A little Portsmouth for you

All photo's taken from Pierce Island about one month ago

Geno’s Restaurant

Geno’s

Settled in 1623 Portsmouth has some wonderful historic colonial homes and views to offer. Strolling through the old narrow streets where the houses sit literally right on the street is always a treat on a warm summers day. Many of the gardens of these old homes are well tended and quite beautiful.

Located on the Piscatiqua river the Memorial Bridge connecting Portsmouth to Kittery, Maine was the first major vertical lift bridge built in the nation. In the summertime the bridge raises and lowers every 1/2 hour during the day to allow sail boats or ships to pass through.

Dedicated in 1923 to World War I sailors and soldiers, currently this bridge is considered historic and on the national endangered list. In need of a major overhaul which will cost multi-millions it’s anyone’s guess what will happen in the next few years. Demolition or restoration … surely it will be a hot topic among the locals and state officials.

Newcastle Commons View

Memorial Day was a gorgeous day to spend seaside with good friends!

Lilacs in bloom

 

New Hampshire historian Leon Anderson writes in To This Day that the purple lilac was first imported from England and planted at the Portsmouth home of Governor Benning Wentworth in 1750. It was adopted as our state’s flower in 1919. That year bills and amendments were introduced promoting the apple blossom, purple aster, wood lily, Mayflower, goldenrod, wild pasture rose, evening primrose and buttercup as the state flower. A long and lively debate followed regarding the relative merits of each flower. The purple lilac was ultimately chosen, according to Anderson in New Hampshire’s Flower -- Tree -- Bird because it "is symbolic of that hardy character of the men and women of the Granite State."

~ nh.gov

 

Red-tailed Hawk feast

 

I came home a few nights ago to find this handsome Red-tailed Hawk having dinner (a la Red Squirrel) on the next door neighbors front yard. No narrative needed for the rest of the pictures but I will warn you in advance, it gets a little gross.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photographing a bird in flight seems to be a real challenge for me. Some people have it and some don’t. So far, I don’t. 

I can’t be sure, and find it hard to believe, but judging by what I can read on the band # along with the markings on this Hawk, I’m actually thinking it’s the same one that frequented our neighborhood last year on a regular basis.

A sign of good things to come

 

 Applecrest

A very popular local farm market to pick or buy apples in the fall as well as many yummy goodies such as pies, jellies, donuts, maple syrup, and more. As a general rule we try to stay away during apple season since it tends to get a little bit of a fair-like atmosphere, which I don’t particularly care for. But as my husband and I drove by almost 2 weeks ago I was struck by all the beautiful trees in bloom. Apple blossoms almost as far as the eye could see!

I found myself there a couple days later to capture the beauty of Applecrest instead of the chaos ; )

 From a distance I thought these were apple picking bins. Um . . . I was wrong.  They were bee boxes swarming with thousands of honey bee’s! I tried to get a little closer but since we just watched a show on Killer bee’s a few weeks ago I’m still a bit freaked out.

 

 Who says Dandelions can’t be beautiful? The contrast is amazing!

 

Just think, every blossom you see will be an apple very shortly. That’s a lot of apples!

Standing on a rock as high as I can; but it still doesn’t come close to showing you the enormity of apple tree’s on this hill

Honey bee doing his thing. Judging by his legs I’d say he’s been doing his thing on a few other flowers before this one

 

In the next field over . . . who knew weeds could be so impressive?

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And  . . .

 

Recently I saw a lone Canadian Goose chillin’ in the middle of a huge field of Dandelions. Wonder if anyone else saw it?

 

In the birds defense, he was pretty far out in the field. Sometimes I think birding while driving is like texting! Eye’s on the road people!

Bay view bird houses

For as long as I can remember these birdhouses have been here.  We’re talking many years.  Passing by them this spring on a daily basis to and from work made me think I’d like to photograph them, but they’re on private property so I knew I had to ask permission.

Just my luck the gentleman who owns the home happened to be outside one morning so I stopped in and introduced myself.

Robert and I talked for quite a while.  Turns out he is 80 years old and he’s lived here for 50 years! He was quite the character telling me about his wife, her son who is ill with Parkinsons disease and the support group his wife started, how the business next door used to be a barn, and much more.

I asked Robert if these were new birdhouses because I didn’t remember them being so brightly colored.  He told me they were the same old houses but he took all the houses down during the winter, repainted and cleaned them out, and put them all back up in the early spring.  He also said at one time a local paper had put a photo of his birdhouses on their front page, but that was years ago.

We talked about the birds too, of which he mostly gets Sparrows. Birds were definitely the theme here.  Even inside his 3-season back porch was all about the birds.

I’m telling you Robert might be 80 but he was full of life! Always on the go (he was rarely home) and he had me laughing with his quick wit and sense of humor.  I’ve always enjoyed talking with older people anyway.

 

I can’t imagine having this view for 50 years, can you?

 

Robert wasn’t sure how old his house is but he guessed around 100-150 years old. Being that it has a brick foundation I would say at least 100 years. Cute little place though.

 

* Love this funky photo re-do!

Spring Fling!

Isn’t it wonderful that someone took the time to plant these right next to the sidewalk for all to enjoy?

A traditional white picket fence sets off the delicate pink blossoms with their long green stems

Just around the corner from the Tulips were these beautiful flowers on a small tree. I spoke with the owners of the home while they worked in the garden, yet neither one was quite sure what kind of tree it was since the tree was planted by the previous owner.

The woman told me I should come back when her Azalea comes into bloom. She said it has a purple pinwheel design she hasn’t seen anyplace else. Think I might take her up on that offer!

They remind me of Apple blossoms but all the flowers are hanging instead of facing upright

Savannah Sparrow

Scratching that itch!

I think a vase of deep purple Lilacs on my kitchen table is in order