Rose Petals

I have always loved wildflowers. I'm not the kind of person who swoons over a bouquet of flower shop roses, but I love photographing wildflowers. This time of year, especially with the lovely filtered  light we had the last couple of weeks (some sarcasm there as the wildfires are burning early this year) the flowers look especially bright. Soon, on my other blog I will share some of the recipes I made with this ingredient, but today I just wanted to share a little beauty of the season.

Yes, I consider rose petals to be an ingredient. They really are quite versatile and can be used in their many different forms. I have used dried petals in ice cream and as a garnish. Last year I made rose water which adds rose flavor to a variety of dishes and cocktails. Many times I just add the fresh rose petals to compotes and jellies  as they cook down to nothing and add just the slightest hint of rose scent.  This time of year when the Roses and Rhubarb are the first fruits of the season I like to blend them together in tarts and muffins.

Down in the Dumpster

 I was washing dishes a couple of  weeks ago with all the kitchen windows open. I kept hearing this  fluttering sound and was wondering what the dogs might be up to. It was a  super hot day and every time I looked out the window they were just  laying there in the cool spot in the flower bed on the side of the  house. I kept hearing the fluttering and then all of a sudden I  panicked. I thought one of them had caught a bird. I ran to the back  door to see what exactly was going on when I saw a Robin fly in and land  on Brody's side. She picked and pulled and filled her beak with his  soft and downy white fur until he lifted his head and made a  half-hearted attempt to snap at her. All I could think is those baby  birds are going to have one very soft nest.
We have been watching another nest of Robins on the loading dock at work  the last couple of  weeks. They chose to make their nest in a very  unfortunate place above the dumpster. Luckily there have been many eyes  keeping watch over those babies the last few days as they have made  their way from the nest. As we suspected the one in the photo above  landed in the dumpster today and two co-workers jumped in to save him  before the big truck showed up to empty the dumpsters.