My Lovely Garden … Mon Joli Jardin

No matter the language, my garden is my paradise. To watch the lovely birds that nest in the trees and bushes. The bees, butterflies are such a joy to see.


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Here are some pics of some blue skies, some crows, lovely flowers and proof that I’ve planted my garlic

The crows were not pleased with the presence of the Great Blue Heron on “their” roof!

Last week on one of those rainy/sunny days, I decided to use my Cannor’s Nursery gift card, the one that DH gave to me for my recent birthday.  I wandered around outside, not many people there, just enjoyed the ambience of the proximity of thousands of plants.  Wondering which ones would be coming home with me.  Suddenly, the sound of crows cawing away directed my attention to the top of a nearby roof.

I watched for minutes while one crow in particular tried to scare the Great Blue Heron away from the roof.

So this one particular crow tried scare tactics .. but the Heron just yawned and continued preening.

The crow would fly up and then swoop down on the Heron, but the Heron just ignored him and continued his grooming.

 

Beautiful water flowers at Cannors Nursery

These flowers attract insects for fine dining .. I believe.  Quite beautiful in their arrangement.

And it was a rainy day, perfect for wandering the garden nursery

Aren’t the glistening drops of rain beautiful . . transforming the leaves into amazing natural works of art .. finer than any jewel could ever by.  Fashioned by Mother Nature.

 

Ok, this photo was from last week .. lovely skies

The beautiful blue skies from last week .. the clouds were constantly changing shape and so I was busy clicking away, taking little breaks from planting my lovely garlic.  I love the skies and  am constantly looking upwards, there is so much to see.  Always.   And thus the beauty.

One little block of garlic ready to be nestled in for the winter

Here is one little block of garlic.  I dug little trenches, put in the cloves, pointy side up.  Then watered them well with EM.   Next, I carefully covered the cloves with soil.

After the soil was spread over the cloves, next came a layer of seaweed/grasses

Then I covered them with a thick layer of seaweed.  Which D & I gathered over the summer months.   Followed by a cover of dried sea grasses.  (All of the grass was washed up by the tides, gathered gratefully and dried in the sunshine)  A lovely blanket for the garlic.

Sigh ..

 

Sigh says it all!

One of my recent “treasures” found in a thrift shop, for my garden

When D & I went for our seaweed gathering, we began to add little routines to our day.  When we began, we would collect spent seaweed,  then we would go to a nearby cafe for lunch.   We started adding variety to our trips a few weeks ago.  This included a visit to the Casino

I collected my $5 Birthday voucher,  and then she chose the machine.  It was Egyptian, of course!  Every time the points would increase, the costumed guard of the tomb would do a pretend arm “dance” ..so we giggled quite a bit at that!   Wisely, she suggested that I cash out, once my winnings were at $19.  So I did.  But then, I put in $10 and when that rose to $18, the reminder was given again, and so I cashed out again!  Actually walked away from the Casino with cash!  Usually on my Birthday $5 vouchers, I just make my yearly visit, spend the $5 in less than 10 minutes and walk away.  So I was quite pleased to walk away with more than I started with!.
Anyway, next we visited the local St. Vincent de Paul.  Oh, my, and thus began a series of “must have” purchases for home.  Above, is the garden mirror that looks great outside, leaning against a tree.

Then, I bought a cat scratching recliner thingy for JaneE.  Beautiful decanters and bottles.   Lovely.

One of my plant purchases at Cannors Nursery

One of my recent purchases for the garden!

Lovely Canna Lilies

Including a gorgeous pot of Canna Lillies!

ha ha ,, DH, adjusting the labelling of my oat bran!

So I opened up the kitchen pantry doors a few days ago and saw this and thought “Goat Bran” .. oh, DH was having fun changing the wording of my “Oat Bran“.  🙂

D’s 3rd crop of basil, from the same plants! The magic of EM!

And, oh, wow .. this shows the power of EM!  D had bought this pot of basil, kept it in the same soil.  Added EM .. and this is the third crop of basil that she has gathered.  And the same soil, now totally enriched with the EM.  Are you sold on this EM yet?  🙂

D’s little tomato plant, soldiering on, still bearing fruit, despite the weather! (EM!!)

And this is one of the famous four tomato plants.  The plants grown from the same seed as last year, small bushy plants.  This year, D watered them with EM.  Results were towering plants, a crop of way over 400 tomatoes from 4 plants.  And this plant is still growing.  Leaves and fruit are smaller, but still .. power to the EM!  And beyond.

D’s yellow tomato .. quite the interesting shape.

And D always is finding unusual fruits and veggies in her wanderings.  Here is one example of a strangely shaped tomato!  Like a quadruple tomato, eh?

Oh, Duncan, our little darling …

Darling little Duncan .. he’s wandering around the yard .. and he doesn’t like the camera!.

Well, I just wanted to share some photos from last week and yesterday.  To show my garlic, finally planted.  I created some rectangular areas in the garden and tried to plant one type per section.  So I have  mostly hardnecks, and I’ll be collecting the scapes next summer for more garlic pesto.

I planted the golf size and larger round bulbs in one section.  So looking forward to see the results next year!   And then the gigantic elephant garlic.  Lots of garlic.  And I saved one block for some winter veggies . .must go looking for some.

My lovely gardening neighbour has given me more Dragon kale, so I’ll be planting that soon.

I’ve been feeding my pear tree (the one with the pear trellis rust) with lots of seaweed solution and placed a fair amount of actual seaweed at the base.  And sprayed the branches as best as I could with the liquid seaweed.

After wonderful advice from the Gaia Community Board, I’ve been reminded that “healthy plants don’t get sick” … of course, now I remember that from my Organic Master Gardening Course, Gaia College!!   I’ve also learned that what I thought was the root stock of a plum-tree is actually pear stock.  So much to learn, how exciting.  We’d planted this tree about 30 years ago, so I forgot what it was.  🙂

D and I have been adding activities to our seaweed gathering days.  These now include 3 thrift shops!  Oh my.   I’ll post the pictures of my recent treasures tomorrow.  I think there are enough photos for today.

So today I tried a new way of posting photos.  And I will revert back to the slideshow method tomorrow.  As this posting of photos, one by one, just takes so much more time, and I’m the kind of person who wants to get on with things.

Anyway, I’m back to blogging.

So much more to talk about.  Including, ta da .. .another gardening course!  This one is Ecological Landscaping .. so I’ll be talking about that as I go along.  It starts Oct 31 and ends Dec 8 .. so another whirlwind session of learning is about to start.  Two sessions a week, 3 hours each.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these photos and tomorrow I will post pics of the crashing waves at Sooke and the pics of my recent purchases!
Now .. on to either gardening or decluttering.  Wonder which will win out?

🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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Life is funny .. sometimes .. but it has its ups and downs

Thursday, October 11, 2012

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Have I been lazy, not writing every day?  I’ve missed quite a few days.  Frankly, my energy level has been quite low lately.  Due a lot to the loss of our little Youbou cat .. we loved him so very much and it’s been a struggle to deal that.  But we’ve dealt with that.   Duncan is spending more time inside and we spend a lot of time with him.

Also with JaneE cat .. she’s started a new habit.

Now, when I’m at the computer, she sits on the floor beside me, meows hello, then stands up and stretches, gently putting her claws against my leg.  So I pick her up, she sits on my left arm, like a little armchair, and rests her paws on my left shoulder.  And purrs happily.  So we sit like that for a while .. I continue clicking away at creative sites and she is content.

The other factor in my lack of energy is the constant construction noise that is taking place in our neighbourhood.  Huge buildings are being built .. that will soon shadow the streets and take away the sunshine for most of the day for those who live nearby.   We are far enough away that our light won’t be affected.

That noise is intrusive and nasty …and takes away the joy that I normally have in the garden.  So I relish the quiet times, at the end of the workday and the weekends, when I can sit outside in the quiet and hear the birds sing.   And the lovely silence.

I did stock up on some of the lovely silence during the weekend, so my creative and artistic batteries have been recharged.   And suddenly, I feel happier, more optimistic and more my usual self.  Lovely.

So what have I been doing in the past few weeks?  Well, I’ve been playing around with the layout of the veggie garden.  Still haven’t planted my garlic, but nearly there.   I’ve decided to plant the garlic in blocks, so am making little paths between the blocks and have been putting a thick layer of that wonderful miracle mulch between them .. great for walking on and it will eventually turn to soil..

Then I’ve been thinking about how to relocate some large rocks in this area.  I want to make a little grouping and then place some of the little rounded, flat rocks (gathered by the seashore) and tiny little rocks amongst them ..to make a casual place where I can sit in the sun.  I’ve been playing around with the rock arrangement .. and will post a pic when done.

I’ve also been planting the Dragon Kale that my lovely gardening neighbour has given me.   These will grow blue when placed in the sun and will stay green, when they are planted in the shade.

I’ve also discovered that what I thought was a wild plum root-stock (the wild and crazy tree) is actually pear stock!   This is the tree that we planted many years ago, the graft tree died and I nursed back one of the root growths.

And I’ve discovered that the orange spots on the leaves are pear trellis rust.   Argh.  Felt very dismal when I first noticed the spots and the protuberances on the underside of the leaves, they looked like ugly barnacles.

Now …. this tree affords us tremendous privacy in the yard during the growing season and we do not want to cut it down.

So today I’ve learned that the Juniper is the host for this fungus disease.  And that there are organic ways to rectify it.  Oh, I am so very glad that I took the Gaia Organic Master Gardening course .. for that is where the positivity for the healthy repair  came from!

So I’ll be composting the fallen leaves in a separate container, with lots of EM, vegetation, etc.   And then I’ll be placing healthy composted soil around the tree, lots of seaweed.   Lots of EM.   And I’ll be spraying seaweed and kale liquids on the leaves.   Looking forward to next year at this time to see the results.  This is so very positive and I’m so very happy ….  yea!!

On the weekend, DH & I went for a “little” walk to a magnificent restaurant.  Along the way, on the Blenkinsop trail, we had a happy time.  We met Cowboy, the Quarter-Horse, whose owner was taking her little brother for a ride .. and then she let him lead the horse while she rode.   I told her that she was making a lot of people happy  .. seeing that handsome horse, and she smiled!  Lovely.

We saw the random garden artwork that is well displayed at a property that is up for development.  Thought I’d better take more photos, cause one day, with the development, this personal touch will no longer exist.

Finally we reached our destination and had the most delicious meal, seated at a window overlooking the ocean.  Sigh …

The meal over, we began our homeward trek … and I found out that we’d walked over 10 miles (there and back) .. didn’t seem like much of a walk .. we love walking.  Especially in the sun.

Lots more happened, but I’ll talk about this tomorrow.  About a day trip with a friend that ended up with us visiting a casino, a beach and a second-hand store!  🙂

I’m back in my normal energy level .. loving the exploration of my world and garden.   Oh and the birds!   I’ve got to say that there is this huge robin in the yard .. he’s massive!   And I’ve been taking photos of him as he poses around the yard.

ha ha ha ….. 🙂

 


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Sharing the beauty of flowers, ocean waves .. and little Duncan communicates with JaneE

Sunday, October 7, 2012

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  So I haven’t been blogging for a little while.  It does take a little bit of discipline.  And it is eerily like exercising.  As I was doing last year … for months…. then skipped a week.  And well, um, time does go by quickly.  Tomorrow is always the better day.

So I just want to share some lovely pictures from my garden.  I now have 5 roses in my yard … including one tea-rose.  It is so beautiful and is aptly named “Perfume”.  The other roses are so pretty to look at, but lacking in scent.

We are still enjoying lovely sunny weather but the grounds do need rain.  As do the salmon up-island.  There is quite serious concerns about the Chinook, waiting to spawn and for now are filling an estuary … instant meals for the seals.

Lucky me .. ordered and received 6 yards of that lovely miracle mulch.  Finely ground leaves, twigs (no bark!) and have been busy loading up containers and placing a thick layer on all of the perennials that edge our property.   Great way to burn calories, I say.

I was going to write about gratefulness today .. this being Thanksgiving weekend and all.  And I’ve been thinking about all many, many things in my life that I am truly thankful for.  Too many to list, but I will mention a few.

  • Today is quiet .. bliss.  Normally there is heavy construction taking place in the neighbourhood .. thus taking away the joy of being outside in my garden.
  • Today is sunny . .and I will go outside soon .. time to plant my garlic. And this year I will clearly label what is planted where!
  • Thankful that I have my good health and can bend and stretch and shovel .. all the attributes needed by a gardener.
  • Grateful that our two cats, Duncan (brother of our little Youbou, who we lost a few weeks ago) and JaneE (our little girl cat) have started communicating to  each other.
  • Thankful for good friends .. wonderful to discuss the world with and learn more about gardening and how to grow various plants.
  • My lovely DH ..
  • Happy to see the lovely birds flitting about the yard .. chirping, drinking at the little water containers in the yard.
  • Ecstatic to watch eagles, hawks, seagulls and, yes, even crows …. soaring overhead.  A reminder to look up at the skies from time to time.
  • Lucky to be surrounded by so very many beautiful places to wander, here on the island.  Wild ocean beaches.  Cool woods.  Sandy paths.  Nature Sanctuaries.  So many places to visit and enjoy the natural beauty that is here.

Yesterday I was outside in the sun, enjoying a cup of Yorkshire Tea .. when I noticed JaneE wandering in front of a mirrored window that I had just left leaning against a container.   At first she was very cool and ignored her reflection.  But, curiosity got the better of her and finally she stopped, and just stared at this “other” cat!

She sniffed all around, couldn’t find out where this other cat was, so she walked around to the back to see if the cat was there.

Then Duncan noticed that JaneE was outside.  He seemed quite agitated and ran over to where she was sitting and stopped.  She just stared back at him.  He began a conversation, composed of short and long meow-chatter.  Ending with a mournful howling sound that brought tears to my eyes.

I know that he was communicating with JaneE, wondering where his little brother was.  He still misses him.  We hope that eventually, they will communicate more and perhaps, some day, they will cuddle up to each other.  Companionship.

So many more things to be grateful for.  But time is marching on and the sun beckons me outside.  That garlic won’t plant themselves.


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Watching Turkey Vultures soaring high above ..

Friday, September 28, 2012

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Another beautiful sunny day .. and a busy one!

First thing, I loaded up quite a few, maybe 7 …paper yard bags, full to the brim with branch cuttings and weeds gathered from the past few weeks.  Even had one in the passenger seat .. didn’t want to leave any at home!   And soon I’d arrived at the local municipal yard and emptied their contents into one of the large bins there.   Next step, they will all be shredded and composted.

Back home, felt great that I’d actually accomplished something, early in the morning!  Soon, outside and digging away.  Happy with the way the re-shaping of the back yard is going .. in particular, the veggie garden.

I’ve been digging up a small mountain of mulched material from last fall .. a mix of alpaca manure, spent hops, spoiled hay and oak leaves.   Nearly a year later and this mixture has resulted in the most loveliest of soil!  So I’ve been placing this around the newly created “berry forest”!

I had a good growth of perennials against the back fence and had a wood chip path extending in front of that.   Decided to ditch the path and just add more soil and then create a little jungle .. composed of an intermixing of blueberries, raspberries, some thornless blackberries, some bamboo and a few other plants.

And I just love this.  No point posting pictures yet .. not much to see .. but I can feel the difference and will post pics next summer.

These changes are giving a different feel to this area of the yard.   A richness of plantings.   Really amazing how many plants I’ve dug up and moved around.

And surprised at how the Chickadees have taken notice of the changes.  I’ve seen them flitting about, sitting on the branches of the plants as they are now in their new locations.   Quite nice to see!

After this little jungle .. then .. I am placing the garlic beds!  They will sit in full sun and a perfect place for them.

Looked at my zucchini, squash and tomato plants .. these are still growing in what will soon be  .. the garlic bed!  Almost dug them up tonight, but decided to give them another week and then .. kerpow!

Spent a fair chunk of time looking up at the sky today .. as I happened to notice the Turkey Vultures soaring overhead.   They soared yesterday .. and I know they are getting ready to migrate south.  It’s just a matter of days.  In the meantime, though, I cannot tear myself away from the grandeur that is high above me.  Their majestic soaring compels me to watch.  I was able to take some photos .. they might just look like dots in the sky, but they represent  the power and majesty of nature, which far surpasses what happens down below, on terra firma.

How lucky I am to spend as much time as I like, just gazing upwards, looking through the binoculars at these huge birds.  And then taking the time to create new areas in the garden.

Very lucky, indeed.

🙂


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Slowly making changes in the garden layout. And thinking about my gardening style.

 

Thursday, September 27, 2012

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Well .. I survived my birthday yesterday!   It was a beautiful sunny day!  DH asked me what I would like to do .. and since we couldn’t fly anywhere, the plane is needing some work .. I wanted to just be outside in my garden for a while.  So he said that it was my day and I could choose … so that’s what I did.

Spent some time soaking up the sun … looking at the work I”d completed thus far.    Opening up the garden space .. creating a little side path, 2 bricks wide. perfect for delineating some space at the side .. and also making a tidy route to the composters, when it rains and perhaps (hate to say this) snows!

Happy that I am able to spend time like this when I can … how very decadent .. from a lifetime of working away at jobs that paid the bills.

I do yearn for more organization in my life .. to make a schedule for my days .. that’s the way I’ve lived my life and it’s very difficult to change and just have no responsibilities.  Except for, you know, organizing the yard, decluttering, getting on with my artistic hobbies .. like sewing, which I do love very much; playing with my acrylic paints, painting on glass, beadwork.

Sigh.  Just some random thoughts, I think.  On another year, a new start to the year .. how exciting.  New energies.   Sometimes I think I am too hard on myself and so I’ll cut some slack.  I do get a lot accomplished.   And I do notice that I don’t often just relax and do nothing.  Even when I relax, I’m sipping tea, solving Sudoku puzzles and looking for birds up in the sky.

I’ve decided (after a talk with DH) to make changes in the veggie garden .. and then .. keep them that way, instead of changing the shape every year.  So today I dug out all the blueberries, red currants, raspberries and other plants that were randomly placed.  And increased the width of the garden at the very back of the yard.   This is where I am planting very tall perennials .. to add more privacy to the yard.

Privacy in the yard .. that is the number one thing that people want  … a place for solitude and  shut away the world.  It doesn’t take much to start with.  Make a plan is a good way to start.

Then choose the plants, cedars are great.  As are laurels (keep them trimmed so they will fill out more) Silverberry (same thing, I just pruned the 2 gigantic plants in the back), bamboo – depending on the type, most are shallow rooters, so just line the planting area with heavy landscape material and the roots will stay confined, they won’t spread.  Or you can just keep clipping the roots that grow from the main plant.

And raspberries .. well .. the raspberry canes this year grew to be over 7 feet.  And I believe that this was due to the EM that I fed them.  Even some plants that had been reduced to sticks, grew and flourished with the EM.  I’m serious!

My gardening style is rather hit and miss.   When I really want to make big changes and find that I’m initially lacking the drive and energy to do so, I actually trick myself.  Rather in a similar manner to decluttering, I think.

With decluttering, and feeling overwhelmed with the task ahead, I simply remove one item from the area.  Take it outside.  Repeat  Repeat.  Repeat.  Soon I have a nearly empty area and can then decide whether I want to recycle or re-use the items.

I find that I sort of work the same way in the garden.  Dig.  Dig. Dig.  Uproot plants.   Put in temporary containers and then leave the area .. maybe go inside, make some tea . .or wander around the yard.  Then I return to the original working area, look with fresh eyes at what I’ve done.  I always amaze myself.  What .. I did that?

And that is what I found happened yet again today!  I’ve left the yard to relax overnight.  Happy that I’ve really made a dent in reshaping the berry area and changed the energy flow of the yard.    And I also replanted some of the blueberries, raspberries and bamboo in different areas, sort of a staggered, layering design.

Trimmed some branches of the wild and crazy tree, letting in more light.

And left the yard happy that I have really accomplished some changes and look forward to continuing in this vein tomorrow.

And tomorrow, I must make the decision to harvest whatever little zucchini’s and squash plants that are there.  Fall has arrived.  And I really really really want to plant my garlic!!!
🙂

 

 

 

 


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Some happy photos from my garden .. and, thank you, Yorkshire Tea, for remembering my birthday!!

Monday, September 24, 2012

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Oh, shiver, my birthday is looming!  My favourite day of the year!  And how sweet .. lovely Yorkshire Tea sent me a birthday card along with a Yorkshire Gold teabag!  What a lovely surprise that was to receive in today’s mail!

So I’ll be brewing up a cup of that, the day after tomorrow!

Random acts of kindness.

Today was a day spent mostly in the garden .. actually getting things done!  That is, aside from watching the skies above, the birds, solving some Sudoku puzzles and, oh, yes .. mugs of Yorkshire Tea!

I had surprises each time I returned from the house to my lovely universe in the yard.   Once, I  happened to look up and see several hawks, lazily soaring overhead.

Another time, I’d just set up my little garden chair, set to spend some few minutes in the sun with my Y tea and Sudoku .. looked up and there was a flock (?) of Turkey Vultures … wings casually spread .. sailing along slowly .. .on a cloud street.   Soon disappeared and I felt so privileged to have seen them, by chance, as it were.

Spent a fair bit of time searching for things, seeds, tools, extension cords (for my lovely “fountain”) .. thus began my creative search for changes in the garden bed layout.

What to do, where to plant things, which plants to move.

Finally, grabbed my shovel, began digging up some Salmon berry plants, raspberries and sundry other plants established in the last year.

Dug away at some clay soil … watered .. added lovely mulched soil and repositioned the above plants.  Top dressed with Miracle Mulch (finely shredded leaves, tiny branches … absolutely no bark!!)

Looking good.

Began playing with creating another temporary path with bricks.   I don’t do “structured” gardens and each year I play around with changing the shape and paths of my veggie bed.  Always fun and always surprised with what I come up with.

So today I created a little brick path by the little berry bed .. this path will go straight to the back of the yard.   Then, to the right, I will create two rectangles for the garlic bed.  However, I have to wait for the squash to finish.  argh.

The Bush-tits swirled in .. oops .. time to replenish the suet block.  That done, I could enjoy watching them attaching the fresh suet.

Thought back to yesterday .. I’d been watering various areas of the yard .. which included an apple tree.   The leaves were dripping with water when the Bush-tits flew in and I watched as they all used that moisture from the leaves to enjoy a little bath .. fluffing out their tiny feathers, chirping to each other.  Hopping from one leaf to another.  So very sweet.

A pleasant, creative, energized day ….

And looking forward to tomorrow.


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Thoughts on creativity, and the like, on a quiet Sunday morning.

 

Sunday, September 23, 2012

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I’ve been reading some lovely blogs recently and quite a few of them list the reasons why they blog and I find that quite interesting.  And I thought, why don’t I do the same thing .. try to explain why I blog.

I didn’t know what a blog was a few years ago.   In fact, I went to a writer’s group at the local library at that time and listened to some interesting audience  feedback to the presenter, a published author, who was talking about writing, and how to get the stories out there in the world.  She said that blogging was an excellent way to do this.

One person listed his blog and stated that it helped him with his creativity in writing fiction.  It was something like … Running with the Tao, or something like that.  I remember thinking how brave he was, to publicize his thoughts .. could I ever unlock my soul to be so sharing also?

Interesting, also, he discussed the fact that his sister had created a small one-person play and played this part over and over and over, at fringe fests all over the place, Canada and the US.  She perfected the play so well that it was finally produced as a tv show.  Unfortunately, I didn’t note his or her name, nor the name of the show.

What I did remember, though, was the persistence of the woman, how she rehearsed her little play, the same one, over and over and over until it was polished sparkly bright.

That imagery of her focus stayed with me.  That is the power of dedication.  I love hearing stories of people who work hard like that.

Reminds me of the poem:  A diamond is only a piece of coal that stuck to its job you see.  If it wasn’t for that piece of coal, where would the diamond be!

Anyway, I dutifully copied down his blog address, went home and typed it into the url location, expecting it to take me to a web site.  No joy.  After a few more attempts, I gave up.

Then, nearing retirement, 2 years ago, and wanting to continue yakking about gardening, a co-worker suggested that I start a blog.

What is a blog, I said?  And, who, me?  Who would read what I wrote?  And could I really write my thoughts down so that others, people I don’t know .. could read them?   Bare my thoughts about gardening and how it brings such pleasure into my life?

Another co-worker helped me with locating a good blogging site, ahem, WordPress!

And so I went there and timidly (I’m serious!!) I registered and started writing.

At first I was stiff and very conscious that others might possibly read what I wrote, so I was very cautious   And really, I wasn’t used to just letting my thoughts flow from my mind down through my fingers tapping away at the plastic keys of the keyboard, resulting in all these neat and tidy black symbols on a white screened background.

Sheer magic.  I fell in love.

Once again, I felt the joy of creativity.  I enjoyed the power of unleashing my hidden thoughts.  The energy of the free flow of my dear subconscious, free at last from the chains of being in the background.  I’d not used my creativity for quite a few years and thus this freedom was such a joy.

After awhile, I stopped worrying  about what I wrote, how I wrote it and what people would think, if they bothered to stop and visit, that is.

Now, I know that I must write everyday if I can.  The simple pleasure of sitting at my keyboard, mug of Yorkshire Tea, photos downloaded .. time to look at what’s been happening in my life and appreciate all those treasures.. is such a treat.

I love very much the beauty that surrounds me.  The activities and awareness of nature that fill me with awe .. like the magnificent ocean visits, the cheerful whirlwind that is the flock of Bushtits that twirl around the suet block.

The little sparrows that momentarily alight on my little water fountain (actually a barrel liner with a bamboo spout).  The quizzical chirps of the Chickadees as they flit from branch to branch on the various trees in the yard.

The Anna’s who dive and zoom and sip at the nectar in the hummingbird feeder.

All of this is right here and having the time to just sit outside in the quiet of the day and enjoy all this is quite a treasure for me.

Beauty .. it is everywhere .. sometimes I have to look hard, but when I shift my view .. well, there it is!

Well, that’s enough for a Sunday morning .. time to get going and see what else is happening out there.

Enjoy .. and if you liked my ramblings, well, that is good .. and I feel happy for having taken the time to ramble on and on and on.

🙂

 

 

 


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This person is a shining example of looking after the environment by keeping useful items out of the garbage stream!

garbagefinds's avatarThings I find in the garbage

I went out this afternoon to try to get a trumpet I have fixed up. The valves don’t compress, basically (I found this in the trash a while back). He told me it probably just needed a cleaning, but that it would cost 65 bucks plus tax, and that’s not really in my budget right now.

Maybe I can clean it myself. This guy online says all it really needs is valve oil and some grease, so maybe I’ll try that.

Regardless, on the way back I saw a few things, some of which bothered me.

First off was this old laptop. Not old enough to not have XP, but old enough to have a floppy drive. I just tried it out and it still turns on, but it seems like the screen is busted. I may just give it to the computer place on St Laurent. As least they…

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How Friday went .. in my garden

 

Saturday, September 22, 2012

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So Friday started out overcast .. but I could see the sun way up high, working hard to fight through the overcast layers and before long it had succeeded and the day turned out to be sunny.

And I enjoyed the look of one of my newly painted found objects.   A little plastic table, found on D’s and my little adventure day on Wednesday.  Transformed with some flat black spray paint .. now ready to be used somewhere in the garden.

A large plant pot, painted green with gold overtones .. I think I’ll add more green paint and will post a pic … then there is a metal filigree plant holder, painted black .. looks kind of cool and I’ll post a pic tomorrow of that.  One of those funky things that looks good in a garden.

Played around with my garlic crop .. separating them into baskets.  I saved the largest cloves for planting this year, in another month .. my gardening neighbour plants garlic mid-October and I’ll follow her lead.

Besides, right now there are some squash plants sprawling all over the area where I plan to grow the garlic and i want to give these plants some time to produce some squash!

Patience!

Then I sorted garlic to be given away .. and some to be sent to my sister .. oh, and some for me to use also!

A basket of garlic that hadn’t a covering on their cloves .. guess I dug them up too early .. more patience needed for next year, it seems.

Finally, a little basket of garlic seeds and one of those little yellow bulbets .. I’ll put some in pots and see if I can grow garlic greens for eating now!

I tried an experiment that I saw posted all over Pinterest, that of re-growing green onion greens.  It’s magic!  Day one, there were little new shoots and now, day three, they are growing  larger.

Now, today, I will separate them into two groups and in one jar I will add some EM .. just to see what the difference will be.

And I bought these green onions from a local greenhouse, so, no chemicals!!  Yeah.

So that was pretty much my gardening time yesterday .. and I plan to continue today.

Time to plant the Dragon kale that my gardening neighbour gave me …. this type turns blue in the sun and stays green in the shade.  Lovely, I say.  I’m really loving this kale and have fun just clipping away the lower leaves when I need some for a meal.  Fun in the garden.

Well .. time to go outside and plant those kale plants …  🙂

 


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More abour our wanderings at Saxe Point, such a magnificent place to be.

Friday, September 21, 2012

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I look at the date on today’s paper and think . .yegads .. my birthday is next week!  And for that I am glad.  Remembering when I was little and thinking “I am 8 and the year ends in 8” (I won’t say which decade though, ha ha ha) .. followed by subsequent years of “I’m 12 and the year ends in 2” … guess I’ve fallen out of the rhythm, cause my next number ends in 4 and the year ends in 2!

Guess its high time to start a new birthday saying, heh?

Besides the sometimes complimentary birthday drink I receive (depending on the restaurant) .. I find that each birthday feels to me like New Years Day .. a fresh slate, as it were.  A fresh new year starting.

Now, I will create new habits, new routines, finish what I’ve started, and start new things.  Oh, it is so nice to have these dreams!

Today I’m posting the balance of pictures taken a few days ago, when my pal D and I went out for a day of adventure and discovery.

We’d started the day at Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary.  Planned to meet in the Nature House, arriving within a few minutes of each other .. and then, each waiting for the other, we made little forays outside and thus kept missing each other.

I had a few conversations with someone who worked there and then made a few visits to my car.  She, in turn, would exit the building and go looking for me.  So, in hindsight, we must have looked kind of cute, like one of those little cartoons, where 2 people don’t exist in the same space at the same time.  However, eventually the time continuum stopped playing around with us and we met up at the entrance!
And, good friend that she is, D fully understood how I was sad at the loss of our little Youbou and gave me this very lovely card, a Beth Logan work of art .. that caught the essence of little Y.  He did have that quizzical air about him as he went through his daily life with us.  And how appropriate, as it turns out, that he was on a boat, nearing or approaching a harbour … to the next stage of his lovely little soul’s journey.

And again, how appropriate, as it turns out .. that the card had a nautical air .. as D and I later on were exploring around the ocean’s edge at Saxe Point!

So I had a little sniffle session, reminiscing about little Y –  and carefully placed this beautiful, thoughtful acknowledgement of little Y’s presence on this earth in my car for safekeeping.

And we began our day’s outing.

Such fun, scrambling along the rocks, discovering paths and rockeries.  Beautiful gardens.  A lovely abandoned house that had belonged to the caretaker, now empty, how sad.  Imagined how wonderful it would be to live in a house like that and to live in such beautiful surroundings, with such amazing views of the ocean.  Heaven, indeed.

It was a weekday, summer was over and so not many people at the park on that lovely sunny day.   Felt carefree and worry-free .. with no appointments, work timelines.  Such a good feeling.

We found some crystalized salt areas and many uniformly shaped string like sections … D did some detective work and concluded that these were actually sections of sea-lettuce, the green colour removed by the salt and then dried by the sun.

So we spent a few hours wandering around, exploring, discovering … and enjoying the priceless beauty of the surrounding waters.

Another lovely day .. and all within the confines of our lovely city.

There are many many more such treasures and we will find them when we strike out on our discovery walks, now that the gardening season is slowing down.  And look forward to another pal from the past who will be retiring in another month and she will join our wanderings .. then we can really make trips of discovery!  Such fun ….and .. Gadzooks .. we will even try to travel to the Mainland (Vancouver) for a time or too.

And perhaps a gulf island day trip … now won’t that be fun!

But there is so very much here to discover on the island and in the city of Victoria .. we are so very lucky, don’t you think?

So .. on with this lovely day.