Through the Haze

I thought I wouldn't go for a buggy ride today but it is warm and enticed me to get off my chair and take a short cruise. I noticed a lot of the little Birdsfoot Trefoil clusters everywhere along the sides of all the roads I traveled. Each wildflower has its turn to bloom. I snatched a few for a tiny bouquet of the little yellows. And yes, I''m rooting more spearmint.

 The three images below are from the internet et.

There is another yellow flower that I have on my list to find. It was one of my mother's favorites and I remember it because of its catchy name. She always called it "scrambled eggs" and indeed that is what it is! The description is from Wikipedia: Corydalis aurea (scrambled eggs, golden smoke, golden corydalis) is a flowering plant in the poppy family, native to North America.

Just checked on the Blue Spruce at the neighbor lake to see if the wild sweet pea is overtaking it. I don't think so as both are looking quite bright and beautiful. I have been watching this for several years now and wondering which will win - the tree or the plant.

When heading back home I see the bindweed are blooming everywhere. They sure do take over some areas!

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Quick Rideabout

After breakfast I had just finished delivering some of the white fudge to my friend and neighbor to share. As I was driving down from their driveway I was reminded of how things change - never to be the same. This was my view and I don't really like views of this kind, as my memory tells me the huge and beautiful cornfields and hayfields that were there in full glory at this time of year are gone, forever, never to grow there again! I'm sooo resistant to change.

To make myself feel better I continued onward for a short trip up the dirt road and found that yellow and orange seem to be the colors of the morning.

I wonder what the plant with no flowers is...

One of the prettiest gardens that I know of is cared for by a man who is older than I and lives at my neighbor lake. He is to be commended for his beautiful plantings, mostly vegetables that are protected from wildlife with wire. This one lives outside the cages and is Yellow Loosestrife.

A quick trip back home before the storm breaks. We do need rain!

Dusty Roads

My buggy arrived back home from winter storage and service yesterday. The weather has warmed up and I contemplated a short rideabout. I took pictures of a few daffodils that weren't opened the day before and by morning they were in full bloom. I cut a few for inside every year so I can enjoy their brightness from my chair. The others in this area have bloomed too as the weather was warm. I can no longer walk on unlevel ground so I did get the buggy out from the carport to shoot my own side-yardful. Then I took a ride and every car/truck/van that passed me dusted me terrible! However, mission accomplished and I now know that Mother Nature is springing into activity! 

Photo by Lori

The old (very old) flowerbed next to the cabin has many daffodils so I started with these. Mother planted them way back when....

Then I chose a few more to show you. Everywhere I looked there were daffodils in full bloom and dozens of them all alongside the roads too.

To me, daffodils represent new birth and new beginnings; a symbol of hope and joy. I love them. I also see that the very old fashioned purple iris are poking up and they are pleasing to my eyes as well. Soon......

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The township truck just made a couple of passes spraying the road so I'll probably take another ride later.

Dusty Rider

The wildflowers in this area are dying from lack of rain. I rode for almost two hours and didn't take but a very few pictures of just one.  People were watering their flowerbeds, but the hills and dales are bone dry and brown. I was disappointed, BUT...when I uploaded my shots became happier. You see, there were just these yellow fellows, but my pictures were satisfactory. Of course I had to research as I didn't know what they were. I only knew what they weren't! Would you have stopped for these? Probably not.

They looked better as I got closer...

Below is an internet picture of the back. I 'fixed' the background so it would show up better.

It is known as a Field Sowthistle. Its history is interesting - to me, at least. The below information is from one of hundreds of pages I found concerning the perennial.

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Crepis vesicaria

Native to:

Albania, Algeria, Austria, Baleares, Belgium, Canary Is., Corse, East Aegean Is., France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kriti, Madeira, Morocco, Netherlands, Portugal, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkey-in-Europe, Yugoslavia

Introduced into:

British Columbia, California, Connecticut, Great Britain, Hawaii, Ireland, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Poland, South Australia, Victoria

Well, I learned something today.

Colors Galore

Results of my rideabout yesterday. First I found some wild spearmint and nipped off a couple of short stems. I plan to go back and cut longer pieces to propagate in water.

Then I found a wildflower growing in front of an old barn and cut a flower to bring home to ascertain that my identification is correct. Yes, it is a purple columbine and a very healthy one at that! Many blossoms were open with more to go.

Every year my neighbor's bright poppies grow in an untended bed that is around his mailbox. I have taken better pictures in past years but just couldn't resist the urge to snap a couple more.

Another neighbor has magnificent yellow iris and those too, were begging for me to capture them.

The marigold bed was overflowing so I tried to get closeup shots of a few. Well they are not as sharp as I hoped for but still pretty and colorful!

That was yesterday and I plan to hit the dirt road before the rains come. Wonder what will grab my eye this time? Stay tuned.

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Speaking of Dandelions

Come on! SOMEBODY make this! The blossoms this year are huge and perfect for plucking. I no longer have a crock and wouldn't be able to gather them but somebody out there really should give it a try!

https://youtu.be/QWnBYRDO5ds

Yellow

I rode around for over an hour today, avoiding the nasty potholes that are filled with muddy water from last night's downpours and I didn't see single critter or bird or different variety of flower, wild or cultivated. As I was returning home I remembered to capture a few from the beautiful garden of the yellow Iris that I didn't shoot yesterday because the man of the house was working in his yard. Yellow is a favorite color of mine and one of my best friends loves yellow. I even made a video slide show around 8 years ago all about Yellow, using my photos.  See link below. 

This was by their wishing well but I don't know what it is. It looks similar to wild columbine ?????

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Link to Yellow

Celebration - Diamonds and Daffodils

Anything to brighten the day! These do it very well. My daughters were cleaning out an apartment after a death in the family and gave this to me, knowing how I love crystals and bright things. I set it on a bottle neck in the kitchen window for now. It is a Tiffany & Co. crystal faceted diamond-shaped prism paperweight. It's marked Tiffany & Co. on the side, with a monogrammed title "New York Times Magazine" on the bottom. It weighs about 1.25 lbs. and measures about 4 inches tall with 3.25" diameter. 

I found some very nice pictures of this exact piece on the internet!

 Don't ask me its monetary worth - I don't care. It brightens my life - just like the dozen of the very first daffodils that bloomed up in the old rock garden yesterday! My mother planted them MANY years ago and there are hundreds more to pop open.

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