Jack’s Walk

Red Admiral butterfly, ©voyager, all rights reserved

Red Admiral, underside, ©voyager, all rights reserved

The weather here was a bit strange last week. We had very high humidity and bouts of rain, but it was cool making it feel more like late spring than the middle of July. I’m not really complaining, cool is definitely better than sweltering, but it was weird. Today, though, things seem to have reset. The humidity is mostly gone, there isn’t a cloud in the sky and the temp has climbed into the mid-twenties and seems to be staying there. This is what I call a perfect day. So does Jack, who had a welcome spring in his step this morning.

Jack’s Walk

 

Pretty in Pink ©voyager, all rights reserved

Reach for the sky, ©voyager, all rights reserved

Does anyone know what kind of tree this is? I’m having difficulty figuring it out from my plant guide. It looks and smells a bit like hydrangea, but I’ve never seen a hydrangea tree. Whatever it is, I think it’s beautiful. It’s been in bloom for several weeks and the flowers move from a deep rose colour to the palest of pinks. It has a small, sweet scent and it attracts butterflies. I waited around for a bit hoping one would turn up to add to the photo, but Jack was restless and no doubt keeping them away.

Please let me know in the comments if you can give me any information about this tree. I think I might like one for my own garden. In the meantime, happy Saturday. I hope everyone has a good weekend.

 

Jack’s Walk

Naughty boy, ©voyager, all rights reserved

So, I’m trying to focus my camera when I see this. … Jack, no, stop, don’t pee on plants! Naughty boy!

I wish I could show you the grin he gave me when he turned around, but I was kerfuffled in the moment. It’s his way of telling me that I’m taking too long with my camera. Well, message received, Jack. Lets go home.

A Sunflower Constelation

Nobody told our sunflower it is supposed to follow the sun with its main flower, and then stop facing east. It did not follow the sun at all and chose to face its main flower north the whole time instead.

And now it has developed a whole head of little suns facing in all possible directions.

There will be some pictures of its inhabitants in due course. That is, if I do not forget. There is a very interesting inhabitant in this picture too.

©Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

 

Barcelona: Camping 4: Bougainvillea envy

This is not our first time at that camp site, but the earliest we’ve been there in summer, so many plants were still in bloom that you don’t see later, among them the big bougainvillea hedges.

I simply love that flower, but of course you can only grow it in pots in Germany and even when taken inside over winter they never reach the glory of their Mediterranean cousins.

Bougainvillea flower in front of a black background.

©Giliell, all rights reserved

Bougainvillea flower in front of a blue sky.

©Giliell, all rights reserved

Bougainvillea flowers in fromt of a white background

©Giliell, all rights reserved

Bougainvillea flowers in front of a white background

©Giliell, all rights reserved

 

Bougainvillea flowers

©Giliell, all rights reserved

Jack’s Walk

Blue Skies, ©voyager, all rights reserved

We have beautiful blue skies today, but the humidity persists. At least the temperature is staying in the twenties which makes it bearable to be outside for short periods. All that humid air makes it so hard to walk, though. Jack and I plod along slowly, both of us feeling heavy and like it’s a double gravity kind of day.

Jack’s Walk

Roadside thistle, taller than me, ©voyager, all rights reserved

It’s another beautiful day in Southwestern Ontario so Jack and I took to the country for our outing. We had a lovely slow walk looking at all the growing things and finding everything healthy and big for this time of year. The corn is my eye high and even the weeds reach over my head. I love it when the plants are big enough to make you feel small and a bit like Alice through the looking-glass.