Spider mite killing blue spruce

spidermitekillsbluespruce_7016, a photo by iamabraham on Flickr.

Spider Mites have slowly killed this large Blue Spruce. It could have been saved but the owner is my neighbor and the mites got it pretty well covered before she realized it. Now, she said she will have it cut down and removed. Spider mites will attack many trees and they slowly suck out all the vitals.

The Place to Plant

P1020001_boxwoodstumpwas, a photo by iamabraham on Flickr.

The drought, last summer, got the beautiful hydrangea bush that used to be on the left. The boxwood was cut down and the stump was dug out from the spot on the right. I want to plant new flowers and bushes there.

The Arrowwood Bush in Bloom

P1010991_arrowwood, a photo by iamabraham on Flickr.

May 29th 2013. A beautiful sight in the early morning sunshine. Those white blossoms turn into a deep purple berry. I am not sure who eats the berries but they disappear. The birds will eat the berries but I have never seen which bird does most of the berry eating. This bush will grow to about 9 feet tall and the stems are straight, like arrows. Some of Arrowwood's cousins are Viburnum prunifolium (Blackhaw Viburnum) and this one tends to have more fruit.

Arrowwood Bush

arrowwood-980_8880, a photo by oldmanlincolnphotos on Flickr.

The fence is 6 feet tall. You can see how tall this was last summer. It is even taller this spring (2013).

Arrowwood in Blossom

720_arrowwood_052307_7307a, a photo by oldmanlincolnphotos on Flickr.

This is the same bush in full bloom like it is this spring (2013).

Arrowwood.

720-arrowwoodripe-6august2011-IMG_9406, a photo by oldmanlincolnphotos on Flickr.

Arrowwood photo taken in 2011 in August. I just looked at this bush yesterday and it is almost covered with blossoms.

The limbs are as straight as arrows and were probably used for arrows when it could be found in the wild. Otherwise, the Native Americans used cane or shaped other branches to become arrows.

Audrey with Pepper Jax

I have said before how much Pepper Jax likes the girls and they like him. Here he is being held by our granddaughter and he seems oblivious to everything around him. He will whine and yelp when he sees one of them come in the house but barks at the men and boys. The girls make over him with petting, hugs and kisses.

Taking a nap

Pepper_Jax_P1010989, a photo by iamabraham on Flickr.

Pepper Jax likes to sleep on the sheets when Pat moves to go do something. Here, he took over while Patty was helping me with something else. He is such a marvelous dog but lately is hard to get back in the house. He found a tiny baby rabbit on the patio yesterday or I saw it and getting him inside wasn't easy. But we did and I shielded the rabbit with a broom and this morning the rabbit was gone. I guess his momma came back to nurse him.

Welcome to Brookville

bkvlwelcomesignbyabelincoln_9889, a photo by iamabraham on Flickr.

This is the sign that greets motorists coming in to Brookville from interstate 70. There is a small park behind the fountain and some tables to eat. There is a much larger park called, "Golden Gate Park" just beyond this one and it is huge with ball diamonds and it has a small lake.

The Iris

The iris or flag, as we call them, popped open today, May 19, 2013.

Great Buddha at Kamakura

kamakura4, a photo by iamabraham on Flickr.

This bronze statue of the Great Buddha was cast in the year 1252 and is located in Kamakura, Japan. It is 44 feet high and weighs 100 tons. Originally this statue stood in the middle of a great hall. In 1945 there was a huge tsunami that destroyed the hall and swept the statue away. Since that time Amida Buddha has remained outside and remains facing the ocean. It is truly an imposing and an amazing sight.

Honeybee nest

This was in the backyard. When I was called for supper, I went to see if it was still there and the nest was in the process of moving on. First time I ever saw it happen. They spiral up until the last one is gone. I suppose they go to find a more permanent home they will have to build. Hanging on leaves is, I think, just to get organized. Anyway, up and away they went and the branch is now empty. First nest in spruce tree.

Steamers

Found this picture online -- cleaned it up in Photoshop and thought it would be nice to show it to my visitors. It was a mode of moving things long before there were highways and 18-wheeler trucks.

The Wall Street Journal Story

This was the issue of The Wall Street Journal that had a story about calligraphy and it mentioned my company, Calligrafree, and me. I got phone calls from people all over the United States.

Downed Pilot Rescue Beacon

A pencil illustration for NCR Rescue Beacon used in Vietnam War.

Mother and Me

Happy Mother's Day—

Mother and me. This photo was taken of us while we lived on East 5th Street in Greenville, Ohio. Mom worked for Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Gerber as a housekeeper and it was a good life while it lasted. For that I am grateful but missed my old friends back in Gordon, Ohio where I was born and raised. My most famous ancestor was President Lincoln whose grandfather was killed by Indians. Another relative, through marriage to the Lincoln clan, was the Boone family who lived in and around Kentucky. And the Ballengee side (mother) came over from France and settled in the mountains of West Virginia and encountered the Indians in many ways. One of my relatives "won" a squaw in a card game where they "threw in a squaw" to round-up the bet. And that's how I got 1/8th Indian blood in me.

Mulberry Plant

Mulberry plant—
I saw this coming up next to my shop and almost pulled it up. But there was something about the leaf that made me wonder if it was the mulberry and if it was then it would turn into food for wildlife as well as something for me to eat. This is also the plant that silkworms feed on when they make silk. I have no plans for that but am looking forward to a handful of berries.

Free World Dandelions

The bane of every gardener in America and it seems to thrive in the attention the world gives it. There are chemical companies whose boards of directors are wealthy old men surrounded by hoards of virgins sitting around the beaches of the Free World, basking in the sunlight of their wealth — made from poison for dandelions.

The first all metal aircraft to use a machine gun

The Peashooter—

The Peashooter airplane here, was in World War I, in 1918, and was the first all metal airplane to use a machine gun. I have a picture of the gun and it came out in front to the right of the propeller hub.

My wife of 52 years, Patty, and I went to see the National Museum of the United States Air Force. We last visited there some fifteen years ago and took along our grandchildren, Justin and Brittney Lincoln, who flew up from Florida. The museum building has mushroomed into buildings with galleries—the Early Years-Early flight to World War I; Air Power Gallery-World War II; Modern Flight Gallery-Korea and Southeast Asia; Cold War Gallery; and, the Missile/Space Gallery. What was nice then is incredible now. The museum has used clever ways of presenting aircraft. It is no longer one plane parked on concrete, it is many planes parked on concrete and some strung-up from the arched ceiling. From the earliest days of aviation right up to those missiles that we used to dig bomb shelters to avoid, are there in plain sight. I found the lighting used to be absolutely stunning. The aircraft parked at many angles offers portrait possibilities to kill for, and the lighting is so ethereal that I snapped lots of photographs at the slowest speeds possible. I had four bad photos out of a hundred. Not bad for a days work. My wife carried one camera with a long lens and I carried another with a short 18-55mm lens that is like a wide angle with a built in macro. I never used the long lens but did use the 18-55mm all day. I also used a monopole tripod and leaned heavily on it each time I snapped a picture.

If you go—
National Museum of the United States Air Force
1100 Spaatz Street
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio 45433-7102
Phone: 937.255.3286
Website: <a href="http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/">http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/</a>

Forget Me Not with Honeybee

I must say that the colors on this Forget Me Not are just extraordinary. This little honeybee might well be one from the "old hive" in the honey hole in the big tree behind my house. I say that because I did learn, from a beekeeper who came out here to get the nest of bees suspended on my spruce tree, that old hives get too crowded and a dormant queen will emerge and take with her a slew of honeybees and form a new hive somewhere. The old hive, in what I call the "Honey Hole," will remain there where it is in the hole that used to be where squirrels gave birth to babies and I have photos of these tiny (by squirrel standards) heads peeking out of that hole. Anyway; nowadays, the hole is always filled with honeybees coming and going and I suspect this dude is one of them who just got a shot of juice from the flowers that comes and goes and is called, Forget Me Not.

Migrations

When I was a little boy and walked, barefoot, to the store for my mother; my bare feet were tender and I had to pick and choose my steps wisely or I found myself stepping on a larger stone and it always hurt enough to make me draw that foot up and hop around on the other foot until I got back on the patch of grass where it was smooth and comfortable to step. Then I had to repeat the whole choosing process coming back home carrying a stick of butter (1/4th pound) or a quart of milk. I had that load to balance with picking my steps carefully.

It was a kind of migration. I think the birds go through a routine like this until they have made the round trip a couple of times. They learn by doing, like I did. And in those days, while I was tip-toeing my way to or from the grocery store I would sometimes hear a flight of Canadian Geese going south or coming back home up north. I love those honk sounds and to this day am disappointed that the Canadian Geese have taken up residence around these parts and are here all year long. The reason is that our building laws stipulate that, if you are a housing developer, you have to provide lakes or ponds with ever-so-many new houses you build. And these are not just mud holes but real ponds of water complete with cattails and storks and egrets. And the Canadian Geese love them and so they stay here year round and no longer have to migrate. It would be like me having my own grocery store or mom would buy me new shoes to fit my ever-growing feet.

Photography with Canon EOS Digital Rebel with 70-200mm zoom lens.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Honeysuckle

Look at this Ruby-throated Hummingbird seeking something sweet and found the juice. Our honeysuckle was planted for them but in two or three years it has not been able to grow much after this first season. I had to cut it back in an effort to revitalize it. I am looking forward to a lot of new growth this summer and an abundance of hummingbirds.

A Nest of Honeybees

A nest of honeybees. This group of honeybees, according to the experts who came out at my request, left the home hive as it was becoming too crowded, and a new queen brought her bees with her and this was their first stop — a branch of my spruce tree. I would guess there were several thousand bees there as it is a buzzing, living mass of honeybees. Minutes before the experts got here, the group of bees took off and where they went nobody knows. This breaking away from the original hive is how honeybees multiply and grow larger in numbers. I am thankful the old hive is still in the hole in the tree that I call the "honey hole," and I am glad these are off somewhere making their new hive which will mean more blossoms will produce fruit this summer.