O will you lay with me
Beneath a shady tree,
On a ship we’ll set a sail
Row out to meet a whale,
Under the clear bright skies
We’ll swing and shut our eyes,
O will you come with me
Out to the apple tree.
summer days . . . rains washed out the patchwork shovel mending of the driveway, re-rutted and grooved them anew, similarly in the garden . . . the bales of straw we so cleverly laid out on pathways have kept the weeds down, however, they have also sprouted! What a chortle!
the beds are giving chard and peas,
hairy motherwort, nuzzling bees,
the ‘new’ garden flower
blooms magenta hour after hour,
ladybirds spotted inside the fold
sit dark red on yellow quietly bold
the old mulberry tree fallen over long ago has rejuvenated and sprouted shoots, with a bit of pruning and clearing of thorny thicket we climb around and upon the gnarled intertwined trunk . . . in crevices where bark has decayed there’s plants sprouting and down low from out of cracks, mushrooms climbing; what a tree, majestic is she!! . . . we enjoy fruit and shade at her side where she does abide with a bramble left behind her where rabbits reside . . .this solstice we gathered and celebrated mulberry, hummingbird, hollyhocks, and daily lilies, simple pleasures with daylong arms and firefly nights.
The Coddiwomplers Cauldron 
They’re fascinating creatures with their obsidian eyes, building their nests in odd places; they have at least two nests here annually and my husband keeps a keen eye out as to the locations so nobody steps into them . . . they’ll ignore us as long as we don’t get close to their nests or within arms reach, though when they come within arms reach they’re fine about it, so it’s not a vice versa thing::their sting burns fiery hot, and once the barb is out, plantain leaf chewed and spat on it soothes it fairly rapidly . . . .it was invigorating to say the least and left me with a respect for them that was different than before; for me they are fire keepers and will repeatedly give you more than a little when you have a need for that sort of sting to get you going . . . .
LikeLike
I was stung many times by yellow jackets as a kid and their sting was the worst. To this day I panic if one starts flying around me. They’ll actually chase after someone if they smell food cooking. Might be we have more aggressive ones here than you do there…? I like the idea of them being fire keepers… They do have their purpose, as all living creatures do and I think it’s wonderful you’re teaching your children so much about nature. 🐝 🐝
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ouch! That’s an interesting thought, variations in behaviour based on locale seems likely . . .
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, that’s probably the case. Yellow jackets here are meat eaters which I think makes them meaner. They’ll become angry and sting for seemingly no reason.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such great photos!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, I enjoy peeking through a camera; sometimes use it like a spyglass to see details that are far away or difficult to view like yellow jacket eyes and body patterns . . . got stung giving that a go a few times, so have a look with the distance afforded by a zoom lens instead, they’re okay with that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I always admire those with such a talent. And the courage to view a yellow jacket’s eyes. Ouch! Zoom lenses are nice… 😳
LikeLiked by 1 person