Wednesday, September 3, 2014

A Saturday Walk

We had some glorious weather this Labor Day weekend. Saturday was beautifully blue-and-white, a perfect day for a walk to the prairie restoration project.

Goldenrod continues to march across the countryside, warning all and sundry of cooler weather to come:


Baby-fine wild grasses drift like rosy smoke over the green of the fields:


Clouds of small white asters look up to the sun:




The hot pale skies of summer are beginning to give way to the deeper blue of approaching autumn.


Sun shining through a Favourite Tree:


At my feet grow chickweed with its tiny white flowers, unwelcome in the garden but somehow appropriate here in the open...


...and the delightfully-named Butter-and-eggs, a wild member of the snapdragon family:


Honeysuckle berries gleam brightly:


At the pond, three Canada geese stand stiffly to attention, keeping a wary eye on the human with the camera:


Blue vervain waves sinuous green flower spikes studded with the tiniest of lavender blossoms:


Looking up the frilly trunk of a river birch:


Milkweed pods at the edge of the prairie restoration project:


False sunflower (I think), with a small grasshopper:


Speaking of grasshoppers, the trail is lively with them. At every step, they shoot off like small green fireworks around my feet.


Around the corner, a hickory nut bides its time, waiting for the big jump:


Dark-red seeds of a wild grass, like a spray of minute rosebuds in my hand:


I think these tiny blossoms might be White Sweet Clover:


Back in the grass near the edge of the pond grow ruffle-edged mushrooms...


...and round-headed taupe-coloured ditto:


My circuit of the prairie restoration project is complete; it's time to head for home.

A good walk on a beautiful day. Maybe fall won't be so bad after all.... :)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

20 comments:

  1. It is amazing the variety of flowers you find on your forays. So much beauty! Can't wait to see the fall colors start to show up in your photos.

    I live where there isn't much change in the seasons. I must live vicariously through my northern friends. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would say an absolutely glorious walk going by this virtual tour. Amazing photogaphs and the flora so well depicted.

    keep well

    Amanda x

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a beautiful place, and the details you've captured are exquisite. There are things I recognise and things I don't. I'm envying you the hickory nut! CJ xx

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love all the beautiful wild flowers and those clouds are fantastic. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could walk among them. Some might say with all my daydreaming my head is in the clouds.
    I'd be gathering those hickory nuts to eat, apparently there is shortage of them this year.
    Susan x

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautiful blue and white post. Can feel the crispness of the day! An interesting grass path?

    ReplyDelete
  6. WOW! I can not pick a favorite photo out of these, because I really enjoyed each one, Sue! Thank you for helping me see the beauty around you...I'd say the prairie project is a success! xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Forgot to mention that I got my Fall issue of Interweave Crochet with your lovely Ruth Collar in it yesterday. It is my favorite pattern in the whole magazine...Honest! And I love that they published your tutorial as well. Bravo! [as our across the pond friends might say, I hope you feel chuffed :) ]

      Delete
  7. Daisies and Birch Trunk my favourites in this post.
    Briony
    x

    ReplyDelete
  8. You certainly photographically capture more than me on your walks than I do on a bike ride. But then again, you get more pictures than me on your bike, too! So glad you still have a few flowers; it won't be long now...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mrs M fall will be glorious! Each day a gift. Each season its own lovelies!

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a lovely walk for your holiday weekend. I've been toying with the idea of adding some goldenrod to our garden - it looks like such a majestic plant.....but I have a feeling it might be pretty vigorous and invasive, we're not quite up to prairie restoration scale so I'm not sure! I do love your shot of the birch bark. Juliex

    ReplyDelete
  11. Always a wonderful walk with you. Thanks for sharing all the lovely flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I have never seen a birch tree like that, fascinating. I saw some Goldenrod in Minnesota this past weekend, so pretty.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow, so much to see Sue, love the name 'Butter and Eggs' and the River Birch, such interesting bark.
    What a wonderful project the prairie restoration is and the word prairie alone certainly conjures up some wonderful mental pics.Certainly a lovely place to visit, no doubt you'll be back again.....xx

    ReplyDelete
  14. Nice shots! You still have some summer going on. I especially liked the cloud scene, the Blue vervain and the Butter-and-eggs.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Lovely photographs, the asters (?daisies) look particularly fine and the skies so painterly. Here autumn is well underway, we are squashing our sandal spread feet back into shoes and looking out warmer clothes

    ReplyDelete
  16. What a beautiful walk! And such wondeful pictures. Hopefully the weather will stay like this for at least a few days. Have a good forthcoming week, Viola

    ReplyDelete
  17. You have shared such beauty here. I am going to "stroll" through again. I cannot pick a favorite shot either, though those clouds leave me almost breathless. Oh, the wonder of it all!

    ReplyDelete
  18. I think fall is a beautiful season. Let's hope it stays warmish until November. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Ooh, today is making me second guess my enjoyment of fall... With all the humidity the last few weeks, I think I never really believed that it would get so bitterly cold again this winter, but today has been a reality check. Deep breath! Ready or not, here it comes... It IS Wisconsin, after all. =)

    ReplyDelete

I love comments! Speak on....