Monday, May 10, 2021

Mother's Day gift

For a Mother's Day gift, Older Daughter came up to visit and we all went for a walk in the woods after church.

We brought along Mr. Darcy, of course, and followed the same logging road we followed a few weeks ago, only going farther up in elevation. We parked, then set out for about a four-mile amble. It was lovely.

It was interesting to note the difference in vegetation between our place and this higher location. For one thing, we saw ocean spray (not yet flowering that brown cluster is last year's bloom). This lovely shrub was common around our old house but seldom seen at our new place. More water? Different elevation? Who knows?

Lots of massive rocks along this route.

We passed many areas of sun-pierced splendor.

This massive Ponderosa pine had a hollowed-out base.

We saw a smattering of wildflowers, but it's still too early in the season for much of a show. Here are bluebells:

Wake robins:

Dog-tooth violets:

This was cedar territory, and boy did we see a lot of cedars.

Some were massive.

In fact we saw one cedar that was so huge easily four feet across that I didn't bother taking a photo because it was off the scale. No one could have appreciated the size without something contrasting it at the base.

How tall would you say these Ponderosa pines are? 200 feet?

Sadly it appeared not everyone appreciated the beauty along this forest road. We saw a surprising amount of garbage. Next time we'll bring bags and pick things up as we go.

We turned a corner and came across a late bank of snow! Mr. Darcy thought this was just a splendid discovery.


Then we walked down a spur road and saw even more snow.

We turned around to hike back to the car, and Mr. Darcy decided this was the time to start putting things in his mouth. First there were sticks of various lengths...

...then clumps of deer hair where some animal met an unhappy fate...

...and then, the pièce de résistance, the leg bone from a deer. Woot! Doggy gold!

 

From long and weary experience, we knew better than to try to wrestle the leg bone from Mr. Darcy's iron jaws, so Don came up with a clever idea: He wrapped the leash round the bone once or twice. The leash essentially tugged the bone out of his mouth. Clever solution!

So that was our Mother's Day gift for all of us a lovely spring walk in the woods and a deer leg bone. How was your Mother's Day?

10 comments:

  1. It looks lovely Patrice.

    It strikes me as odd how different regions can be for wildflowers; here, the season is almost fled.

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  2. Thoreau commented on how Spring comes early in some little pockets while Winter lingers a bit longer. Love Mr. Darcy's enthusiasm for so many things on a walk.

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  3. Is "wake robin" another name for trillium? Those are blooming here today in MI, too (I've just never heard them called wake robins).
    XaLynn

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  4. Excellent photos, Patrice! By the way, we very much enjoyed your article this month in the Self Reliance magazine! That new homestead pantry is definitely a beauty! Great article!

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    1. Thank you! You beat me on it -- our issue hasn't arrived yet.

      - Patrice

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  5. Wanted to see if you had heard about this.

    "Idaho is going to kill 90% of the state’s wolves. That’s a tragedy – and bad policy" ~ Kim Heacox

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/12/idaho-wolves-environment-animals-policy

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    1. Speaking as both a biologist and a farmer, I believe it's a foolish and misguided policy.

      - Patrice

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  6. Had to look up Wake Robin. The flower was very familiar, but not the name you used. Trilliums are very common where I live, but never have heard the name Wake Robin. I guess you really aren't too old to learn new things. :)

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  7. Hi Patrice,
    I had a nice surprise when visiting a Little Free Library in northern British Columbia - a copy of your book "The Amish Newcomer!" When I'm finished reading it I will register it on BookCrossing.com and let it continue it's travels.
    No idea how it got to the LFL - bet it has a story to tell!

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