07/18/12 - Fort Macon My Blog: http://maryanng.blogspot.com/2012/07/fort-macon.html We went to Fort Macon yesterday and to the NC Maritime Museum in Beaufort plus swimming in the Clam Digger Inn pool and going to the beach nearby. I've uploaded a collage from Fort Macon. My iPad tools had trouble with the collage file name. Donnie to the rescue on the upload. I'll make the blog entry more robust when I get home. A link to the entire gallery of pics is here. HAGD, Maryann

Thanks for stopping by to view my daily photo! I will post a new photo each day to this gallery. Typically, I will post early morning, and the photo will have been taken the day before. Sometimes the photo may be from sometime earlier in the week, but all the pictures posted will be relatively new. I hope you see something that makes you smile. Feel free to leave professionally appropriate comments.

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07/21/12 - Rain Delay at the Durham Bulls (Johnny)

My Blog: http://maryanng.blogspot.com/2012/07/rain-delay-at-durham-bulls.html

Donnie took us to a Durham Bulls baseball game last night, and we had seats out in center field.  Not where we normally sit but a fun place to be for a change.  It gave the kids a chance to move around a bit, hope for a ball from the right fielder, and enjoy the wide view of the field.  This picture of Johnny was taken just after the rain delay.  They moved the tarp back off the infield and were warming up to resume the game.  You can see it continued to rain but only slightly, and the rest of us were under a stadium umbrella happy to be dry.  Johnny on the other hand was walking in the water puddles at the bottom of the seats and not minding the rain coming down on him.  Lots of fun for him and for us to enjoy watching along with the game.

Here's a collage that I made to document our outing to the game.

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One of the reasons we chose to go last night specifically was that Friday night games have fireworks.  What a thrill to see them launched from center field essentially right in front of us and directly over us!

The kids are still enjoying playing cards.  We do Crazy Eights, Go Fish, and Old Maid and are about ready to introduce War and I Doubt It.

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This red-spotted purple butterfly decided to eat from my bird dish yesterday.  He was very pretty.

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Thank you very much for your comments on 'the dance' picture from yesterday by Johnny as well as the abstract gown shot.

HAGD,
Maryann

07/20/12 - NC Museum of History

My Blog: http://maryanng.blogspot.com/2012/07/nc-museum-of-history.html

We visited the North Carolina Museum of History yesterday. The boys and I had been once or twice before during the year, and it had probably been 20 years for Donnie which made it a whole new museum for him.

I've posted a close-up picture of the Miss North Carolina 2012 Arlie Honeycutt gown as my daily.

Here's a picture showing the whole gown.

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Here's a collage of what I thought were the best pics during our visit.

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They have some very informative exhibits.  Donnie really enjoyed the Thomas Day furniture exhibit.  We all enjoyed the Nascar race cars of Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty.  Johnny enjoyed all the buttons and hands-on exhibits especially the pirate ones.  And, I enjoyed the Miss North Carolina gowns and the Civil Rights exhibits including THE lunch counter.  The Army exhibit that takes your picture as a solider was very popular too.  A great way to spend a hot NC afternoon in the air conditioning.

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Thanks for your comments on my beach picture yesterday. Missing the breeze and getting my feet wet but not the sun. It feels way warmer in Raleigh than it did down there.

HAGD,
Maryann

07/19/12 - A Day at the Beach

My Blog: http://maryanng.blogspot.com/2012/07/a-day-at-beach.html

A shot from Tuesday of Donnie and Johnny going in for a swim in the ocean near Atlantic Beach, NC.  The tide was coming in, and the water was rougher than we would have liked, but we all went out and enjoyed ourselves.  We all had at least one wave grab us and pound us into the sandy bottom, but we all came up and recovered quickly and were back enjoying ourselves.  Johnny is a real go getter and nothing much deters him.  We were impressed with is toughness.  No shells on this beach.  And, we went out late in the day to avoid the sun, sunburn, and hot temps.

Here's a collage showing what I thought were the best beach shots.  Donnie lost his ball cap doing that arms up V for me. He's such a great guy helping me to get the shots I want.

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Here's a collage of our visit to the NC Maritime Museum in Beaufort also from Tuesday.  This museum boasts artifacts from Queen Anne's Revenge and takes the kids through a near clue find in the museum.

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Here's our behind the scenes tour pics in chronological order from the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.  Definitely worth the extra few bucks to go on the tour!  We got to touch a loggerhead turtle, see where they breed the sea horses, learn what the fish each, understand the filtration system, and understand how the staff gets to the fish for feeding and diving,  This aquarium has the biggest viewing glass and tank size on the east coast.  From the museum website:

German U-boats sank scores of cargo ships, tankers and passenger liners along the East Coast during World War II, a reality still not widely known more than 60 years later. On May 9, 1942, the U-352 fired on the Coast Guard cutter Icarus 25 miles off Cape Lookout. The Coast Guard fired back, and the submarine lost the resulting altercation. It went to the bottom in about 100 feet of water, the first U-boat to be sunk by the Coast Guard.

A three-quarter-size replica of the U-352 as it looks today lists to starboard at the bottom of the 306,000-gallon Living Shipwreck. The fearsome-looking sand tiger sharks, schools of colorful fishes and other animals that populate the Living Shipwreck are typically found around this wreck and others offshore.

The extensive and varied marine community makes the U-352 a popular recreational dive site. In the Living Shipwreck exhibit, divers chat with visitors through underwater microphones. Three viewing windows – one of them 65′ long – frame the constant swirl of color and motion around the submarine. A concave cylindrical window at one end imparts the sensation of being inside the tank.

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And here are a few pics I got during the Winging It bird show.  We saw two pelicans, a hawk, two vultures, a barn owl, and a couple of other birds.  They flew right over our heads.  I felt the breeze.  Horrible lighting, so I apologize for poor picture quality.

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We're back home now. We miss the breeze we had at the beach.

Thanks for all of your comments on my dailies and on facebook. I'll be catching up as I can but still doing extra activities with the kids and Donnie while I'm on vacation.

HAGD,
Maryann

07/18/12 - Fort Macon

My Blog: http://maryanng.blogspot.com/2012/07/fort-macon.html

We went to Fort Macon yesterday and to the NC Maritime Museum in Beaufort plus swimming in the Clam Digger Inn pool and going to the beach nearby. I've uploaded a collage from Fort Macon. My iPad tools had trouble with the collage file name. Donnie to the rescue on the upload. I'll make the blog entry more robust when I get home.

A link to the entire gallery of pics is here.

HAGD,
Maryann

07/17/12 NC Aquarium Pine Knoll Shores

My Blog: http://maryanng.blogspot.com/2012/07/nc-aquarium-pine-knoll-shores.html

A picture of Donnie, Joey and Johnny at the end of our visit to the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.

More tomorrow...limited time and Internet. First pic from iPad and Camera Awesome but taken with real camera.

A link to the entire gallery of our day is here.

HAGD,
Maryann

07/16/12 - The Daily Planet

My Blog: http://maryanng.blogspot.com/2012/07/daily-planet.html

The boys, Donnie, and I went to the Nature Research Center yesterday.  We watched the construction for a couple of years with eager anticipation of the opening which happened a few months ago.  The crowds have died down a bit now, so I figured it was time that we go check it out.  Plus, on a 96 degree day, a cool inside destination was in order.

We were greeted outside with the finalized Daily Planet.  Wow!  Inside, it's a 3 story planetarium style theater.  Double wow!  I wondered why the water wasn't blue?  The continents are decals and the silver is the color of the metal skin.

I love this shot of the boys holding up the planet:-)  They came up with that on their own.  Go figure!

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As you walk in the door, there is this massive piece of techno art over the stairway.  On the 2nd floor, you learn about it in more detail.  See the video below.  Fascinating if you ask me!  The square panels go dark and light and change via some sophisticated computer program to simulate a mosquito swarm or a hurricane vortex.  Someone sure put a lot of thought into it!

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Joey was really interested in this LED light exhibit.  He takes after his mom.  All those lights changing into nifty colored patterns had us quite engaged.

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Meanwhile, Donnie and Johnny were enjoying the Chevrolet Volt exhibit.  The boys don't quite get electric cars yet, but they are starting to understand that they exist.  It was cool to see just the mechanics of the car's inside minus the 'skin'.  We could see how they stored the battery pack (up the middle).

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Out front of the museum?  A place to plug your Volt or other electric car in!  Too bad the fotomom minivan isn't pluginable!  More of those posts should be popping up in major cities soon.  Have you seen one in your city?

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By far, the  most interesting thing to me was the inside of the giant earth.  It reminded me of our visit to Morehead Planetarium.  Someone did a great did with the photos and video design.  The visual and audio show is a treat on a grand proportion.

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Who can resist images like this!  It's hard to get the scale from my pics, but try to envision 3 stories tall.

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Loved this collage video too!

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Here, in the Visual Design iLab, Johnny is using a technology similar to Nintendo 3DS AR cards.  He's got the whole wide world in his hands:-)  Come on now...sing along.  He's got the whole wide world in his hands...

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Lastly, there were a lot of laboratories in this new museum wing.  Here the boys were learning about using pipets to study DNA.  Lots of chemistry and biology geared study opportunities in this museum.

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We'll be going back again real soon!  We thought they did a great job with the design and layout and I'm sure we didn't see everything the first time around.

HAGD,
Maryann

07/15/12 - Giant Swallowtail

My Blog: http://maryanng.blogspot.com/2012/07/giant-swallowtail.html

My daily is a Giant Swallowtail taken in the Magic Wings Butterfly House Carolina Pavilion at The Museum of Life and Science in Durham.

Here's what this butterfly looks like from the back.

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Johnny alerted me to these caterpillars.  Wow!  Left and lower right is the caterpillar of a Black Swallowtail. Upper and center right is the caterpillar of a Polyphemus Moth.

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Although cropped severely, you can actually see the mouth of the caterpillar eating in this shot!

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There is a new Into the Mist area at the museum.  What a great thing to do on an extra warm summer's day. Definitely a big hit with my boys who spent over 40 minutes running through the various sections.

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A Coopers Hawk as identified to me by Ranger Ro.

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Johnny was extra cute and in an extra good mood yesterday.  That's a prickly stick (close to walking stick) in his hand right middle.  Yes, he's touching a ball python bottom second from left.  A ladybug is on the microscope screen top second from left.

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Me and the boys, very hot, on the train.

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Out of steam to edit out the Exit sign from this optical illusion shot of Joey, but I thought it was cool and wanted to share.

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This beautiful long haired cat is hanging out in my yard eating some of the scraps I put out.  Won't come to me.

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Thanks for all your comments on my coneflower swallowtail pic from yesterday...

HAGD,
Maryann

07/14/12 - Butterfly Paradise

My Blog: http://maryanng.blogspot.com/2012/07/butterfly-paradise.html

I went to Wilkerson Farms yesterday to buy more grass fed local beef. Yum! One of the owners, Carrie, has a lovely garden of coneflowers and zinnias in front of her house. I was so delighted to see the yellow Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly fluttering from flower to flower as well as a Buckeye, American Lady, Silver Spotted Skipper, Sulphur of some sort, and several other Skippers and smaller butterflies that I'm not sure of the ID of. It was seriously a butterfly paradise, and I snapped away both before and after making the transaction that I'd come to do. Carrie even had sunflowers! Wow!

I did a lot of pp on this one to remove the background.  There was a lot of dead, brown flower in it.

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These two sulphurs floated together with one being kindof still and feeding and the other never slowing down. They carried on this way the entire time I was there.

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Love the probiscus on this Silver Spotted Skipper!  Wish he was farther left on the flower though.

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What a cute tiny Skipper!

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No clue about this tiny guy but yet another variety of butterfly in the garden.

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A larger view of the garden.  Like I said...a butterfly paradise!

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Thanks for your comments on Bob:-)

HAGD,
Maryann

07/13/12 - Bob

My Blog: http://maryanng.blogspot.com/2012/07/bob.html

Johnny and I rode our bikes to Porter Farms and Nursery yesterday, about a mile, and bought fresh green beans for dinner.  Donnie has me considering biking places instead of just hopping in my van for short trips.  I can manage to ride my bike with the Canon SX40 HS around my neck.  I'm sure you'll understand that being able to take my camera with me is of course the deciding factor in my transportation choices;-)  At any point, the girls up there were having some fun with vegetable creations.  I thought Bob was rather crafty!

Speaking of veggies.  I embarked on a new cooking adventure Wednesday, making chicken stock, and I ended up making a great chicken soup for lunch yesterday too.  It was quite possibly the best chicken soup I've ever made or had.

Below is a picture of the soup, and here are the details.  They say there are a lot of healthy benefits to making the stock this way, so consider giving it a try.

For starters, I bought a chicken directly from a farmer.  My first and not last!  It was cleaned up and ready to cook but fresh and healthy and free of any injected crap and a whopping 6lbs.  I roasted it in the oven about like you'd expect putting carrots and onions underneath it and not using any chicken bouillon like I would have in the past. I browned it nice by rubbing olive oil and spices on it.  We had it for dinner with sugar snap peas and a salad, and it was yummy!  Afterward, Donnie wanted me to try making real chicken stock from bones, so I got out my pasta pot, put the bones in the colander part, added enough water to cover, and proceeded to create the stock.  Here's the recipe that I used.  I see no reason to wait to add the veggies and spices, and I let mine cook for more like 5 hours.  It was so easy to lift up the colander to remove the bones from the broth, but what about the veggies?  We decided to carefully remove the bones and add the veggies back.  We figured there was a small risk for bones left in but worth the risk.  I had hoped that the stock would have a great flavor, but it was kindof so so without any salt or real spices.  But I guess that's the way it was supposed to be.  We put it in the fridge to cool overnight.

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I used this recipe to turn the stock into soup.  I take liberties with just about every recipe I use, but you get the gist.  I used olive oil to saute an orange bell pepper, an onion, and minced garlic.  I added in the 4 cups of stock.  I did not add additional celery as the stock had some in it.  I didn't have the spinach to add at the end either.  I ended up adding 2 teaspoons of salt, a generous amount of Texas Pete, the soy sauce, a bit of basil, and pepper.  I put in a pinch of tarragon and sprinkled in some poultry seasoning (rosemary) too.  I kept finessing the flavor trying to bring out the best in the stock and I think it worked.  Then I added in some leftover link style chicken and spinach sausage and a bunch of the leftover chicken which Donnie had deboned for me along with the carrots that I had roasted under the chicken the night before.  Wow!  Donnie and the boys and I ate it up for lunch big time!  Thankfully, there are two bowls of soup left and enough chicken stock to make soup again real soon.

Thanks for your comments on my sunset in the windows shot from yesterday...

HAGD,
Maryann

07/18/12 - Fort Macon

My Blog: http://maryanng.blogspot.com/2012/07/fort-macon.html

We went to Fort Macon yesterday and to the NC Maritime Museum in Beaufort plus swimming in the Clam Digger Inn pool and going to the beach nearby. I've uploaded a collage from Fort Macon. My iPad tools had trouble with the collage file name. Donnie to the rescue on the upload. I'll make the blog entry more robust when I get home.

A link to the entire gallery of pics is here.

HAGD,
Maryann

Fort Macon yesterday and to the NC Maritime Museum in Beaufort plus swimming in the Clam Digger Inn pool and going to the beach nearby. I've uploaded a collage from Fort Macon. My iPad tools had trouble with the collage file name. Donnie to the rescue on the upload. I'll make the blog entry more robust when I get home. A link to the entire gallery of pics is here. HAGD, Maryann" href="javascript:openLB(1972868103,'',XLarge,'',960,768);">