Cinderellie, Cinderellie

The Calypso orchid or Fairyslipper (Calypso bulbosa)….

A very small foot to fit in this “slipper” – these are less than an inch. They are easy to miss in the woods as they are often bent downward so that only the purple “underside” is visible and looking very much like the back of a wood violet. They are my favorite thing to find. Montucky at Montana Outdoors has much better capture of these beauties: Calypso

A correction on yesterday’s post…those are Gardenia – which I’m very happy about. I love gardenia – my father gave my mother and I gardenia corsages for Easter. The scent of the gardenia in the refrigerator…waiting for Sunday – to put on my very special Easter dress – a vivid and beautiful memory. The scent always transports me.

Almost home….looking back

Where Karl and the last trees are – before things open up – is the eastern edge of my property. I’m taking these photos about a third of the way from that edge – towards where my house sits.

The woodsy part of the walk

The spectacular mountain views posted a few days ago are from the eastern edge of my property as well as a loop Karl and I walk at the start of our twice or sometimes 3 times daily walk from home. That mountain view loop is on an adjacent “sub-division” – 5 and 10 acre parcels that have been sold but nothing built – and I hope they stay that way for awhile!

We complete that loop and then come back across the southeastern edge of my property and begin another loop that circumnavigates the edge of the 40 acre parcel of state land that is adjacent to my southern border. The state parcel is landlocked which means that access is across all the properties adjacent – all 6 of us. I have seen one “neighbor” on this land once. It is a beautiful piece of land – mostly flat but two of its borders have magnificent valley and mountain views. Karl and I usually walk the logging tracks that run inside the border by a bit. We have peek-a-boo views of the mountains beyond but it is mostly a woodsy area.

When I first moved here and walked out on that parcel, I scared myself silly – got disoriented as to which direction was “home”. For a while I activated the navigation system on my cell phone so I could see my position in relation to my house. Gradually, though, I came to know the various “stands of trees” – they are all familiar to me now and I know where I am. There is a group of 5 ponderosa pine – 4 form a diamond and the 5th is the center cross point. I wish I could capture that in a photo but there is no way save from above. There are several pretty copses of small trees and evergreens. Other places there are just trees that I recognize. There are several downed trees from windstorms that occured since I’ve lived here. There is the place that last year I found wild orchids – I’m keeping watch as now I know how to use the camera functions to get those miniscule blossoms in focus.

For now, though….this Glacier Lily….and a bit of the walk and places that Karl and I know:

Above, one of the logging paths that make it easy for me.

The end of the loop – the return to home.

My mountain views

The road home – the view Karl and I saw as we made the last turn for home – our road.

Where I sit…

The view is better from the rv spot than the house…and a lilac bush in bud right outside the window. The slight bit of blue that shows in this photo is the Swan Range through my woods.

This bush will not be in bloom before I move back in the house, but watching it daily is a joy.

Above: The second night home. Below: An afternoon (Wednesday) in the sunshine.

My mountain views.