If you go down to the woods today

In the song that starts the same at the title of this blog, there is a teddy bear picnic.  Thankfully none of those in the woods where we were today.  Hemlingby is a city owned outdoor recreation area complete with hiking trails, mountain bike trails, small ski hill with lift, some old barns, a number of animals such as sheep and a lodge type building serving as a restaurant and meeting center.  They do a lunch buffet which has salads, a main and two soups.  On a cool rainy day, it is perfect.

The rain was fairly steady most of the morning while I was in at the Saturday market --bread, smoked salmon and cheese (does life get any better?).  However, after lunch the clouds moved away and while the forest floor was wet, there were no more showers.  With a little sunshine, one could appreciate the fabulous new green tips on the spruce trees and the lovely leaves on a tree which has huge pollen-laden flowers in the style of a poplar (puddles have a yellow powder floating on them).  Tova Elise loved the outdoor obstacle course and was able to climb on some of the apparatus.  We walked about 4 km and could already see the blueberries set on the little plants of the forest floor -- good season ahead.

The rain has been welcome as the weather has been quite dry lately, though I don't know that anyone wants to rhubarb to grow even faster and bigger.