Hopkins Island, Maine

Our good friends Ellen and Sam invited us to spend a few days at a summer house place on an island south of Brunnswick. It's been in Sam's family for generations and is now shared by members of a large extended family. I'm really grateful that they chose to share it with us!

So what do you do on a small island in Maine?

Well, if you're like me, you'd get really excited just to see some Bunchberry plants.

And these pretty flowers: Sharp leaved Aster,

And these - some sort of wild lettuce.

  

One single striped Maple showed off its pretty green bark,

Stately northern Red Oaks grew multistemmed

And pretty Heather grew in every crack.

And, if you are a boy, say aged 2-6, you'd find lots of interesting creatures:

 

 (I will have to send this picture to Bugguide.net to get an ID.)

Daddy Longlegs (the house was full of them. We found out, rather by accident, that a Daddy Longleg-leg that is removed from its spider, keeps moving by itself for at least 5 minutes). 

Red backed Salamanders hiding under an old log

 

and you'd play play play all day long, explore and create and run and climb and get muddy and wet and happy.

 

Fort building

 

"Crab" made out of loose parts and clam shell

 

Exploring a small tidal pool with crabs and tiny fish

and you might like to try some Blueberries, Huckleberries, or Blackberries.

It seemed like the island consisted of two different habitat types. In the middle were woods with lots of spruce and pine and some red Maples and oaks, but by the shore it was more windy, salty and rocky, with plants that were thriving in such environment. There were some beautiful views.

 

When the tide was low the water receded and left a deep thick mud.

  

The fastest flutterer in the butterfly world might just be this one. Many pictures were taken before I had something to go on. Thankfully the Goldenrod proved so irresistible, she kept coming back. My guess is that this is a female Spring Azure, but I'd love to be corrected if necessary!

Something new to me: Indian Pipe flowers, growing entirely out of rotten logs under the surface.

One of the most Common plant on the island seemed to be Bayberry. I was constantly crushing some fragrant leaves and smelled them.

One enormous Rhodie grew by itself. I would have liked to see it in bloom.

Could this be Water Parsnip? There was only one.

I could see at least two different kinds of Goldenrods.

 

Cute as a button

I hope we can return some other time.

The woods of Småland, part 2

The Swedish landscape is known to be very beautiful, and I truly appreciate it. These days in the country side made me keenly aware of my need for a more permanent place where I can have direct access to the nature I crave. At some point in my future there's a little cabin waiting for me! And it's the woodlands and the lakes that are calling me. Others might need the ocean or the mountains, but I need the tall trees, filtering sunlight through, calm lakes surrounded by dark deep green, and an occasional meadow buzzing with critters.
I have grown to love the New England landscape as well and probably know it better in a botanical sense since that's where I started studying nature. Coming back to my home country, using my new eyes and aquired skills,  finding the same friends, or similar, is a lot of fun. Finding others that are exclusive to either continent is exciting.

We were very fortunate with the weather and spent almost the entire time outside. I explored with my new camera and had never to venture too far to find something worth seeing.

The view over the fields and meadows surrounding the house. Fireweed grows everywhere.

Some sort of Fritillary butterfly - there are so many.

Lady's Mantle growing wild in the grass.

"Moose grass" or älggräs lights up ditches and roadsides. Not sure if the moose really likes this...  Surprised to find that it is indeed Meadowsweet, or Spirea Ulmaria. Never knew I would find it here.

The house again, from another view, tucked in next to the forest.

Feverfew

Daisies

 and Chamomile.

Three different shrubs all growing in a wet ditch. At least one of them belongs to the Willow family.

Bluebells

Clovers come in many colors

 Yarrow - everywhere. Rölleka in Swedish. Queen Anne's lace as well.

And more of the Bedstraw - Gulmåra in Swedish.

Taking an afternoon walk. That's my sister-in-law with her daughter and my two boys.

 Purple Loosestrife, where it belongs. We call it Fackelblomster - Torch flower.

Swedish Solomon's Seal. Getrams!

And lots and lots of Heather.

I'm finding that this post is just getting longer and longer. I took about 600 pictures and I want to show almost all of them...
There will have to be a Sweden, part 3 as well, but before that, I might just pop in some pics from my recent trip to Maine - summer paradise by the ocean.

Irene

My street has changed forever. Hurricane Irene has taken down numerous trees in and around Boston (Western Mass got more of the flooding and less of the winds) and some were right here. I mourn the loss of a few tree friends, although I am of course relieved that no one was hurt.

This Linden street tree was literally uprooted in front of my eyes in one, terrible, strong wind gust. It was planted in front of my next door neighbor. The poor minivan owner took it remarkably cool.

A giant old Weeping Willow at the entrance to Franklin Park cracked and felled. Looking at the stem, it was a mystery why it cracked, it didn't look deseased at all. The winds must simply have been terrible. I will miss this one sorely.

Across the street from me, another line of tall slender ones were cracked and I will have to get used to these broken limbs instead of the graceful Silver Maples and Ashes. But again, no damage to homes or people.

This was my first experience with a hurricane and I really didn't know what to expect. Now I know, and the powers unleashed are terrifying. But it's over now, and surprisingly enough, a few of my 10 ft sunflowers in my garden still stand. No lawn chairs were thrown about. My neighbor mourns the loss of his favorite wheelbarrow, crushed by a heavy branch. Others have lost power. I'm going to bed.

From the woods of Småland

In the Southern third of Sweden lies Småland. A large county, not very populated, where you can drive for miles through the forest without encountering anyone. A small red cottage might appear but you are almost more likely to see deer or moose than people unless you are closer to the cities.
Still, Småland is the origin of a few world famous institutions, such as IKEA, and it's also the birthplace of Astrid Lindgren, author of Pippi Longstocking and dozens of other amazing children's book characters.

In this area my brother and his family have a summer house. Originally a smaller farmstead, now a another farmer owns the land around their immediate property, and they get to enjoy the absolutely stunning surroundings, in total peace and seclusion. The trip to Småland was as usual one high point during my entire Sweden trip, not the least because my children got to play with their cousins from morning til night.

Here is the house, seen from the cow's meadow. Those cows don't know how good of a life they had - a few days before we arrived they had broken a piece of the wooden fence and escaped! But all they did was to walk the road back to their barn, and that's where the farmer decided to keep them until he had time to fix the fence.

 

This is the view from my window.

In the morning, the Nässelfjäril (Aglais urticae) basked in the sun warmed barn wall. I don't know if this one exists in the Americas as well. Here it is very common and always so pretty.

 Scabiosa, one of the common wildflowers here. A great butterfly and bee magnet.

Have yet to learn the name of this one but it was very delicate and beautiful. It's visiting a flower that at least in England is called Ladies Bedstraw.

Raspberries are gone wild.

A tiny tiny frog. I had no idea we had that kind of frogs in Sweden until my son found one.

The frog ended up in a jar until we could convince my son to let him loose again.

And the woods! A bit of this resides in the heart of all Swedes, I think!

 

Wild, delicious cherries.

More woods - tall pines and spruces swaying in the gentle winds.

 

Blueberries! Blue through and through.

Some blueberries were turning crimson already.

A familiar sight from New England - but it's no invasive here. Common Buckthorn is at home here as is the Glossy Buckthorn shrub. In fact it's host plant to the caterpillars of a lovely lemon colored butterfly. I think that if we have to have the shrub wreaking havoc in American woods, we might as well import the butterfly too.

Rönn is a very common small tree, with loads of bright red-orange fruits brightening up the woods. It's in the Sorbus family and in England it's called Rowan. In the US it's one of several that is called Mountain Ash. The berries are red, but needs a long time to ripen completely and taste better after a bit of frost. It's quite common to make a delicious jelly to eat with meats, and of course it's a staple food for wild birds and animals during winter months.

A single smultron, or Alpine Strawberry, is still showing. Earlier in the summer we pick them in masses - best to eat right away, not really for saving.

Blooming heather creates soft airy mounds.

Lichens thrive on all old branches

And the lingonberries are also ready.

Seems like the rest of Småland will have to appear in another post. I'm exhausted today after Hurricane Irene went pass town and am glad that my first hurricane experience is over.