Aspen Serpentine Leafminer (Phyllocnistis populiella)

 Hello there! I haven't been here for too long a time,  but all is well. 

This afternoon i walked up to my neighbours to tell them i am a grandma now:) yes it is a healthy baby boy. I walked to them by the way of the tree i am following, and realized it is already past the middle of the month.

  My tree is doing as well as can be expected, the crown looks lovely. it has been rather dry this summer, but we have had some rain and a spitter spatter even fell this afternoon, although it never reached the ground

The tree is affected by the leafminer, but so are all poplars that i know off, i could find out for you how far and wide it's reaches are now. I did read that the first leaf miner along the Alaska highway was spotted in the 1950-ish. So i have not known otherwise. For  many years  now we always say, "oh the leafminers are really bad this year."

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wáxwaoz̓

 

Lewis' Mock Orange

Philadelphus lewisii

This beautiful  fragrant shrub was blooming along seven o'clock drive,  June 13 2023

I have more of the plants growing there posted in oct. nov. dec. 2021.

It is Idaho's state flower.

It is said to be good for bank stabilization.

The wood is very hard and used for making tools.

Also the leaves and flowers  are slightly soapy, so nice to wash your hands in a creek with.

the tree looks older

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Tree following project

The tree 20+ years ago. The tree i follow is on the left, the one on the right is it's twin, that has died long time ago, and has been removed. The twin might have been used for fort building, less likely for a campfire. And not likely for firewood. ( The people are Tilly and Merel, my sister and her oldest daughter)

The tree on May 14  2023

 You see it has lost  a big branch. And certainly above the broken off branch, it has grown in diameter.

Also the trees in the back ground have grown considerably

And the tree two days ago.

sustainable living

 To me, that we have to live with less is clear,  and i like to say;   when we live with less, we get  more,   more living to do.

Today i biked over to the AGM in our neighbourhood,  (biked with a peddle bike.)

I brought a cloth napkin, to receive the food that would be offered. 

 But the group of neighbours that  I sat close to, and socialized with before and after the meeting, they all impressed me with their travel habits.  It show me again that  we neighbours are kindred spirits, we all live here in this faraway neighbourhood, because we have  at least some similar values.

 I was telling them i was travelling next week for a few days to Pemberton BC, we laughed at the horrendousness of what one neighbour called; using an airplane as a taxi service. We all got it. People here in the Yukon are in general, if i may say  quite rich, and do  seem to use airplanes as a taxi service. But not so some of my neighbours as it turned out. K had not been flying for a long time, his grandchildren are far away but driving  to see them is possible. H has his parents in Europe and will go down there this year first time in 6 years. and E did recently take a plane ride to go to a meeting for work but had not travelled by plane since 2018 or so.

 Still we here in the Yukon, this might be much more air travel we do then people in your neck of the woods. I at least was impressed.

And that  is it, we all have to do what we can. But i do hope we all make a change, because to keep living the way we do up till now is not sustainable.

And what about the living more you might ask; as i biked back i came upon an elk, i took my bike  home and ventured in the woods where i had seen it. I  heard them call and grunt, and found the area where they have frequented lately by their prints in the moss, and from there i let them be. I always wanting to see the wildlife but not wanting to disturb them too much. Don and i had seen their prints on the dusty drive way for several days now, so it was nice to finally meet them, all for free, no airplane needed.

blessed rain

 Yesterday we had the first drop of the year. And this morning while I was collecting wild greens for today's lunch, the sky turned dark and sure enough we had a bit of a shower, 5 minutes worth. So it normally is for the Yukon, in my experience,  But i will say the few previous summers we did have a bit of more rain.

Did i say i was planning on more gardening, I know now for me I will need a bit more rain to help me along, I am happy to water a bit, but not extensively.

I am trying to harvest more of the wild, then what  we can eat daily, but that is not happening yet. And today i have friends visiting for lunch  so i want to pick 6 cups of wild green instead of the normal two.

And an update here about the deleting; I  am  still distressed how much i put on the Internet over the years. And am  still slowly chugging away deleting what is not relevant anymore. How many months has it been now?

And about the chewing; Yes i am still chewing away, eating my food more mindfully. Impressed with myself on this front. And in this case not worried that I ate rushed for 60 plus years. Haha luckily i do not have to clean up my computer for what has been collected for 60 years, but just 20. I fear for young people.

One more thing, I am still reading Walden Pond. I can't believe how much i like that Thoreau, what did i read yesterday; About walking in the dark! Something i like too. He was suggesting, let your body walk you do not look with your eyes, when walking home through pitch black. 

And OMG that about that the government trying to protect us,  will hurt us more, he calls it molest :), then if we would just leave it be....

I am not very good as repeating his exact words. I would have to read the whole chapter again, I think it was 'The Village' chapter. And as i most often read in bed I do not underline things, so i would be able to find them and tell you properly.

Love you all, respect you for your ways. Thank you for reading this.

Summer

 After a very long tentative spring we are suddenly blasted into summer.

Monday sitting in the garden I could see the trees getting green

And yes i have been swimming for 3 days now. 

yesterday with my friend Cindy

Cindy managed about 9 strokes in one dip. I dipped in more often but i think i only got to 7 strokes.

 Swimming for now is in the Takhini river. Monday i forded the river to an island, where i know there is a pool, the pool still had floating ice, so i just jumped in and out.

I have an interest in the Wim Hoff method, and Tuesday i managed four strokes while a kept breathing. Don and i drove  up mud road, which still had quite a bit of ice, to go to an island closer to the shore. so the fording was easier, and i did those four strokes in that stretch, and on the island i found a shallow pool where i could actually lay in and be quite comfortable.

Yesterday see photo, spectacular i say. plus Mergansers floating by

.I am following a tree. Are you?

 Thanks to the https://squirrelbasket.wordpress.com/

 Earlier this morning i had breakfast at the tree i am following.

And I am sure through  the tree, squirrelbasket, Hollis and the power of mind, there were 8 crocuses blooming at the foot of the tree. I have never seen so much on that side of the erratic rock, ha, there was none on the east side of the rock, where i usually see more crocuses.

The goose berry bush shows green leaves, and the rose has leave buds. Also in this 2 photo you see how the two trees, were actually one tree, still a twin of sorts, like i wrote before. The one died and this one very much alive.  As you see i measured the tree, to see next year if it actually does grow.

No photo, but a few strong big Poplars in the yard do  have catkins

But here is ours! green buds at at the top of the tree!