Dragonfly Swarm

Coming home from work/school/dance tonight, we started seeing what I at first thought were grasshoppers buzzing all over the lawns of houses just before Nick Road on Harpers Ferry Road.  We slowed down and identified them as huge dragonflies!  They were in everyone's yard through the section; we couldn't see them as clearly after Nick Road for a bit but then as we climbed our lane, they were all over our yard/field.  I did a little Googling and found that they do in fact swarm to eat!  Let's hope they are gobbling up the stink bugs that have suddenly re-appeared!  They can take the mosquitoes too!

March So Far in Pix

First there was snow ~
Then there was flooding

Then the stink bugs came out . . .

What's Going On?

This photo posting has no other purpose but to make you smile . . .

We found the first stink bug in the house yesterday of the "fall" season -- surely autumn is afoot. School has started, there are yellow leaves across the ridge, and it was a mere 59 degrees this morning. But it's still dry and the afternoons get very warm. Summer hasn't gone far yet.

So, we have one more weekend before Labor Day weekend - that perennial end of summer. I'm spending a few moments thinking about how best to spend this last bastion of summertime. Of course, yard-sale-ing comes to mind. But I found out very quickly last weekend that an almost 7-year-old and 4 and a half-year-old are not kind shoppers at yard sales . . . only if I can go alone will that happen again. There's the Washington County Rural Heritage Museum's Spud Fest (at the Ag Center) at 11 a.m. I could see the girls getting into digging up some potatoes! And homemade chips sound yummy! A definite possibility. The Lucketts Fair in a nearby part of Virginia is also a real possibility. We've been before -- lots of vendors, great bluegrass, and good food. But if it's too hot, the yee ones will holler . . . we'll see how the thermometer bodes. If we don't make it tomorrow, there's always Sunday too. The last days of the Jefferson County Fair are this weekend; we've never been, so I'm not sure what we'd be missing not to go . . . I love a good fair, but nothing lives up to the fair I grew up knowing. I can taste those Hoffman milkshakes now . . . There's no way in heck that we'll be going out east to the Maryland State Fair -- I've only been once -- it is big and awesome, but it is way too far away for these tykes this weekend. Williamsport Days are this weekend -- definitely a possibility for some good yard-sale-ing -- just the thought of all those former students . . .
I would love to see Poor Ellen Smith at Beans in the Belfry tomorrow night, but that will never happen because instead we are going to have a very fine meal at the Potomac Valley Fire Department's Steak Feed!

I don't know why anyone would have read this far, but if you have, I really appreciate it! :)

Back Home

We were away for the long weekend in NY to see my sister and help her move in to their new home. The ride was long, but we were glad to have been able to go. True to form, SG did not sleep a wink at any moment on either the ride up or back. Sylv caught quite a few zzzz's on the way back.Today we visited G's parents while the cousins were there. The girls enjoyed an hour wading ankle deep in the "branch" that etched out their part of the Hollow over the millennia. Of course, I didn't have a camera . . .

Later today between killings of stink bugs, we tried out the kites that the Easter Bunny brought us in the motel room in NY. Unfortunately, there was no wind. According to G, there is never wind enough here to fly kites. Again, I didn't have a camera.

Now is the time of year that we hunt mountain morel, a wonderful seasonal fungi that scares the bejesus out of my mother . . . G went out a bit earlier and only found a tiny one, which he didn't pick -- thus, I have no picture for you. His mom and aunt have been out a few times while we were gone, and they too only found small ones. We hope this just means a slow start and not a bad season. It was such a wet winter and now the weather is so very warm -- it should be perfect 'shroom conditions!

Cabin Fever 1.0

Sick of it! Another 12" at least! Blah!!!!!

Here is my husband plowing . . . again.

Here are my girls making Valentines. Yes, SG is in her bathing suit. And Sylv is in a witch's costume.

Here is our daily stink bug. More about them later. I HATE them . . .

So, do you feel like reading? Here's what I've been reading today:

• an article about how global warming might be causing storms like these
• a better article about the same
• Oh, there's another one
• this is where we're going this weekend for Tanner's gala!
• ummm, the reason why I shouldn't have to go to work . . . yet, I have to take a couple of vacation days in order to stay out of danger . . .
• aren't these the CUTEST Valentine's you've ever seen??
• and finally, have you seen this weather blog? Seriously, if you live in the mid-Atlantic, you must come to read them!