I walked past our huge service berry bush yesterday and heard noise. Twasn't the robins or the juncos or the finches or any other bird.
It was a loud chorus of buzzing among the thousands of white blossoms that have burst from buds in the past couple of days.
I yelled out with glee, "The bees are back."
They spent the afternoon bouncing from blossom to blossom doing what bees do in the spring.
In several weeks the tree will be loaded with berries and birds pecking away at the fruit.
Later, I walked around the young fruit trees in the north lawn. The bees had not yet arrived there, but one discovery had me almost over the top.
It's that pink blossom you can see in the photo below. This is our 20th year here at the Lovestead and that plum tree has never blossomed.
This year is a first, and even if only one plum evolves from that blossom, I'll be thrilled.
I wondered when Annie gave me the new plum tree last year if the old one would get the idea and start bearing fruit.
Stay tuned, as we did have some frost last night, and I won't know for a while.
For now, however, I'm lovin' the bees and the blossoms.
We are thinking today that at least one roofer may come and do some repairs on our roof. The other said he may be here later in the week, but wasn't sure.
Still, we've waited a LONG time for that roof action. Bill and I were noting that a trifecta of professionals would be nice.
The belt came off the Husqvarna zero turn mower the other day and one tire on the Toro has gone down. Tony said he'd be coming by today, so if he does and if the both roofers come, two roofers and one lawnmower wizard equals some happy Love's.
Looks like a beautiful day ahead. Wishing everyone a happy Thursday. Enjoy the photos and the TBT's and, of course, the music to go with them.
Thursday Throwbacks: images from special moments of yesteryear. Enjoy.
A Sad TBT, below
Ray had no idea that I took this and a few other photos of him one day a few years back.
I think I yelled at him while snapping photos from my car, but he had become hard of hearing, so I just moved on.
Ray passed away a few days ago. He was a friend and a colleague at Sandpoint High School for several decades.
Over the years we had lots of interactions, all good. Lo and behold, we even named our daughters (who are the same age) Ann Elizabeth. The two have remained good friends throughout their lifetime.
Ray served on the City Council and later as mayor of Sandpoint.
He and his two brothers Bill and Larry (both longtime local educators) also packed some pistols as part of their leisure-time activities.
I wrote a story for Sandpoint Magazine (below) about them and even followed them out to Spirit Lake one day to take their photo (below).
That time they knew their picture was being taken. It was a fun gig.
Sadly, Ray was the youngest and the last of the Miller brothers who have all left us within the past two years.
They are all gone but memories of what they did as educators, leaders and fun-loving locals will hang around for a long time.
RIP: Ray.
