Have you recovered from reading the long post I published last week? I seemed to have a great deal to tell you, and as a result that post was over 2500 words. This week, you may be relieved to know, I don't have nearly as much to tell you, but I have lots to show.
As we get closer to the summer solstice, the evenings have stretched to the point where I can easily take a leisurely walk with the dogs after dinner. Sometimes I actually have my camera with me, and that means I get shots like these, with the horses outlined in the last golden light of the day. If I'm really lucky, I can persuade my dear husband to come with us.
He's always happy to have the chance to have a chat with his horses, and they're always happy to get a scratch and some affectionate words. Here Ivy has been reduced to half-closed eyes as she blissfully soaks up the relief of a scratch on her itchy, fly-bitten chest. I love the shadow of her wobbling lip in the shadow just on the left edge of the photo. A wobbly lower lip is a sign of deep pleasure when a horse is getting a scratch like this.
The views from the house are gorgeous in this golden light.
And doesn't that light make these about-to-pop crabapple blossoms glow?
I thought you might like to see how things are changing in the woods. The pine grass is greening up.
And the aspens are in full leaf.
And over by the creek, the brush is so leafy that the creek itself is invisible, except for that one little dark patch in the lower left of the photo. So is Sass, who is having a drink and a belly-cooling dip but can't be seen behind all the leaves.
That intense green in the larch behind the old trailer is glorious, and I love the double bend in the road in the distance as it meanders up the valley.
At home, the lilacs and cherries and apple and crabapple are over, but the columbines are in full bloom.
A whole lot of self-heal (aka prunella vulgaris) has popped up in the lawn. It's only about two inches tall, but such a lovely periwinkle blue, almost exactly the same colour as the columbine.
My dear friend Louise gave me all these bedding plants for my containers. She's an accomplished and avid gardener and she had masses of annual seedlings left over from her early greenhouse sowing. Any day now I'll get them potted up.
Johnny Jump-ups have self-seeded year after year in the containers and the vegetable garden, where we work the planting beds with great care not to disturb them.
And while we're there, let's see how the vegetable garden is looking. The garlic and strawberries are going great guns.
What a good dog, observing the no-dogs-in-the-garden rule without being reminded.
The rhubarb is bearing almost frighteningly well. The first pie came out of the oven last night. (Dad, sorry you weren't here to have a piece.)
The hops on the gazebo are leafing out beautifully. In twenty years or so they'll probably be providing some real shade.
And here are some animal cameos for you. First, proof that I didn't completely terrify all the birds by hanging my quilt on the fence between the birdhouses last week. This swallow seems unflapped (sorry) by my presence.
Here Soop is using the upturned canoe, stored on a stand built onto the fence, to gain a better vantage point from which to view the swallows nesting by the new shop. She enjoys finding new places to perch.
And here Winston is making me feel faint and anxious by heading way out into the neighbour's field to hunt. You may have to look closely to see him, the orange dot in the middle distance. He did come home.
Recovering from his hunting trip.
And here's a sign that we're moving into late spring/early summer: the dogs' pool is full of water and in place on the lawn. It was HOT! Things were getting a a little too dry for comfort, both here at home and in the woods.
Then this happened.
The female red-winged blackbirds at the feeder were unfazed by this downpour. We were ecstatic.
And so I end where I began, with views from the house in the evening light, and our own golden girl.
Happy first of June.
Lovely post, - enjoyed the pictures and the beautiful light.
Posted by: Hildred Finch | 06/06/2015 at 09:01 PM