Spring!

Definitely feeling like spring now. So much is blooming, and oh yes, those spring allergies too. Achoo! 

Started the week out on Monday with a walk during swim practice around the Bath block. Windy! The lilacs are starting to bloom 😍 (2.0 miles walked)

Then since Ryan was away for a conference, Sam and I stopped for DQ on our way home. Nothing better than dessert before dinner 😋😊😂

Got out for a run Tuesday afternoon down to the river and back. Breezy and bright out. The river has receded, leaving behind a lot of debris, mud and some very high water marks. First fringed polygala of the season! (6.5 miles)

Fringed polygala - love the magenta!😍

Didn't manage to get out the door on Wednesday morning or in the afternoon, which meant an early morning run on Thursday was on the schedule, as had meetings pretty much all day until 5:30 pm. And so it was that I was out the door at 5:17 am for a run on the cart paths. Nice morning. Hobblebush, blueberry bells and fringed polygala in bloom. The sun was a neat orange orb above the trees but the photo doesn’t do it justice. (6.0 miles)

Hopefully this means a good blueberry season! 😋

Decided to head to Bradbury on Friday morning for a change of pace. Which meant another flower tour! 🌸 So much in bloom or very close - false Lily of the valley, Lily of the valley, starflower, wild oat, wild Indian cucumber, fringed polygala, dwarf ginseng, painted trillium, purple trillium, goldthread, and oh the lady slippers are getting ready! 🤩 It’s a joy to run in the woods this time of year. There is just so much beauty. ❤️ Of course also very sniffly. (8.2 miles)

Lily of the valley getting ready to bloom

So many wild indian cucumber plants!

Ladyslipper getting close!

Dwarf ginseng

Stopped at Tammy's SipHouse in Freeport after the run to say hello and get a coffee and a yummy treat, and then got all the standard errands done - recycling, library, cat food, Target and grocery shopping - before taking Sam up to the Y later in the afternoon for swimming. It was too nice to sit inside the whole time, so I did a loop around the block. The air smelled sweet with all the flowering trees starting to bloom. (1.8 miles walked)

Saturday morning, I headed out from home to do a larger version of the road & trail loop I've done in the past. I think I hit portions of all the trails nearby - trail behind Mom and Dad's, Town Landing Trail along the Andro, Highlands, top of Foreside Field and down along the river again, powerlines, Gone Fishing, Roberts Property/extended Cathance, Cathance, one hole on the cart paths and finally the Mt. Ararat trails to home. Kind of fun. Can definitely add a few miles to make it an even longer loop by adding more miles on the Gone Fishing trail and heading out to the Head of Tides park but still keep the loop nature. Next time. Got warm out there and I should have had a flask of Summit Tea but just took all the gels in my pack and hoped that would provide enough electrolytes. So salty! Took a slide down an embankment that had flooded during the earlier rains out in the Cathance. So much mud on my hands, I picked up a worm too 😂😂 and of course then in the last few miles, I passed a number of people out walking and about 15 ATVs with a wicked muddy butt 🤦🏼‍♀️🤷‍♀️😬🤪 Rhodora is in bloom! And saw a pair of bluebirds, and a momma duck with babies in the Heath 😍(17.2 miles)

Dwarf ginseng

I think this is cuckoo flower, blooming along the Town Landing trail

Chokecherry?

Momma duck and her babies - so cute!

Rhodora in bloom!

Headed out on Sunday morning to loop up and over Mt. A and then along the powerlines. Bright but very windy morning. Legs felt a bit creaky but not too bad. Happy to finish up with a solid 3 days of running and a good week. (9.4 miles)

Came home to Sam cooking up waffles on her mini waffle maker and Ryan making bacon. Yum!

Then later in the afternoon, we headed over to Mom and Dad's for dinner and wrapped up the weekend with ice cream at Fielder's Choice. A solid Mother's Day! 💗And a Happy Mother's Day to all my favorite moms out there 😊