If God had placed the flowers and plants where they should be I wouldn’t have had to work like a field hand this weekend, pulling out invasive ornamental grasses; planting perennials and annuals; and placing six yards of mulch. But, it already looks better. I pruned the Knockout Roses severely last fall and they’re lookin’ good.
Here’s a beautiful iris which Barbara and I enjoyed in her summertime landlord’s garden while having coffee out there this morning.
Last weekend the club had its annual spring commissioning service. This ceremony marks the start of life at the club for the season but it’s also a solemn event of tradition. The club dates to 1912 and the club house to 1916. That’s a lot of years of friendly competition and good times. Here’s what it looked like about 1916. (And, no, I didn’t take this picture.)
At the ceremony here are twenty-three past commodores lined up. That’s impressive.
And, the evening ended beautifully.
Over the weekend a dozen photographers (including eight from our South Jersey Camera Club) gathered at the Glen Falls House in Round Top, NY where we had visited and photographed last February. Big difference in three months, from -1 degrees F, frozen cascades and icy trails to mid-sixties and wildflowers in bloom. Here’s a before and after set.
Some gloom from cloud cover and showers (better light for some pictures) but we were prepared. Here are some snapshots of the weekend. You can see nine more studies by clicking here.
Here’s an old mountain troll at the trailhead leading to Diamond Notch Falls.
This was the reward after an up-hill mile of a slippery and rock-strewn trail. I made the trail hike in February but never got down to below the falls for this view because of the ice, although others did. I made it this time and it was grand.
Here are some of the wildflowers seen elsewhere on the mountain. I’m told these are Forget-Me-Nots.
This is at the base of a section of the Kaaterskill Falls. The young school-girls were frolicking dangerously from rock to rock but they did add scale to the falls.
There are nine additional images in my gallery. Click here.
I drove up for the festival last Saturday. It was a beautiful day but the iris in the park hadn’t gotton the memo. There were a few rusty-brown and this lovely specimen.
But, there were lots to be seen in private gardens elsewhere in town, some in scenes such as this.
There were crafters and artists along Farnsworth Avenue and a number of eating places. A nice place to be on a nice day. For train enthusiasts, Bordentown is a stop on the River Line. Here’s a northbound train crossing the bridge over Crosswicks Creek.
Where to go on an off-and-on rainy Saturday? I drove to an antique mall in Hammonton, only to find it out of business (can we really eventually run out of antiques). So, in order not to waste the trip I drove on over to Batsto, a place that I haven’t been to for years. No doubt because of the rain there was only a handful of others there. Despite the rainy day the dogwoods and lilacs were beautiful.
The mill stream (right) was quiet and … reflective.
And, here’s a giant oak sheltering a young hemlock, in turn sheltering a spring violet. For a few more pictures from the afternoon, visit my gallery.
