Some Photos from Our Memorial Day Family Picnic

On Memorial Day, those of my family who live in the area plus my sister from Ohio gathered together at the home of one my brothers up Coopersburg, Pennsylvania way. We enjoyed more food than we could eat, had a great time socializing & catching up with each other, and playing games. And some enjoyed a soaking water fight. It probably felt good with the hot weather in the mid or upper eighties and the high humidity we've been having.


Two Table Views - Above and Below
[As usual, a larger view is available by clicking on the picture.]



Some guinea chicks one of my nephews are raising


A cute goat midst a herd of goats


Some of my nephews and others
Note how wet my nephew in the gray shirt and black shorts is.


Some of my nephews and nieces

For the next several days and beyond

Due to various circumstances and general busyness, I probably will not be posting for the next several days. After those several days, I'll probably only post three or four times a week instead of six or seven times a week. I need to bring balance to the totality of my schedule. I also hope this will allow me to visit more blogs and to increase my participation in their comments sections. I will be back God willing. Interacting with all of you is a joy that I don't want to miss. Thanks.

A Current Day View of the Home Farm

I took this photo of the home farm two days ago. I grew up and lived for a long time in the house on the back left of this picture. Behind the house and extending a bit more to the right is the barn in which my dad had laying hens for many years. For many years, it was my duty to collect the eggs. To the right of the barn are some greenhouses runned by two of my brothers who sell seasonal type plants for a living. And in the distant back right are the silos of a neighboring dairy farm. This was my playing and working grounds for many years. For best view of the photo, do click on it for the larger version.

Birthday Cake

It was my birthday today. And since I work in a scratch bakery, I get a birthday cake made and decorated by them. This one is a sour cream raspberry swirl cake with raspberry flavored icing. Yum!!

Peace Valley Park, No. 8, A Hike

Yesterday, I went hiking at Peace Valley Park located near Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It was late morning when I went which is frequently a bad time for photography. So I'm not quite as pleased with my photos. But it was a good hike with some great sightings.


A Great Blue Heron Taking Flight


A Great Blue Heron Stalking Its Prey


I think this is a hawk; but I wasn't able to identify it.


A Turtle on a Waterlily


A Wildflower Growing Next to the Nature Center


I think this is a garter snaker.

Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy, No. 2

I continue to do some hiking at the headquarters of the Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy near Schwenksville, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is a neat place to get alone and secluded - a pocket of nature set aside from a rapid growth movement of housing developments.


A Beautiful Fungus


A Mammoth Tree - Look At Its Trunk


A Beautiful Yellow Wildflower


How Does This Tree Still Stand?


This photo is of the same tree as the previous one but taken with the use of a flash.


Columbine (Acquilegia canadensis)

Maine Scenes, No. 8, Baxter, On A Hike

Six or more years ago, I was taking a hike through a remote part of Baxter State Park in Maine. Even the trail was almost grown shut. Actually some places it was and I almost thought I might have to backtrack my way providing I could even do that. But it turned out to be one of my favorite hikes.


Here I was privileged to come upon a female moose with a newly born calf going upstream. Note how red the coat of the calf is.


Here I chanced upon a beautiful orchid not far off the path.


Note how thickly grown the forest is here. This area was probably heavily logged before it became state park land in Maine. Many places, it was literally so thick that it would have been hard to squeeze between the trees.

All In One Saturday

This morning I spent a couple hours preparing to teach my home church sixth grade Sunday School class. Part of that preparation included going to a local thrift shop to buy a jigsaw puzzle which will be used as an illustration point at the beginning of class regarding the differentness between brokenness and wholeness. When I went out shopping, I also spent some time browsing a computer store, CompUSA, where I could lose myself for hours.

In the late afternoon and evening, I spent some time at the home of one of my brothers and a junior youth activity.


In this picture in the foreground, two of the junior youth are adding up the score card for a game of miniature golf they and I played up above Quakertown, Pennsylvania. In the mid and background, some of the other junior youth and their sponsors are playing chip 'n' putt.


In this picture and the one below, the junior youth are playing football back in the lawn of my brother's home. Between their playing, we ate hotdogs done on a gas grill, potato chips, a lettuce and tomato salad, strawberries, pineapple, cantalope, brownies, and chocolate chip cookies.


In the three pictures below, my youngest nephew and his mom are planting some flower seeds at their home during a part of the above activities. I don't have a picture of it here; but during part of the evening, my youngest nephew was having great fun playing with several remote control locomotive engines on the kitchen, dining, and living room floors.

Indian Valley Soap Box Derby Practice Runs

Last evening, the Indian Valley Soap Box Derby Association held practice runs on my home street in Souderton, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The real contest, the Annual Soap Box Derby, is to be held on Saturday, June 3, 2006 on Main Street. These soap box cars are manned by Indian Valley area children and are sponsored by local businesses. Anyway, below are three pictures of these cars going down the hill past my apartment. The fourth picture shows how these cars were transported back up the hill. I took these pictures out the window of my apartment. Some of these vehicles are really pretty neat.

Pennypacker Mills, No. 6, Some History

While most of my posts have centered much more on the sights of nature, I also enjoy history. And the Pennypacker Mills property does possess a bit of history. I touched briefly on it in my Pennypackers Mill post of March 13, 2006.


This is a mid-May view of the mansion that used to be the home of one of Pennsylvania's govenors Samuel W. Pennypacker (1843-1916). He also had a love of history and was a collector of antiques. This mansion was also briefly the Headquarters of George Washington's army in the Revolutionary War for a few days. You may want to go back to my March post to see the mansion from a different angle and before the trees had leaves on.


Historical Marker for the Property


This historical monument marks the camp of George Washington's army for few brief days in September and October 1777 during the Revolutionary War.

Pennypacker Mills, No. 5, Spring Beauties in the Meadows

Here are some more of my pictures from my afternoon yesterday at Pennypacker Mills near Schwenksville, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. For this post I am highlighting some of the wildflowers of the meadows.


Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron annuus)


name unknown to me


Bluets (Houstonia caerulea)


name unknown to me


name unknown to me


Buttercups (Ranunculus species)

Pennypacker Mills, No. 4, Landscapes

This afternoon, I allowed myself to lose myself in nature spending much time at Pennypacker Mills near Schwenksville, Pennsylvania. It was a changeable afternoon from clouds to sun to sprinkles. But it was just me loose in nature.


Roots along the Perkiomen Creek


Wildflowers in the Woods


Buttercups in the Meadow


Mustard Plants in the Meadow


The Meadow - Another Angle


Studying the Hills

The Bridge

Bridging the waters
Reaching deeper
Into the soul
Delving the heart
Grief melting
Emergent joy