by nbdog in Around the house on 13-Apr-2012
Can’t resist this photo… Mom and offspring at a nearby Snoqualmie farm. Click photo for a large version.
- Not quite octomom, but Snoqualmie ewe comes close (SeattleTimes.com)
Elk, Golf, Rain
Posted by nbdog in Around the house, Golf on 1-Apr-2012
I was up early for an April 1st scramble tournament at Mt. Si. On my way in I passed two large herd of elk just across the street from the course. It’s such a treat to see these lovely big critters up close, just enjoying the morning. I had an OK golf outing in spite of the brisk and occasionally drizzly weather. My team did well enough ending up in a tie for fourth place overall, and third place for the front nine. I won a whopping $6.38 and a free lunch.
First Day of Spring
Posted by nbdog in Around the house, Weather on 20-Mar-2012
First Day Cover from the 1947 International Philatelic Exhibition in NY
After a little tease of nice weather yesterday, the first day of spring brought more rain, sometimes heavy and sometimes mixed with a few snowflakes. In fact, it’s snowing again as I jot this post.
I’m still wading through my stamp collection, now cataloging the first day covers. I stopped collecting them over ten years ago but I still have over 500 of them. That’s part of the delight in the cataloging project, I guess: really finding out what I have.
I’m getting antsy, though. My thumb has healed enough that I’m going to hit some golf balls this weekend if the forecast for sunny weather holds. I chipped a few in the back yard yesterday and it felt OK.
The Atlantic has a wonderful selection of spring photos.
Related articles
- Hand Surgery Again (nbdog.wordpress.com)
A Little Color in the Drizzle
Posted by nbdog in Around the house, Weather on 15-Mar-2012
As winter lingers and we endure this endless march of rainy days, it’s nice to look outside and see a few little sparks of color in the garden. Trisha planted some hellebores last year and they are stunning winter bloomers. During a brief break in the rain this afternoon I raced outside and had these little ladies pose for me.
Hellebores
Christmas Lingers
Posted by nbdog in Around the house on 13-Mar-2012
For Christmas I got Trisha one of those big Amaryllis bulbs I’ve seen so many times in gift catalogs over the years. I had no idea what to expect so what a delightful surprise it’s been to watch these enormous, magnificent flowers emerge from simple long stems with no leaves. Pretty cool.
Still Winter
Posted by nbdog in Around the house, Weather on 13-Mar-2012
Winter lingers. We awoke this morning to a lovely coating of snow and snow squalls and sun breaks alternated throughout the day. All so typical of this time of year. I guess I timed my hand surgery right: there’s no sign of any sunny days until Tuesday.
Afternoon Snow Squall
Filling Those Dreary Winter Days
Posted by nbdog in Around the house on 6-Mar-2012
It’s that time of year when, even though the days are getting longer, the weather is still mostly gray skies and drizzle. Or, as we 
have today, three-four inches of snow. I’ve saved lots of work on my stamps collection just for these periods. I’ve been spending hours a day fully cataloging each and every U.S. stamp I have. So far I’ve finished 1990 to 2011 and 1857 to 1953 and the count is just a little under 5,000 unique items. Just last week I sent off 1,800 stamps to a dealer in Utah and I’ll use the proceeds from that sale to fill in a missing older items.
Ice Storm
Posted by nbdog in Around the house, Weather on 19-Jan-2012
What a day! A nearly one-inch glaze has covered everything overnight. It’s beautiful but is proving very damaging to many of our trees and shrubs. Beginning last night we could hear periodic sounds of crack!-thud! as scores of branches and tree tops cascaded to the ground under the enormous weight of the ice. As I went out this morning to survey the damage I snapped some photos of the delicate dried stems and buds surrounded by their crystalline coating.
Ice-coated Echinacea
Christmas Letter for 2011
Posted by nbdog in Around the house, Personal on 25-Dec-2011
2011 Christmas Letter
Nutmeg50@hotmail.com 