Musings

This fawn sighting is from yesterday, overlooked due to poor monitoring by yours truly or it would have appeared (ahem) then. The photo is by the Guru. The fawn was nowhere near this close when I saw (spotted? hahaha) him/her. Kudos to the Guru for this digital capture.

These potentilla blossoms were not mewling and strolling away (like the Odocoileus virginianus of yesterday), so I managed to capture them in all their glory. What gutsy insect is eating the petals?

Turns out that Potentilla is now Dasiphora…geeze, can’t those taxonomists settle on genus/species???? huh????

Posted at 9:34 PM | Comments Off on Observations, localized

Here’s the best of the now-blown peonies. Peonies trigger thoughts of this place, and my grandmother’s flower garden. She had a special pair of scissors/trimmers that she used to cut flowers to make bouquets in the house. They were decorated, clearly a lady’s tool.

I think of these yarrow as wild flowers, but I read that there are domesticated varieties. These look like the wild ones. I thought these were moths on the blossoms, but maybe they’re something else.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Farm flowers

I made a big rice salad for our contribution to the potluck Fourth celebration across the way. I used these garlic scapes among the many veggies I added.

Our hosts always supply brats and weiners grilled to full tastiness. And home-baked beans. Guests bring the rest. Extra yummy this year, I thought.

Great company, too. Always great fun to catch up with people we see just once a year.

No sparklers even, and we saw the fireworks on Sunday night…but I still thought about this being the anniversary of the founding of our nation while I chopped veggies…I find these strange times, and tried to be buoyed by the tendency of institutions to perpetuate themselves in much the same form.

On the way back to our place the moon seemed to reign over the orchard and the lake.

Posted at 10:00 PM | Comments Off on Fun and festivities

Twenty-eight years ago (if my math is correct), I met The Guru.

Then there’s the Amazon/Whole Foods thing. And I can’t keep track of all the changes in the international realm.

Posted at 10:11 PM | Comments Off on Pivot points

Busy, cute bee. Look at the subtle shadow of the wings on the petals.

Before the fennel fronds open, they look like tendrils searching for something to wind around. And this umbel looks like a praying mantis.

Posted at 10:28 PM | 1 Comment »

Despite the time we spent in Ireland, we didn’t spend much time in pubs. Tonight we watched a documentary on Irish pubs that showcased the ones that mostly were in small towns, hadn’t changed much, and sold a few groceries and maybe hardware, and possibly had a gas pump. Disabled. Anyway, inside the pubs were snugs, a small area separated from the pub area by window walls, where women sat, until around 1960. Also, folks would withdraw to a snug to do business without being overheard—arrange a marriage, bet on horses, that kind of thing.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Still learning

We’re in the summer thunder pattern of late-day pop-up storms, and it is booming outside. ’Shrooms that I think are cousins of these were in their prime three days ago, then gone. This is a new batch, but I think the same kind. Same habitat, anyway. Driveway cracks. Love how see-through the stalks/stems appear.

Posted at 10:45 PM | Comments Off on These are tiny

Today’s two excitements are not on the same plane. First, the gardenias have reached full scent. And that is some glorious plant-perfume.

The other excitement is the brand-new iPad, the brand-new model that shipped today. It is fast and commodious (inside, at least that’s what I hear), and has a wider gamut than any of our other screens. At least, I have that on good authority.

The delivery of the new device had its own drama. Brown promised it by 7pm—and it was no-show on that schedule. I was hungry, and debated a bit, then dropped the pasta in the boiling water, figuring that, in the way of these things, would get it to show up. Yup. Right at 7:15.

Dinner and an iPad.

Posted at 8:37 PM | 2 Comments »

So, is backlighting analogous to time going backwards, in the visual realm?

Another figure flipped today, a figure that changes in one direction…as…it’s the b-day of a family member, not of this household…one of our dear June people…. Can I “say” this less awkwardly? Yes, just not tonight. Tippo’ the champagne glass….

Posted at 9:26 PM | Comments Off on Figuring

A zinnia? And its zinnia buddy? I think there’s a short story in this visual vignette.

My eye was caught by the flag’s backlighting. It’s meh here, but was lovely in real life. Apologies if I’ve posted a version of this before….

Posted at 9:39 PM | Comments Off on Fine day