Thursday, 8 June 2017
Lily bloom with attendant or insect-visitor.
Aesthetic cone flower bloom.
Fungus the size of a serving platter, on a tree root.
You may sort these differently. I went for life-duo (flower and insect), one life (a bloom), and a fading life-form. Give me time to think about and I may say: no hierarchy.
These things are complicated.
Tuesday, 6 June 2017
We are simple people (?), lately binge-watching the new season of House of Upside-Down Flag and rejoicing that Rachel Maddow is back. [Fill-ins were competent, but no else one is Rachel!] One of us (not me) has also been distracted with the latest Apple news/new products.
“Pink” in the title just refers to the flower.
Monday, 5 June 2017
It’s magnolia season! With hydrangeas. And gardenias. And more. Plenty floral out there!
Also, the ’maters that were on the plant when we brought it home are a fine red—and splashed with soil from the rain. And split; hard to think they grew too fast…they’re the size of musketballs…and not much larger than when I planted them.
Sunday, 4 June 2017
I took this photo thinking that I had the capability of producing a cleverly obscure comment to accompany it. Turns out: no.
So, here’s a posing lantana bloom. I went out for a stroll, thinking the rain was slacking off. Turns out: no; I was so wrong. I managed to convince my camera (aka phone) to obey my fingertips and not the raindrops it seemed to be seduced by, and here we have a flower photo against the odds. Lousy, but still….
Reminder: don’t sing either….
Saturday, 3 June 2017
We had a lazy day—for agriculturalists…wait, we’re just tourists at another B&B—and this one is very familiar. No fresh fruit, though; I’m going to downgrade it a bit on tripadvisor or similar. Oh, wait. The food selection is up to MEEEEEE! And I can report that the ’maters are still green.
Fun that the b-day guy and the niece visited for a bit. We are lucky folk! We gave them a gardenia (close your eyes and inhale), but no green tomatoes.
Wednesday, 31 May 2017
The wind (more than the rain) is bringing down the apple petals. They are reminiscent of snow on the grass.
This lupine is developing color, but still tight-closed.
Love the purple shades that develop in the blossoms. Some tend a bit toward lavender, and we have a small minority that are white or pink.
I just checked the lilacs, and ours have color but the buds are unopened. I smelled, and no scent yet. ;-(
Monday, 29 May 2017
Escapee from the great-grandmother garden….
And another. The lupines are just opening…if you check every half-day, the purple-progression is obvious.
Not all the apple trees have this much pink in their buds and new-blossoms.
The first two have been sustaining themselves for nearly a century (okay, maybe only eight decades). I think the apples were planted just after WWII.
Sunday, 28 May 2017
We’ve reset the seasons. That is, we’ve journeyed north far enough that early-mid summer is not now, now is early spring. And this lupine is far ahead of the curve. Most lupines in the orchard are just leaves and not even buds.
The apple blossoms have begun to open in the last four days. You can see both buds and blooms on these branches. And the cottage out of focus in the background (for those with sharp eyes).
The Guru took Droney for a run between showers and caught me burning off the trash and warming up the cottage. Honestly, I thought: no need for keeper wood—just a bit of heat to take the edge off.
Saturday, 27 May 2017
After days of a sheep-decorated landscapes, we just have to note: no sheep (here). Not a one. But here the trilliums are busting forth. Love me a trillium. So a carpet of them leaves me breathless.
I had not realized that the carpet of trilliaciousness* can be accompanied by an equally glorious showing of forget-me-nots. I am slightly more educated in wildflowers after today’s reveals.
I took both these photos are right by our northwest downspout. I didn’t have to venture into the woods, or even someone else’s woods, to obtain them.
Happy woods-wandering! Maybe you can find a floral vision that’s equally spellbinding….
* Made-up word.
Thursday, 25 May 2017
We drove 1926 miles in Ireland. That was over 16.5 days (average 116.7 mi/day).
One day that we climbed to several fortified ringforts, my Fitbit recorded that I climbed 169 flights of stairs. My phone recorded that I climbed a mere 14 that same day. The fact that, as I understand it, the Fitbit counts 8.5 feet as a flight, and the phone uses 10 feet doesn’t account for that discrepancy. And I don’t think either was close to accurate.