Category Archives: West HoCo

Fiddlers and Fireflies

Posted on June 25, 2013 by AnnieRie

This Thursday night.

Description from the Conservancy Web Site.

JUN 27- Thursday 6-9pm Fiddlers and Fireflies- Bring your family and picnic dinner to the Conservancy as Fiddlers and Fireflies, one of our most popular programs, returns this summer. As the fireflies begin to flicker in the tall grasses around the property at Mt. Pleasant, listen to great performers of fiddle music, Steve Hickman’s band, who have electrified audiences for close to thirty years. Children and adults alike will join in the dancing with the fiddles and the fireflies. Kids will also learn interesting facts about fireflies and are invited to make a firefly craft. Bring your own picnic blanket or chairs $10/car

Last year the crafts tables were really popular. Making fireflies, coloring activities, other crafts. Along with the picnicing and dancing.

As you can see, the little ones were the first ones up enjoying the music. And, last year a surprise visit from one of the two goats who are part of the Conservancy “family”, being friendly and getting fed leaves by the children.

Lots to do. Great music. A bargain for a family at $10 a car to cover the musicians’ fee. Even a bargain for a couple, or a group of friends, who could set up their picnic anywhere on the hillside and listen to the music while watching the sunset and look for the fireflies to come out. Or, maybe play a game of catch. This is one of my favorite summer traditions.

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Posted in Community, Food, Howard County, Volunteering, West HoCo and tagged community, Food, hoco loco, Howard County, howard county conservancy, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Givers and Takers

Posted on June 24, 2013 by AnnieRie

This weekend I spent time with loads of givers. People who give of their time, their investment, their heart, soul, money, you name it. I am so amazed at the passion and dedication of my fellow “hams” and their spouses and families.

There have been calls for this to be the #summerofneighbors by a local Columbia blogger. Where you connect with your neighbors and post it on twitter. I would think I could overload twitter with the sheer volume of “neighborliness” found in the amateur radio community.

Look at this picture.

Filled with givers. Father and son. Jon and Dave. Others who were there from beginning to end.

I look at the food board. Full of contributions from wives and families.

And, there are club members like Dave, checking in even while attending family weddings.

I heard conversations over the weekend about other community events. Bike race support. Non profit board meetings. The next big radio contest where we will be using the national call sign to represent the US in an international competition.

Here in our hobby, long time leaders teaching new volunteers. Like Maurice teaching Melanie.

Getting the newer members interested and active in our organization is something we know is important to our continued success.

When we look at what we accomplished, another successful, safe and enjoyable event, we realize it is all because we are surrounded by Givers. Not Takers. Not people who sit on the sidelines and criticize or expect something for nothing. GIVERS!

I blogged last year how I thought the motto on those bumper stickers “Choose Civility” didn’t go far enough. You really need a community mindset to make a difference.

CARA and PVRC exhibit this every year for this national event. People give time, money, and passion to make it successful. I realize now, after a few years of volunteering, that I can look at all the pictures and I know the names of everyone in them. Isn’t that what neighborly really means? Is just going somewhere a neighborly thing?

Isn’t immersion in your community to the extent that you know the people, know their children’s names, know their food preferences, their favorite things, important?

Are you a giver? Or, someone watching on the sidelines? Step up. Find your passion. Invest in Howard County. Your home.

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Posted in Commentary, Howard County, Volunteering, West HoCo and tagged amateur radio, commentary, community, Howard County, volunteering. Bookmark the permalink.

Lost and Found Sounds

Posted on June 16, 2013 by AnnieRie

Last month a local blogger, commenting on the NPR series about lost sounds lamented those sounds from our past that have disappeared from our lives. Interestingly enough, many of the sounds she noted were ones still very much present in our lives.

Like radio static. You want radio static? Come to our house. Between the scanner and my husband’s radios, I get to hear all sorts of static.

One of his old receivers, that he will still mess around with occasionally. As for the scanner, it is how we know what is happening, even more current than twitter or facebook, the scanner frequencies for fire and police, and the local Columbia repeater for 2 meters yield us instant info about fires, accidents, and just general stuff. The repeaters are manned by amateurs doing Skywarn during storms like we had Thursday.

Children playing. Out here we always hear our neighbor’s little ones outside, laughing and running around, or riding their bikes. There are always wiffle balls or tennis balls in our field. Errant tosses while they are enjoying the sunny days.

We left behind the sirens and helicopters of Columbia, and gained tractors, birds, roosters and SILENCE. Sometimes here it is the silence that amazes us the most. Dark, quiet evenings.

Full moon. Some evenings I would wait outside looking at the stars and hearing nothing, waiting for my husband to get home from a meeting. Looking for the deer. Or watching a satellite in the sky. No sounds. Just complete silence, and a car every three or four minutes.

Who knew what noise squirrels make? We have learned. Between the squirrels, the rabbits and the birds, I have been serenaded while having morning coffee on the patio. Of course, my all time favorite is the hawk.

He likes to make his presence known. He and my other neighbor’s rooster. I don’t have a picture of him but you heard him all day, thankfully somewhat muted as they were about a 1/4 mile away. They have moved on, so the rooster sound has disappeared.

Last, the tractors. Not lawn mowers. Real hay baling equipment or massive tractors with drag behind cutters. These kinds of tractors. Across the street. Next door. A few times every year. Cutting hay.

I have traded city sounds for country sounds. A slower pace. Sounds of people cutting fire wood. Muzzle loaders during deer season. Fireworks (yes, we know they aren’t supposed to have them, but believe me, there are some serious fireworks out here on New Year’s Eve and 4th of July).

I can hear the cows mooing on some mornings, from the farms across the “hollow”.

I don’t miss all the traffic noise, the Medevac helicopters heading over the house many nights every week, the police helicopters occasionally. Sounds of the city.

I am much happier and less stressed even when the pileated woodpeckers get noisy.

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Posted in Birds, Community, Howard County, Nature, West HoCo and tagged birds, commentary, community, hoco loco, Howard County, nature, photography, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Another Lovely Day in Our Neighborhood

Posted on June 15, 2013 by AnnieRie

The ham radio neighborhood. The annual open house out in Glenwood at W3LPL. My husband goes every year. This is my first visit, although we have been to the house many times as they are neighbors and friends, I usually avoided the alpha male picnic where they all come out and wish they had the time and land and resources to assemble Amateur Radio Utopia.

There are ten towers. The basement has enough room, and power, to handle all the major frequency bands and modes simultaneously. This is a major radio contest site, owned by a fellow amateur radio operator in the same local club as my husband.

A local catering company specializing in pit beef, pulled pork and turkey sandwiches sets up shop. The club donates water, soda, iced tea, and beer. “Hams” from all over the country (and overseas) come every year. This year the guest book had 105 entries. Some were couples and some, like us, forgot to sign. So, probably 125-150 people there. The caterer sold over 100 sandwiches and platters.

Members of Potomac Valley Radio Club, Columbia Amateur Radio Club, National Capitol DX Association and who knows how many other clubs, all came together to eat, drink, socialize and take a tour of the towers and station.

Now that we are retired, and my husband attends many functions, dinners, luncheons, contests, meetings, field day, whatever, we know quite a few people. I talked to dozens of spouses and some of the operators from field day.

Field Day is next weekend. Planning going like crazy. I will be cooking again for the 80-100 operators and support staff that make this contest one of the largest supported efforts in the USA. This year the club is trying to be rated 28Alpha. That means 28 simultaneous transmitting stations all operating on generator power.

Field Day is an annual event that allows radio amateurs to train and operate using methods that might be needed during disasters. Disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. Cell towers get overloaded, or come down.

The local clubs can put up crank up towers and relay info to Emergency Operations Centers, or help with non-emergency communications between support efforts at disasters. Keeping the emergency communication channels uncluttered.

Columbia Amateur Radio Association supports Howard County’s EOC. They get reports from hams, on the road and at home, during and after events like the derecho last year, and the hurricanes.

This year, again, Howard County is sending one of their really cool emergency vehicles out for people to tour during our Field Day Weekend. When the club puts up ten crank up towers in the fields, and operates.

If you want to see something really fascinating, head out to Triadelphia Ridge Elementary School next Saturday or Sunday, the 22nd and 23rd. You can even have your little ones operate the radios on our Get On The Air (GOTA) station. They could talk to someone in Alaska or Hawaii.

All in all, today was a fun reunion. The kick off to our summer season of radio contests and our social events. Can’t wait for the fowl fest, the crab feast and the other picnics. Oh, and nothing like a day with towers and tractors.

73 de AnnieRieXYL

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The Wild Wild West #HoCoMD

Posted on June 14, 2013 by AnnieRie

At least sometimes it feels wild, but isn’t so.

Yesterday, we had storms, wind, sun, fire, and life just is interesting here in the western part of the county. We did agonize a bit about whether to take the tower down, in anticipation of the storms.

Without five people, this wasn’t happening, so we just decided to ride it out. In the morning, the major storms passed us by to the north. We could see them coming but they were just above us. A good thing, so far. Then, we heard massive amounts of sirens just as I was going out for gas and ice. I figured if I bought ice, nothing would happen.

Turns out there was a grease fire at Ten Oaks Tavern. All sorts of fire trucks everywhere at the Glenelg/Dayton circle. I picked up what I needed and came home to find a tornado warning. OK, this is way too much excitement for one day. This time, the severe weather passed ten miles south of us, below Olney.

We never lost power, had about an inch of rain, no real wind or damage. Compared to last year, this year’s derecho was a no show. Well, at least the flowers are loving all the rain.

I have to admit, living out here in the rural districts has its advantages and disadvantages. Still, that “lure of the land”, the reason we moved here, still makes it all worth while, to fill the tubs with water, bring in the furniture, get ready to possibly bail out the sump pump when the power goes off, and all those other little things to weather the storms.

And, my tomatoes are loving the weather. Should have tomatoes in a few weeks. Cucumbers, too.

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Posted in Community, Howard County, Weather, West HoCo and tagged community, Food, heirloom tomatoes, Howard County, spring flowers, tomatoes, weather, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Monarchs in the Milkweed?

Posted on June 12, 2013 by AnnieRie

Last fall I blogged about finding milkweed in the meadow. Now, I can say that my wish that maybe monarchs will be hatching here comes closer to reality.

I think I found a monarch larvae here. The milkweed is flourishing. Other butterflies love it.

Like this great spangled fritillary. And, of course, the bees.

Looks like a bumble bee.

All in all, a good day in the meadow.

Now, to save that monarch from the predatory birds.

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I Need to Build an Ark!

Posted on June 10, 2013 by AnnieRie

Seriously. Before we all wash away out here. RIMPO weather, the definitive source of information about the weather in this neck of the woods, says 1.7″ of rain in the last 24 hours.

Precipitation
Today: 1.70in
Hi Rain Rate: 0.209in/hr at 8:18pm
Current Hour: 0.38in
Last 24 Hours: 1.70in
This Month: 4.86in
Year-to-Date: 19.45in
Official MTD Rainfall @ BWI: 3.11in
Official YTD Rainfall @ BWI: 16.97in

Yep, almost twenty inches of rain this year out here. Real rain.

Oh, and those really cool underground drains. They work quite well.

Pulling the rain away from the foundation and watering my trees out front. Here is the construction picture.

I wonder if this qualifies for a credit from the county for stormwater management. After all, I need to get something back for the $165 I will be paying to the county. For all that water that never leaves my property, and all the water that ends up in my front yard from the county road. Maybe I should tax them? It will probably be July before it is safe to take the tractor down into the depressed area in our southwest corner. Where all the run off from the road and our shared driveways ends up.

Interesting times ahead in Howard County. I have the lowest fee in my area, since my neighbor owns the shared driveway. I don’t mind saving the Bay, but paying so others will fix their problems sort of rubs me the wrong way.

Yes, my fee of $165 is by far the lowest of all my neighbors. The worst. $1230, for a neighbor who bought 20 acres behind another farm. Want to know what your fee is?

Click here.

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Spring is Still Springing

Posted on June 8, 2013 by AnnieRie

I don’t know about you, but I am really happy about this lovely spring weather. It is so much better for my plants, and it is just lovely outside today.

We grilled. I didn’t take pictures. I was too lazy. But, I did use these.

I sent my husband down to Boarman’s to pick up a few crabcakes. He came back with much more. Like some shrimp to use with the curry tomorrow, and some box wine. I love having one stop shopping there. Pick up dinner. Match it with wine. Black Box Pinot Grigio.

I grilled the mushrooms stuffed with the crabcakes. Grilled some asparagus. Made a potato salad this morning using the TLV potatoes.

Sat out on the patio. Enjoyed the mid seventies temps. Have all the windows open, and I am loving the springtime. I also transplanted my celosia today. Gardens are doing well with this weather. I could get used to this.

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Posted in Food, Gardening, Local Businesses, Locavore, Nature, Weather, West HoCo and tagged cooking, Food, foodie, grilling, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

The Garden Report

Posted on June 3, 2013 by AnnieRie

Yesterday I spoke about finally getting garlic scapes out behind the deck, where I planted organic heirloom garlic last October. I haven’t had the chance to talk about the rest of the plantings, and what I am seeing out there daily.

Like the cucumbers.

There are blossoms on the marketmore slicing cucumbers. The pickling cukes are larger, but have no blossoms yet. This slow start to spring has set most of us back with seeing production in our gardens, but we are slowly getting there.

The garlic I put in containers didn’t do so well. Between the small critters constantly digging at it in the pots, and the temperature fluctuations, most of it died. I did get two stems of spring garlic, out of the twelve cloves planted. The twelve plants in the ground will give me scapes this week, and garlic in about three-four weeks. I will be curing garlic in the back room in the cellar. Cool, dark and dry. What garlic needs to dry out.

You will notice in the background, the spirea is blooming finally. So are the kousas, and hurray! the bees are back.

I hold my breath every spring, hoping I don’t lose my pollinators. I need those little “busy bees” to get veggies and fruit. Let’s just say Sunday was a good day as I saw dozens of little bees enjoying the flowers behind the house.

As for the herb garden, the thyme has come back thick as a carpet. So have the rosemary bushes. And, of course, the mint varieties.

Thyme is such a great herb, so easy to grow. Snip some off and add to whatever you are making for dinner. It seems to go well with almost everything.

Ruby chard. The second planting. In the planters by the back door. Interesting that the bunnies aren’t coming up here. They must have more than enough to eat down in the yard and meadow, so they don’t bother my herbs, greens and flowers.

Finally, all 48 tomato plants are surviving and thriving. Crossing my fingers. I haven’t lost any of them, even those that were puny and looked susceptible after the cold spell. I may truly be putting out a roadside stand to sell them if they all stay healthy.

I leave the wildflower border to attract bees. The morning glories are just starting to come up, but the wild violets are getting thicker. It looks like this cool wet spring is good for my garden.

Let’s hope we keep up the good growing conditions. I am so ready for homemade tzatziki, fresh tomatoes and all those other treats of summer.

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Opening Day in My World

Posted on May 31, 2013 by AnnieRie

Two years running. Opening day at Larriland.

Lots of cars. Lots of people. My husband and I got there at 1030, after the initial rush when they open at 9 AM. Same prices as last year.

We picked 24 pounds. Yep, 24 pounds. This is what they looked like when we got home.

We did whole berries. Pureed some. Sliced berries. Left some in the fridge for desserts. Put some away to give the neighbors. Oh, and made strawberry daiquiris to celebrate the season.

Picking took us about an hour. Processing took me about two hours, and in my spare time I made my rhubarb BBQ sauce also. It was a fruit processing day here.

That lovely puree. Will become smoothies and strawberry yogurt Popsicles. I need to hit Breezy Willow tomorrow for more yogurt to make the pops. The ones in the freezer, pictured above, will get put away for later this summer. They make a mean sangria when dropped in dry rose wine.

Love the fact that Larriland is open again. Looking forward to blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, peaches and who knows what else. The freezer needs filling.