Every now and then...

..open your eyes and see what there is to spot along the wayside, like this little beetle on a dandelion blossom. I only saw later that there was also
a tiny little gnat sitting there with it

Best, Inge

Yes, that’s nature for you. There’s so much to discover if we just take a closer look. I love that too—always finding something new on our walks, especially now that it’s spring.

You did a great job capturing that beetle with your camera

Such beautiful pictures! It’s buzzing and humming here, too, but I haven’t managed to get a great snapshot yet.

Right now, I’m constantly out in the garden with my camera, documenting how the flowers are blooming



But little critters don’t always make it into the shot

   It was so beautiful last year, but this time there aren’t any flowers at all 😒



Things are already blooming in lots of places here, too.

Marlies, just wait—the flowers are still coming. Everything seems to be blooming a little later this year; last year it was just warmer and drier around this time.

I have two dark lilac trees, Mel. There’s nothing on either of them. The white one is blooming, even though it’s usually the last to bloom. All my neighbors’ dark lilacs are blooming so beautifully.

Oh, that’s too bad. But maybe next year

Our white lilac in front of the house only bloomed for about three weeks this year; usually it blooms for twice that long, no problem. I guess that’s partly because it was

so cold and wet the whole time. Love, Inge

Things are much sparser here than in recent years, but weeks—or rather, months—of cool, gloomy, and wet weather aren’t exactly ideal either. And it doesn’t look like that’s going to change anytime soon.

Honestly? Despite everything, I actually prefer this weather to the sweltering heat of past summers—this way I can breathe easily without worrying about an asthma attack from the extreme heat. Besides, the weather we’re having right now is actually more typical for our latitude than the 35°+ we’ve had in recent years. It can rain even more—thankfully, that will replenish the groundwater reserves and help us avoid a massive water shortage. Like everything else, it just has two sides to it :-)

Love, Inge

That’s true, but I find both extremes. The heat of the last few years and this endless darkness here. Nature could certainly use a lot of water—no question about that—but the first ones are already getting flooded again. We’re missing that nice, moderate time that I used to think of as spring: the first milder days that bring some sunshine after the usually rainy winter here.
I actually bought a daylight lamp this year—something I’d never even considered before.