Harakka Island – Chapter 7

When we last left Ice Swimmer’s series Harakka an Island we were at the top of the island. Where to next Ice Swimmer?

 

Chapter 7 – Back from the Top and Downhill

 

 

1. View East from the Laboratory Front Yard, ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved

Now we’re back from the top of the island, in the front yard of the Artists’ Building, looking east, the pier is behind the red wooden buildings. We’ll go a bit south and go down the hill back towards the crossroads.

 

2. Down to the Crossroads, ©Ice Swimmer all rights reserved

We’re going down the same road we got up to the Artists’ Building. The history exhibition building is to the left and the pier from which we came is on the other side of the crossroads. We’ll be going to the right from the crossroads, to the south.

(link to previous post, Harakka an Island, Chapter 6)

Harakka Island – Chapter 6

It’s time for the next chapter in Ice Swimmer’s series Harakka – an Island. Our guide will take it from here. Thanks, Ice Swimmer.

 

Chapter 6 – Top of the Island

 

1. Odd Spruce, Rocks and open sea, ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved

This view is from the top of the island, towards southeast. I wonder what has happened to the spruce.

[Read more…]

Jack’s Walk

©voyager, all rights reserved

It was raining this morning so Jack and I went to Terracotta Park, hoping the canopy would help keep us dry. It did, more or less, but we still came home with wet hair and feet. Oh well, it was a good excuse to make hot chocolate, curl up together on the sofa and share a few maple cookies.

Tree Tuesday

Our tree this week comes from the down under part of the planet courtesy of Lofty who says:

The Dwarf Peach tree is just over 2 metres tall after 25 years with us, and is now putting on a beautiful feast for the honey bees. Just about every other bush or tree on the property tries to overpower it, but we don’t let them. The coming storm will probably strip off many of the blooms so I had to get a picture today in between gathering clouds.

What a glorious tree. The flowers are such a pretty pink and there are so many of them, I hope the coming storm won’t cause too much damage.Thanks so much for sharing, Lofty

 

Dwarf peach tree, ©Lofty all rights reserved

 

Floral detail, dwarf peach tree, ©Lofty all rights reserved

A tree story

Raucus Indignation sent this in a few weeks ago and I had planned to post it on Tree Tuesday, but I’ve now decided that this submission is about more than just the tree so I’m posting it today instead. I’ll let Raucus explain:

I have many old apple trees around my home.  The property is on an old orchard. This one didn’t survive the winter.  It will be replaced by another apple or maybe a hazelnut in honour of Caine.  I’ll send photos of the new trees once they’re planted.

I’m sorry to hear about the lost apple tree, but I think that planting a new one is the perfect way to remember a friend who loved trees and the birds that make them home. I look forward to seeing the photos of the new tree once it’s planted. Thanks so much for sharing, Raucus.

 

©Raucus Indignation, all rights reserved

©Raucus Indignation, all rights reserved

©Raucus Indignation, all rights reserved

©Raucus Indignation, all rights reserved

Tree Tuesday

This week Tree Tuesday comes to us courtesy of Opus who took these photos on Mt. Batchelor near Bend, Oregon. The first shot shows just how windswept the location is with a tree that could only manage to grow in a single direction. The next two photos further demonstrate the harshness of the landscape in images of rock, scrub and the carcasses of long dead trees.  I find the set quite poignant, especially the last shot showing how the remains of a once proud giant breaks down to feed a whole new generation of trees. Thanks for sharing, Opus.

Mt. Batchelor, near Bend, Orgeon, ©Opus, all rights reserved

©Opus, all rights reserved

©Opus, all rights reserved

 

Tree Tuesday

Majestic 800 year old oak tree, ©rq, all rights reserved

This week rq has sent us gorgeous photos of a majestic oak tree that looks straight out of a fairytale. rq says:

This oak is 800 years old or thereabouts and has earned the title of dižozols, which means ‘Grand/Great Oak’. If a tree adheres to specific criteria regarding trunk diameter and height and other things, it can also aspire to dižkoks status and people can send in submissions to the registry. They get marked on a map as objects of tourist interest, and also go down for preservation measures if anything happens or threatens their surroundings.

This one! Is the second tallest Great Oak in the country at 23m in height, with a trunk circumference of 7.1m or so. It is well and alive, and hosts a large number of birds in its branches, including being permanent home to an owl. It is also hollow inside, home to an unidentified bird, possibly a dove or wood pigeon or some such (see final photo, it’s dim, but there was definitely a bird hissing at me when I peeked in).

 

I visited at sunset, it sits above a winding creek and overlooks some farmland and marshes. 

rq thanks so much. 800 years seems like an impossibly long time for a tree to live, but there it is. This is definitely a tree that I would like to see in person. There are several photos (all of them beautiful) and the rest are below the fold. [Read more…]

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

A fine set of pinecones, ©voyager, all rights reserved

It’s a bit warmer and a bit more humid today so Jack and I opted for a walk in our little wildflower forest, Trillium Woods. It was a good choice, too. We were shaded the whole way around and had the company of a very busy woodpecker pounding out a beat too fast to count. He was too far up to see properly so I can’t show you a photo, but he was so loud that the sound was bouncing off the trees and creating a sort of echo chamber that you could almost feel as a vibration. It was an interesting experience. Definitely physical and a bit exhilarating, but also a bit annoying and the short pauses the bird took were definitely a welcome break. Jack thought so too. I could see he was a bit anxious and every now and then he’d look up as if he was waiting for the sky to fall. All in all, an unexpected and different sort of adventure for Jack and I today.

Tree Tuesday

This week we have a trio of beautiful trees from Lofty who says: They are all much the same species of Eucalypt in a nearby region of dairy farms. The big solitary trees can’t reproduce easily as they are surrounded by large munchie beasts.

I think they’re each lovely all by themselves, but together Lofty’s clever titling makes them a humorous and thoughtful grouping.

Thanks, Lofty. Click for full size.

cemetree, ©Lofty, all rights reserved

magestree, ©, Lofty all rights reserved

senilitree, ©Lofty, all rights reserved

 

Jack’s Walk

Fanshaw pond, ©voyager, all rights reserved

The sunny skies in this photo didn’t last long. Rain clouds have moved in and it’s drizzling which is double good news. The first good news is that the growing things are finally getting a much-needed drink and the second good news is that the temperatures are staying in the mid-twenties.

Jack’s Walk

Smoke tree

©voyager, all rights reserved

We haven’t had much rain lately and the lawns are suffering and turning brown. I think that’s a good thing because it means it’s easy on Jack’s feet. It’s the moist, green grass that makes his big, webbed feet itch so now he’s free to spend some time checking out his own nieghbourhood. Telephone poles and trees are of particular interest, but so are hostas, car tires, kid’s toys, flower planters and garden hoses. I swear a 3 block walk took us longer than a 3 km trail, including the car ride there and back. It’s Jack’s walk, though, so I let him take as much time as he wants. I figure it takes me a while to deal with e-mail, so it must take just as long to deal with p-mail.