Sunday, June 30, 2024

Theme day: Flea Market


The theme for July is Flea Market.
 The owner of the booth is from Kenya.  She designs the clothes and then her sister in Kenya makes them and sends them to her.  It was a popular booth.



 

Saturday, June 29, 2024

Buzz


A mural in the pollinator garden at the environmental connections magnet school.
And yes, there were a lot of buzzing bees.


 

Friday, June 28, 2024

Boardwalk


A boardwalk around Shelly Lake.   It's usually filled with dog walkers, joggers, strollers and walkers.



 

Thursday, June 27, 2024

Little people


Is he an elf? A dwarf? A gnome?
I don't know, but he was watching people walk by from a crook in a tree.



 

Wednesday, June 26, 2024

Find the frog


He was so small we had trouble seeing him until he moved.
Do you see him?



 

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Monday, June 24, 2024

Sunday, June 23, 2024

Sweet Betsy


It looks wonderfully exotic, but its a native plant.  It has some great names:
Bubby Bush, Carolina Allspice, Common Sweetshrub, Spicebush, Sweet Betsy, Sweet Bubby Bush, Sweetshrub, Sweet Shrub, mostly referring to its sweet scent. (see here)

 

Saturday, June 22, 2024

Friday, June 21, 2024

More summer fun


The bouncy slide was a big hit at a downtown festival. 
 If only it was a water slide...  



 

Thursday, June 20, 2024

Summer fun


On a hot day, you can't keep kids out of the fountain.
Why would you want to?


 

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

Deer


A group of young deer watched us walk by on a busy park pathway.



 

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Mimosa


The scent of mimosas is in the air.  (see here  for more about this beautiful invasive tree) 

 

Monday, June 17, 2024

New Mural



A new mural decorates a sewer vault at Shelly Lake.
Herons and cormorants, common birds at the lake.


 

Sunday, June 16, 2024

Water Hemlock


Growing on the edge of the lake, the water hemlock is blooming.
Very pretty, but don't eat!



 

Saturday, June 15, 2024

Bike


I don't know why a jewelry store has a bicycle advertising out in front, but it's sweet.



 

Friday, June 14, 2024

Lost in the trees


The fishing bobber looked like a Christmas tree ornament or exotic fruit.



 

Thursday, June 13, 2024

Dragonfly


The dragonflies are zooming around the lake already.  
Summer is here!

 

Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Light in the forest


It's hard to photograph the light and dark in the forest.  This is as close as I've come to the way your eye can see it.



 

Sunday, June 9, 2024

World Refugee Day


Last Saturday was World Refugee Day in downtown Raleigh.
It was a celebration of refugees from all over the world who enrich our community.  And also a time for refugees and their families to make connections with others.  

 

Saturday, June 8, 2024

Champloo

 


Complete with Boba tea, rolled ice cream and K-pop videos, Champloo Desserts is a mecca for preteens and their suffering moms. A group of girls danced to the music while waiting for their order.


The ice cream is made on the spot by mixing the flavors in a slurry and then quick freezing flat.  It is then scraped off the cold plate in rolls.  Supposedly a street food in Thailand...?

Thursday, June 6, 2024

Conduit


A quiet place to sit, or a claustrophobic's nightmare.  A sculpture at the Raleigh Iron Works.

 

Wednesday, June 5, 2024

The real Iron works


At the far end of a little used parking lot at the Raleigh Iron Works development is this machine.  The remnants of the real iron works that sat at this location since 1950.  (see here)



 

Tuesday, June 4, 2024

Adult playground



Just in front of the brew pub at the Raleigh Iron Works is an adult playground.  The swings are very creaky.


The slide comes from the second floor of the building.  The rules are specific.  You must be over 18 and have adult supervision.  Can you supervise yourself?



 

Monday, June 3, 2024

First sighting


The first Monarch butterfly of the season was flitting around on the butterfly weed.  Very appropriate.

 

Sunday, June 2, 2024

Iron Works



Raleigh Iron Works is a new mixed use shopping/residential location with a long history (see here
It looks like it will be a fun place to visit when its vacant spaces are filled.
 

Right now it is a little bit lonely.

Experiment



Durant park has an experiment going on.  They are creating a wildflower meadow from a grassy area.  They need to kill the existing lawn.  In the first plot they covered the grass with cardboard, waited 8 weeks and then planted the wildflower seeds.


It looks lush with tall plants growing.

In the second plot they covered the grass with black plastic for 8 weeks and planted.  It looks slightly more lush than the first.

In the last plot they just planted the wildflower seeds.
 

There are many more weeds and several bare spots.

The real test will be later this summer when the wildflowers start to bloom.  We'll be checking back!