May brought us spring weather

June is around the corner and it's time to share the May collage. This link party is hosted by Susanna. You can visit http://pienilintu.blogspot.fi/2015/05/toukokuun-kollaasihaaste-512.html for more month collages!

Yesterday the weather was lovely... sunny, rather warm, and pleasantly windy.

Prunus padus

Tulipa 'Shirley'. Not quite what it was supposed to look like.

Early this morning there was mist over the lake.

Near the letterbox I noticed this year's first red campions.

Silene dioica

Our World Tuesday

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Have a lovely June!

Jo joutui armas aika - Joyous summer days

NB The photos of this post have been taken in our garden in Italy, not in Finland.

The wilderness pastures drip with dew,

and the hills wrap themselves with joy.

The meadows are clothed with flocks of sheep,

and the valleys are covered with grain.

They shout for joy;

yes, they burst out in song!

Psalm 65: 12 - 13 (International Standard Version)

I was recently telling to a Canadian friend how in this part of the world (Eastern Finland) spring usually reaches its maximum splendour in the last days of May, at the end of the school year...

There's a Swedish summertime hymn titled "Den blomstertid nu kommer" (literally: "Now the time of blossoming arrives", in Finnish simply "Suvivirsi") that is traditionally sung at the Spring Fete. Below there are the first three verses of the hymn in Finnish. I don't try to translate them in English, because my translation wouldn't do justice to the text.

Imagine that after a dark and cold winter summer bursts into bloom and the freedom of summer holidays is upon you. The world is full of fresh green foliage and flowers and sunlight and bird song. For many of us, "Suvivirsi" symbolizes the memory of those moments filled with joy and gratitude ... and few adults can listen to the hymn (especially when sung by a child choir) with dry eyes.

1. Jo joutui armas aika

ja suvi suloinen.

Kauniisti joka paikkaa

koristaa kukkanen.

Nyt siunaustaan suopi

taas lämpö auringon,

se luonnon uudeks' luopi,

sen kutsuu elohon.

2. Taas niityt vihannoivat

ja laiho laaksossa,

puut metsän huminoivat

taas lehtiverhossa.

Se meille muistuttaapi

hyvyyttäs', Jumala,

ihmeitäs' julistaapi

se vuosi vuodelta.

3. Taas linnut laulujansa

visertää kauniisti,

myös eikö Herran kansa

Luojaansa kiittäisi!

Mun sieluni, sä liitä

myös äänes' kuorohon

ja armon Herraa kiitä,

kun laupias hän on.

Participating in Mosaic Monday

at Judith's Lavender Cottage.

I am very happy to join Donna at Gardens Eye View

 for the Seasonal Celebrations meme.

Visiting her blog you can read about summer serenity and childhood memories 

and, on June 22, find links to other lovely blogs celebrating summer.

♥

Participating also in

Stephanie's Roses of Inspiration.

♥

Thank you all for your lovely comments on my posts. They make me very happy. 

I've had very busy days recently and haven't visited everyone yet, but I will do it as soon as I can.

Wishing you beautiful and happy summer days.

Hugs!

Firing a broadside of... BLUE

Tuesday is the MakroTex Challenge day at Susanna's blog Pieni Lintu. This week's theme is "Blue", and I started my preparation well on time. First I scurried around in hunt for something blue at home...

As usual, most of my photos are not macros, but with some flower photos - at the bottom of this post - I participate also in Laura's beautiful I Heart Macro Challenge at her blog Shine the Divine.

A  blue post is not complete without some blue flowers and photos of a blue sky. Since there are no blue flowers yet and the blue sky has been a rarity, I have chosen some old photos.

The flowers of Campanula rotundifolia and Aquilegia vulgaris are blue, even though they may look purplish in the photos below:

Participating also in

Mosaic Monday

at Lavender Cottage Gardening.

Thank you for your visit!

Have a lovely new week!

Good morning!

This morning, I happened to wake up at 4 o'clock and decided to get up and to go to collect the newspapers from the letterbox. Looking towards the lake, the sun was rising behind my back and its glow coloured some of the clouds pink.

I enjoyed the green view near the letterbox, and then went back to bed... of course. :)

...

Later this morning, I caught this fellow meditating on the lake-shore.

Flower buds of Caltha palustris:

Participating in Our World Tuesday.



Have a great week!

Greenery

Yesterday the weather was, finally, sunny and warm! The first daffodils are opening their blooms. Their stems have stayed very short this year.

This is how they looked last year:

Fortunately, the woodlands around offer lovely greens to be admired and enjoyed.

I'm linking to Nick's

Friday Greens

...

and wishing everyone a beautiful weekend!

Spring days, part 2

It's said that persistent weather patterns have become more common, and indeed, once more, cool and rainy weather has been stuck over us for weeks. Spring advances very slowly. These are my first tulip buds... they have looked like this for days and days:

Fortunately there are young leaves to admire.

Leaflets of Sorbus aucuparia are covered in grey-silvery hairs after sprouting. They look like skeins of wool:

According to Wikipedia, the young leaflets of a rowan smell like marzipan when brayed. Of course I needed to try... Well, I felt only a fresh, green smell.

The young leaves of Sorbaria look pretty:

A Spiraea is wearing her tiara...

I've learnt only recently that Rhodiola rosea is dioecious – it has separate female and male plants.

My ‘Tête-a-tête’ daffs look like this, not very happy:

Oxalis acetosella

Gavia arctica

Yes, perhaps the name of this blog should be "My Arctic Woodland Garden" or something. :) 

May should mean spring, but can you really speak of spring, if there aren't any flowers yet? 

For the mosaics of this week, I have chosen flower photos taken last year. Wild flowers blooming in early June...

... and some shopping done in a nursery.

Happy Mosaic Monday!

Thank you, Judith, for hosting!

♥



Participating also in

I Heart Macro

Our World Tuesday

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesdays)

Wednesday around the World

Thank you to all the hosts!