Loon Mother and Baby + Baby's First Swim

We spent the entire day today photographing Loons and had some incredible luck doing so! When we came upon this nest, there was one chick already born and snuggling under mom's wing. After our mid-day lunch break we returned to find that the second chick had hatched while we were away! It was an incredible day :-)


Just moments after leaving the nest, a baby Loon gets its first taste of life on the water. If you look just above the beak of the Loon on the left, you can see the nest and the egg shells in the background.

Putting in the Glacier Stakes

Good news for climbing this year at Mt. Rainier!

Many of you may have seen the white schedule-40 PVC pipes in various locations on the mountain. These stakes are installed using a steam drill and a big frothing wand to put an 8-9 meter long stake into the snow down past the layer of glacier ice.

When we put the stakes in, the snow depth is measured from last year's late fall layer. This year, all of the way up the Nisqually and even at 11,100' on the Ingraham, we have measured an amount of snow comparable to most years at this time.

This is good news for climbers. Many of the non-standard routes rely on Mt. Rainier's typical snowfall to make the route endure long enough into the summer for climbers to take advantage of the better weather.

The project's aim is to analyze the mass-balance of the Nisqually Glacier. One of the things that we have learned from this project is that the Muir Snowfield at about 9,700 feet has lost about 1 meter of ice each year for the past six years. Many of you may have noticed the rock rib that has been exposed just down from Camp Muir at about 9,700 feet!

The Glacier Monitoring Program is coordinated by the geologist at North Cascades National Park. Many of the Pacific Northwest's glaciers are incorporated into this study. Field crews from North Cascades National Park and Mount Rainier National Park are involved in the project.

Tombstone Tuesday :: Christian and Eve Schuder

Christian Schuder and his wife, Anna Eva Christina (aka Eve) Stoever, are my 3rd great grandparents and also my 4th great grandparents! Their grandson Isaac Shuder married their great-granddaughter Nancy Jane Lavering.

Christian and Eve were the parents of nine children: John (1795-1850) married Mary Elizabeth Gephart, Barbara (1797-1865) married Christopher Leighty, Peter (1799-1867) married Rebecca Barbara Huntsicker, Samuel (1803-1878) married Christena Shade, Catherine (1805-1876) married Christopher Leighty after her sister Barbara passed away, Elizabeth (1808-1863) married William Lavering, Daniel (1810-1897) married Justina Shade, Christian Jr. (1813-1885) married Sarah Nancy Huntsicker, and William (1815-unknown).

I suspect that Rebecca and Sarah Huntsicker were sisters or related in some way as were Christena and Justina Shade. The photos below were given to me by my cousin, Caroline Conrad Fawley and were taken in the early 1980s. She has done the research on the Schuder/Shuder family and graciously provided me with copies of her research. (Thanks, Caroline!)

Christian and Eve are buried in Ellerton Cemetery, Montgomery County, Ohio. As always, click on the images for a larger, more legible, version.

IN
MEMORY OF CHRISTIAN
SCHUDER WAS BORN IN
LANCASTER COUNTEY
PENNSYLVANIA. THE 12 D
OF GANHARY IN THE YEAR OF
OUR LORD 1762. DEPARTED
THIS LIFE THE 13TH JULY
1842. AGED 80 YEARS 6
MONTHS AND ONE DAY
EVE CHRISTINA
WIFE OF
CHRISTIAN SCHUDER
DIED
JAN. 6, 1855,
AGED
80 yrs. 11 mo. & 16d.
(the verse at the bottom of the stone is illegible)

Buttercup

When I posted another photo of these flowers I said I didn't know what they were so I looked them up and they are a type of buttercup.

Big Metal Vase

There were these big metal vases or pots by the entrance to one shop.

Garden

Squarsh blossoms, butternut squarsh, squarsh vine, green cherry tomotoes, corn flower

Oh so lovely Ardennes countryside

Dear Flanders (Dutch speaking part in the north of Belgium),

Please reconsider divorcing Wallonia (French speaking part in the south of Belgium) because she is just awfully, spectacularly, ooh so magnifique-ally LOVELY! Her countryside is so amazing. It would be such a shame, an immense loss if she goes sovereign or returns to France.

AUB niet laten gaan. Niet loslaten. It is a sin!

Sincerely,
Dutched Pinay

I swear on OVI Maps, best thing ever when I switched to Nokia Mini (I ‘had’ Nokia Navigator with Route66). FREE GPS/Maps to all countries! How can you not fall in love with that scenery?

Fields of barley, they shine like gold under the daylight sun.

Cattles are so organised. Follow the leader!

Lovely countryside views.

Can you tell these white cows were enchanted by my presence?

Lavender fields, it smells so divine here!

More cattles grazing the fields.

Barley for the winter.

Pretty much I went euphoric with the scenic panorama I encountered on every bend. I couldn’t help but stop the car every now and then, sometimes in the middle of the road, just to take a damn picture! That’s not a crime right? I am deep in the countryside so there is barely any car passing through every 2-5 minutes. OK, I am a road menace lol. But what can I do if it’s so lovely here?

Fire on the Mountain

Thursday morning early there was a fire started on the Sandia Mountains. It is thought it was manmade as their hasn't been any lightining in New Mexico in months. The fire was in a deep canyon between two peaks. We could see the smoke coming up out of the canyon from our back yard. I took the first photo through a dirty window. But there was so much smoke and blowing dust all the photos are blurry. The last photo shows the smoke coming up the best. This morning they said the fire was about 60 percent contained. It was in very rough country and hard for the firefighters to get to it. Mostly there were planes and helecopters doing water drops. We couldn't see them as it was just to far away from, about 50 miles or so.







On Friday morning my neighbor say smoke billowing up a few miles from us and was reaching for her phone when the fire trucks went out. Someone had already called them. They found an abandoned mobile home, and a couple of sheds on fire that they thought was arson. In about a mile radious there were 3 or 5 more fires set in piles of trash and brush. Really looked like an arsonist was at work. This was following 5 fires set within a few miles of each other at the foot of the Sandia Mountains about a month ago.

I can't understand how anyone can set fires that could cause the whole area to go up in flames considering the drought in our state. If the fireman hadn't got them out so fast many homes could have caught on fire or someone could have been injured or killed all because someone thinks it's fun to play with fire.

Begijnhof

The spinster’s semi-monastic private community is a secret little place, an inner court stashed nicely in the center of Amsterdam’s medieval quarter away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The Begijnhof is not always easy to find but there are two entrances; one is in the Spui square--this is the brown arched door and the other one is on the side street from the corner of Spui (by Esprit Café). Walk a bit further down the alley until you reach an intersection and you see an arched brick gate.



The begijnhof is open daily from 8AM to 7PM. When visiting here make sure to keep voices down as you are treading on private residential grounds.




On the left foto is the main entrance of the Begijnhof. Middle foto is a garden near the Spui entrance with a sculpture of a Begijn, not sure who she is, could be the famous Begijn Cornelia Arents. Right foto is the entrance from Spui square.





Most of the town houses here are built during the 17th and 18th centuries. Tourists and non-residents are not allowed to venture into this side of the Begijnhof.





Left foto is the Roman Catholic Begijnhofkapel (Begijnhof Chapel). You can see on the middle foto the bell tower of the English Presbyterian Church while on the right foto you can see its entrance. English masses are serviced here.





Left foto is the interior of the Begijnhof Chapel and on the right foto is another section of the Begijnhof. The Black wooden gothic house is probably the most famous house in the hofje and is recently renovated.



The Beginhof, a non-religious organization was formed in the late 14th century for a very noble cause. Many unmarried women from noble backgrounds came to live here with the goal of doing charity to the community without the religious pressures from living in a convent. The begijnen take a vow of chastity but they can always leave if they want to marry.

The last original begijn (I call them semi-nun spinters) died in 1971 and until now only unmarried older women are accepted to live here. There are about 47 town houses in the hofje.

In the begijnhof you will also find the only English Presbyterian Church that offers English services in the Netherlands. Across this church is a Roman Catholic Chapel, the Begijnhofkapel, a much ostentatious one than the English Church I suppose.



The whole begijnen concept is unique so when in Amsterdam do not miss this.

.

Hedy and Art Treat Us to Dinner

We have Happy Hours fairly often. We go out to eat with friends. We have enjoyed both since we went full time. What we don't do is have sit down dinners at each other's homes, unless we count eating at the picnic table. So you can imagine what a rare and precious thing it is to have a nice dinner together at a table.



Last night Hedy and Art treated four couples to their house and did all the cooking for it. We were treated to Chicken Cordon Blue, Salad, Peas, Baked Potatoes, Rolls and yummy punch. It was fabulous. We enjoyed great conversation while we shared the meal. We talked about how we are not only friends, but also family. And if that wasn't great enough, we had Hedy's cheesecake for dessert. It was the best cheesecake that I've ever had. It was just a great night, all the way around.