Nodding Trillium

On Thursdays, after milking, we scrub the parlor. It makes for a long hard work day so it helps to plan on doing something fun afterwards. Today, I thought about looking for orchids. It's about the time of year for the pink Lady Slippers to be blooming so Indy and I headed for the swamp this afternoon. There has been a lot of rain so the sphagnum marsh has been washed clean - no standing pools of fetid water. I could hear the constant hum of insects as I hopped from hummock to hummock. Had to stop at one point and reapply repellent to those bare spots on my arms and face that I'd missed the first time (but the mosquitoes hadn't). No orchids yet but I was rewarded w/ some other early flowers like this nodding trillium. As you can see, mosquitoes were everywhere!