Holmes County, Ohio, Rolling Countryside

Holmes County is hillier than Miami.  It is also home to many of Ohio's Amish residents.  People come from all over Ohio as well as from states further away to see the countryside in the fall when the foliage is bright.  They come all year round to buy quilts, and furniture and other Amish crafts.  They also like to eat the traditional foods found in the many restaurants...noodles, fried chicken, pickled beets and eggs, homemade pies...

Tom took the photo above and the one below from the parking lot of one of those restaurants.

Another way we can tell we are in an Amish area is by the work horses in the fields.  Although there are electric lines along this road, many of the Amish do not rely on electricity from these lines.

Fulton Farms, Miami County, Ohio

Fulton Farms is part of our life in spring, summer, and fall.  Nothing tastes better than freshly picked fruits and vegetables.  

The fall crops are pumpkins and squash.  When our children were young, they came here to pick their pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns.  So did our grandchildren.  Groups of local kindergarten students come with their classes to choose pumpkins.  

There are other attractions, too.  See the wooden train between the pumpkins and the farmhouse.  Parents bring toddlers to climb on it.

Another attraction are hay rides.  I think they are actually "straw bale" rides.  Old-timers enjoy inspecting the old White tractor which pulls them.

As we headed toward Fulton's a few days ago to buy acorn and butternut squashes, Tom spotted a sign at the intersection..."Sweet corn".  He said, "That's hard to believe.  The season is past."

But ...

There was a table a bit larger than a card table with corn on it.  The check-out lady said it was the last of the season.  Appropriately, the corn was a bi-color called "Obsession".  It was a corn for those who hate to see the season end. 

We also bought the squash we had come for.

A few weeks ago, my artist friend, Marsha, and I sat with our backs toward the farmhouse and painted.  She found three still-fresh morning glories on a trellis for her painting and I painted this scene.  The structure on the left is part of the train caboose.

The Troy Civic Theatre Presents Moon Over Buffalo

I'm more likely to smile than I am to laugh aloud when I am amused but the actors and actresses kept me laughing almost from the beginning of the first act.  Often first acts are a little slow but this one was not.  The zaniness never let up in the second act but rose to a wild crescendo at the end.

Dave Nickel stars as George Hay, the elderly actor who thinks he can still play a swashbuckling young man so well that the audience will find him believable in the part.  He really shouldn't drink, not even coffee.

Jessica Suba as Charlotte has her own theatrical aspirations. (This is the role that Carole Burnett played on Broadway.)  Jessica gives her whole heart to the performance and the audience responds to her with enthusiasm.  If only George would listen...

Ethel, Charlotte's mother, played by Terressa Knoch, must have arthritis as well as bad hearing.  She plods about at a slow, stiff, never changing pace, picking up after the cast, mending their costumes, and shaking her head at the crazy things going on around her.  The audience is amused just to watch her walk wearily from place to place.  When she doesn't hear exactly what others say to her because she either doesn't wear her hearing aids or turns them off, the audience is already primed to laugh at the results.  

Both George and Charlotte are delighted when their daughter, Rosalind, (Tina Hayes) pays them a visit though both are disappointed she has rejected a show business career.  She never does get around to telling them exactly why she is visiting.  It's a good thing she comes.  Before the play is over, her parents and the rest of their troupe need her.

Sometimes it seems, only Howard (Andrew Shamblin) knows his true identity.

Who will help poor teary-eyed Eileen, played by Bonnie Littlejohn, out of  her difficult situation?  Is there a solution that will save her?

Derek Dunavent, as Paul, really wants to help the troupe but nothing he does goes as it should.  

Steve Dietrich, as Richard, is the bearer of bad news, but  he has a plan to rescue Charlotte. 

The director, Jennifer Kaufman, saw Carol Burnett in Moon Over Broadway in New York City.  In her note in the playbill she said she thoroughly enjoyed Carol's performance then and she hopes the Troy audience will enjoy this show as well.  Niccole SueAnn Wallace is her Stage Manager

If you would like an evening of laughter and nonsense come to the Troy Civic Theatre's production of Moon Over Buffalo this coming weekend.  There are two evening performances, October 10 and October 11. The plays begin at 8 PM.  

A Gown, a Different Kind of Art

Many years ago, in one of my other lifetimes, I chose to major in sewing at Harriet Whitney Vocational High School because that was the closest option to art which was my true love.

I haven't sewn for many years but my daughter called me a couple weeks ago.  The Troy Civic Theatre's seamstress had some health issues and ended up in the hospital.  She was in the midst of making costumes for the next play.  Sonja told her she would find some seamstresses to help her.  I agreed to make one of the dresses.

When Jerri  came home from the hospital, she brought me this slip and the fabric for the dress to be attached to the slip so the actress could do a quick change.

She had chosen the fabrics and even figured out how to use the scalloped edge of the dress fabric as the hemline.  I had the dress to cut out and stitch together.

The gown was to be a 1920s dress so Jerri had decided that there could be a mock lowered waist.  I had to think a bit, but,  after laying the fabric against the actress dressed in the slip, and doing some measuring with my old, old tape measure I decided on the proper length for the over blouse.  Jerri assured me two or three times she had bought plenty of material.  She had.  There was plenty left over for the skirt.

You can see the over blouse hem just below the actress's hands.  The bottom hem which is basted in is a bit lost in the shadows but it looks like the picture above this one.

The actress came to the theater with wet hair since this was the first full dress rehearsal and the hairdresser was to work on her hairdo for the play.  I promised her I wouldn't post a head shot.  I was happy the director let me get this picture before she started the rehearsal.  I went home, put in the hem and brought the dress back in a couple hours.  The cast was in the midst of rehearsal and expected to be rehearsing for several more hours.

The more I learn about community theater the more I appreciate those whose avocation is to bring live theater to our area.

Brukner Nature Center Butterfly Transit, September 20, 2014

The weather is cooler now that Fall is here but by Saturday afternoon at 2 PM the temperature was in the low seventies (Fahrenheit).  That's warm enough for butterflies to fly.

I saw a Painted Lady on a Purple Coneflower as I walked up to the Interpretive Center.  The butterfly was still there when we started our walk so it was the first one on our list.

Butterflies were sparse.  We saw this bedraggled Eastern Tailed-Blue among the grasses in hedgerow between the parking lot and the amphitheater.  The orange spot was still on it though I couldn't see the thin hairlike tail.

We saw a few more Eastern Tailed-Blues at the meadow, a couple Painted Ladies, and this Pearl Crescent.

We saw a Sulphur  flying out in the middle of the meadow but I didn't get a photo of it.  It was too far off to count as being on the butterfly transit.

We looked hard along the drive as we headed back to the Interpretive Center but all we saw were acouple Cabbage Whites.

The season for butterflies in this area is closing down though we will continue to walk the transit until the end of October.

We have seen only one or two Monarchs all season.  Maybe there will be more next year.

Ruth is helping the Monarchs as much as she can by collecting milkweed seeds and scattering in any suitable habitat.  She is also raising and releasing Monarchs. She gets the larvae from a field near her house before the owners mow it.  She learned about raising Monarchs from her grandmother when she was a little girl and is continuing her grandmother's mission.

Before we left, Ruth showed us four Monarchs she had raised and also how she tagged them.  She is part of a group called Monarch Watch.  After tagging the butterflies, she released them.  Before they flew off, several landed for a few minutes on our shirts.

This photo was taken by Molly who works at Brukner.  I took the others since neither Phil nor Jim, our regular photographers walked with us.

Brukner Nature Center Butterfly Transit for September 14, 2014

As I drove to Brukner, I wondered if we would see any Monarchs (Danaus plexippus).  Monarchs are a beautiful showy butterfly.  If a person recognizes just one butterfly it is mostly likely the Monarch.  Children learn about them in school.  Nature programs on public television often feature them.  Books are written about them.

As I drove I saw two Monarchs flying.  One almost killed itself on my windshield.  The other was flying over a field.

The sky was beautiful, blue with puffy cumulus clouds.  The sun was shining and the air was comfortably warm on our skin when we started.  At the front door to the nature center, six Painted Ladies got our butterfly transit walk off to a good start.

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) Wingspan: 1.75-2.40 inches (4.4-6.1 cm)

Because the temperature was hovering around 70 degrees Fahrenheit which is barely warm enough for butterflies to fly, they are flying slowly compared to what they can fly because they are cold-blooded like all insects.  As the air temperature warms, the butterflies move faster.  I was able to get a photo with my snapshot camera, too.

We saw at least one Painted Lady as we walked around the outer edge of the amphitheater as well as a Leopard Frog.  There were Cabbage Whites flying about and dragonflies.  Below is one of the smaller dragonflies.

We saw a few more Painted Ladies in the meadow and also blue butterflies, Summer Azures and Eastern Tailed-Blues.  Here is one of the Eastern Tailed Blues.

Eastern Tailed-Blue (Everes comyntas) Wingspan: 0.75-1.0 inches (1.9-2.5 cm)

We saw Pearl Crescents in the meadow, also.

We saw our first Silver-Spotted Skipper along the Brukner drive...and more Painted Ladies.

Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) Wingspan: 1.75-2.40 inches (4.4-6.1 cm)

The Sulphurs were moving fast among the flowers and out into the cornfield beyond the fence but Phil but not so fast that Phil couldn't get this photo.

Sulphur (Family/Subfamily: Whites and Sulphur (Pierridael/Sulphurs (Coliadinae)

We were headed back toward the center when Phil spotted this butterfly.  It seemed large for a Pearl Crescent but the pattern seemed right.  I checked out the fritillaries and didn't find one that looked like this one.

By the time we finished our walk we had seen thirty-four or five individual butterflies so we considered the day a good one.  But we didn't find a Monarch this week.  Maybe next week.

Brukner Nature Center, Butterfly Transit, September 7, 2014

I didn't walk on the September seventh walk,  but, thanks to Phil Shafer, I have photos to show you.  The spotters found  64 individuals.  This is the highest count we have had to date.

This must be the season for Eastern Tailed-Blues.  Sixteen were seen.

The Eastern Tailed-Blue above looks like it is another bloom on the aster.

Eastern Tailed-Blue (Everes comyntas) Wingspan: 0.75-1.00 inches (1.9-2.5 cm)

The group found ten Cabbage Whites, both males and females. Cabbage Whites are common in Ohio and are seen from mid-March to late October. By checking the Butterflies of Ohio, a Field Guide by Jaret C. Daniels, I was reminded that the males have one roundish spot on the forewing  and the females have two.

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) Wingspan: 1.5-2.0 inches (3.8-5.1 cm)

What would have been exciting for me was to have seen the twenty !! Painted Ladies.  Ruth says they saw so many that after awhile the counters were saying, "Oh, just another Painted Lady."  She says other transit sites are also reporting many Painted Ladies this past week.

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) Wingspan: 1.75-2.4 inches (4.4-6.1 cm)

It was nice to finally see a Monarch.  We have been looking for them for weeks.  Monarchs have been scarce in Ohio for several years.  People have come up with several possible reasons.  One is that farming methods have changed so there are fewer Common Milkweed, the favorite food of Monarch larvae.  Some say the drought in Texas is also a factor since that is an important feeding area as the Monarchs head south to Mexico for the winter and again in the spring when they are returning to the northern states.

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)  Wingspan: 3.5-4.0 inches (8.9-10.2 cm)

When Ruth sent out the final count, she grouped all the Sulphurs in one group.  The walkers found a total of six.  Some were Orange Sulphurs (Colias eurytheme), some were Clouded Sulphurs (Colias philodice) and Phil took this photo which, we think, is of a  Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia).  You can see the shadow of the black pattern on the upper side of the wings through the underside of the wings. Southern Dogface is a butterfly which is rare in Ohio, classified as a stray by Jaret C. Daniels.

Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) Wingspan: 1.9-2.5 inches (4.8-6.4 cm).

Sulphur (Colias)

Sulphur (Colias)