Sunday signage

Sign on the restroom/washroom building by the Towpath Trail.

I’ve never before seen a sign warning about the dangers of using the loo.  I’d hate to be in there when that alarm goes off.

If I were to name this summer, I think I’d name it The Summer of Queen Anne’s Lace.  It’s everywhere.  In the meadows, lining the roadsides, and (unfortunately!) in my garden keeping the asparagus company.  The Queen Anne’s Lace doesn’t seem to mind the hot and dry conditions we’ve been experiencing.  If anything, it appears to be thriving.

Legend has it that Queen Anne, the wife of King James I, was challenged by her friends to create lace as beautiful as a flower. While making the lace, she pricked her finger, and it’s said that the purple-red flower in the center of Queen Anne’s Lace represents a droplet of her blood. Also called Wild Carrot (since Queen Anne’s Lace is the wild progenitor of today’s carrot), Bishop’s Lace or Bird’s Nest (for the nest-like appearance of the bright white and rounded flower in full bloom), in the language of flowers, Queen Anne’s Lace represents sanctuary.

Source: The Language Of Flowers

Queen Anne’s Lace in abstract

The milkweed is doing well, too.  The pods are formed and growing.

Staring down the sedge grass

We had a little rain this morning.  Just enough to dampen the laundry I had just hung on the clothesline.  I was hoping the laundry would be an invitation for a super soaking rain.  We’ve tried just about everything else (washing the car, watering the garden, rain dances, etc.).

Muskrat having lunch

I took a long, slow walk around the pond earlier.  Muskrat was busy chowing down on the pond weeds so I tiptoed around him and left him to it.  Although we don’t like having muskrats in the pond (the digging of their dens undermines the banks/dam of the pond), it’s good to see someone eating those pond weeds.  I’ve been lax about muckraking this year, and something needs to be done about the abundant growth of weeds at the edge of the pond.

It looks a lot like late August here at Breezy Acres.  The grasses are brown, some of the leaves are changing color, and the harvest is more like that of August than July.

Today’s view of the pond

I haven’t been swimming in the pond yet, but I hear the water is clear, cool, and surprisingly refreshing considering how hot it’s been.  Usually the top layer of water is pretty warm by now, with the cooler stuff below (the pond is 13 feet deep in the middle, for those inquiring minds who want to know).  M says the cloudiness of the past few days must be keeping the top cool.

Leaves on the burning bush are changing color.

I guess that’s it from the Bogs for today.  Thanks for visiting and joining me on my walk.  More photos from today’s walk (as well as the abstract that showed up in yesterday’s header) can be found here.   I don’t think you need to be signed in to Flickr to access The Daily Walk photo set.  I signed out and checked and it worked fine for me, but if you have trouble, let me know.  To be honest, on days like today when I post a walk here a Ye Olde Blogge, you probably aren’t missing me much if you skip The Daily Walk I set up at Flickr.

Cattails

I hope your Sunday has been a good one.  🙂

A found feather

Related articles

• Queen Anne’s Lace (cell2soul.typepad.com)
• Queen Anne’s Lace (oncealittlegirl.com)
• From Dandilions to Queen Anne’s Lace – A Mother’s Letter To Her Daughter (journeytoepiphany.com)

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