Leapin' lizards!

Except...this blog post is about an amphibian!  Some of you may recall that back in May, we bought four Shubunkins and two tadpoles.  We catch glimpses of the fish from time to time, but until this week we have not seen any evidence of the tadpoles.  That's no longer the case...

It's like "Where is Waldo?"...can you spot the frog?

Check about 1/3 of the way from the top of the photo and just right of center...do you see him now?
 

Can you see me now?  Check out my tail!

As you can see, our tadpole is still going through his metamorphosis as evidenced by his tail.  His front limbs don't appear fully developed yet.  He's also still quite small compared to the other frogs we've had in the pond over the years.  These photos were taken Monday, June 20th. 

We've spotted the other tadpole in the pond also.  In fact, the second tadpole is *this close* to being a full-fledged frog.  His tail is just a tiny little nub on his butt.  

One of the tadpoles has been out and about on a lily pad pretty much each night this week.  Tonight, I spotted one of them in the water.  I couldn't tell which tadpole it was because I couldn't see the tail or tail nub, but I still managed to snap some pictures.

Chillaxin' in the pond among the lily pads.

Close-up of the tadpole.  Do you see the front left limb resting on the lily pad?

Also of note this week is Chris' Jackmanii Clematis - it is blowing up!!!  

Look how beautiful Chris' Clematis looks growing on the arbor on the deck!

Nearly all of the lattice work is filled in between the ivy and the Clematis.

Viewing the Clematis from the other side.  There are flowers on both sides to enjoy!

Finally, a few random shots from this evening...enjoy!

Purple Coneflowers are *so close* to blooming!

The Bee Balm is close to blooming, too!

Spying on a Chipping Sparrow at the feeder.

Watch the birdies!

Lots and lots of bird fun around the Homestead lately! Since the installation of the new bird feeder, we have been getting quite a few avian visitors. In fact, as I type this blog entry, there is a Northern Cardinal outside the window peeping up a storm! More on the Cardinal in a minute...

Let's start with the new feeder. It has been quite the hot spot in the yard since day one. Recent visitors of note include a Purple Finch and a Tufted Titmouse. These two birds showed up at the same time one evening, although I was only able to capture photos of them individually (when they were on the feeder at the same time, the Titmouse was on the backside and not visible). Because some of the visitors to the new feeder - the European Starlings and the Blue Jays in particular - are rather sloppy eaters, our resident chipmunks have been enjoying the scraps they find on the ground.

Well hello, Purple Finch!

Purple Finch enjoying some bird seed.

A Tufted Titmouse shows up for some seed.

The Tufted Titmouse pecks at a sunflower seed.

Chippy stuffs his face...literally!

This morning while I was making breakfast and baking cookies, I heard a Tufted Titmouse outside on the deck, no doubt looking for peanuts for breakfast.  I took a break from assembling my cookie ingredients to put some peanuts out on the bar.  Sure enough, no sooner had I walked back into the house and closed the screen door when the Titmouse showed up!

A Tufted Titmouse shows up for a peanut breakfast - love how ruffled up his crest is!

Grab and go breakfast for the Tufted Titmouse.

Now back to our Northern Cardinal friends.  We have had a seemingly mated pair hanging around the house for a few weeks now.  On and off, we would see the male or the female at the feeder, in the trees around back, at the bar taking peanuts, or out front in the bushes.  I saw the male in one of the trees around back this morning, eying the peanuts on the bar, as a matter of fact!  But more and more, it seemed the pair were concentrating their efforts and presence in one of the front bushes.  We suspected they were building a nest and this evening Chris captured two photos to confirm our suspicions. 

I spy a Northern Cardinal nest in there!

Ah-ha!  Two eggs in the nest so far.  Typical clutch size is 2-5 eggs.  We'll see...

It's funny...I just popped over to Cornell's All About Birds website for some information about Northern Cardinal nests, and I found this:

A week or two before the female starts building, she starts to visit possible nest sites with the male following along. The pair call back and forth and hold nesting material in their bills as they assess each site. (source: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Cardinal/lifehistory)

Fascinating!  That's exactly what they were doing!  I have really enjoyed watching them and listening to them when I sit in the living room in the evenings.  Much like we did when we had the American Robin nesting right outside of our front door, we will limit our time out front as much as possible to give the Northern Cardinals a peaceful and stress-free nesting period.

No longer leery about Erie...

...not that I really ever was.  It's just I'd never been there, so I just didn't know what to expect.  That all changed Thursday evening when I drove to Erie after work - through two torrential storms that forced me to pull off I-80 until I could see again.  I arrived just after 8 PM, checked into my room, and set off to park Scooby in the garage and explore the "Block Party" that was taking place near the Bicentennial Tower along the Bayfront. 

I guess I should state the purpose of my trip was to do a site visit with three other board members of KAPPA and two colleagues from the Penn State Erie campus at the Sheraton Erie Bayfront and the Bayfront Convention Center.  We are planning to hold our Fall 2012 Meeting in Erie at these venues.  The Director of Sales from the Sheraton and the Event Coordinator from the Convention Center visited me in my office back in April for a preliminary discussion and once they heard I'd never been to Erie, they insisted I visit!  This site visit allowed us to see the spaces we would use and assess their suitability.

Anyway, back to parking Scooby and walking through the Block Party.  Had I not been absolutely exhausted from a day of work and a 4+ hour drive, I might have stayed at the Block Party, but I really just wanted to get back to the hotel and relax.  I did walk along the Bayfront and snap a few pictures before returning to my room, grabbing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and settling into a very comfy chair in the lobby with a Bailey's on the rocks. Our meeting with the hotel and convention center staff on Friday morning went really well.  The hotel and convention center are going to be excellent venues for our meeting!  I am very excited! 

 

The Sheraton Erie Bayfront

The Sky Bridge that connects the Sheraton to the Bayfront Convention Center.

Bicentennial Tower on Erie's Bayfront

The marina in front of the Sheraton.

The setting sun over Lake Erie.

Following our meeting Friday morning, we progressed to the Penn State Erie campus for a tour and lunch.  I had absolutely no knowledge of the history of the Erie campus - the Behrend College.  I am fascinated by the adaptive reuse of the original buildings and the seamless incorporation of new construction into the campus landscape.  As you may have seen me post on Facebook, I am officially and unequivocally in love with this campus!

Glenhill Farmhouse

The story of the Behrend Family and Penn State.

The Memorial Room in Glenhill Farmhouse (with original furniture).

Turnbull Hall (adaptive reuse of a barn!)

The newest building on campus - Metzgar

Inside Metzgar Building

Lilley Library

Randy Geering (left) explains what is housed in the Burke Center and how it got its name.

We wrapped up our tour and lunch at 1 PM.  Since I had never been to Erie before, I planned to do some exploring before I went home.  My mission was twofold - pick up a half-dozen donuts from Tim Horton's and get my toes into Lake Erie.  I succeeded on both! 

Neither Chris nor I had ever had a Tim Horton's donut. 
As of the writing of this blog post, that is no longer true.

"I got my toes in the water..."

I drove through Presque Isle State Park for the better part of an hour, stopping at the lighthouse on the beach, the Perry Monument, and the North Pier.  I was really surprised at how clear the water was and how much the beach and water looked like a scene from a Sandals commercial!  Bright blue water, sandy beachs, and waves?  In Pennsylvania?  In Erie!

The shores of Lake Erie

The Presque Isle Lighthouse

Sand?  Check.  Sun?  Check.  Wind?  Check.  Happy girl?  Absolutely check!!!

Perry Monument - commemorates Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's victory
during the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812
(the greatest naval battle of the war).

The lighthouse at the North Pier.

On my way to the North Pier, I passed a collection of houseboats on Horseshoe Pond.  I have decided that I want one of these houseboats.  They are just too cute!  

I want one!!!  :)

Now that I've visited Erie - via the quick and boring route (I-80 to I-79) - I want to revisit Erie with Chris on the Concours via the slow and interesting route (whatever long and circuitous route we can map out that avoids the highways and includes lots of twisty roads!).  I will never be leery about Erie!

If you want to see all 100 pictures from my Erie trip, please visit my Picasa album. 

A celebratory Sunday ride!

Today was the June Restaurant Ride for the Nittany Road Riders.  When I got home yesterday* and asked Chris what was on the agenda for today, he mentioned that Marty had suggested doing the NRR ride.  When we woke up shortly after 7 AM this morning, Chris went down to check his e-mail and had a note from Marty; he'd be at our house at 9:15 AM.  Two showers (his and mine) and two braids (mine) later, we were suited up and ready to go at 9:14 AM.  Marty rolled up a minute later and after discussing a fill-up location, we set off for the Sheetz on Valley Vista and then to the meeting spot at Kissell Motorsports.  When we arrived, there were only two other bikes on site; however, by the time we left, there were 16 people on 13 bikes.  What a great turn out!

The gaggle of bikes assembled at KMS.

Our '10 Concours 14

Marty and Jack's Triumph Tigers

Woody (our ride leader) explains the route and discusses group-riding strategy.

Greg (left) and Chris (right) listen intently. 
Matt (center) goofs off; I just missed him sticking his tongue out at me.  :P

Departing KMS at 10 AM.

Our route took us south on PA 26 and US 22 and 522 to our rest break in Orbisonia and our lunch stop in McConnellsburg at The Lodge Restaurant.  It turns out, the owner of the restaurant called Woody and invited the group down for lunch (they'd previously lunched at her former establishment before it burned down).  

Checking in on the bikes behind us.

The bikes ahead of us.

Al (on his sweet BMW K1300GT) waves for the camera.

The Juniata River

East Broad Top Railroad 11 AM train ride

Rest stop at the Subway in Orbisonia;
Woody called ahead to the restaurant at this point to let them know to expect 16 patrons.

After the rest stop, Al shuffled forward, Rick shuffled back,
and we still had two yellow helmet (Dan's and Matt's) in the back.

There's Al just ahead of us and John ahead of him.

Stopped for lunch at The Lodge Restaurant.

Our lunch crew (taken from Woody's end of the table).

Our lunch crew (from the other end of the table).

Then there's me...all by my lonesome...waiting for Chris, Matt, and Dan to pay their bills.

Oh noes!  Marty picked up a nail in his new (of course!) back tire. 

After a delicious lunch, Marty (with his plugged tire), Al, and Rick decided to head straight home.  Woody planned to lead a contingent to the East Broad Top Railroad and adjacent Rock Hill Trolley Museum, where they planned to visit for approximately 30 minutes before continuing on to Ritchey's Dairy for an ice cream stop.  Matt was planning to lead a group on a non-train/trolley stop route along PA 655 and 913 toward Ritchey's in Martinsburg.  Regardless of the route folks planned to take, it was very obvious (both in the skies and on several smartphones) that we were going to hit a storm.  

We decided to join Matt, Dan L., and Other Dan on the non-stop route to Ritchey's, which sent us head first into the thunderstorm.  We punched right through the storm, enjoying several vibrant lightning strikes and about five minutes of heavy rain.  Matt's route and pace meant that once we were on the other side of the storm and back into the sunshine, we dried out fairly quickly. 

At Ritchey's, Other Dan and Matt opted for ice cream cones (more on those in the photo captions), Dan got a strawberry milkshake, and we got small dishes of ice cream (Chris got mint chip and I got white house cherry).  All the while, numerous other motorcycles came and went.  Ritchey's was a happening spot this afternoon! 

Following Matt, Other Dan, and Dan L.

We got a little wet!

Wet roads are still fun roads!

Matt led a great route to Ritchey's.

If you go to Martinsburg, PA, make sure you visit Ritchey's!

"The pretzel cone had a good taste, but the structure was lacking." - Matt  :)

It wasn't even a really hot day, but Other Dan amassed quite the drip collection under his cone.

Chatting post-ice cream, deciding on a route home.

Matt led us to US 22, where he turned off and headed home.  We led Dan L. back toward State College along US 22, PA 453, and PA 45.  When we turned onto Marengo Road (squee!!!) to go home, Dan continued along PA 45 to his house.  

Following Matt through the flag-lined streets of Williamsburg, VA.

Dan is all smiles on his new K1300S.

I need one of these stickers that Matt has on his helmet!  Awesome.

On Marengo Road, y'all!  Thumbs up!!!

This Toyota Corolla harshed our mellow for about 2/3 of Marengo Road,
but we were able to have some fun through a set of sweepers once they turned off.

By the time we got home, it was 4:45; we were out for 7.5 hours and rode a total of 190 miles.  It was a great way to spend a day that I was originally supposed to spend driving home from Rhode Island.  It was a great way to celebrate the fact that I have been riding on the back of a motorcycle with Chris for exactly one year!

*There will be no Rhode Island blog post because I didn't go to Rhode Island.  When I woke up Saturday morning, it was raining and the forecast called for a 70% chance of rain and 100% cloud cover all day in and around Newport, RI.  I decided to pack up and drive home on Saturday in the hopes that Chris and I would be able to do a ride today.  

Mission accomplished!  :)