Science! Psuedo-science! Nature! Art! Nonsense!
April 27, 2026
farm, trees, who knows bridge broken, damage, disaster, maple tree, trash bin Leave a comment
What happens when you don’t have a basic grasp of physics and you have a zillion pound trash bin to pick up. Why you cause a disaster!
In retrospect it was kind of funny unless you are a 200 year old Maple.
Yeah it’s stuck on a tree after being lifted right into it.
Driveway ditch.
Broken bridge.
Damaged tree. I talked to JC and he said not to try to paint the tree, Just let it be.
Anyway, dumbass much?
At least all that garbage is gone!
April 7, 2026
farm, garden, nature, trees 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, easter, easter bunny, iulie, tradition, treasure hunt 1 Comment
For years, the Easter Bunny was bigger than Santa around here. Real. And very pirate. The kids looked forward to the annual Easter Treasure Hunt (which ended in exactly the same place every time…but nobody ever figured that out). There was at least a decade of deep Easter Bunny magic.
Now that Iulie is 7 (or as she says, “almost 8”), the Easter Bunny is back.
This year we had a slight planning wrinkle. Since it was officially Monday and not Sunday, the Easter Bunny was mostly done with its duties and relaxing in the Bahamas. We called EB up to see if an exception could be made for Iulie on Monday evening. Indiana helped. The EB said “why I think so.”
And thus the stage was set for an ALL NEW EASTER BUNNY TREASURE HUNT. Here’s how that went.
Initiation was way early (before Pilates) at 7:30am.
The kitchen table started everything off with map clue #1.
Iulie reads the clue, thinks a bit and figures out it’s her tree (which we planted together in 2023).
But does she stay on target? Nope. LOL.
Hunt for eggies AND remember the clue? Lots to do when it’s so exciting.
Iulie got just slightly ahead of the grandparents on her way to the tree.
And there it was, map clue #2.
Which led us right past some eggies hidden in the grass on the way to the Garden. Behind the machine (awaiting a tire change) was map clue #3.
A slightly trickier clue, this one needed “bouncy” for sure. Leading us t the newly fixed Swinging Bridge.
Iulie went flying right by map clue #4 and had to be called back.
And then it was off to the Guesthouse (BIML world headquarters). Eggies to find along the way.
Map clue #5 was tricky. A.poth.e.car.y is a low frequency word. Hey, that’s this blog’s namesake!
Finally, we found the Easter basket and some loot from the Easter Bunny! At the apothecary shed.
The treasure hunt was over. Time for a Spring picture.
And some sorting of the loot.
Who knew that the Easter Bunny liked legos?!
April 5, 2026
farm, hiking, nature, trees hiking, shenadoah river, trail, tree, tree down Leave a comment
It’s great to have a trail on the monastery. The only problem is monks don’t have chainsaws. So, time to get ours out!
November 11, 2025
flowers, photography, trees fall light, flowers, roses, trees Leave a comment
First the light
And then the flower representative of life.
October 6, 2024
hiking, travel, trees hiking, hyde park, london, portobello market, swans, walking 1 Comment
We decided to walk from Marylebone to see the Market at Portabello Road. It was a long walk, but filled with real London sights. The market itself seems more suited to Hollywoood movie watchers than to us. But we’re glad we went.
Iceberg?
Or swan?
Headless at the end.
August 28, 2024
photography, plants, trees fungus, garden, mushrooms, river, shenandoah, shenandoah river, trees, trees down Leave a comment
During the time of the dog days, this is what we see.
Lots of trees down this summer due to chaotic weather (weeks of drought followed by an intense several day tropical storm).
April 23, 2024
art, nature, trees, who knows antifa, art, democracy, museum, Norway, oslo, painting, rose castle, roseslottet, travel, world war ii 2 Comments
The “Rose Castle” art installation is a temporary exhibit at the top of the ridge overlooking Oslo. It’s dedicated to democracy and anti-fascism as understood through remembering the Norwegian freedom fighters of WWII.
The installation itself is both deeply moving, profound, and kitchy all at the same time. It’s clear that the artists are from a different time where the pace is slower, the thinking is deeper and the design language doesn’t cater to instagram.
There has been some debate about whether to make the monument permanent. the latest scuttlebutt us that it will be removed in 2025.
I’m really glad I went, for a number of reasons, but I also think moving the installation to a more permanent home not in nature would be best.
April 12, 2024
cute, flowers, nature, river, trees bluebells, bubbie, easter, easter bunny, easter eggs, hiking, iulie, nature Leave a comment
The Easter bunny did make an appearance.
There were baskets to discover and eggs to find!
After the hunt, we enjoyed the beautiful weather outside and made chalk pictures of our own.
Don’t forget to count the loot!
Now who exactly is the Easter bunny again?!
We also dyed some eggies. The girls from the palace were happy to oblige.
Even the puppy was pooped!
But a good night’s sleep after several stories got us all rested up for pancakes in the morning.
The eggs became deviled.
While the angel checked on her tree. (Tiny tiny leaves.)
We also tiptoed through the bluebells. Well kinda.
Come again, little one.
March 24, 2024
trees farm, huge maple, JC, tree work 1 Comment
In 2003, when we arrived at this house, there were five huge old maple trees (by old, we mean over 200 years). Two of them have been gone for a decade or more, felled by age and weather. The big mother tree is finally entering the precarious stage when massive branches rot off and fall from the sky.
In order to make sure that the new Josie Oak (well, new in a sense that it is only 25 years old) doesn’t become collateral damage, we decided to take down half of the mother tree.
JC did all of the work. Here he is roping up for a safe perch.
This is kind of a “before” shot. JC topped the parts of the tree he could get to safely, though rot prevented a complete treatment.
And down came the massive part (half the tree which is 42 inches wide at the base).
The fence was unexpectedly smashed from space (better this than the oak).
It was a relatively easy fix (including a new post driven down into the ground).
And that left us with a huge, several day cleanup job. Firewood, solstice fire wood, sticks and branches, and a massive butt log.
Its sad to have to cut out such a huge part of the yard, but trees require maintenance too.
