I have other photos to show from Ste. Genevieve but this is worth an interruption. It snowed here most of Tuesday afternoon. Our average latest frost is about two weeks ago. Being in the middle of things we get buffeted by air masses moving east from the Rockies, south from the Canadian plains and north from the Gulf of Mexico. This shot was taken from my front porch yesterday. I wonder what the tulips and dogwood will look like by today.
Dogwood tree blooming in the sun and tombstones in the shadows at the town cemetery in Ste. Genevieve.
Found beside a small house in Ste. Genevieve. It was on a corner, with a charming, quirky garden that had an invitation to take a look. This could be seen as a stereotype of small town Missouri. However, the area has unionized mines and plants that make calcium products out of the abundant limestone. We passed a number of Biden Harris signs.
The second picture location was off to the right of the top frame. Note the last numeral on the sign in the foreground.
There are signposts at several intersections in Ste. Genevieve marking the way to points of interest. Given the shopping bag symbol, I assume that there is a store off to the left with the name written on the top sign. I didn't see the place and I have no guess what they sell, but I bet the name wasn't ironic when it was opened. It works the same on this side of the Atlantic.
We stayed in a B and B in an historic house in Ste. Genevieve. At breakfast Thursday morning the owner noticed this in a blooming red bud tree in the yard. He told us that it was a bee swarm, something I'd never heard of. We learned something. This is part of the reproduction cycle of honey bees. It happens in the spring, when a single colony splits into two or more new colonies. I am quite bee-phobic so I got out the telephoto lens to take this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarming_(honey_bee)
This was just inside a fence by the sidewalk and the owner was concerned about neighbors who might be more curious than informed, The local bee person was summoned. He had a box scented with lavender, of all things, which attracts the insects, and used a smoke stick to nudge them off the tree into the target. When we returned in the late afternoon they were gone.
By the way, we liked the B and B and recommend it. https://www.hertichhouse.com/
I mentioned yesterday that there are a number of wineries in this part of Missouri. The product is not of a quality that is distributed widely but it may be improving. One of them, Chaumette, https://chaumette.com/, has some homes on the site amidst beautiful rolling countryside. There are facilities for fancy, expensive weddings. (Since Wednesday was our anniversary, we were reminiscing about how utterly cheap our wedding was. We put it on ourselves and couldn't afford a wedding cake so someone put the plastic bride and groom figures in a McDonald's cheeseburger and we fed each other a piece of that.)
Chaumette has an excellent restaurant overlooking the countryside, perfectly beautiful in spring. There is a large dining porch. Since it was a bit chilly and windy, the place had clear plastic sheeting hung on the outside. That's how we met this chap.
So our brief anniversary getaway is to Ste. Genevieve, a little over an hour south of our home. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ste._Genevieve,_Missouri . You can see how it promotes itself and it's true that it was the first permanent white settlement in our state. There are a number of historic homes and museums we will poke around in today (although hours are quite limited by the pandemic). This side of the Mississippi River is an area of rolling hills with several wineries. I don't have a good word to say for any Missouri wine I've ever tasted but we're having lunch at a vineyard with very nice restaurant.
