Long time.

Howdy folks.  Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything on here.  I guess the only folks who read it (Keith, my family), see me on facebook, so it's felt kind of redundant.  Anyway, I'll try to get back to it.  Seems a shame to quit after being at it for such a long time...
Anywho, here's a picture from my recent trip out to Washington to visit the family.

Fiddleheads and Leeks

Some springtime goodies from the yard...

Looking around for some fiddleheads to munch on.  Apparently Ostrich fern is the type that's best, and I know where there's a good patch of them in the back yard.

NOT Ostrich Fern.  These ones you're not supposed to eat.

These are the ones I'm after!

 In just a couple minutes of picking, I had enough for two meals.  I've read you're only supposed to take a couple from each "bunch", so you don't weaken or kill the plant.  There weren't many unfurling yet, so it was easy to avoid.  Should be a bunch more in the coming weeks.

Bag of fiddleheads.

Fiddleheads acquired, I headed back toward the house.  Lots of turkeys making racket in the distance.  Spotted a bird I've never seen before but couldn't get any pictures of it.  Drew a sketch from memory when I got back to the house, then identified it as a male rose-breasted grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus).  Pretty neat.  Also passed through abundant wild leeks:

Wild leeks aplenty, as usual. 

Didn't take any more than I needed, despite the thick carpet of them.  They'll be around for a while, so I can get more when I want them.

 Once I got home, I decided I'd combine the two and cook myself a foraged lunch!  It turned out excellent.  Here are a couple photos to document the (simple) process.

Fiddleheads, leek bulbs, and leek leaves.  Diced the leeks and sauteed the lot in a bit of butter.

Voila!  Mmm, mmm good!

Update

Sorry about the hiatus... just been lazy.  Crazy warm weather here lately.  In the 70's for a week!  Over 80 today!  Right about this time last year we had a 3 foot dump of snow, so hopefully that won't happen again.  Snow is long gone now, from the woods, and the mountains (except the ski slopes).  Hope it stays that way!
So what's new?  Well, we got ourselves a cat.  Adopted her from the local shelter.  Chrissy wanted to name her Sucia (after this San Juan Island), and it stuck.  So here's our cat, Sucia:

Sucia the cat.

We've had her about a month so far and she's wicked sweet.  Less skittish than other cats I've been around lately too.
Last year, Chrissy and her friend Lindsey did the Burlington Marathon as a team (each of them did a half).  This year, they're doing it with a team of folks, but their fifth person backed out, so I stepped up to fill the void.  So... I've to run about 3.5 miles by the end of May.  Shouldn't be too bad, but I haven't run consistently since my freshman year of highschool.  Riding plenty, but running is a whole 'nother thang.  As long as my joints hold up, I should be ok.  Not a fan of running on pavement though.
So yeah, it's spring!  Officially, and for once it actually feels like it too.  Unbelievably, the spring peepers have already been out several nights, and last night the wood frogs showed up in the hundreds.  Not many newts yet, and no spotted salamanders yet (need some rain for that, probably this weekend).  Waded out there just now with the "big" camera to see if I could take any decent pictures of them. 

Wood frogs aplenty!

On the prowl...

Up close.

From the side.

All together.

Rejection.

Unlike a lot of frogs (and toads), wood frogs' side expand instead of their necks when they call.

For scale.

 
Also, as I was heading back in, a pair of hooded mergansers showed up.  I couldn't get very close and this was the best I could get:

Female hooded merganser.

The pair, way in the distance.  At least it focused in the right spot!

Anywho, that's it for now. 
Work hasn't gotten too busy yet, but it's only a matter of time...

Bird ID and Sun Dogs.

So that bird I thought was a pheasant might actually have been a grouse.  I spotted it again in the same general spot (near my garden patch), and when it was flying, it had a crest on its head like a grouse.  So I'm not sure what it is.  The tail feathers seem long for a grouse, but what do I know?  Anyone got a positive ID?

Grouse or Pheasant?

Do you know what I am?

Been having a bit of a cold snap the past couple days here.  Got into the negative teens last night and I don't think it's above zero yet out there (at 11am).  I was up early enough to watch the sun rise (which isn't very early this time of year!) and witnessed an interesting phenomenon.  I've seen this before, but never been able to photograph it.

Sun Dogs.

That's the sun rising in the middle, and the interesting thing are the two bright spots on either side of it.  These are caused by ice crystals in the air refracting the light sort of like a rainbow.  Haven't really wrapped my head around the optics of it, but that's what I remember reading somewhere.  These "sun dogs" also have lots of other names: parahelia, sun halo, halo, etc.  I remember reading that the "sun dogs" are supposed to be about 22 degrees from the sun, so out of curiosity, I got out mom & dad's old sextant and measured the angle...

Tricky trying to take a photo through the sextant, while trying to keep it lined up...

Granted, this sextant is a bit old and the sight is a bit out of whack.  Also, I was measuring a very bright blurry spot in the sky, not a fine point of light like a star, but I came up with about 23.5 degrees.

Davis Mark 3 sextant.  Still know how to use it, sorta.

So I thought that was pretty nifty.  As the sun got higher, the halo got more pronounced.

Pretty cool eh?

Once it got higher than this, it started to disappear.  Also, the above picture was a super short exposure with a high f-stop.  The sun was bright enough by then I couldn't look anywhere near it, but the halo was still there even if I couldn't see it.  Cool stuff.

Some Christmas and Winter Photos...

Patrick zoned out on Sesame Street.

Breakfast Christmas morning.

Evan being an attentive parent while Patrick shoves stuff in his mouth.

Debbie getting emotional...

Shoving more stuff in his mouth...

I think that one isn't going to fit...

 

Leave me alone, I just got back from an all-night bender.

First food besides milk...

He likes it a lot!

All dressed up and ready to go out for New Year's.  What a beautiful wife I have...

AHHH!

Yard after a snow shower.

Maple tree in the front yard.

Stowe Pinnacle.

Burdock.

A female pheasant in the front yard about a month ago.  These are not native to Vermont (well not "native" anywhere in the US, but VT is out of there introduced range), but there are some hunting preserves in Vermont that have some, so it must be an escapee.  First one I've ever seen.

Christmas Tree!

Just got our Christmas tree on Saturday, and decorated it last night.  Here's a step-by-step.  I definitely prefer a real tree to a fake one.  They smell so nice...

Somewhere in here is the perfect tree...

Found it!  A Fraser Fir.

First Christmas as a married couple!

Shoulda been a lumberjack like the Fords.

I don't need no stinking tractor ride!

Back at the house.

Up she goes.

Tada!