Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.
A female or juvenile Scarlet Tanager in my yard July, 2023
There has been much excitement in the bird watching world of northeast England recently. A juvenile male Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) ended up in England due to being blown way off course by recent intense storms in the Atlantic.
A similar sighting also happened 10 years ago but it is only the eighth time this has ever been recorded in the United Kingdom.
An adult male Scarlet Tanager in my yard June, 2017
The normal range of Scarlet Tanagers is summering in northern and eastern North America, and wintering in Venezuela, Columbia, and Ecuador in South America.
To be sure, I am totally thrilled when the Scarlet Tanagers show up in my woods, even though they are normal here.
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Perhaps 5 inches across. Gathered with many pumpkins for Halloween. And this, the perfect spirit filled object. Turning it reveals different spooky scenes designed totally by nature. How can that be?
Amazing.
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A surprise at the old garden gate. A bird I had never seen before.
A Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens) heading south for the winter. Destination Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America.
Delighted I happened to see it.
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Hi All! I dug through my posts this afternoon looking for one that I did a long time ago. I was surprised to find that I did my apple pie post clear back in 2013. It pleased me to see what I wrote and I’m thinking and hoping that you might enjoy seeing it again too.
Apple Pie Heritage
Apple Pie Made With Lots Of Love
Mom’s Family
I grew up with apple pies. Lots of other pies too, but the standout memory is apple pies. My Mom is Pennsylvania Dutch, which, in my mind, means she is a terrific cook, but most of all a terrific pie baker. She tells me of falling asleep in her grandparent’s dining room, while all the adults sat around the table speaking German, a language she didn’t learn. Interesting to me — these family members had been in America for 300 years but still spoke their German.
The Pie Connection
Mom also tells me of her grandmother baking many, many pies at the end of each week, so that the hard working family would have pies to last throughout the coming week. They would be set aside in a pie safe. Years ago I found a pie safe at an antique shop in Leesburg, Virginia. I was told that the pie safe had come from York, Pennsylvania. My son now has that pie safe. We used to keep our stereo equipment in it. I don’t know what he stores in it now, but I doubt it is pies!
First Apple Pie, First Year At Wm & Mary
Carrying On The Tradition
Now both my son and I are pie bakers. I make crust from scratch all the time. I think he makes crust from scratch some of the time. But I think we both do a super job! Apple Pie? A must for me, is to use McIntosh apples. Their flavor just can’t be beat. Some say the apple, when cooked turns to mush. I say, “Who cares?!!” It just plain makes a scrumptious pie!
A New Ingredient
I learned to add a new ingredient, on my first visit with my husband’s grandmother, when we moved to New Mexico. She added a touch of salt to her apple pies. I’ve used that touch of salt ever since.
Mom’s Recipe With The Added New Mexico Ingredient
One unbaked 9 inch pie crust
6 medium sized apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 2 inch pieces (or the size that you prefer), place in pie crust
1 cup unbleached flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Cream together flour, sugar, butter, salt and cinnamon. Sprinkle on top of chopped apples. Bake in preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Turn oven temperature down to 375 degrees, and continue baking for 45 more minutes. Let pie cool or serve warm topped with homemade vanilla ice cream.
Thanks Mom, for the recipe and for the heritage!
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Black Walnut leaves (Juglans nigra) with their many leaflets turn from green to yellow early in autumn and with that change of color, they quickly fall to the ground. I love to capture the texture those leaves create against the blue sky before those leaves begin to drop.
The Black Walnut tree is also one that produces leaves quite late in the spring, in late May in some places. Early leaf loss, late leaf budding. A long time without leaves.
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I spend a good bit of time during my week at the yoga studio and I use its surroundings often as a source for photographs for this blog. Today’s post is no exception.
Melting frost on a White Oak leaf (Quercus alba) surrounded by autumn this morning. White Oak trees have marcescent leaves. Leaves that hang on after autumn turns them brown. Young trees hold onto nearly all their leaves until spring while older more mature trees usually just hold onto the brown leaves on their lower branches, letting the leaves on higher branches fall to the ground with all the other leaves of autumn.
The world of nature, so complicated and intriguing.
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Quite the busy day for birds today. Oodles and more oodles of Robins (Turdus migratorius), Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum), a couple Chickadees (Poecile), and a two Carolina Wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus). I’m sure there were more. Too many to take in.
The Beautyberry Bushes (Callicarpa) were shaking with so many of them going after the berries. Those bushes are close and easy for me to see, but the birds were flying all through the woods, going after the wild berries too.
This particular Carolina Wren captured my imagination, appearing to show off its beautiful feathers. But of course it was there at the birdbath caring for those feathers.
Quite the busy day.
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A noisy bird that seems to love to announce its presence. Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata). Cousin to Crows (Corvus) and Ravens (Corvus corax), in a family of intelligent birds.
These large songbirds have a wide range of songs that are not so much songs actually but sounds, described as loud jeers, whistled notes, clicks, chucks, whines, whirrs, and gurgling sounds. They can also mimic hawk calls, cats, squeaky gate sounds, and human speech.
Smart, noisy birds.
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Our weather has been warmer than it should be at this time of year. Yesterday though brought a delightful chill to the air and to celebrate — the first fire of the season in the woodstove.
It was like having a precious long lost friend come to visit. Genuinely welcome.
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