in the woods...

this weekend we camped at Wolf Creek

surrounded by the forest, the deep blue sky punctuated overhead by the towering pines, wildflowers dotting the open spaces of the forest floor

I had made a small sketchbook with heavy weight drawing paper and have been using it to record some things I have seen arriving last week

this weekend it was a few of those wildflowers mentioned above

my grandson was interested in what I was doing so to engage him further I showed him how to use the dandelions themselves to add the yellow flowers to a quick sketch of leaves and stems

from there, he brought me a horsetail fern and a sprig of something I could not name so he supplied his own:

"Grey's Water-bell"

and for the people from England who read this, a Yukon version of a "Bluebell Wood"

these tiny blue bell-shaped flowers' Latin name is:

Mertensia paniculata

also known as "Tall Lungwort", commonly called "Northern Bluebells"

the woods surrounding the creek are full of them, in every direction, but there was also Fireweed (which is just coming in to bloom), Wild Roses, Dandelions and Queen Anne's Lace

I stood and did the drawing on the left, later Grey brought me a small stem he had picked on his way back from the woodshed so I sketched that too

(the shadowed fern below it is the horsetail fern showing through from the other side)

it was lovely looking, seeing, sketching and sharing it all with a 5 year old 

a small part of a fun-filled weekend but one I'll remember for a long time