Friday, June 15, 2018

Friday Five: Admiring the Morning

First, a caveat: This is a Friday 6, not 5. 

As I sat at the table this morning, the sky was cloudy and things looked a bit dull. I forked up my last bit of egg and avocado, and then - the sun burst through, and compelled me to go outside. I poured myself a mug of tea, slung my camera around my neck, and stepped out into the morning. 


Oh, what a morning! No noble lady strolling her vast estates could take more joy in seeing the day's delights than I in my little urban bit of garden. God's wonders are everywhere.

I notice the oregano will flower soon, so I'll cut it back tomorrow, drying the stalks on trays before stripping the leaves and storing them in jars. The bees enjoy the flowers so much, and I'll leave a patch of stalks for them. Blue campanula peeks from underneath the oregano.  


The Secret Roses smell wonderful and bloom repeatedly, although they are mottled this year, with splotches of odd colour. Perhaps they absorbed some of the peony colour blooming behind them and looking rather tattered these days. It's time to clip those stems! 


Circling round the flower beds, I come to the blueberry patch, an ambitious name for a collection of 5 or 6 bushes. They are loaded with berries this year. What delight to see the first ones begin to ripen. We've had a few cooler weeks that slowed things down, but heat is in the forecast and will speed the ripening.


I stand and gawk at the jasmine vine for a considerable length of time. It's loaded with tiny fragrant blossoms and obscures the trellis supporting it. My inaction is in sharp contrast to the busyness of bees, wasps, and other flying things darting in and out of blossoms, oblivious to my attempts to capture them on my camera. 

When I looked at the photos later, I noticed this fat bumblebee balancing himself with one leg resting on an adjoining vine as he drinks sweet nectar. He was there less than 2 seconds.


In the vegetable patch the pole beans are finally sprouting. I planted them late and then the cool weather came. Beans like warmth. What pleases me most about my pole beans is that I've saved seed for several years and never purchase it anymore. Beans have a way of getting too big too fast and at the end of the season when I'm tired of picking them green, I let them ripen and dry on the vine, then shell them. Some are saved for seed and the others for dried bean dishes. 


My tea mug empty, my eyes and heart full, I return to the house and notice this caterpillar on the door frame. What magnificent spiky parasols he sports.  I snap the photo and then let him be, an action I may regret later when I see leaves and flowers chewed up. 

Now, I'm off to school - there are papers to grade and reports to write, as well as students to teach. There is precious little teaching going on these days as we review for tests and try to harness the energy as summer break approaches. The teachers drag through the hallways, exhausted, while students bounce up and down. Just three days of classes left. We can do it. 

20 comments:

  1. posting to get comments to my email

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is my morning stroll also, chatting to the plants as I go!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a wonderful stroll you had! Thank you for sharing it. Your garden is doing really well.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well, I'm so pleased you had this early morning stroll - because I enjoyed it too!
    Lovely photographs.

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great details in these photos, Lorrie. Enjoy your weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have so enjoyed the wander through your garden -- each photo and little description a pure delight. Capturing that bee with his one leg out that way is something to behold. And the caterpillar is a pretty fellow indeed -- I hope he spares your leaves and buds. Fingers crossed!

    Happy Weekend, Lorrie!
    Brenda xox

    ReplyDelete
  7. Beautiful estate to stroll

    ReplyDelete
  8. My grands are in school until the 21st. Poor things. I’m sure that their teachers are exhausted.

    Your garden provides you with a wonderful lift to face the challenges and busyness of the day.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your garden is doing you proud, Lorrie, so much beauty all around. And summer break coming up, you are lucky.
    Amalia
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  10. Such a beautiful post from your garden Lorrie - it all looks so lovely. Like you, I enjoy a morning walk to check things out. Only 'down' for me currently is that something (a deer?) still comes in the night and is chewing off the lower leaves, and a few buds, of my sunflowers! Fortunately it/they can't reach most buds now as they are too tall so I should get several blooms later! I have grown these from seeds of last year's blooms and, like your beans, they are strong and healthy. It's makes one feel good when this happens.
    Know you are ready for summer break - how long is school out there? Our schools closed last week - there seem be kids everywhere now!
    Have a great weekend - happy Father's Day to Tim. . . . . .I believe you celebrate the same day as us!
    Mary x

    ReplyDelete
  11. I loved our "stroll" thru your garden. And now I desperately want some blueberries!...LOL We had some lovely sunny days but now will have a beneficial weekend of rain. I hope the last days go well. :) Kit

    ReplyDelete
  12. Your photos are stunning. Good luck with the end of the school year!

    ReplyDelete
  13. When do your students begin their school year, Lorrie?

    You’re garden is lovely. Thanks for sharing it with us!

    ReplyDelete
  14. c'est toujours un plaisir d'admirer un beau jardin
    bonne journé

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks for the tour of your lovely garden, Lori. The countdown to summer vacation is ON!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Whoops, sorry for mispelling your name, Lorrie!

      Delete
  16. First of all - you took all these pictures before you even went to work? You're Wonder Woman! How interesting you should mention Jasmine - I just received a potted Jasmine as a gift - do you think it can handle our outdoor environment in Montana? Those blueberries have me imagining a walk in the garden in mid-morning to pluck some for breakfast! And finally, sounds like the end of school is in sight - hang in there!

    ReplyDelete
  17. You should not have even a moment of regret about leaving the caterpillar alone. One day it will come back to see you as a beautiful butterfly and a few chewed leaves are a small price to pay for that pleasure.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Coming from Small Town Life on Thurs, where I haven't been for a while... love this post and having a look in your garden. So inspirational! Am curious how your pole beans are doing...from Jesh

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comment. I read and value each one, cherishing the connections we can make although far apart. Usually, I visit your blog in return, although if you ask a question I try to contact you directly.

A Wander Through my Mind

  Nothing is so beautiful as Spring -  When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush; Gerard Manley Hopkins When I opened my bedroom...