Joys of a Snow Storm 2016

Beginning of storm

Midway through

The first big snow storm of 2016 was a really big blizzard for the mid-atlantic region. After watching cars get buried under snow over the last 3 days, it was time to dig out the car.
Thankfully, I got a lot of help from the neighbors in digging, threw some snowballs for fun, and once the bulldozer came through it was time for a break. I am looking forward to my hot tea. Stay warm everyone, Meet Me Outdoors.

I found my car!

Cleared but still needing to dig around it.

 

Another Snowday in Baltimore

That's right, we have yet another snow day here in Baltimore, MD.  I just came inside after digging out my car, the one near the bottom right of the photo, and it hasn't stopped snowing. I figured I could clear half of the snow now and do it again later this evening when it hopefully stops.  I didn't bring a ruler out with me but I am guessing it was 6-8 inches of snow, it was about the same height as a stair step.  We are supposed to be 15 days away from the start of spring, but the snow just keeps falling. 

While I was out there clearing a path, two people were cross country skiing and there were kids pulling their sled to the sledding hill which is maybe a half mile from my house.  The neighbors kids were running around in the snow earlier, too.  

Last snow day my housemate decided to build a snow-person, the odd blob in the center of the yard is what is left of it.  Not far from my house there is a snow-sphinx that someone built.  People have been finding some fun ways to spend their snow days.  I am thinking of doing some knitting. What will you do? Meet Me Outdoors.

Snowing in Baltimore

Little Purple Flowers - Mystery Solved

Almost a year ago has gone by since my neighbor's kid pointed out to me that the little purple flowers had disappeared from around the yard. The flowers came back again this year and I remembered to take a few pictures.  I used the pictures to help identify the flowers using a dichotomous key.  I narrowed it down to crocuses. The name was familiar from hearing it around the office as first sign of spring.  So now the mystery is solved.

Late winter, crocuses are of the first to bloom. While they do come in different colors, it seems that someone scattered only purple ones in our area and they come back each year. Best part is that even when there is snow they may bloom, are still there when the snow melts again.  Go out and enjoy the first signs of spring, Meet Me Outdoors.

I am ready for spring!

I decided to have my Sunday school kindergarten class do some seed starting for early preparation for spring.  It has been 2 weeks and we can already see growth. What is great about keeping the plants in the classroom instead of having them take the plants home right away is we can extend the learning from one week to the next.  We planted cherry tomato seeds in a simple seed starting greenhouse kit.

One week after planting the seeds we were able to measure the sprouts.  With the group gathered around the table I had each student pick a sprout to measure with the ruler.  Since they were kindergarteners and just starting to learn to read numbers we looked for which number the leaves on the top of the sprout were closest to.  Most were 1-2 inches tall, a few were 3 inches tall.  

Once the plants start to sprout they should be under a lamp so they get enough light and have warmth to grow.  I took the plants home over the week so I can be sure they are watered and have enough light. As you can see from the pics they are growing quite nicely. 

The little plants make it feel like spring will be here soon, even though we just got almost a foot of snow outside. If it hadn't just started raining I would have gone out to build a snow-person or fort.  Stay warm everyone!  Think spring, have fun in the snow, Meet Me Outdoors.

Little purple flowers

When I came home from work today one of my neighbor's kids was out riding her trike along the sidewalk.  She stopped when I pulled up my car and couldn't wait to tell me about some flowers that seem to have gone missing from the lawn of my house. Earlier this spring, maybe around late February or early March (I know spring is technically end of March but it was a mild winter) there were these nice little flowers that popped up around the lawn. They had broad petals, a light purple in color and were relatively low lying along the ground, should have taken a picture.  Anyways, my neighbor was eager to point out that they not there anymore, and wondered where they went. My answer was that the flowers may show up again later but for now there are yellow flowers in the lawn. She pointed to some other smaller purple flowers on her lawn that were near some yellow ones. I was happy that she was noticing all the different plant life in our area, even if most people would identify them as weeds. 

Between when I last saw the purple flowers of a few months ago and today there have been a series of mini-snow storms that could have frozen some of the early bloomers. However the daffodils in the median of our road toughed it out despite the bit of snow and are now in full bloom. Also in bloom are cherry blossom trees, I passed a few with white flowers and pink flowers on my drive. I hope to go out and take some pictures.  Keep exploring your neighborhood green spaces, Meet Me Outdoors.  

Pick-Your-Own at Baugher's

Last week I went to a Pick-Your-Own farm that was near me called Baugher's Orchard and Farm.  I originally wanted to do apple picking but that season is over here so I went pumkin picking which was just as fun.  There were lots of families and groups of people of all ages taking part in the adventure of finding a pumpkin to call their own.

It starts with a hayride out to the fields, once there you are set off to find your pumpkin.  There were a variety of pumpkins: big, small, orange, green, white even tan colored.  (The farm's market had some oddly shaped pumpkins even a multi-colored one.) Interestingly enough, a pumpkin is a fruit as it is the part of the plant that holds the seeds like an apple or tomato. They had some trivia cards up for while you wait for the hay ride to take you out there.  Thought I'd share the wisdom.  Another interesting fact is pumpkins are 90% water.  Cool stuff.

I went with some friends to the farm to share in the adventure.  The day before we were going to go it snowed, I still wanted to go and a couple of them were willing to join me.

While most of the pumpkins were a little buried under a thin layer of snow, I was set on finding a perfect pumpkin. You can see the snow in most of these pictures, if not the mud that followed its melting.

By the time we got there, most of the good pumpkins of the big and orange variety that people typically associate with, and use for Halloween carving were picked.  Left behind were some that were broken and some small decorative type pumpkins.  I ended up finding a part of the patch with some small white and orange pumpkins which I thought would be great table decorations for the holidays so I picked it out and brushed off the mud.  As there were a bunch of these in the area my friend grabbed one of his own as you can see in the picture on the right.  We also found some tiny orange ones that looked just as festive.

The adventurer in me wanted to explore more of the pumpkin patch so I got a few more pictures of what I found.  Glad I wore my mud friendly shoes because there certainly was a lot of it as we walked through the patch.

There were lots of families there and one way that Baugher's made the patch even more exciting was setting up a simple slide of large tubing and some hay bales that you can see of the distance of this photo on the left.  When we got closer we saw there was a bit of a mud puddle at the bottom and some carefully placed pumpkins so the slider won't land in the mud.  Needless to say, as big of a mud lover as I am, I was not about to slide down that. It was cold out, and cold and wet don't go well together. But I did see that some adventurous kids did go down, hopefully stopping at the bottom before getting to the mud part. Below is part of the patch that had a bunch of the large orange pumpkins that are great for carving.

Also at Baugher's was a petting zoo.  Most of the animals were typical farm animals like pigs, chickens, sheep, goats and turkeys, though we did come across a lama.  The lama was nice enough to pose for a picture.

After the trip to the pumpkin patch and the petting zoo on the farm we stopped at the market to buy some more fresh from the farm treats.  I got some apples, acorn squash and a spaghetti squash.  I still need to figure out what to do with those, so on the hunt for recipes.  My friends picked out some dried fruit packages and a pie from the market. 

There are lots of Pick-Your-Own farms out there so no matter where you are you can join in the fun.  All you got to do is wait for the fruit or veggie to be in season for picking then go for it.  Some have for strawberry, cherry, peach and apple picking but you have to come at the right time of the year.  For example if you want to go to pick strawberries you would need to go in the spring time, for peaches go in the summer time, apple season is near the end of summer through the early parts of fall.  Each farm will tell you when to come for the pick-your-own items, and some will have markets with the items fresh from the farm that they pick for you.

While the picking season my be over for my area of the world it could still be open for you.  Or perhaps it's just getting started.

Enjoy some farm fresh produce, Meet Me Outdoors.

Snow Day 2011

As promised here is the video I created from my snow day here in Baltimore.  On January 27th was the snow storm of the year, dropping about a foot of snow in most parts of the city overnight. The next day was declared a snow day for the city where schools and many businesses were closed.  I walked around catching some of the excitement of the day on camera.

On my walk I came across some squirrel tracks, families sledding, and even some birds hiding in trees. I would not have seen any of it if I had stayed inside all day.  I hope next time you have a snow day you can have just as much fun as I did on mine. I'd love to hear about what you did on your snow day.

So bundle up and have fun! Meet Me Outdoors.

Spring is coming!

Winter is coming to an end and spring is on its way.  I know its been a while since my last post but that doesn't mean I stayed inside all winter. Nope I got out and got a chance to see some amazing things. 

First of all, on my one snow day that I got off from work, over a month ago, I took a hike around the neighborhood.  I saw that I wasn't alone.  Probably because most people's cars were buried under the snow, many people walking.  Kids dragging sleds, some ski tracks, all heading to the hills.  The hill happened to be located around the corner from where I live but hidden behind some buildings that hid it such that I never seen it before on previous hikes.  Following the footprints and trails left by the boots large and small, as well has the sound of screams of joy, I found where everyone seemed to be gathering.  Luckily, I had my camera so I was able to take some pictures and video but I have yet to compile the footage into a short film, so stay tuned I will post my snow day video. 

Along my hike back I saw some birds fluttering around in the trees.  These birds are ones that stay around for the winter.  Without my bird book I could not identify what species they were but I think I saw a red-winged black bird and maybe a robin.  I would have to check my pictures to see for sure. I watched the birds as they were trying to pick off some berries stuck on the tree branches. It was pretty cool.

Anyway spring is coming and I have already seen the signs. You should look for them too.  I have started to see the daffodils bloom, tulips should also be up if you have those.  Another sign is buds on trees start popping open. There is a shrub near where I park my car that has leaves already starting open.  All things to look for in the next few weeks as spring comes in to full bloom.

Take a look around and enjoy the new season, Meet Me Outdoors.

Winter is here... well at least the snow is

I hear the reports that many of the northern states have gotten tons of snow.  Blizzards and flurries alike, winter is here.  There is no escaping it. I know many of you want to try to escape the snow and the cold by going from one door to the next.  Snow can be lots of fun and great to explore.

With a fresh layer of snow you can look for animal tracks.  Think like a detective and find the answers to these three questions: Who do the tracks belong to? What were they doing? and Where did they go?  If you have no tracks to follow, make some of your own tracks and see if a friend can answer the same questions. Depending on where you are you may find deer, squirrel, rabbit, bird, even cat and dog prints.

If you have enough snow you can make a snowman or even a fort, have a snowball fight (keep it friendly).  There are endless possibilities.

These are some pictures of snow that I took and some pictures that have been sent in from others around the country.  Send in your snow pictures! I want to hear about your adventures in the snow.

Snow on Federal Hill, Maryland 12/2010

The first image is of Federal Hill covered with a nice layer of snow but the grass is showing through already.  The second was taken of the green roof on the Maryland Science Center, a green roof is basically a garden on top of a roof.  The other picture was sent in from Cleveland, Ohio as you can see they got more snow in Cleveland than Baltimore. 

Maryland Science Center's green roof blanketed in snow

Don't let a little snow keep you indoors. Bundle up and go outside, enjoy the season! Have an adventure.  You can always go back in to warm up with some hot cocoa.

Come along and Meet Me Outdoors!

Snow in Cleveland, Ohio 12/2010

It snowed!

It snowed in Baltimore! I couldn't believe it, and I have no proof.  All of the snow melted by the time I could get outside with my camera. It's like it never happened.

Me wearing my scarf

I can say that it is now time to break out the warmer coats and all the fun scarves, hats and mittens that help us stay warm in the winter.  If you are adventurous and patient enough you can always knit or crochet a hat/scarf of your very own, easy project for beginners.  I made a scarf last weekend and was glad to have it today.  I made it with multi-colored yarn as you can see in the picture on the right.  The color didn't come out as great in this picture but you get the idea. 

Bundle up and come Meet Me Outdoors!

Harbor from many angles

While I know that it has been some time since my last posting I have not given up my desire to spend more time outside.  Ok, ok it has been a month since my last posting but in that month I have made good progress.  I have seen the Baltimore harbor from many angles, different sides and have made some wonderful discoveries.

 Since the Inner Harbor is just one small section of the harbor I walked a little under a mile on each side over the last few weeks.  As far as Fells Point on one side and along the harbor near the American Visionary Art Museum (which, by the way, has a great sculpture garden). Each time I went a little farther out than the last hoping to see more.  Yes, the pictures are not great, but they were from my phone, so I am sure you can understand. 

Anyway, there was a lot to see and I still have not seen it all.  The first two pictures are from the south side of the harbor looking across to the northern side.  And the bottom two pictures are actually from the norther side looking back so still aimed northward, oddly enough. I guess I did that because I went out just before sundown and the light was coming from the southwest making the buildings on the northeast light up nicely. 

I truly like the autumn because of all the colorful trees.  Especially how in the city here there still are trees around, even where there are buildings that seemed squished together a bit of nature is still present. Being along the water is nice too because of how peaceful it can be just to look across at the boats and water all coming together.  There are lots of interesting features that make the harbor such a unique place. 

While autumn is coming to an end soon, we know winter is on it's way, with the beautiful snow that comes with it. For some of you farther north it may already be here.  I am new to living this far south in the states, so I won't be able to see as much snow as I am used to. Here is the next challenge for you.  I am going to need all of you readers who are in places where you will have snow this winter to go outdoors and take some pictures of the snow and email them to me.  I will post them so others can enjoy seeing your pictures of winter as well.

Let's have some fun this season! Come along and Meet Me Outdoors.