Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Mostly Flowers...

...with some random happenings thrown in.

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Not everything in my life has been pretty this week. There have been dental issues.

It seems to me that despite the advent of anaesthetics (for which I am deeply grateful), dentistry is still rather barbaric. All that grinding and scraping and wrenching, all the large and/or sharp pieces of metal involved. There's a reason novelists write so penetratingly and amusingly about dentists and dental visits: they're working out their pain on paper.

(These three works come immediately to mind, but I'm sure there are many more: "In the Teeth of the Evidence", a short story by Dorothy L. Sayers, "Village Centenary" by Miss Read [see the chapter entitled "May"], and "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" by Agatha Christie.)

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There seems to be a sort of Murphy's law that when I am busiest and most in need of extra time, it is vouchsafed to me with the unwelcome rider of either a) illness; b) a killer headache (or toothache); c) some other enervating or distracting problem that renders the extra time useless and unproductive. Why, Lord, why?

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Let's talk about flowers!

For those of you who have asked about my references to a wildflower count: I decided early this year to keep a list of every wildflower I see, and to try to take photos of any that were new to me. I hoped to see perhaps 50 varieties, but the list now stands at 125....

Here are some spotted (and Spotted) on a recent ride:

Spotted Jewelwed

Hearts-ease or Spotted Lady's Thumb (Persicaria maculosa)

And just to show you that I do still occasionally watch the sky....


Okay, back to the flowers!

Spiderwort gone to seed

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Not included in my wildflower count, but still beautiful, are these flowers from my Very Small Garden:

Cosmos

Sweet Alyssum

Irish Poet Tassel Flower

Irish Poet Tassel Flower, seen from above

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On my most recent ride, I see this rather gorgeous creature (who is presumably responsible for the holes in the leaf):


Research identifies it as a Japanese Beetle, a non-native, highly destructive critter. Wouldn't it make a beautiful bead?

The Goldenrod still flourishes, and will carry on until the first frost:

Goldenrod

A sunlit path between pines:


Boneset (Eupatoriam perfoliatum) is also flourishing right now, in large patches under and at the edge of the woods along this road:




Just up the road, a new-to-me aster:


I think it may be Arrow-Leaved Aster, White Arrow-leaf Aster, or possibly Drummond's Aster. (The Aster family is so large and many-branched - ha! wildflower pun - that it can be difficult to pin down an ID for some of its members.)

Whatever its name, this Aster is beautiful:


At the turnaround point of the ride, Tallulah and I decide to obey the sign and...


We're on a dead-end road, at the shore of the local lake. A little path runs behind the barrier, and we spend a few minutes exploring.

Miss T finds some Spotted Jewelweed:


I find a mini art installation on a wooden post:


Miss T admires the glittering sunpath on the water...


...while I notice all manner of wee shells in the sand, many of them smaller than my little fingernail:



It seems strange to see so many shells at the edge of a freshwater lake. I wonder what tiny creatures inhabited them....

On our way home, we stop for a photo of these Woodland Sunflowers (more members of the prolific Aster family), shining like stars against a dark background of trees:


We pass a patch of Horsemint, a rather alien-looking flower that is new to me this summer (many thanks to Betty, a kind reader, for identifying it in a previous post):


While taking the above photo, I realise that I've seen those three sets of prickly bits (must work on botanical terminology!) somewhere before. Last winter, in fact, at the side of a walking trail:


It's always satisfying when I can match up a dried winter flower to its full-colour summer version. :)

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How's your week going?

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21 comments:

  1. Still sitting with my mom at the hospital. Think I'll crochet tomorrow. Linda@Wetcreek Blog

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  2. It's always interesting for me to read about flowers, especially of the wild variety. Some of them have wonderful names like the Irish Poet Tassel Flower. Such a stunning one too!

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  3. Beautiful flowers. I always enjoy going on adventures with you. You find the most interesting things to photograph. Tallulah too!
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  4. What a lovely ride, and how beautiful down by the lake. I really like the spotted lady's thumb, a pretty flower and an excellent name! CJ xx

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    1. And I meant to add, so sorry about the dental things, I know exactly what you mean about the barbaricness of it all. I hope it's all over and sorted for you very soon. CJ xx

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  5. Beautiful flowers! There are a lot of different flowers where you live.
    A few years ago I photographed a lot of flowers in my area. Yesterday I was thinking about those pictures, maybe make a separate page and share them on my blog.

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  6. Love the woodland sunflowers, not so sure about the golden rod, it's one of those that causes allergy attacks for me. The shot across the water was great.

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  7. I hope you get to feeling better soon dear friend. Dental issues suck! Hang in there. :) I so enjoyed your lovely pictures and the sunlit pathway through the woods, very enchanting. I saw that beetle and thought with his emerald body he's make an awesome piece of jewelry and then I read where you asked if he'd made a good bead. I had to smile at that, because he really, really would. I love the sky pictures....and as always the flowers, too. Hope you get to feeling better very soon dear friend. :) ((hugs))

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  8. I"ve never heard that reflection called a sunpath....PERFECT I love it!

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  9. I totally enjoyed your post today and all the fun photos. I loved the sunlit path through the trees. Say -- I always thought your blog was titled "MRS. Micawber's..." and hubby called my attention to that it says "MR..." Did you change it or did I just add the "s" in my mind? LOL! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  10. All so lovely as ever it is here.
    I hope all of the discomfort has gone and that you have a wonderful and relaxing weekend.

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  11. I would say how funny that you posted about dental problems since I've just had a trip myself. But going to the dentist is never a fun thing. For years I had a great fear of dentists, but now I have a wonderful one. Anyway, I had to go in today for what I thought would be a root canal and ended up having an extraction. The root was quite destroyed. I would much rather be looking at flowers. I'm laying in the recliner not feeling well. I hope your visit wasn't too bad.
    Hugs,
    Sharon

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  12. You get the most awesome looking flowers in your neck of the world. Keep the pics coming.

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  13. Oh man, dental issues ick. I spent a large part of July recovering from gingival graft surgery - part one. I feel your pain! Your pics are lovely . The orange tassel is such a pretty flower with a great pop of colour. Your wild flowers are so pretty I think any wild flowers here are dead or burned off. I wonder what little critters live in those tiny shells? You have the mist interesting bike rides!

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  14. Argh...sorry for your dental difficulties and my three day flu last week, too..."Why, Lord, why?"...indeed!
    Let's talk about flowers :) I am so excited that you have sighted so many wildflowers this year, and shared them so beautifully with us, Sue. Thanks. I recently figured out that the green lip shaped leaves with orange tongues of stamens sprouting from the center that I was unable to identify in what I posted several posts back is probably some type of honeysuckle. Interestingly, there was not the sweet scent I associate with honeysuckle...more investigation necessary! xx

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  15. Your horsemint is so much different than ours!!! Did you save me some spiderwort seeds?!?

    I, too, am very saddened by the necessity of a dental visit. I have a routine cleaning in about two weeks, and I hope that's all it will be, with the two tooth escapades of the last three years. My heart goes out to you!

    All your pictures are so phenomenal, but I think I like Tallulah on the dock best, and it's so good to see the helmeted little turtle again!

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  16. I wonder why dental practitioners also practise barbarism?

    You have some stunning wildflower images, I particularly enjoyed the Irish Poet and the Jewel weed. Hearts ease here, in the UK, is a Viola. I am always amazed by the differences and similarities.

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  17. Lovely pictures. We have most of the same flowers, but I deeply (but without any malevolence) envy you the Irish Poet Tassel....
    I hope the dental issues are already positively resolved!

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  18. Yet more lovely wild flower pics. I also like the shells and the sun sparkles on the loch. Hope the teeth are sorted!

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  19. Thank you so much for your lovely hat patterns!!
    I adore the Picea Hat and so do all the people who have seen it!
    Nice way to use crochet and great ideas.
    Thank you again!

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    1. Thank you for the sweet comment! I would have replied by email but you're not set up for it in blogger.... But again, thank you. Also you're welcome. :)

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