photos – New England's Narrow Road

My Winter Owl

Photos have been sitting in my camera all winter, but I finally downloaded them and managed to get them a bit organized. This barred owl was a regular visitor to my backyard. He had a favorite branch where I’d watch him sit for hours, but one day he perched up on this post. If he caught me moving around in the house he’d stare right at me with those dark eyes. He sure is beautiful. I know that they are common where I live, but I enjoyed it when he’d keep me company while I worked at my desk.

I’m not a good wildlife photographer at all, but this photo came out pretty good. I don’t see him any longer now that Spring is here, but I do hear the cry, which is very distinctive. I suspect there are many living in the woods around here.

Lately a red cardinal has been showing up late in the evening to pick through the dirt for who knows what. And I suddenly realized it’s May, and I need to hang my hummingbird feeder. Funny how the time just sneaks up on us.

My thoughts have been on gardening and putting up my mini deck-greenhouse. I also ordered another fabric pot to fill and plant in again this year which will expand the planting areas in my small backyard garden space. But birds are a big part of gardening and I want them around to help control the bugs. Owls are welcome too to keep the mouse population down. This year I had very few mice in my basement – that I heard / saw anyway. So we all have to work together – owls included.

So That’s A Garlic Scape!

Okay I am going to show my ignorance here, but I honestly did not know what a garlic scape was.
Yesterday I was out back checking on my tiny garden and saw these interesting pointy things on the tops of my garlic that I had planted last fall.
I’ve heard of garlic scapes, but have never seen one. In fact the other day at the organic grocery store, a lady in front of me mentioned them. I didn’t pay much attention, but put 2 and 2 together and looked them up this morning. Sure enough – it’s what I have in my garden!
So now I guess I need to cut them and use them in my cooking.
Can’t tell you too much more, as this is all new to me. But I love garlic in any form and leaving the scapes on the garlic means they will flower and go to seed. That isn’t good for the growing bulb, so I’ll be out cutting them today.

Our Pack Monadnock Hike in June

Towers at mountaintop — At the Top of Pack Monadnock

Ever since I moved to this area of New Hampshire I’ve been driving over Temple Mountain and past Miller State Park where Pack Monadnock is located. It’s the smaller mountain with big, Mount Monadnock in the distance and I live so close that it was ridiculous not to hike the trails there.

Yesterday was sunny and gorgeous. With temps near 70 and clear skies, my teenage son and I drove about 10 minutes to the parking area of Pack Monadnock and then had to choose a trail to climb.
Knowing nothing except that there was a yellow trail – the Wapack Trail, and a blue trail, we chose the blue one and began our 1.4 mile trek to the top.

Now, 1.4 miles doesn’t sound like much, but to someone who doesn’t hike much, it turned out to be a strenuous little hike for me. All together it took us about 2 hours, with a short stop at the top. However, coming back down was not easy either as we chose the other trail – yellow – which turned out to be very rocky, but with great views of Mount Monadnock. The yellow trail seemed to be very well worn and I assume it is the most used. The blue trail was narrower and in the woods, without views. Next time I would hike the opposite way – go up on yellow and down on blue. Live and learn.

Don’t expect great views from the top either – unless you still have energy to climb the tower! There are probably great views from up there. There is a sign that points to “Boston views” and I got a photo, but the trees partially covered the view.
The top of Pack Monadnock has a road and parking area, with picnic tables and a bathroom, but it does not have a clear 360 degree view like other mountains I’ve climbed. One spot has a nice view of Mount Monadnock as you can see in my photo below. And you’ll get other views like this on the yellow trail. There is an Auto Road to the top so you don’t have to climb the trails, and it costs money to use it, but it was closed yesterday. Read more at the Miller State Park site.

Here are some of my photos of what you will see on the Pack Monadnock hike.

View of mount monadnock from pack monadnock — Heading Down The Yellow Trail from the Top, View of Mount Monadnock in Jaffrey

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hiking {mt. monadnock} (delightfullyteal.wordpress.com)
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Share Your Photography With The World at Pixabay

I’ve been taking photos my whole life – like many of you. My first camera was a little Instamatic that came in a yellow box with a flash cube (very similar to the one pictured). Click and wind, then send the finished film off to be developed.

I took pictures of my cat and dog mostly, but also my backyard and some special outdoor places. The pictures were pretty crummy looking compared to what we have to work with these days, but I am still a point and shoot kind of gal.

My kids gave me a nice Sony a year or two ago and I’m having fun getting shots of my new house. Now that I am planting gardens I will be growing flowers and veggies to use as my subjects.

Recently I got a shot of my strawberry plant and added it to Pixabay where it was chosen as a front page image! Whoo hoo… I am excited!

I haven’t added many photos to their site yet, but I go there to find pictures to use for my work. They offer free, public domain images (that means you can use them for anything – no strings attached). I love that the folks there have high standards for approving uploaded photos so you will find only good quality images at the site.

If you have tons of pictures and want to show them off, consider joining Pixabay and share them with the world! And go see my strawberry. Thank you Simon and the Pixabay gang.