World-Record Kite Event

"The New England Children’s Foundation (NE Children’s Foundation), bringing the technology community together to raise funds for grassroots charities benefiting the children of New England, today announced an officially-sanctioned attempt at breaking the Guinness world record for most kites flown simultaneously. The goal of the fundraising event is to simultaneously fly 1,000 kites, to break the current Guinness World Record of 967, established in Germany during August 2008.The family-friendly event will be held on October 11, 2009 and hosted by Patriot Place."

http://www.patriot-place.com/article.aspx?id=2042

Upcoming Lecture on Invasive Plants

"October 28, 2009, 7:30 p.m. Botanist Ted Elliman will discuss invasive plants at the Fiske Library. The lecture, entitled The Invasion Has Begun! Invasive Plants Must Be Stopped!, will discuss the impact invasive plants have on natural vegetation, animals, and what can be done to stop them. The event is sponsored by the Wrentham Open Spaces Committee."

http://www.wrenthamtimes.com/wrentham/townevents.html

Falconry Demonstration in Wrentham

"October 3, 2009, 10:00 a.m. A falconry demonstration will be given my wildlife expert Marla Isaac on the softball fields at the Wrentham Developmental Center. Isaac will bring hamks [I'm sure they meant to type "hawks"], vultures, and owls to her presentation. Please, no dogs. The event is sponsored by the Wrentham Open Spaces Committee. "

As Chris said when I brought this to his attention: OMG OMG OMG OMG!

http://www.wrenthamtimes.com/wrentham/townevents.html

Living Life on the Edge

Not too much gardening going on right now, been insanely busy with Board of Education duties. The other day though I took a few more butterfly images. Was totally mesmerized by this butterfly dancing oh so close to the spiderweb.

I kept watching carefully because I couldn't tell if it's feet were actually stuck there.

Now I'm thinking I should have poked it a bit with my finger to make sure that it was truly free but I'm pretty sure I remember seeing it fly about.

Also living life on the edge is Calie-the-wonderdoodle-dog who obviously has no problem sleeping in what ever position is most comfortable!

Dacey Community Fields

When I first drove into the Dacey Community Field park in Franklin, I was struck by the utter boringness of it. Baseball fields, soccer fields with emrald-green, weed-free grass; playground equipment that was large but bland. Even the dedication sign looks like a tombstone. I hope this family wasn't memorialized because they all perished in a tragic accident. . . but I think that's what this means. How awful.



I was most interested in the edges of the park, and what was growing there. On my first trip I couldn't see past the buckthorn and other invasives. That quick trip left a bad taste in my mouth. But I figured it was worth a second look. There are some natural features about that break up the manicured grass monoculture blandness.



Every child needs a rock to climb on.



Behind the playground there are a few paths leading out into wild areas. Having Gabe with me in a stroller, I didn't get to explore down them, but this one in particular looks promising. Notice the purple flowers on the lower left.



That's New England Aster, Symphyotrichum novae-angliae, a fantastic purple purple purple native. This is the first time I have seen it growing abundantly in the wild. I will have to return for seeds.



Pokeweed, Phytolacca americana, looking gloriously pink.



The ubiquitous and lovely goldenrod.



More asters of some sort, in a wonderful dense drift.



There were many happy bees lolling about in this plant.



Hey, I recognize this fly. It's the first one I've seen that hasn't been nauseatingly glued to a leaf by fungus.

I'm glad to see that this part has some redeeming qualities, because it's only a couple of miles from home.

Open Space

The next stop on my tour of Franklin parks was this little spot, which I have been meaning to visit for a year now.



I don't yet know the history of Mr. DelCarte's Open Space, but it includes a lovely pond.

Please excuse my awful photos. I wrangled a stroller (baby included) down a muddy, rooty, steep path to get this far. Plus, it was raining.

I didn't want to put Gabe through the torture of bumping along the path that turned to follow the banks of the pond, so I didn't see much aside from the soggy Autumn view. However, one plant did catch my eye:



I'm pretty sure it's an American chestnut, Castanea dentata. That dark mass at the bottom of the second photo is a stump. Between fifty and a hundred years ago, this tree was reduced to a stump by the chestnut blight. It still lives, but like almost all of that last generation of American chestnuts, it will never produce offspring.

Some Nearby Finds at Franklin State Forest

I have made it my goal to find and visit every park in my area. To start, I pulled up my town on Google Maps, and looked for areas marked in green. And guess what? My town has a State Forest!



I didn't get very far before I spotted this amazing pink cluster. This appears to be pinesap, Monotropa hypopitys, a member of the Indian pipe family. It looks just like Indian pipe, in fact, except that each stem has multiple flowers, and the plant is bright pink.

This plant is native to most of the continent, but is rather rare, as well as being difficult to find, because for most of the year it lives entirely below ground. Like Indian pipe, it gets its energy from a parasitic relationship with a fungus.


I'm still rather a poor photographer, even with a tripod. So, this is a blurry example of the plant when it first emerges from the leaf duff.



My god they're beautiful.

Other plants I spotted beneath the forest canopy included Indian pipe, sassafras, sasparilla, striped wintergreen, poison ivy, club moss, and this:



This time, I know for sure I've found Indian cucumber root, Medeola virginiana!



As I learned from my previous incorrect identification, there is a similar plant called starflower that looks like the lower tier of this plant. However, there is no mistaking the top trio of leaves with those googly-eye berries.



The root of this native plant is edible, but small, and harvesting it of course kills the whole plant. I saw perhaps fifty of them growing along one short section of trail, and I could easily imagine that patch eradicated by one person harvesting enough roots for one meal. This plant is quite rare now, from what I understand.



This googly-eyed mutant had a small fourth leaf on its upper tier.

Design Gives Back - Pet Parade Blog Party

Welcome, I am so glad that you stopped by. Please join me and Bentley for a very special Pet Parade Blog party celebrating everyone who supported and/or participated in the project to raise a $2,000. donation to the Foreclosure Pets Fund project. The goal was to have 150 scarves decorated and to send in a photo of each pet wearing their decorated scarf.

Bentley wearing his scarf.

The project was a big success and now Kelee and Oliver of the Katillac Shack are celebrating with a video celebrating the event. The world premier video will show the presentation to the shelter organization and will feature the pets who participated.

All of God's Creatures - Great and Small will be featured in the video at the Pet Parade Party.

Bentley is waiting to take you to the party!



Bentley, my studio assistant, participated and would love for you to attend the Blog Party to see all of his blog pet friends and to celebrate. His good friend, Miss Maggie, of Dear Daisy Cottage participated http://deardaisycottage.typepad.com/. Bentley supported his blog friend Oliver (who has a crush on Maggie) by painting daises on his scarf in hopes of impressing the fair Miss Maggie with his support of his friend.

Maggie of Dear Daisy Cottage

Lots of pet owners and bloggers participated in this worthwhile project. I made you a cup of tea and baked pumpkin bread to celebrate the party. Pour yourself a cup of tea , have a piece of pumpkin bread, relax and let's take a look at just a few of these dear and precious pets - many were adopted and/or rescued (including Bentley) who will be featured in the video.

Looks like someone discovered the pumpkin bread !

HMM . . . . "After all, the party is a Pet Parade and it seems only fitting that I get to have a piece of pumpkin bread!" Yummy . . .Well - let's see some of the other pets are up to.

"Sugars" was adopted by my niece , Jill. She is a Miniature Doxon and has no tear ducts in one eye. . She needs to have drops every day and was given a loving home 11 years ago. Her beautiful scarf was decorated by Jill's daughter, 6 year old Hannah Love (who is the real artist in our family).

Sugars loves to eat the cat food as well as her dog food (which has not been too good for her waist line).

Hershey is a shy adopted neighbor of Sugars and his lovely scarf was also decorated by Hannah Love.

Maggie's handsome brother!

Lovely in lace!

Bridesmaid !

Glamor Girl!

Cutie pie!

A small sample of the adorable pets you will see at the Pet Parade Party.


Don't go away - the party/movie starts

September 30, 2009

http://www.KatillacShack.com

DIY & THRIFTY TIP : Oliver Wendell's sweater can be adapted from a man's thrift store sweater. I have made several this way: Simply cut the bound edges of the sleeves and reposition them for the armholes and use bound seams for "butt-straps"(which he finds humiliating) that hold it in place. He is a little man in a dog-suit anyway! What does your pet wear for style? Show us at the party!

Thank you for visiting. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate that you have taken time to leave me a comment or follow my blog. If you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special, please leave me a comment or send me an e-mail.

Have a lovely week and enjoy the party. Blessings, Erin

Goldenrod Season

Autumn officially started this past week, but chilly nights and the turning of the leaves began weeks ago, and the goldenrod has been in full force. Some of it is starting to go to seed already, but from my seat at the computer I can still see bright spots of the yellow flowers out back.

Above is a shot of some of the goldenrod, genus Solidago, that grows at the edge of our rear lawn. I don't know what type of goldenrod it is. There are perhaps a hundred varieties of goldenrod, and I hear that they are difficult to tell apart. All goldenrod is native to North America.

Goldenrod is incorrectly blamed for causing allergies. The real culprit for pollen allergies is ragweed. Goldenrod blooms in vast sweeps of big showy yellow flowers, while ragweed flowers are so uninteresting that they are invisible by comparison. Ragweed is wind-pollinated, but you would have to stick your nose in a clump of goldenrod in order to inhale the heavy pollen.

Below are photos of goldenrod pollinators that Chris took at Idylbrook Field on the same chilly August morning when we got photos of the monarch caterpillars.


The cold weather has slowed down the insects, making them much easier to photograph. Here is some sort of a bee, and a mosquito.


The poor bees were waiting for the sun to warm them up that day. Fortunately for them, we have had several hot days since.


I did a Google search on "goldenrod bug" to identify this beauty, and taa-daa! It came right to the top. This is Megacyllene robiniae, otherwise known as a locust borer. In their pupa form, they eat their way into black locust trees, causing considerable damage to the tree. But, like the black locust, these insects are North American natives.


In their adult form, the locust borer uses goldenrod as its food source. They are easy to spot as well as being fairly common, but at a glance, they do look like big scary wasps. I'm sure that's exactly what the yellow-and-black coloration is for.

Elizabeth's Garden

Yesterday I visited my friend Elizabeth. She has been the shoulder I turn to the most at this time of my life, both of us going through a divorce, both of us leaning on the other.

We had decided to go for a serious work-out-walk but first I wanted to take a few photos of her garden.

Elizabeth is an incredible visionary when it comes to design. I am so jealous of her!

The pool area she has created is so amazingly beautiful, it's hard to believe that just a few short years ago this area was just lawn and overgrown trees.

The concept of growing something between the stepping stones is one that Elizabeth uses often. In fact, the way she's done this (and other things) has almost instantly given the garden the feeling of timelessness, as if it's been there forever.

The plant material here is Mazus reptans and it must be stunning when in bloom.

Cimicifuga was cascading out over the stone wall in one corner.

Begonia grandis 'Alba' (white hardy begonias) have charmingly seeded themselves into the crevices of the stone walls. You can bet I'll be moving a few of my hardy begonias to my walled gardens this week in hopes that they too seed like this.

My absolute favorite spot in Elizabeth's garden was a massive intermingling of a dusty pink shrub rose and huge, lush Hydrangeas. I'm going to guess the Hydrangeas are tardivas but I'm not a Hydrangea expert.

Although I shot a number of photos in this area, not one of them did justice to this wonderfully romantic combination.

Elizabeth has done an awesome job of incorporating shrubs and perennials. If I'm in the mood, I'll post again soon with more shots of her shrubs.

Off to see what's going on outside today,
Melanie