Day 16.171: Jazz Band

Here's another number from last month's Jazz a la Mode at the high school. This time the full Jazz Band (each section represented a different decade with their outfits) performing with guest vocalist (one of this year's seniors):

Day 16.170: Not the crop we were planning

Exile #2 has been hard at work on the vegetable garden with a number of successes and a - probably equal - number of setbacks. One plus has been that - thanks to an extremely rainy June - there haven't been too many days when watering has been required.

The wetness may have also contributed to this impressive array of mushrooms beside the large raised bed:

Day 16.169: A goldfinch (or ten)

We've had so many birds on the feeder recently - house finches, woodpeckers and chipping sparrows fairly regularly, but by far the most consistent are the goldfinches:

We've regularly been able to determine 8-10 different birds on the feeder and waiting nearby - it appears that even among friends, four is a reasonable limit on the feeder at one time.

Day 16.168: Jazz Combo

I'm late posting this video from Jazz a la Mode because I've been busy editing dance show videos rather than finishing-off this one (and a couple of others).

Featuring E5N1 on trumpet battling with a misbehaving instrument at one point.

Day 16.167: Two under par?

While we were at the beach on Day 16.165, we saw a largish black bird on a rock out in the sea. Assuming it was a cormorant, I took a couple of photos and didn't think much more about it until I had chance to look at the photos and found it was no cormorant.

Thanks to the new lens*, the photos were quite good.

A bald eagle looking moody on a rock off-shore

* not sure how long it will be the "new lens" - maybe for as long as it keeps surprising me.

Day 16.166: Exile #2’s Sunday Column #440

Exile #2 writes...

It’s been a humid, sticky day and it looks like it’s going to be that way for some time. It’s the kind of weather that makes you want to cook outside to avoid heating up the house. This weekend, we stocked up on wood chips and managed to do just that.

Fortunately, this was not the first outing for the grill this season, so we had already gone through the slightly uncomfortable process of finding out who, if anyone, had managed to move into (or under) the grill during the winter. Exile #1 has previously disturbed a vole and, less pleasantly, a handful of wasps but this time only found evidence of chipmunk excavations.

We also decided that the weekend was perfect for a cocktail. A Margarita for Exile #1 and a fake one for me - yum! Cheers!

Day 16.165: Some birds at the beach

Parts of today were dry (during which time it was hot and humid), but much of it was a bit rainy including the time we spent at the beach in the late morning.

Here are some of the birds we saw:

A great egret that flew over as we arrived, a gull with a crab for lunch, two common loons a way out to see and a common tern considering a dive.

And here are a few of the piping plover who first gave us a masterclass in being surprisingly invisible when camouflaged on the dry sand (bottom two photos) and then did a very nice bit of posing (top two photos):

Day 16.164: Special Hazards Unit

Within the firefighting system, hazards classified as "special" are considered especially heinous...

Chung-chung.

Day 16.163: Ruby-throated exit

Exile #2 only had an iPad to hand but did a good job of sneaking up on the male ruby-throated hummingbird:

Day 16.162: Different approaches

Some go like this:

Some go like this:

And some would rather watch from the shore.

Day 16.161: 21 for #3

Happy 21st Birthday Exile #3!

Exile #3 smiling lit by 21 candles on a birthday cake

Exile #3 laughing while opening gifts (many are in identical purple Amazon gift bags)

Day 16.160: The Cure

Exile #2 and I left home at 2:15 pm and arrived at the venue around 4:30 pm yesterday. We ate a sandwich in the car and then lined up to be allowed in (for around an hour). We got to our seats at around 6:15pm:

I dug-out a 30+ year old T-shirt for the occasion

The show started promptly at 7 pm - as we had been warned - with a 45 minute set by the Scottish support act, The Twilight Sad. After a short break, The Cure were on stage from 8:10 pm until 10:55 pm (they left the stage twice, but not for long on either occasion). It was excellent. You can see the pictures and videos below, but I was mostly in-the-moment with my phone in my pocket.

As expected, it took us over an hour to get out of the venue and onto the road, meaning that it was 2:30 am by the time we got home. Since today was a normal work day with an 8 am start, it has been a slightly challenging day.

It was a large and appreciative crowd - about half of which were behind us

I have a CD single with this cover-art on it somewhere

We had a pretty good view - probably better than this implies

Day 16.159: Divisible by 3

A large part of the day was taken with a trip to Mansfield, MA to see The Cure but before that we had a little Father’s Day celebration. The kids each made a card:

and each one - inexplicably- contained a dollar bill. 

We’ll, strictly speaking I did get an explanation - it was (apparently) the least amount of money in the most amount of bills…and divisible by 3. 

If they say so!

Day 16.158: Last weekend's plants

Today has been a rainy day - pretty much non-stop. Still, it gave me time and inclination to finish-up my video production duties. Tomorrow, we have more ambitious plans, but for now, here are some plants from our trip to Fort Williams last weekend.

The beautiful pond in the "new" garden

Columbine

Wild strawberries

Lupines (as it's usually spelled here)

Day 16.157: Birds at Fort Williams

Some of the birds we saw last Sunday at Fort Williams:

There are three house sparrows in this picture!

Double-crested cormorant with an amazingly blue eye

Song sparrow

Northern mockingbird

Duck (probably common eider) with ducklings

I assumed this was a seabird flying by at quite a distance - it turned out to be a great blue heron

Day 16.156: While I was editing…

While I’ve been editing the dance video on the computer in the basement, various things have been happening behind me from time to time. Some of them have been a little strange. 

Day 16.155: Fort Williams

Exile #4 suggested a trip to "a lighthouse" for their birthday, so we went to Portland Head Light:

In the gardens, the young Exiles decided to renew their acquaintance with the stone slide.

Exile #4 went first and found it faster than expected.

Forewarned, E5N1 took a cautious approach:

and still nearly lost it on the dismount:

I have some photos of birds etc. from our visit on my camera, but I've yet to investigate them.