Raindrops on Narcissus

The rain was falling so gently in the evening when I pulled the oilskin hat down from the peg, stuck my hair up underneath and put on a light leather coat. Sturm launches himself into the air when anyone puts a jacket or shoes on, therefore he was hopping about excitedly while I tried to set the hook through his little haulter. I say, "sit" and Ruger obeys instantly. When I say, "good boy, Ruger", Sturm sits right down. Happens like that every time.

We walked to the top of Darling Hill first, noticing the Golden Alexanders just coming into bloom beside the road (the dogs actually did not seem to notice). On the return trip I turned into Dennis' cabin and walked down his little stone walkway. It is decorated almost solidly with bluets. They have just spread everywhere! As we neared the house I wanted to prolong the damp walk, so we set out for the little cabin that Syd and I used to live in, two doors down from us. I like to take a few trips throughout the Spring and Summer to see what's blooming in my old gardens. There were the lovely narcissus in bloom. I have "blanket permission" to pick from the gardens at leisure. Brian is gone during the Summer and isn't there to enjoy any of the blooms. I picked a small bouquet of these and their fragrance was SO pungent! I do not know if it was simply due to the dampness of the evening or what, but this bouquet was just very sweet. As we headed back up to the house, there were the foam flower just starting to blossom in the ditches. They appear as lily of the valley but look more "fringey". These also had an unusual amount of fragrance on this rainy night. The little bundle that I gathered were almost as sweet as any lily of the valley that I've ever picked.

Right now I am sipping on more spruce tip tea. The "fruit" of the spruce trees are absolutely everywhere and I hope that I can get out there with a bucket before they get too far along, as I understand that one can freeze these and they will be as fresh in winter as they are right now. The mild tea has the very slightest hint of spruce, but almost fruity. Combined with a drizzle of maple syrup it is as relaxing as any tea I've ever had. I would imagine that on a cold, snowy winter night, next to the woodstove, it would be just what the doctor ordered! Today I was re-reading in "Aunt Jan's Wild Corner" that these are especially good baked into shortbread, and they take on a fruity flavor then also. See it, to the left. It was taken from the alaska (med cooking) blog that is sited at the end.

I'll leave you with a photo I took on a walk with Mom's the other day. This mossy rock looks like a perfect place to take a rest, with its soft, cushiony surface. In the past I have taken pieces from this moss blanket (when potting a single fern I used the moss to make a "cover" over the soil so that it would not dry out too quickly). The moss on this rock replenished itself so quickly.

Being delayed in posting this, it's now Thursday  morning and the sky looks quite clear as I peek through the leaves. It's amazing how, all of a sudden, there are LEAVES obstructing the view from the window. Everything is so green since the rain. What a great place to live and I'm thankful that, no matter the conditions outside, God's Word says, "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24