Tag: William Daniel Ross
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Sun Setting into the Adirondacks
Darkness is falling in the Adirondacks, and soon with a little luck I will witness the Perseid showers streaking the Champlain Valley dome. My bride shot this image on her mobile from our runabout in the middle of Lake Champlain on August 12, 2013 while waiting for the meteor shower. If you’re in the…
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Garter Snake in the Snow in Summer
That was one jumbo garter snake, friends! Even longer than the timber rattlesnake I witnessed a couple of weeks ago in a friends barn, though falling short in girth, rattles, and venom. Though this Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) was docile and quickly retreated into a crevice in the stone wall, it’s a common misconception…
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Cedar-Apple Rust on Pixie Crunch Apple Trees
Over the last two weeks I’ve observed two young Pixie Crunch apple trees in our orchard succumbing to cedar-apple rust. Or so I suspect. I’m no plant pathology expert. And I’m an eager but admittedly amateur pomologist. So my hypothesis that dread cedar-apple rust has infiltrated Rosslyn’s orchard may be premature and far off target.…
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Carriage Barn Renovation: Stone Gutters?
A pair of exciting — and slightly mysterious — artifacts have been disinterred from Rosslyn’s carriage barn today. Just when the re-flooded basement (second time in two weeks) starts to discourage me, I am reminded of Rosslyn’s benevolence. Just when Rosslyn’s flooded basement (second time in two weeks) starts to discourage me, I am reminded…
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Dueling Banjos: An Adirondack Reflection
Sometimes the universe rhymes. Have you ever noticed that? As if there’s a poetry underneath our everyday lives, and sometimes — when we’re lucky — the poetry floats up to the surface. “Dueling Banjos” à la Adirondacks This morning I was lucky. My thanks go out to friend and North Country enthusiast Steve Malone who…
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Rosslyn in Essex on Lake Champlain
Note: The following Rosslyn excerpts originally appeared in “Rosslyn“ (Essex on Lake Champlain, February 26, 2013) and “Rosslyn Boathouse“ (Essex on Lake Champlain, February 27, 2013). Rosslyn, the second oldest home on Essex, New York’s Merchant Row, is located just south of The Dower House. This historic home (also known as the W.D. Ross Mansion,…
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American Mink
I few evenings ago I remembered that I’d left my iPhone on the runabout, so I headed down to the waterfront before dinner to grab it. As I stepped out onto the dock, I noticed an energetic mink playing around on the rocks. I froze. Would he vanish if he saw me? He continued…
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Rosslyn Gardens: Mid-July Veggies
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mQqE7yNGkA&w=600&rel=0] After the rainiest spring/summer in years, the summer of 2012 appears to be one of the driest, and Rosslyn gardens have mostly profited. Time for an update on our mid-July veggies, plus an important question about squash blossoms at the end. Lake Champlain water levels are plummeting (waterfront/dock/boating update soon) and lawns are either…
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Mary Wade’s Rosslyn Art
My bride refers to herself as “Mama” to our Labrador Retriever, Griffin. It’s always struck me as a bit goofy, preferring, I suppose, to think of myself as my dog’s master. Though anyone familiar with our little family of three would hastily remind me that I might have that backwards, as Griffin clearly rules the…
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Rosslyn Unplugged
Yesterday, Thursday, May 15, 2009 was windier than a subway median at rush hour. Lake Champlain wind blasts reached 50 mph. The forecast had threatened gusts up to 90 mph. The rain drizzled off and on all day, but the fellow building the stone wall near the mud room stuck it out and got the…
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Excavating Rosslyn
“I look at it as an excavation, if you will,” says the architect. (New England Home) The architect, Pete Lackey of Charles Myer and Partners in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is referring to “taking the long view” on renovation, specifically to reawakening the heart and soul of a building instead of willfully or inadvertently altering it. I…