Yay spring!

The red maple seeds are glowing in the morning light.

Yay Spring!

Old Mill site

The breached mill dam and a grind stone are all that are left of the Company Mill on Crabtree Creek in Umstead State Park.  You can see the wall of the dam on the left of the picture, the rest has been washed away.   Here's a small history of the area.

Blue Ridge Assembly

Looks like a president's house.  My grand daughter thought it was a church.  It is one of many buildings at the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, NC near Asheville.

It was founded in 1906 as a retreat center, and so it still is today.

We were there on a cold rainy weekend.  but I'd love to sit out on the porch with 100 of my best friends on a nice summer evening...

The cedar waxwings are back!

All of a sudden, one day, there were flocks of busy birds high up in the trees.  The cedar waxwings are back!  

Crab apples

The crab apples are in bloom!

Robots everywhere

This weekend we were in Asheville for the FIRST robot regional competition.  The competition was like a huge sporting event in the UNC Asheville arena.

The robots had specific tasks they had to accomplish with points for each task.

They were built by student teams that work all year to design, program, build and drive the robots.

There were a lot of different designs.

It was amazing to hear an entire arena cheering on the smart kids!

Every which way

Planes seem to fly in all directions in the sky around Raleigh.  I can't seem to see that there is any particular flight path.

Star of Bethlehem

As far as I can tell, this is a Star of Bethlehem (See here)

It's not a native wildflower, instead it was introduced from Europe.  Like many introduced species, this one can be invasive.  But so pretty in the spring.

After the snow

After a few rainy days, and one snowy one, the sky was almost clear at dawn.

March snow

So, it wasn't much, and it wasn't for long, but it really did snow yesterday.  It was nothing like the rest of the country, but, yes it did snow in Raleigh.

Fish Advisory

This is a little bit more than scarey.  We found this at Crabtree Creek, in Umstead State Park.  The levels of PCB's in the creek is so high that you shouldn't eat fish out of the creek more than once per month.  This creek runs across Raleigh from northwest to southeast.

People were fishing in the creek, but hopefully they won't catch anything.

Slightly creepy

I know that people build little fairy houses in the woods, and sometimes in their yards, but this is a little creepy.  We found her sitting on a stump just off one of the trails in Umstead State Park.  

Which way is up?

There was no wind, and the pond at Wilkerson Nature  Preserve reflected so well that I could flip the picture.  Up is down in this shot.

Murdered Crepe

For some reason it's popular to trim crepe myrtles back like a crew cut.  Some Arborists call this Crepe Murder.  You can see here the nobs where this poor tree has been trimmed back before and now looks pretty gnarly.

Happy Birthday, Mildred

(And happy St. Patrick's Day too)

Little Village

We didn't see any animals, but this little village is set up for someone.  Turtles maybe?

Spring, again!

Two days ago it was snowing, today, the flowers are out and the trees are budding. Temperatures are in the 40's and the wind is blowing, but it's spring again!

Plein Air

These ladies come out to paint when the weather is good.  I didn't see their work, but I imagine modern day Monet and Cezanne.  

Again the snow

We thought the winter was over.  The trees were flowering, the grass was growing.  But not so.  Yesterday we had big sloppy snowflakes.  Not a lot, but enough to make the dog unhappy to go outside.

Fairy house

Annie Louise Wilkerson Nature Preserve has a play area for kids to build fairy houses.  They have to use natural materials, and they can't use living plants.  But there are some ornate little structures in the village.  

The one below was built by my 4 year old granddaughter.  

Windy day

It was a windy day on Falls Lake.  The rain was moving in, and the sea gulls were having a great time soaring around.

The Ferguson System

My mother-in-law's maiden name was Ferguson, from a long line of Iowa farmers.  This Ferguson is probably not related, it's the Ferguson of Ferguson Massey, the tractor company.  But who knows...

The sign is on display at Big Ed's, a Southern comfort food restaurant.

Happy Birthday Harriett!

Shelly Lake fishing pier

No one was fishing off the Shelly Lake fishing pier,but it looked very serene.  

This "fish attractor" is sitting in the water near the pier.  I don't know what it does, but it looks official.

Old Woman of the Forest

 

She stands at the entrance to the nature play area at Annie Louise Wilkerson Nature Preserve.  I posted a picture of the Old Man of the Forest I found near a greenway, see here. She must be his wife.

Still life - Big Ed's

Our table at Big Ed's looked like a still life.

Charging station

The only electric vehicle charging station I've seen in Raleigh is at Annie Louise Wilkerson Nature Preserve.  It sits in an open area near the parking lot.  As far as I can see, it's free.  So, you could drive over, plug in and take a nature hike.  The park has little electric carts driving around so maybe that's why they have the station.  

They also have a special parking spot for fuel efficient cars.  Just what a nature preserve should do.

And another morning sunrise

Maybe they're all starting to look the same?  I don't know, they're all spectacular.  

More old buildings

An old log house on the farm property I showed yesterday.  Maybe the cookhouse?  or the original homestead?

And here is another barn on the property.  It's covered in corrigated metal, but might be a log building underneath.  It looks like it's still being used for storage.

Old farm buildings

 

This place is a curiosity to me.  You can see the buildings from the greenway, but they're posted no trespassing.  Someone lives in a newer house toward the street on the other side of the property.  This barn looks very old.  The building below looks like worker's quarters, slave or sharecroppers?

Condo complex

We didn't see any residents, but I'll bet it's a busy place in the spring.

Theme day: Let's Play

The theme for March is "Let's Play".  This is part of the nature play area at Wilkerson Nature Preserve.