Planets pose for family portraits

Two years after its launch, NASA's Kepler space telescope has detected more than 1,200 potential planets circling distant stars by tracking the slight dimming of starlight. This graphic, drawn up by Kepler science team member Jason Rowe, shows all 1,235 worlds in proper proportion to their respective stars. Some of the stars are thought to have multiple planets.

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The stars' sizes range from 6.1 times larger than our sun to just a third as wide. For comparison's sake, Rowe has included our own sun, off by itself beneath the top row. Jupiter appears as a speck in silhouette, and Earth is an even more minuscule speck. The colors of each star reflect how it would look if we could see it up close, outside Earth's atmosphere.

Nearly all of these candidates have yet to be confirmed as planets rather than binary-star companions or computer glitches. Kepler's scientists expect that 80 to 90 percent of them will turn out to be honest-to-goodness exoplanets. They also expect to find more candidates as the mission continues, including some specks as tiny as Earth.

Snow on March 27th

Yes, we had an inch of fresh snow yesterday morning. The daffodils were a bit droopy.


The ole Lenten Rose was feeling sad!

The Blood-root has already lost its petals.

By last evening, the snow had melted and the flowers were back in spring mode.





March is always an interesting time of the year!

Turkey And Hail!

This past Wednesday evening Judy prepared a fine supper of turkey, mashed potatoes/gravy, cranberry sauce, and salad. Mom Meads and Diana were here to share in this meal.

Just before we started eating, a strong storm front moved through with high winds, rain, and hail. The hail was only about pea sized. Our friends in Charleston had a much heavier hail experience.





The temperatures dropped from around 70 degrees to 57 degrees in a few minutes. Spring is definitely here!

Spring in the Meads Yard

Gosh, we really enjoy this time of year. The Lenten Rose is in full bloom.



Sorry to say this is the only crocus that we have in the flower garden.

Forsythia is always a joy!

The fragile blossoms of Blood Root is such a happy resident!


Daffodils always lead the spring parade!

Top of Cabin Mountain

Saturday evening at dusk Bob and Janet transported us to Timberline Lodge in order that we may participate in the Snow Luau Festival. There were live Hawaiian music with a bonfire.
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Here is our motley crew.

Fireworks were set off on top on Cabin Mountain as a plethora of skiers with blazing torches descended from the slopes. It was as if lava were pouring from the mountain.



This was a most moving experience and we thank Bob and Janet for sharing this event and the weekend with us. When we left the celebration, we were welcomed by the HUGE moon rising above the ridge line.

Gary, Anna Belle, Judy, and I left from Timberline on Sunday morning. After a lunch at C.J. Maggie's, we arrived back in Glenville mid afternoon. As we always say- we are so blessed to have friends!

Top Of Cabin Mountain

We stopped by a rental property in Timberline called Snow Lodge. David, Jan, and Bob are among the owners in this venture.



The property is located just beside the Salamander ski run. Renters can have their coffee on the deck and watch the skiers and snow boarders racing by.


It is always interesting to see new rentals that are available throughout the year.



Get ready for the Lava Flow. (Snow Luau)

Top of Cabin Mountain

Janet, David, Anna Belle, Judy, and I decided on Saturday afternoon to travel to Thomas and check out the Colabrese Brothers Hardware. This is the town of Thomas last original store and was established in 1932.

This store is a treat for the eyes.

The clerk is "forcing" Judy to smell the wonderful herbs and teas. The olfactory sense does provide an increase in her sales. True to that fact, Judy did add to the economy of that business.

Still having some desire to alleviate ourselves of hard earned cash, our last shopping venue was Mountain Made. The building below is just across from the Mountain Made shop. This building was an administration building during the coal boom. Mountain Made was their company store.


Davis is honing his musical skills. He really needed to be accompanied by a banjo and fiddle.




It was an excellent Saturday afternoon outing.

Top of Cabin Mountain

What a weekend with friends! As you can see, the Amish made rockers were in full use.



Jan is a master chef. She has shared many recipes with us that have become a part of our family heritage. The hominy casserole is one of these. Miss Jan is making tomato basil soup for lunch.


Bob is always in motion. Wish I knew where that fellow gets his energy. He is correcting a little warping in the front door.

We will share with you all additional views from around the house.