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Nature Notes: Butterfly Gardens

Leora — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:07:58 +0000

As soon as we entered this small, two pathway long butterfly garden in Washington, DC, I thought of Rambling Woods and Nature Notes. How pretty were all the flowers in the garden!

The butterfly garden is near the National Gallery of Art and next to the Natural History Museum; both are on the National Mall.

Despite all the butterfly-attracting flowers such as butterfly bushes, we didn’t see any butterflies. Perhaps the many people and cars and big, concrete buildings of Washington, DC scared them away?

I am guessing this lovely red bloom is a cardinal flower.

On the last day of our vacation we visited Mount Vernon, Virginia, home of President George Washington. There I spotted – a butterfly!

There is a lovely butterfly park in East Brunswick, New Jersey.

For more nature notes:

Agriculture Arches in Washington, DC

Leora — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 10:57:52 +0000

These arches are part of the Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. This shot was taken from 14th SW Street, close to the U.S. Holocaust Museum.

This shot is taken from the opposite end (12th SW Street). The arches are one block away from the National Mall.

Washington D.C. could use some pedestrian bridges, with all the traffic and the many pedestrians. But nothing this big for pedestrians, please.

For more bridges, visit the Sunday Bridge Series:

Update: more on the bridges between the buildings on Wikipedia

Smithsonian Garden

Leora — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:08:36 +0000

We just came back from 4+ days in Washington, DC. I took many photos…I have some of the Washington Monument that are especially fun. I plan to do a post about our visit to the U.S. Holocaust Museum. I also have photos from our trip to Broadway the week before, to see West Side Story. On our last day we went to Mount Vernon, Virginia, the home of George Washington.

This is a pretty Smithsonian garden near the Air and Space Museum. Across the way is a butterfly garden (I have pictures of that, too).

Thank Heaven – SOOC

Leora — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 02:46:30 +0000

“Thank heaven…for little girls…” – this is a scene from Gigi, which was performed at the Middlesex County College Theater Camp that my daughter attended. The director of the camp introduced the song by saying, “remember the name Michael Mills.” He is the adorable boy in front of those teenage girls singing the song that was originally performed by Maurice Chevalier.

For more photos straight out of the camera, visit Murrieta:

Asbury Park Theatre

Leora — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 01:34:52 +0000

Facade of the Asbury Park Theater, New Jersey Shore

The Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, New Jersey was built in 1927: The entire complex was designed in a combination Italian-French style, with an emphasis on nautical themes in recognition of its oceanfront location. The interior of the theatre was dominated by gold, black, and purple, and featured a giant rosette on the ceiling.

Thursday Challenge theme is CREATIVITY (Art, Music, Writing, Photography, Architecture, Handicraft,…).

Next Week: FUN (Festival, Fair, Carnival, Party, Playground, Dancing, Laughing,…)

Farmers Market Reds

Leora — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 17:55:57 +0000

Friday was a beautiful, not too hot day in Highland Park. What a joy to visit the farmer’s market. I usually buy peaches, yellow squash, parsley and a cucumber. If the organic stand features kale, I buy some of that, too. What produce do you like to buy?

For more posts with a little or a lot of red, visit:

Soccer Dad and Book Carnival

Leora — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 01:40:16 +0000

soccer game in Johnson Park in June 2010

Soccer Dad, the founder of Haveil Havalim, hosts HH #280. Thank you for reminding Jewish photo bloggers to submit to JPIX.

There is a recently formed new blog carnival called the Jewish Book Carnival. Thank you for including my post on The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: My Family’s Exodus From Old Cairo to the New World by Lucette Lagnado.

Nature at Batsto Village

Leora — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 21:54:20 +0000

There is a lake at Batsto Village in the Pine Barrens in southern New Jersey. There one can see all sorts of natural elements, like wildflowers and a pretty butterfly.

This star-like lavender flower (spotted knapweed – thanks to EG Wow) was also growing next to the lake. There is a nature center at the village, but we didn’t get a chance to visit.

This cattail is situated in a man-made pond created by 19th century businessman Joseph Wharton.

For more nature notes (and this week’s post about lawns) visit:

Peaches and Tomatoes

Leora — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:11:56 +0000

It’s a wonderful time of year in New Jersey: the peaches are finally available in the farmer’s markets. These are the best tasting peaches…um, yum, de-de dum. It was even worth traipsing off during the heat wave last Friday to get yet another bag.

The peaches are beautiful to behold as well as eat. Can I have my peach and eat it, too?

Small tomatoes in my garden are finally ripe. I also have some garden grown cucumbers (my first year growing cucumbers). I saw one of my bigger tomatoes finally turning red. How long will I hold out before picking it?

For more photos with a little or a lot of red, visit Ruby Tuesday:

Review with Pink Begonia

Leora — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 01:52:45 +0000

pink begonia growing in my front yard instead of grass

On My Blog

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

Ilana-Davita reviews Welcome to Heavenly Heights in a non-traditional format.
Ruti Mizrachi interviews Ilana-Davita
I need to print Mrs. S.’s cookie recipe for my son to try out on our family.
Carver has beautiful photos of the North Carolina beaches – I’ve never been there, have you?
Robin has photographed lovely plumeria blossoms.
Shimshonit asks questions about the mosque at Ground Zero.