Flowery Friday 12

Somehow another week disappeared. If time flies when you're having fun, then I must be doing this retirement thing right. Or something. 

I actually swam for the first time since March 16, 2020. That was in Auckland, meeting up with my buddy Katie who was doing a bike trip there. Some of the roads terrified me driving, and she was on a pedal bike. She is totally hard core! 

We've tried to get together a couple times since then but we finally made it work. Just over 500 days, or 1 year 20 weeks. That's by far the longest between swims since I restarted again in about 2002 or 2003. I'd been swimming 3 or 4, sometimes 5 times a week since then and have missed it. Damn you COVID!

Predictably enough I didn't get far. 50 m backstroke, and 100 FS at what I thought was an easy pace lasted 75 m, and then it was tough sledding the last 25. My arms fell off and a nice lifeguard fished them from the bottom of the pool and sewed them back on. I water ran and chatted with Katie for an hour, then we went for a Dole Whip and walk. Planning to get a swim pass from a City pool now that they are open again. This is going to be tough getting back into it. I was actually amazed I could remember the combination to the lock, or rather, my fingers did. 

In binge news we've move on from Grey's, at least for now. The end of season 15 was too over the top for us in terms of poor story telling. We've moved on to Killing Eve, starring Sandra Oh (Yang from Grey's) and it's just amazing. Fairly short seasons, so one really long night, or two quite reasonable nights gets you through a season, and it's fascinating to watch. 

Still smokey here, though the weather forecast is calling for rain. That will be nice, if it happens. I think it's sort of like that winter +1 C a week out in the forecast. It gives us hope in January, the month that hope forgot.

These start June 10 and go to June 20.

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5. The is the ambitious clematis trying to break into the attic.

6. This didn't quite turn out like I hoped. Maybe I should have edited it more to darken the vase.

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8. Another ambitious clematis, exploring the arm holding up a basket. This is one of a pair of clematis we rescued from the back fence when we redid the back yard. Both of them were a bit grumpy the first year after, but have settled in and have taken over that bit of lattice. There is a rose trying to come up the middle.

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10. The surviving tree peony. Linda planted a pair but only this one made it. 

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16. Surprise! Here's the of the day dragonfly come visiting home.

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Of the Day

Driftwood

Peony, sorry I don't know what the bug is.

Lily

Bee, and bonus peony

Bonus dragonfly

Celina