By the basin covers

Clouds have continued to travel our way and I have been keeping an eye on the old mock-orange (Philadelphus) (jasmike) that has been blooming for the past couple of weeks. I was waiting for the clouds to disappear at least for a moment to be able to take a few photos of the flowers against the blue but this time it never happened. The petals are now turning brown and falling down. Nevertheless, the white flowers do look and smell wonderful even when you have a summer with hardly any full days of sunshine.

The orange lily (Lilium bulbiferum) (ruskolilja) is another plant I have been admiring recently by the concrete covers of our sewage basins. (As we live in a sparsely populated area without public utilities we have an on-site sewage treatment system with three basins or septic tanks and a drain field.) Also their blossom faded before proper sunshine but I couldn’t help shooting them every now and then because I love all sorts of lilies.

Moreover, orange lilies remind me of childhood. We had those in our garden when I was young. In those days photographing was not that commonplace but my mother used to take a photo of the birthday child on each of our anniversaries. I believe one of my pictures was taken with orange lilies that were already flowering at the time of my birthday in early June.

However, as much as I have breathed in the everyday beauty of the mock-orange, orange lilies and the brilliantly yellow loosestrifes (Lysimachia punctata) (tarha-alpi) our good old Jack is the one who knows how to take the most of our unromantic wastewater disposal area. When he is warming his body against one of the concrete covers or sleeping in the shade in a hole under the mock-orange the unsightly spot immediately turns into rustic romantic. Aren’t cats useful!