210608 snake spit

June 8 

"Where have you BEEN?!", asked 12 year old Rain the moment I came in the door. Even now, my oldest and my grandchildren are at the door as I come in, with questions and calls for attention. I should consider it a compliment! I am needed and loved.

Snake spit on the plants. It's not actually snake spit, of course. It's a bug larva in a foamy protective shelter of its own making: the spittlebug, aptly named.

The days are so physical, the senses so occupied, that the mind takes a back seat; the internal stays quiet, watches and listens. So many pictures, so few words.

We liked having the cows here. They are beautiful. There might have been 20 or 25 cows and their calves. One bull, a big black creature, liked to stand near the fence, between the cows and me. He had a little sidekick black male calf that loitered near him. They have all been taken to another pasture and I can visit the stream again.

The stream, settled into its summertime existence, small but consistent.

These are a hawkweed, I think. Is there a botanist in the house? Like most flowers, they close up when the sun is gone. This strikes me as eminently efficient. 

         

Came across another jack-in-the-pulpit, a most amazing, charming, exotic life-form. They like roadsides and streamsides. They seem to be uncommon.

The red raspberry is in flower everywhere. We have bushes and bushes of red and black raspberries. I wonder, though, how much nature will share with us. I am sure there will be many creatures enjoying them.

The first ripening strawberry!

There are parts of the forest that are bare of undergrowth. Light and water definitely play a part, but it is intriguing.

The roads now are tunnels of green. I remember when they were paved with snow and the sleeping trees clothed white on black.

Horses and elephant birds in the sky.

I said to myself, I'd like a food processor but without all the electric gadgetry. I found this the next day at the friperie. Works like a charm. Excellent shoulder workout. Ground chickpeas for hummus.

I need more stock shelves. This shelf has been leaning against the neighbour's shed all winter. I finally went and asked if they wanted to keep it or get rid of it. So, yes, they gave it to me. Its finish is so sturdy that a winter outside did not harm it one bit! Ask.

I broke down and got a hummingbird feeder. I don't approve of feeding birds, or, I know I am too lazy to want the responsibility of keeping a bird feeder. Nevertheless... and they are coming! They visit each day and I am taking care to keep it clean and re-filled. I placed it in sight of the window in the pin-cherry they were visiting while it was in flower. It was a few days before I installed the feeder but they came! They are so tiny, and not shy of the house or us. There isn't one in this picture, btw.

The evening sun on the roadside ferns.

The sun is gone behind the ridge and lights up the clouds.

Keep well. Second vaccines just around the corner, but I am thinking that masks may become part of my regular attire. I have been free of colds and flu since March, 2020. Who knew that prevention was a couple of layers of cloth away. (Asia, that's who. Masks have been routinely worn there for many years, to prevent the spread of germs and to protect from pollution.)

Mumma Yaga