Seen this morning

 

 I've been such a delinquent blogger as of late, but I just had to share this.  Mr. T were sitting on our back deck for our quiet times, something we love to do when the weather cooperates.  It had rained overnight, and all of the leaves on the trees and bushes were still wet.  As the sun rose, the leaves gleamed so beautifully in its light.  As we watched, we noticed that some leaves actually had one or more water drops suspended from them, and that these drops were gleaming like beautiful diamonds.  

I didn't feel I could take time to go get a camera to capture the moment, so I dug back through my photos later to add this picture of strawberry leaves similarly edged in water drops.

So lovely!  It always amazes me that God provides so much beauty in this fallen world. 

From a North Country garden

 There's no time for a lengthy post today -- and probably not really time for this one.  But I wanted to share just a few photos of our friend Charlotte's glorious flowers.  We just got back from a quick two-day visit to her home in the Great North Woods.

One might think the growing season would be limited so far north, and one might be right.  But I have seen flowers blooming in Charlotte's gardens right into October.  

This visit I was extremely blessed in that Charlotte was in the midst of moving some of her plants around, and she gave me quite a number of them to bring home.  We hope to get them into the ground at our camp today.

 Most readers realize that I have a brown thumb.  I'm not good at keeping plants alive, especially houseplants.  But these will be outdoor perennials, so I'm hoping for better success.

The photo above may be my very favorite.  It looks down the slope of this hillside garden to the pond below.

 

I'm so thankful for the blessings of friendship and flowers!

Just had to share these photos

 ... even though I don't have time to put together a proper post.  I did put  a couple of them on Instagram, but wanted to quickly share them here as well.

The handsome barred owl above flew into a tree so close to our little cottage on Sunday afternoon.  We had left the camera in the car, but Mr. T sneaked out and got it and managed to get several photos and a video.  Simply amazing!

Meanwhile, deeper into the woods, we found several beautiful patches of Indian Pipes. 

These pretty pink-red mushrooms were out there too, as well as the little cream color ones below.  The variety of fungi we are seeing must be due to our extremely wet weather.  It is interesting to observe.

Hope you've enjoyed this peek at what's going on in our woods this week!

A few more early-summer flowers

 

The weather has been so unseasonably hot, it has really felt like July or August around here.  We had temps in the 90s for many days in a row.  Monday and Tuesday nights were so hot, we spent them at our cottage in the woods in the interest of feeling a few degrees cooler.  I mentioned to my hubby that it was hard to believe Memorial Day, just a week previous, had been so cool that a campfire, hot coffee, and a fire in the cottage woodstove were the order of the day.  Not long after that, the heat arrived.

Today is a welcome change: cooler, breezy and less humid, though still with plenty of sunshine.

Our backyard irises have never been so plentiful.  I know that we really should divide them in the fall.  Maybe we'll take some to the camp.  We have two iris beds the size of the one below:

My hubby got a closer look at some of the irises.  I love how the buds are furled tightly like little umbrellas.

Last year I received a small pot of dianthus as a Mother's Day gift.  We planted it in the backyard and look how it has spread!

I had another dianthus this year and we planted it at the camp.  It has nearly gone by, but just look at the pretty markings on its remaining blossom.  There are such lovely markings on the iris too, as seen in the closeup below the dianthus photos.  

 

 

God is so amazing in every way, but these gorgeous flowers prove once again that He is a God of detail, order, and creativity!

Lovely lupines

 

 The lupines that bloom at Sugar Hill, New Hampshire, this time every year are legendary.  Mr. T and I have never had the opportunity to be there at just the right time to see them.   This morning we went out to breakfast with friends at this iconic place: Polly's Pancake Parlor, and thus we were in the right place at the right time.

After breakfast our friends showed us a favorite,  back-road spot from which to view the lupines.  The photos are from that place.

 Hope you've enjoyed these photos of God's glorious creation in a beautiful part of our state!

Spring scenes from here and there

 

No time for a long post, but I thought I'd share a few spring photos from here and there around New Hampshire.  We've been coming and going a lot of late, and we've even managed to snap a few pictures along the way.  At top, you see a pretty perennial I received as a Mother's Day gift at church.  One lady potted up these plants and gave them to all of the other ladies at church.  Mr. T and grandson Sam planted it over at our little camp, where it is looking quite happy indeed.

Several years ago we purchased a mini daffodil plant to have at church on Easter in memory of a dear young friend who passed away at 18.  We planted it out back and, to our surprise, it has thrived there.  This year was its prettiest, most prolific year ever.

This pretty wildflower -- bloodroot -- seeded itself by a corner of our garage.

The lovely tulip pictured above and below is on the grounds of a camp where Mr. T and I have been volunteering this spring.

What a sweet sight is a beautiful old truck in a green New Hampshire field in springtime! Even sweeter is the sight of two old trucks, and an old sawmill in the background.

 On our way home Friday afternoons from working our volunteer jobs, we've been stopping at this fabulous ice cream place.    Such delicious homemade ice cream and such fascinating sights to see.

 

 

The shadow of a fern was so pretty on the threshold of our little cottage!  I asked Mr. T to snap a photo or two when we were there on Monday.

There are so many other glorious shrubs, bushes and flowers that we haven't taken time to photograph.  (One of my very favorites is a lilac bush with both white and lavender blossoms.)  For now, these will have to do.  Hope you've enjoyed this little peek at springtime in the Granite State!

Out and about on a Sunday afternoon

I've got a few outdoor photos to show you today -- sort of unrelated other than that they were all taken yesterday, a gorgeous day in these parts.  Saturday was very nice too.  Low humidity, sunshine, and temps in the 70s.  The forecast for most of this week is similar, and I do hope it holds true.

We'll start off with a few scary ones from our woods:

 Can you see what's hiding behind those large leaves of a striped maple?

 Yes, it's a very large bees' nest.  This nest was apparently built around a very slender branch of a striped maple tree.  The weight of the nest forced the branch to bend downward.

Below you get a much clearer view of the nest.  That hole down near the bottom of the nest is opening by which the bees go in and out.

Mr. T got stung by a bee on Saturday while stacking wood, but didn't think much of it.  Now he knows from whence it came, and he will be adjusting the placement of his woodpile accordingly.

On a happier and prettier note, here is a lovely coleus in the "Inferno" variety.

It was a Mother's Day gift from our friends Sam and Jennifer.  The photo doesn't do it justice.  It has tripled or quadrupled in size since we planted it.  It's a gorgeous red color, and the leaves have a chartreuse edging.  It almost looks like rickrack!

Then yesterday afternoon, Mr. T suggested a hike.   We hadn't been to this place in years, but it was just as we remembered.

An unusual stump along the trail

A quiet, peaceful walk through the woods -- there were rocks, roots and a few boardwalks which might earn it the designation of a hike -- led us to the shore of a tranquil lake.  A few boats and hikers came and went, but we definitely found the peace and beauty we were hoping to soak up here.

 Being out in God's beautiful Creation just does our souls so much good!

 See the sailboat in the distance?  So tranquil.

Hope these lovely lake photos have been a treat for you today as the lake was for us on Sunday afternoon!