Seen thru our windshield...

Jim and I went on a picnic yesterday to Oliver. As we drove along the lake and saw the Buffalo Aircraft ( of the History Channel fame Ice Pilots NWT) doing touch and go's on the water...flying really low to pick up the water and then dumping it....they are doing these training runs for the fire season coming up! Would not of wanted to be kayaking any where near where they were dumping all those gallons of water!








Land locked and abandoned...what a sad sight to see this once beautiful old boat just rot away in a farmers field..It must of been a glorious sight to see the MV Golden Dolphin ply the waters of our beautiful Okanagan Lake long ago. "sigh"




We headed towards Summerland and took a wrong turn...we always look at this as an opportunity to see something new..we were very surprised to see all this farmland in a valley right below the town..who knew?....not us apparently.




There flowers grown on the hillside..they are called
Arrow-Leaved Balsamroot

Balsamorhiza sagittata
L.sagittata arrow-shaped; balsa reference to the root scent of Balsam pitch.
Description. A perennial of the Sunflower family, and growing to 20-8-cm (8-32”) tall, the Arrow-Leaved Balsamroot is likely the most recognizable flower of our native areas. The plant, growing from a woody taproot, has arrowhead-shaped leaves up to 12” long, silvery green and covered with felt-like hairs. Balsamroot blooms in spring, with bright yellow daisy-like blooms, and then goes slowly dormant as the heat of summer increases. The plant can be found carpeting the dry grassy slopes of Knox Mountain Park.( which is near where we live.)

Historical plant use. All parts of the plant were used by the Interior Native peoples as a food source. The young leaves were eaten raw or cooked, the roots were roasted or dried, and the seeds pounded into flour. Elk, deep and sheep graze on Balsamroot throughout the year.





So there you have it...all these photos except for the flowers above were taken from the car..some thru the windshield and others when Jim stopped and I rolled the window down! Our picnic was lovely...the weather was spring like with only a hint of a breeze..it was indeed a good day!