Saturday Photo: Fleur de lys or Iris...

We are half way through the week of  summer's first holidays around here. Quebec's Fête nationale was last Wednesday and next Wednesday will be Canada Day.  Such a strange time!  No big celebrations, just small gatherings and some lovely flowers in bloom.

The fleur de lys, the iris, is Quebec's flower, and, conveniently it blooms right now.  The ones in my front yard aren't nearly as nice, but these in a neighbor's are lovely.

Enjoy what good times you might have....

Saturday Photo: Water Games and Rainbows...

The kids around here early in this crazy pandemic time began making rainbows to put in windows with the legend Ça va bien aller" which means It's going to be all right.  Quite a nice sentiment, and one which I suspect encouraged a lot of young ones who may have been frightened by their parents' anxiety if nothing else.

Well, it hasn't been all right for a lot of people, but things are looking up.  The parks are open and with them the splash pads/jeux d'eau that lots of kids love.  The other morning when it already was stifling I came upon a young family playing in the water even though it was before 9 a.m.  Lots of fun, but also the sun hit the spray of water at just the right angle to make this lovely rainbow.  Enough to make you smile, if not enough to convince you that everything will be all right.

Saturday Photo: April in Paris, June in Montreal...

The song says that the chestnuts bloom in April in Paris, and usually they bloom in Montreal in May.  But this eyar, when the temperature has gone up and down, up and down, they're blooming in June.

Another example of weather craziness.  Doesn't so far make a difference, but theses days one never knows what is going to happen...

Always thought it was crazy the way some people try to predict the future.  Aside from nothing being certain but death and taxes, it's all a crapshoot.

The flowers are pretty though.

Saturday Photo: Just What the Doctor Ordered...

I think I've used this photo before, but it deserves another look.  Dandelions are supposed to be weeds, and I must admit that I try to keep them out of my little backyard plot of grass.  But they are a sign that somebody isn't trying to mess with nature by using pesticides and testimony to the resilience of green things.

Dandelions are invasive and were introduced into North America a long time ago, possibly for their medicinal properties and possibly, says one source, because they reminded Europeans of their homelands.  The greens can be eaten--I cooked up the ones I pulled up last week with some butter and garlic after washing them several times and steaming for five minutes.  They were pretty good, but then what isn't with butter and garlic?

But what really is lovely is the display they give in the grass for the short period before they turn into fluff balls of seeds. Just what the doctor ordered to lift the spirits, and to underscore how what we do to nature can have such unexpected results.