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Friday 8 June 2018

Greening Up Despite The Frost

I haven't gotten out for a walk for more than a week -- it's been busy here and quite rainy some days as well. But I have a few pictures taken prior to that; they show that our spring is steadily advancing.

The dandelions have mostly gone to seed by now.

Finches are supposed to love dandelion seeds, but I haven't noticed the finches in our yard eating any. Maybe that's because our finch feeder is still open for business. I would like to wean all the birds off the feeders very shortly because the finch virus that was rampant last year has already started in some parts of the province. But our nights have been so cold (there was a heavy frost Thursday night), I feel sorry for the birds. They aren't used to temperatures this cold this time of year. The next week is forecast to be warmer, though.

Things are looking very green now:

Green trees against blue sky. When you were growing up, were you ever told that green and blue clothing should not be worn together? I was. I think that was in Home Economics class. Now it's one of my favourite combinations. Mother Nature knows what she's doing.


The edge of the riverside trail where I walk, sprinkled with tiny blue forget-me-nots.


Wild strawberry plants in blossom. When I was a kid, there was a field of wild strawberries near our house. We could pick enough of the tiny berries to make strawberry shortcake for our family of four. They are very fragile and require careful handling. We always removed the hulls of the berries as we picked, to avoid having to touch them again before washing. It was heavenly to crouch in the tall grass amidst the strawberry perfume.


Wild apple tree blossoms


And finally, the moon on the rise:

It's not green, but I like it anyway.

* * * * *

What's happening in your corner of the world?

Stay tuned for Poetry Monday, with the theme "positivity" . . .

Hope you have a nice weekend :)

38 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

I most certainly was told that green and blue should never be seen without another colour 'txixt and between.
WRONG.
Nature uses her palette superbly doesn't she.
We are having grey days here. Wasted grey days because while rain is promised it doesn't happen. Not even incontinent pigeon (splat, splat and it is gone) rain.

River said...

I love your greening photos and the moon. What's happening in my corner? A great need for sleep, and more sleep and perhaps after that a nap or two.

Cherie said...

Those dandelion heads always make me think of tiny alliums. Totally agree with you about blue and green. Mother nature knows her stuff.. Have a lovely weekend.x

Anonymous said...

Hello Jenny, I think blue and green go very well together, they compliment each other and you have proved it with your photograph.

The saying I can't understand is 'red and green should never be seen'. why not? It's like saying any red flower shouldn't be seen against a green bush or in the lawn or whatever. As the rhyming features on the colour green it's like saying anything shouldn't be seen with green. Some people should think about what they are reciting. In my younger days when I was a bit of a rebel about things I didn't agree with I purposely chose the colours of our hall when my husband was redecorating it with a red carpet and darkish green wallpaper (when you could get different wallpapers and not this designer stuff these days) and it looked good and I'm not just saying that because I chose it.

Anyway, rant over, I'll see you on Monday with Positivity. Take care.

Joan (Devon)

Marie Smith said...

It’s been wet and cold here too Jenny. Let’s hope there are warmer days ahead!

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

The combination of blue and green and lovely and always welcome.

Spring and winter had a fight, and it was a draw. Winter lasted longer, and spring brought it’s rain, rain, and more rain. I am hoping summer will do what it is supposed to do, but keep it’s humidity in check. I think that I might be asking for too much.

Joanne Noragon said...

It's a might cold spring here, too. Overnight the temperature in the house falls below what I keep it at all winter. I haven't turned the furnace back on. Think of all the electricity we're not using! Damn, it's cold.

Red said...

Wow! A heavy frost. that's hard to take at this time of year but it can happen.

Dee said...

Dear Jenny_o, there is in your posting so much peace. It just oozes out of your words and photographs and into the reader. Thank you for sharing these memories of your childhood.

In my corner of the world, here in Independence, Missouri, USA, I hope to pay bills today and to work on my first-century Palestine novel tomorrow. If all goes well, I'll have it polished and copyedited by the end of June and then self-published by mid-September. I am so blessed that I have a passion for writing and that at 82 I still feel the compulsion to write the words given to me by Oneness. Peace.

jenny_o said...

We don't have to look far in nature to see that wonderful palette, do we?

I like grey days even when they don't bring rain, but when it's dry it's very frustrating not to have the rain to go with it. I hope you get some very soon.

(Aren't all birds incontinent? :D )

jenny_o said...

Maybe some sleep would help! :D I hope you are able to get what you need.

jenny_o said...

I wouldn't have thought of dandelion heads looking like alliums but they do! Mother Nature is amazing :)

jenny_o said...

You're right, that's another great example of arbitrary rules that don't make sense, Joan! I can imagine your hall colours looking wonderful. I think the fashion and the home decor industries are especially prone to "rules" . . . because they'd never sell much otherwise :)

jenny_o said...

I think the coming week is planning to be nicer!

jenny_o said...

Low humidity? Yes, that's just a dream here, too! July is usually like a sauna here.

jenny_o said...

You need more cats, Joanne!!

jenny_o said...

It's not the first we've had in the past month and the fruit and berry farmers are saying they will have high losses this year. It doesn't affect us personally but it's very hard when your livelihood is threatened.

jenny_o said...

Thank you for your kind words, Dee. I'm glad your writing is going well. And I am thankful for good writers. Without them the world would be much poorer. Peace to you as well.

Lovenicky said...

I would love to be able to walk in the wild right now! I took a allergy test and it turned out that I'm allergic to all weeds, some trees and grass! So that I means I shouldn't go outside at all unless the wilderness is covered with snow!

37paddington said...

The new green of spring is a color all its own. You captured it here beautifully.

jenny_o said...

Ah, that is rough - there are so many things blooming in spring and summer. The snow is good for something! My daughter is sensitive to the mould in fallen leaves in autumn, which can also be a problem after the snow is gone in spring, so winter helps with that, too.

jenny_o said...

Thanks - there are so many shades of green, aren't there? Amazing :)

only slightly confused said...

Love the moon shot...the mysterious night.

dinthebeast said...

I grew up on some property that was right across the fence from a giant berry patch. Our half-acre vegetable garden was on our side of the fence.
As a child, I ate like a king.
I had a standing offer from my mother back then: bring her two coffee cans full of berries, and she would make us a pie.
Or some berry flavored home made ice cream made from cream from our milk cow.
Or when we were feeling lazy, we would just pour some fresh cream and sugar over the berries and eat them that way.
There were a variety of berries in the patch, which led to some confusion for me: I was told that the larger, roundish, black berries were himalaya berries, and the smaller, longer, thinner berries were blackberries.
It turned out that the round looking ones are actual blackberries, and the other ones were black raspberries.
That's right, we had a giant patch of black raspberries growing on the other side of the wire fence. And blackberries. And red raspberries. And salmon berries.
But no strawberries. Wild ones grew out by the beach, but the berries were too small to do anything with. We tried growing them in the garden, but never had much luck with them.
I agree that blue and green look good together, like the reflection of the sky in the emerald green of the Klamath river I used to swim in so long ago.
It's sunny and 75 here, and looking a lot like summer.

-Doug in Oakland

Martha said...

That wild strawberry story sounds wonderful. I bet it brings back some really lovely memories.

I've never heard anything about it not being right to wear blue and green together. Nonsense :) Mother Nature rules on that because she knows best!

Mr. Shife said...

Wonderful pictures and equally wonderful commentary to go along with it. Take care, jenny_o and enjoy your weekend.

jenny_o said...

Indeed. That's a good way to put it.

jenny_o said...

I hadn't heard of black raspberries before. It does sound like you had some very good eating as a child! Berries of any kind with sugar and cream are sublime.

I'm glad you are getting some summer there!

jenny_o said...

I do have good memories of strawberry picking. My dad was the moving force behind all our berry picking and those memories feature him more than anyone :)

jenny_o said...

Thanks, Mr. S - you, too!

Diane Stringam Tolley said...

I feel as though I've just a lovely, refreshing walk on the other side of the country! Thank you!

jenny_o said...

And thank you for that kind comment - this is often how I feel about others' posts as well.

Anonymous said...

Amazing shots of our wonderful nature. Nice to see different flowers!

Steve Reed said...

Ha! I haven't heard of that green/blue rule, but it sounds like something they'd teach in Home Ec. I see you have some horsetails growing along with your dandelions! I think they're such cool plants, but they are incredibly tenacious. (We don't have any in our garden, thank goodness, but I see them at the cemetery all the time.)

jenny_o said...

There is so much to see outside in the spring!

jenny_o said...

Not my dandelions, not my horsetails :) These are along the walking trail. I called the horsetails "ant trees" when I was a kid - in fact I didn't know their name until your comment. Now I need to go read about them!

kylie said...

So many of the old rules seem odd now. I would never have worn a brown shoe with black clothing but I often encourage my daughters to do it, it's a softer look.
I'm pleased you are feeding the finches a little longer, they probably need some help

jenny_o said...

I'd forgotten that "rule"! Probably because I've been ignoring it for years also :)