What a weekend!

What a beautiful weekend we have just had! Not to mention it being a holiday weekend (Victoria Day here in Canada) the weather was HOT and SUNNY! For four days in a row!!! Glorious! It's been a while since we've had four days of sunshine... and it felt sooo goood. There was lots going on this weekend- Laura came home unexpectedly, Prince Charles and Camilla were in town, our friends Donna and Pierre were down from Quebec City to open up their cottage at the lake, etc. etc. So we were busy.. I took a pass on trying to get a glimpse of the Royals, having seen Charles several times before, and I just can't get excited about seeing Camilla... Rather, we opted to spend some time with friends. Hubby spent the day Friday

helping with work at the cottage and then we returned on Saturday afternoon, I took along my camera, hoping to locate more spring wildflowers (more on those tomorrow). We went for a few short walks and I was happy to get a few "interesting " photos. I love this one above of the backlit maple  (a Red Maple, I believe)  - these little winged "fruit" were simply glowing in the late afternoon sunshine. Very close by was this huge tree, I'm not even sure what type of tree it is, but it is massive and has obviously been there a long time. It towers over the white birches nearby. I will revisit it through the summer for sure - trees like this just emit such a sense of strength, power, even knowledge.. you just have to wonder what stories this tree would tell if it could talk? (Okay, I'll admit, I have a small love affair going with trees, along with most things in nature...)
Not far from this tree, after hubby and the others had lost interest in my photography and wandered away, something moved in the grass a little too close to my feet.... My immediate thought was ... snake! (I do NOT have a love affair going with snakes.. no sirree) But upon closer
inspection I spotted this fellow - I believe he is a Pickerel Frog. He sure did blend in well with his surroundings, My knowledge of frog species is pretty minimal, okay I'll be honest, it's  non-existant. But after googling (don't you just love Google?) I decided he fitted the description - "irregular rectangular brown spots in rows" - check. "common along streams and lakeshores" - check. "also forage along grassy-sedge woods roads,  roadsides, meadows and old fields" - check. Yep, he's a handsome specimen of a Pickerel Frog. He was very obliging to sit still while I stole several shots of his gorgeous self... Thank you Mr. P. Frog.... No doubt he was more scared of me than I was of him...

Tomorrow is Wildflower Wednesday.. come back to see what I've found blooming this last week...



Peace,
Linda

"In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks."
~ John Muir