Lady Slippers in the wild will soon turn pink.
A real New England spring is tender, touching. The seasonal changes are not always dramatic or photogenic. I would have liked to share with you, for example, the carpets of tiny, blue forget-me-nots I saw all along the edge of a field yesterday, but my phone camera is not sensitive enough. In a photo, they would look like an undifferentiated smear of white.
Still, there is plenty to show, and I hope it’s all welcome, especially to those in the South who are already wilting in the heat of summer.
I found the Lady Slippers along a woodland trail. They will soon turn pink.
I liked the way the euonymus below spoke of new and old growing along together.
Wish I could share how wonderful those lilacs smell — or the fragrance everywhere of little lilies-of the-valley.
The quirky fairy bridge on the campus of Butler Hospital in Providence reminded me of similar ones in New York’s Central Park that filled me with delight during that sad year I was visiting my ailing sister.
In the next photo, I wanted to capture how tired that old wheel looked in the energetic sunshine.
I liked how the stone wall nurtures its floral decorations.
Erik finished the tree house — a triumph of his and a small child’s imagination and will.
After the crabapple blossoms come a couple of the signs I can never resist, including one honoring a local Korean War hero, featured in the recent film Devotion.
The talented costume designers for the decennial production of Little Women honored a local author with dolls featuring the main characters in her book. A lucky theatergoer with the right ticket number got the dolls after the show.
A little crafter is oblivious to all on a sunny spring day.
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
Keep the stringing and beading going!
She twists tiny, colorful rubber bands in ways I haven’t figured out and works beads into them to make rings, bracelets, and necklaces.
Rubber bands under tension are prone to attack from oxygen in the atmosphere, and as they oxidize, they will start to crumble and break, so the little crafty pieces may come apart. Nylon monofilament is more stable, but not as elastic so it wouldn’t be a good replacement. There may be a material that would protect th rubber and keep it from breaking down, but that might take some research. Good luck to your jewelry maker in finding a stabilizer that suits the need!
This is an ephemeral craft. Kids seem to lose interest in the fad when their friends do.
Hurrah for completed treehouse! And I never tire of the crabapple blossoms… Thank you for these fine photos.
The only downside to crabapples, if there could be a downside to such joyful beauty, is they don’t have the aroma of most apple blossoms. I essentially grew up in an orchard, and … Wow! Spring!
Guess what? I could smell those lilacs. And the apple blossoms, too. The magic of blogging. 😉 Lovely spring pictures.
In the case of crabapple blossoms, a picture with magic is more fragrant than the real thing!
Great photos! I’m so envious that you have seen the lady’s slippers in the wild. I’ve only seen them in my wildflower guide.
Where do you live, Julie?
I live in a suburb of Toronto, Canada. We have a small section of the original forest up the road and a partially wild park nearby.
Well, I learned about the location of multiple Lady Slippers by following a local nature-loving dog walker on instagram
Lovely photos. Thanks for sharing
And thanks for reading!