Yellow bloom against blue sky
Quiet warm Sunday in the North Woods. Flowers blooming everywhere. Birds chattering endlessly in the woods. It feels like we live in a jungle. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a monkey swinging from tree to tree–that’s how noisy it is in the forest at the end of May.
Sunlit bloom
The weather is sultry-hot. What a warm spring! We’ve planted 70% of the garden now. One brocoli plant hath wilted; followed by a tipped-over tomato plant. The other plants seem to be taking root and flourishing in the humidity. We hope.
We’re still looking to buy winter squash and cucumber seedlings. They cost $1.99 – $2.99 per potted plant in Marquette yesterday. Crazy! We’ll amble through our local greenhouses again this week looking for a more reasonable price. Especially since we want to buy eighteen of each.
Bee buries itself in sweet nectar
I meditated for over an hour this morning. It felt so good. In the midst of meditation the words of a blog arose. (People always say they can’t meditate because words and thoughts keep arising. Silly people. That’s part of meditation! You simply tell the words, “Wait you words! I shall write you afterward. Be still now. I will not forsake you…”)
If you want to read the meditation-words please visit my other blog: Simply Here. The name of the blog which rose during meditation is: How much can we love ourselves today?
I love when a blog writes itself through our deep listening.
Fallen lupine
Yesterday we traveled to Marquette. Stay tuned until tomorrow for harbor photos!
Today we lazed around the house. We’re cooking out on the grill soon. Lake trout caught by husband, marinated asparagus, soaked corn on the cob. A salad which includes artichoke hearts, lettuce, carrots, celery and other goodies lies ready in the frig in case we want more.
Upright lupine blooms
Nothing else new today. We both are going into work tomorrow morning. No big Memorial Day celebrations or parties for us! I am getting ready for a township audit. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it?
Daisies in all stages of opening
Part of me wants to hop in the car and drive downstate for my dad’s birthday this week. Unfortunately, with the audit and a township meeting and other obligations, it’s not looking likely. Don’t you hate it when you want to do something but work interferes? (However, as you all know, I do love to find ways to fit travel in between work–so you never know!)
Dad, if I don’t get down to hug you–Happy Birthday. I love you!
Lake Superior Spirit 
Our daisies are blooming here, too, Kathy, and the bees are buzzing. Temperatures feel like midsummer, though Lake Michigan is still cold. Air is very still…not a leaf stirring. Must say, I envy you your lupines. I have planted them twice, but something always eats them (rabbits, I suppose) before they have a chance to bloom. Love that bee in the blossom? Don’t you feel like that yourself, crazed by spring? I do!
Hi, Pamela…I do so love the warm weather. Am very sorry that you do not have fields of lupines growing everywhere like we do on the back roads around Aura and Skanee. The roadsides are a haze of purple.
OK, Kathy, I am intrigued with the bee…..what is that on its back…..
That is some bee…..I think it must be a bumblebee……
who can help??!!
What is the little thing on its back???? It must have a purpose…..
Fountainpen
fountainpen, do you mean the little dot of black on its back? Or the wings? The wings are at an odd angle, lying back, and we can only see the smallest portion of the wings. I confess to loving this bumblebee photo. It has taken at least twenty tries to get a photo of a bee that I like. This one looks so earnest, so surrendered to the flower.
Hmmm. Here you are, in the UP of Michigan, the area noted for recording the coldest temps in the country during the winter, and here I am, on what Sunset calls the Pacific NW, but truly it is not, and my lupine are not even in bud yet. I’m on the east side of the Cascade Mountains, which invalidates everything they say about the Pacific NW. We did have a real spring weekend, however, so there’s hope!
As always, I loved your photos and your post.
Carol, it’s all backwards! Last summer we were sighing like you are now, begging for summer to arrive. There IS hope for you. If not this year, then next. (Yikes, did I say that? Pardon me. You will get summer. You will.) Isn’t it interesting that we can’t generalize about things like the Pacific NW or the state of Michigan? I find it all very fascinating. Sometimes the temperature can be 20 degrees difference between our town of L’Anse (12 miles away) and where we live.
Kathy your bee looks so much different than my bee that I captured doing exactly the same thing to a sala blossom a couple of days ago… I have it on my redbubble but will post it on Creative Potager Tuesday. I invite you to come by and have a wee look then.
Your lupines… precious along with your whole blog that wrote itself:)
Looking forward to that wee look tomorow, Terrill! I also love it that we cannot generalize about bees. Every bee so different if we look closely! I am wondering what a sala blossom might be?
Ah Kathy, your last line- my dad celebrated his last earthly birthday on March 4rd. How fortunate that I was able to be there with him. Thank you for the gift of your blog.
Dear Meenakshi, I am so sorry to hear that your dad passed away! Have been thinking about that all day. How wonderful that you could celebrate with him. (I was just with my dad for eight days in Florida a couple months ago and feel great joy for that opportunity.) Will send you a private email.
What a different spring this year compared to last, hey? The lilacs and lupine weren’t out then until the end of June and this year they’re early! Ahhh….life in the UP! Barry caught some lake trout? Horray! And got his passport – finally – life is good. 🙂
Yes, indeed. This year it’s like heaven and last year like– Well, I won’t say it. 🙂
For anyone else reading the comments: Barry has suffered mightily this spring when the government refused him a passport because he was born in Germany when his dad was in the service. With the help of Bart Stupak’s office he was finally able to get a passport–and, serendipitously, caught some lake trout this week, breaking an Evil Fish-less Spell.
Kathy, I love the serenity of this post. I feel a bit like I ambled through your weekend with you. The bee capture is spectacular! The little buggers often evade my attempts.
Interesting how you mention loving it when a blog post writes itself. I am very new to writing a blog (been reading them for years) and as I spent this past Saturday planting my veggie garden, I found blog posts were pushing their way into my head! I find gardening very therapeutic, so perhaps for me it is similar to meditating. When I finished planting for the day, I wrote down notes on the things that jumped into my head before I forgot them – blog posts for another day.
Oh yes, Karma–those little bee buggers evaded every attempt except this one! I know what you mean. I am glad you enjoyed our quiet weekend day. We’re having another rather quiet day today.
Glad to hear that you had a blog channeled through you, too! I actually see this happening more and more all the time. I think meditation is so often any time when we’re quiet and relaxed and not caught up in endless mental chatter. Sounds like gardening works for you!
“Yellow bloom against blue sky” is my favorite photograph — it captured me and pulled me in right from the get-go!
This post feels like a lazy stroll — delicious! With the way you paint verbal pictures, I’m confident your words alone could make a blind person clearly “see” what you’re saying. The way you use language is as clear as your photographs. Thank you.
Laurie, I’m glad you like that one. And here’s a virtual hug for your kind words. Verbal pictures fill me with joy! As well as the way photographs can, too. (If I slow down enough to truly see the photos…)
Kathy, that bee photo is astonishing and lovely! The yellow fuzz on its neck is so sweet-looking that I wish I could nuzzle it or stroke it gently with my fingertips to see how it feels. Happy Memorial Day!
Hi Jennifer! Wouldn’t it be lovely to nuzzle and stroke a bumblebee without worrying about its sting? Maybe we could hypnotize it before feeling its soft neck and back? Thanks for stopping by Lake Superior Spirit!