A weed?!

OK, I love to draw flowers.

This one I already have done some time ago:

It's actually a rather small wild, growing flower - both at the wood edges and in any barren parts where Dandelions don't grow. I had seen it growing on a stone pile much larger than the one I draw. At the time then I did not yet have the use of a photo camera - So I had drawn it from my mind after looking at it for some time.

This week on my way home from work I came across this plant growing next to a concrete wall. And, as it has become my habit, I had now a photo camera along and took a few shots.
Here the photo of this flower:

From Winter to Spring - TREES

(Well -- just catching up with nature; from the temperatures it nearly could be Summer by now.)

Trees in the turn of seasons: (there surely will be an update on this too -- as times passes ;-))


First pair is a Walnut tree at the train station close by my village:

still Winter and snow

now in Spring - the Cherry trees in blossom

Second pair is a Linden tree close to my house I pass by every day:

early morning mist

May sunshine brought out the leaves
(and the flowers too -- what a smell!!)

Third pair is the Bloodplum tree at my house:

Spring flowers - one of the first trees to have them

and the typical red leaves

Spring turns to Summer

Indeed it was a cold Spring with all the plants seemingly holding back.

But for a few days (after a tiny bit of rain too) it got Summer warm within two days. Now all flowers seem to hurry to bloom. Here a few impressions of them:

25th April 2012

30th April 2012

lots of daisies instead of grass

daises and another tiny flower

more tiny flowers and lots of green grass

 

This last photo I took this morning at the train station. The late cherries are finally in flower too, but the walnut (I think it is a walnut) tree in the back still has no leaves.And all over the fields you can see green grass (finally) and common dandelions (Taraxacum officinale).

As to the creek: although we had rain and it seemed to have filled up a bit - this morning I was so surprised to see parts (sidearms) nearly dry and other parts really low. As if it was late Summer. See if I can get photos of it and post them too. (as an update).

 

Low water in the little creek!!

Here some photos of the low water levels of the creek:

First ones from 5th MAY 2011:

Then we had a wet summer and the water level rose back to "normal, which is about half way up the dry part. The creek bed in the upper photo was dug out shortly after I had taken the photos too.

These two are from 4th February 2012:

Lots of water in this photo (and not only because of the dug out during the previous Spring)

Lots of water upstream too; this is the normal level of water.

Now, we have April!! Snow melt and Spring rain filled the creek)

"Ducky" swimming over the dug out part of the creek; 2ndApril!

"Ducky" on the 10th April; water again a bit lower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upstream side of the bridge; hens picking in the dry soil; 17th April

Usually the water is right up the the stones!! And if you compare this photo with the one from May last year you an see that the water level is already below the one from then!!

17th April 2012. Notice the gap between the plants /soil edge and the water?? In the February photos the plants were level with the water (ice building on the edge)

Further downstream I can see the water levels being even lower. I'm passing the creek nearly every day with the train. I took a few photos of the low level. They turned out all blurry due to the train being so fast! *lol*

Best ones:

See how the high waters of last summer washed out the creek bank?? And now it's even lower than the normal level; noticeable at the bottom of the wash-out being horizontal visible - that is already the creek bed!!

With normal water levels these stones are half submerged. High "tide" (flooding after heavy rain) last summer made the water go beyond the creek bank right into the grass and fields beyond.

And it still hasn't rained much and we are having cooler than "normal" for this time of year. 

Still, if asking the people on the street they say it's all normal and OK. They like the dry weather, the water low in the creek -- oh, no, not really (without actually looking at the creek) or they accuse the fish ponds up stream to keep all the water back.

But that has been done in the last years too! And the "fish farmers" complain about not having enough fresh and fast running water through their ponds, the land farmers complain about it being too dry too - the plants are "thirsty" and not thriving well; as if it was a hot summer (like in middle of June or July and close to harvest time).

But, yes, all is normal ^^;;

I'm keeping a watch on this.

Spring - this is the time for poetry

I see the flowers bloom
spring has come so soon
the sun is shining bright
chasing away the night

the days will be long
as will be my happy song
birds sing with all their might
the fun of spring in sight

bees come out to play
nothing will make me stay
I go out in the sun
to play and have fun

in the sun so bright
I fill my heart with light
so I can pass it on
to anyone that comes along

winter now has gone
spring again has won
no more stories to be told
about the freezing cold

and even if it may rain
it will cause me no pain
I think of the little flower
with rain it has more power

to grow and strife
and show of the new life
coming out of the earth
it is like a birth

Micha Fire; April 2008

This poem is a few years old - and it has been valid ever since.
It even made me take a photo of the tree that I had painted a twig from.

bloodplum on 7th April 2011

This year I'm still waiting for the tree to start blooming - on last years photo it had been in full flower for over two weeks already.

Once it is in full flower I will take another photo to show how it "shines" this year. ^^

Awesome tree and tiny caves

These recent early spring days I took the chance of the splendid weather, and having a bit of free time, to walk around the woods around my home with my daughter.

We had a lot of fun walking together. And we took photos too.

Here some of them:

This is one of the first flowers to bloom; growing very, very close to the water. It belongs to the family of  Ranunculaceae. There even was a patch of them growing right in the middle of the little creek!

Along the path some of these stone piles could be seen. This one in particular was in a dip of the path (on the left side of the photo). During winter, this stone pile is the only way to know you are still on the right path and not walking cross country through the wood. And there are some places where going off the path could end you up at the edge of a steep ravine or at the top of a big block of rock with no way down. 

Stone piles like these can be found all over the world: in the European Alps, in barren areas with no good landmarks; even seen them in Australia.The origin and meaning varies from landmarks, piles that are used to store food and other important hings below them or some cultural and religious uses. The ones in the woods around here were done by passing persons for fun. Some have become path markers. But I think most are there just because people had seen and heard something vague about them and just add another stone to mark that they too had passed the pile. And, yes, I do remember that when I had seen such piles in the Alps during a vacation hike there many years ago I too added a stone to a pile while taking a pause to look around the awesome landscape there! ^^; 

We walked along this little creek right to the spring. Here an impression of the creek (taken in January BEFORE the snow and ice had come and passed away) as it is flowing over the rocks. It's a well visited tourist path; especially on weekends. Even now it still looked this way - no spring flowers there yet - only greener grass and moss.

When we finally reached the spring we looked at the place it came out of the rocks. Maybe there is a cave there? So hard to see in the dark and below the rock. So I used the flashlight of my camera to take a photo of what lies in the dark. 

Well, no cave there. Not one that a human could crawl into! But the water does find the way out right there.

The next day we went into the opposite direction.
All around there were also lots of rocks and "cliffs" with openings close to the ground. Again I used the flashlight to see beyond the area that was in daylight. But there was no water at all.

 

Well, there is nothing much there. Unless you are a mouse or a spider maybe.Or, if you're skinny and small you can use them as sleeping areas: about 1m * 1.5m * 0.5m of space.

On our way back home we passed an odd looking tree:

It had been cut at the top some long time ago. Then it regrew and had been cut again at the sides. But still this tree lives on - sprouting new limbs over and over again. Now this area is under nature protection. No more cutting of trees - unless they are so damaged (and hollow) that they would collapse onto the hiking paths for the tourists.

The "ancient" left over tree top is about my height; and we tried to climb up on it. To sit or lie on the strong horizontal limb to bath in the afternoon sun that was slowly being covered by hazy clouds again. (We didn't make it up as we kept slipping of the sides with our sneakers - barefooted we might have had a better chance. But we also didn't try very hard.)

And here a zoomed in view of the landscape across from the hill with clifff we were on today: 

I'm looking forward to the days when spring is fully here. 

With sunshine and warm air; and birds and insects all around; and green and flowers sprouting everywhere.

And I will take my camera along to make photos and share them with you. Nature is soooo beautiful, you just need to go out with open eyes and see and feel it.