at the river...

Further by the birches there is a river. A river? well, a very small one...

But the birches are great and they grow just on the riverbank and every storm falls some of them to the water.






















This old one might have been hit by a lightning ages ago and the mark still shows...

The surroundings are fed by the river and the nature is extremely lush and thick. Especially now in spring it is bright green, fresh and growing! Some waterfowl spend time there and in the winter snow you can see the marks of an otter...

The flood in spring when snows are melting has covered these branches and there are also logs half buried in the bottom and reching towards the surface...

 The reflexions play on the water. They resemble fire as they change all the time and are as fascinating to watch as flames...

 Maybe she thinks there was an otter other side of the river...

Water lilies grow in the river bed rising their ghost-like leafs through the water, moving and swaying...

There somewhere on the riverbank otter has it's holes and tunnels. In springtime there is a lot of small fish in the river and maybe some also in winter. The flowing water seldom gets a thick ice to cover it. I think that just once in these years has the ice been strong enough to bear my weight - 53 kg!

morning walk

 The morning sun has a warm glow...

Dandelions are early ones to blossom and their jolly yellow covers sometimes quite large areas.

Field pansy is a small and delicate thing, and actually very beautiful on close range.

 This is my house covered in greenery now at summertime - just roofs shoving!

 Arctic bramble has lovely pink flowers. I was surprised to find them in bloom so early, but it was a sunny spot.

 There is a little river behind those trees.

 This is for pied flycatcher - the metal strips are for woodpeckers that come to get the eggs and young ones...

 Bird cherry still blooming...

 We have a lot of these little lizards basking in the sun. Later in the summer they'll have young ones and many!

 On the field only two swans this morning. They don't usually leave because of us but now they took to their wings...

May Days

Something is happening in the willows... little animals... what are they doing?

 The catkins have such beautiful coloring - grey, yellow, orange-red, white - like glow!

 Are they really 'eating'  the pollen? So it seems...

 Rain did wonders to the nature - leaves push out, above rowan and below lilac.

 Small tortoiseshell is one of those butterflies that spend the winter as adults and is ready to fly early in the spring. Other such are brimstone and mourning cloak.

 The bird-cherry blooming at the northern end of the house is magnificent! And  the cool spring evening  is filled with fragrance...

 The flowers in close-ups are so intricate and complex - and how many of them are in the whole tree?

raindrops keep falling...

It has been dry. No rain in weeks. And that has been good because the deep frost has not turned the roads to rivers of mud. Just some frost boils and sunken culverts. Some years ago I hit such a drop while driving and that was the end of the journey: the motor fell off and also the gearbox dropped... Lovely  country we have... one of the richest in the world...

Anyway today when we were having our daily exercise, the dog and me, it started  raining. There was just over a kilometre to go and it was not raining very heavily so we only got a bit damp - it was kind of scented and sweet anyway...

The bird cherry buds are rather swollen, still more higher in the tree - they'll probably be in bloom in a week. These last years, three maybe, they have opened like this - my birthday is on 22'nd so I have noticed. Earlier maybe once in ten or fifteen years... so it is getting warmer!

 Snowdrops with drops of rain... so small and so delicate and yet they just endure...

everything is growing

The spring  is weaving green, light and pure, over the scenery.

 Moss grows sporophores, delicate little 'flowers' glowing red and orange.

 The older spruce are covered with beard lichen and horse hair - the air is clean.

 Spring is like green mist over the birch.

 On the field some work has been done.

 It is the most green.... light and fresh and pure...

 And everything is growing, growing, GROWING... like in a hurry, a sudden burst of intense will to live... summer is so short and so much needs to happen...