Nature Friday bonanza: wildflowers and waterfalls

So I'm handing over to Gail today, as ever since she returned from Slovenia earlier this week, she's been going on and on (and on) about all the beautiful wildflowers and pristine mountain streams.

Gail here: I'll let the photos do most of the talking for this Nature Friday post. Wildflower ID was aided in some cases by the wonderful PlantNet app. 

Round-leaved saxifrage

Meadow sage

Spreading bellflower

Dark rampion

Nettle-leaved speedwell

Bird's nest orchid

Lesser butterfly orchid

Scabious (unsure which species)

Bastard balm

Ragged robin

Balm-leaved archangel

Eastern bathaani

Wild thyme

And finally, some pictures of the most beautifully clean and sparkling waters you'll see anywhere in Europe.

Wishing Rosy and Sunny and all our other friends a happy Nature Friday!

 

What happened in Slovenia??

Well I'm thrilled to report that Gail and I are now happily reunited.

She asked if I had had fun with my foxie relatives, but I promised Jimbob, Bruno and the gang that "what goes on tour stays on tour" and so I am observing a strict omertà regarding events at Craigmancie Farm.

Gail responded with "two can play at that game Nobby" and so I have resorted going through her baggage and sneaking a peak at her phone for clues as to what she and her friend Marse got up to in Slovenia.

Well now, what do we have here? An umbrella? I don't think Gail packed this item. It smacks of Emergency Purchase doesn't it?

Perhaps this poster she photographed provides a further clue to the typical weather in Slovenia?

It looks like the young schoolchildren of Ljubljana were well equipped for the conditions...

Also, on Gail's phone, I see lots and lots of photos of wildflower-filled meadows and crystal clear mountain streams. I think I'll save most of these for my 'Nature Friday' post, but here's a wee preview. 

Back to the bag. I search in vain for evidence of gifts for yours truly but only find a small bottle, a present for the neighbour who kept an eye on the house in our absence, I'm told.

Hmmm. Looks like the swimsuit was used at least once. Maybe in Lake Bohinj? Bit chilly, was it Gail?

This next photo is rather confusing. Surely the George Best Bar should be located in Manchester not, as Gail claims, the tourist town of Bled...?

The new walking shoes are looking a good bit more worn than when Gail left. Can it be that she and Marse went hiking in the mountains without me? The cheek of it!

I know what you're by now thinking. Surely Gail didn't stay off her bicycle for a whole two weeks? 

I do see quite a lot of photos of her and Marse sitting in café with a bunch of enthralled locals, watching a cycle race on  the big screen TV*.

Oh, wait, here it is! The inevitable bike ride shot.

And finally. I just knew Gail would be missing me and would not be able to resist taking some doggy pictures...

Could this even be a primitive wheelie dog she saw in the museum in Ljubljana?

I really think it is! 

*Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogacar, blowing away his rivals on the Monte Grappa stage of the Giro d'Italia. Apparently half of Slovenia had nipped across the border to watch him that day! 

Holiday time!

So it's time to say goodbye to this year's glorious rhododendron blooms in Duthie Park.

I'm excited to tell you that, later today, I'm off to my holiday home. I'll be staying with my lovely relatives, the Craigmancie Foxies, while Gail heads to Slovenia, where she'll meet her American friend Marse and they'll spend a couple of weeks exploring that country together. 

The rhoddie flowers will likely have wilted by the time I'm back in the park. Rest assured friends, this WFT is not for wilting!

But while I am rampaging around the fields and farmyard with my extended fox terrier family, my blog will be 'on paws'.

Normal service will resume in early June.

But it says Slovenia's dog-friendly...

I always like to keep an eye on what Gail brings back from her trips to the Aberdeen Central Library, and I got all excited this week when I saw her latest selections.

So it seems she might be planning a trip to a place called Slovenia.

Tadej Pogačar

I wondered at first if Gail was contemplating a pilgrimage to the birthplace of her favourite cycling pro, Tadej Pogačar, but then I saw she was in fact researching options for hiking in the Julian Alps. Apparently she and her friend Marse are going to meet up there in late May. 

Having been left behind once already this year, when Gail travelled to visit Marse and her family in Tacoma, Washington, I naturally assumed that this time I would be accompanying her. After all, I know she took my predecessor Bouncing Bertie to Switzerland and to Germany via train and ferry, and Slovenia really isn't that much further away. (I got a bit confused at first when trying to locate the country on Gail's old atlas, as this family heirloom dates back to the 1950s, when Slovenia was part of what is now referred to as the 'former Yugoslavia'.)

Anyway, this is what I found when I asked Google: 'is Slovenia dog-friendly?'

 

Sounds just up my street, don't you think? And I could so contribute to ensuring that the hiking trails remain "well marked"...

But it turns out Gail thinks I am "not yet calm enough" to be taken on a holiday that would entail several lengthy train journeys. One day perhaps?

Meanwhile, my disappointment was somewhat mitigated when I heard I've been booked in for a stay with my fox terrier relatives for the two weeks when Gail plans to be away.