Friday Favourites: A Week in May

 

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to 

think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read

and all the friends I want to see.

John Burroughs

Halfway through May. The days slip by, full of ordinary things. A friend took me on a tour around her new property. I used the Seek App on my phone to identify many unknown plants including the Leopard's Bane (doronicum) above. The bright yellow patch of flowers underplanted with bluebells is so pretty. 

My husband loves cycling. He rides for pleasure, but also to run errands. I find cycling enjoyable on flat ground. Hills and I do not get along at all. And to go anywhere from our house requires descending a short, steep hill, which means ascending on the way home. Yesterday friends invited us to go for a bike ride using their electric bikes. I was skeptical and dreading the outing. I soon got the hang of it, though, and found myself zooming UP hills. It was so much fun. Perhaps an electric bike is in my future, but there's more thinking to do first. 

On Tuesday Cora and I went to the park and around the pond. No baby ducks yet. We played a few rounds of hide and seek in the forest, and she posed on a tree trunk just made for sitting. I'm certain that she walked twice the distance I did with all her running ahead and then back.

We've enjoyed beautiful sunshine for many days. On a morning walk many things vied for my attention. Here are a few of them:

Himalayan Clematis

Birdsong in every tree

Swaths of Camas Lilies in the woods, dark blue with 

gold-tipped stamens

Creamy Pacific Dogwood blooms

Masses of horsetail in some new landscaping - a real nuisance,

but feathery green and soft just now

An elderly woman bundled in a heavy hooded jacket 

with her walker slowly moving along the street

A patch of Irises in half sun, half shade

A single weathered Adirondack chair sitting in a patch

of sunlight

Fawn Lilies all but disappeared now other than their

spotted leaves

Bellis Daisies against the taller stems of Camas Lilies

The wide smile of a young boy biking to school

Infinite shades of green leaves

The blue skies and warm sunshine have disappeared in the past two days, replaced by a sharp wind off the Pacific, and drizzle today. We need the rain, so I won't complain. Sweater weather again. 

I've thought about these Poet's Narcissus that I saw on our recent boating trip, wondering who planted them there in a grassy meadow overlooking the sea. Perhaps a woman longed to create spots of beauty in her life isolated from society. Her house is abandoned and falling apart, but still her flowers bloom, testament to her existence. Of the dock where she once arrived only two cement pilings remain.

My extravagance is my garden - it's the first

thing I look at every morning when I

wake up. It gives me so much pleasure.

Ina Garten

One peony plant has bloomed and the others have many buds on them. I'm eager to see them open, along with the roses. I made a sad observation to Tim the other day, admitting to myself that I don't have room for any more permanent plants in my garden. Instead, I'll content myself arranging pots of annuals and enjoy the shrubs and perennials as they come. 

Wishing you a delightful weekend.