time for a swim.......

The water is perfect...I walk upriver...then swim with the current down .....then I do it again....and again.....

The dogs love coming down to the river.......

That is far as old Jose will go.......

about 3 feet deep here....pristine, sparkling, mountain water....no industry on the Slocan River at all......

I walk way up there to start my swim.......

Here come some floaters......

Macey just loves swimming......

She is getting better at it all the time........

Now that the river has gone down we have a lovely little spot to swim.....

gathering and bundling.....

Early in the morning I go gathering. Into my basket I place juicy, crimson, Oregon grapes, lavender, daylilies, and crabapples. A small, lacy cloth is then covered with my bounty, rolled up tight, and tied into a bundle. I dip this into a cauldron of strong, black tea, soak it through, then place it in the sun to dry. When the bundle has dried and mellowed, it is unwrapped....to behold the gentle, delicate colors of the morning.  Smelling of sunshine, radiating softness, the lovely cloth will remind me forever...... 

too beautiful to eat....yet

I have not had a vegetable garden for years...It is AWESOME growing food!!

the ants like my artichoke too....

perfection.....

in the midst of rhubarb and squash. (and weeds!)....the lovely artichoke.....

I remember being so fascinated, many years ago, by seeing artichokes growing beside the roads on the island of Crete in Greece. It is a Mediterranean plant and most often grown in warmer climates. I found this perennial plant in our local greenhouse,....... then planted it in the corner by the rhubarb. I think the main flower is almost ready to eat....steamed with lemony garlic butter. I'll give it another week.....and plant more next year!