My Garden – Mon Jardin – Mi Jardin – Mein Garten – Daily Adventures & Thoughts

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.

Tag Archives: Annas


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The snow was here and now it is gone ..some garden memories of the transformation that took place.

I’m not a big proponent of snow, having moved to the other side of Canada many years ago, before the massive influx of others that came out to B.C., and saw how beautiful this province is.   And, like many thousands of others, I would call back home and brag about the lack of snow and all that entailed (no lawn mowing, wearing shorts, yawn, yawn, yawn).   So the opposite side of all this bragging has finally shown up, and we have been experiencing snowy winters, starting with the “big storm” of ’96.   Although we haven’t been experiencing that seriousness of snow lately (at least here in Victoria) we have had snow.   So I wandered around the yard last week, replenishing the bird feeders, adding fresh water to the bird baths and decided to take some photos.  Here a little fern juts up through the snow as if to say ” hi, remember me .. I’m still here” ..

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Little footprints in the snow .. most likely a racoon I thought.  The snow helps show the nocturnal activities that take place.a7

Little birdies .. after I took this pic, I emptied the snow and ice and put fresh water here for them. a6

The hummingbird feeder hadn’t frozen so there was a sweet treat still there for the Anna hummingbirds to sip at …

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Some of the garlic containers .. the garlic is tough and easily survives the cold.

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While I’m posting this, I’m listening to Bandgladesh music from Amsterdam .. how I love this music .. so much ..dreamy and soothing to my soul ..

One of the suet holders, suet eaten, ice melted, symmetry remained ..

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The birds haven’t eaten everything from this feeder .. yet!   See the little footprints in the background .. those of a racoon???

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The footprints traverse the yard ..

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Yep, racoon prints …..

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On another day .. a walk along the Galloping Goose .. near Swan Lake .. the sun was shining … lately I’ve begun taking long walks again.   I love those.  Always discovering new things in my neighbourhood .. the exercise feels wonderful and energizes me.

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The path changes direction a little and now the sun appears …

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And I see blue skies!  I mean “Blue Skies”   🙂

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Such beautiful blue skies with swirling clouds dancing away up above .. sky art ..

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And .. beauty in the snow also.  How it transforms everything including this old apple tree ..

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Happily retired now, I do remember the years of getting up early, preparing for another day at work, concerned about the snowy route I would have to drive to go to my place of employment.  Longing for the day when I would not have to do that any more.

That time has arrived and I rejoice in the opportunity to now, finally, after a lifetime of work, having the chance now, to play.  To discover new interests and pursue the interests that I would just dabble in.

Now is wonderful.  Now is great.

So .. considering this .. it is now time to take my mug of freshly brewed Yorkshire tea and go to my creative rooms.  Time to play with my beads and wire.  Time to practise my fiddle.  Play with my Sonic Drum

Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee   🙂


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Monday, February 10, 2014

A few days ago we had snow!!  Here is my little car looking nice and cheerful in the snow.  I was waiting for R & D to pick me up for our Friday exercise outing.  I thought we were going to have a big snowfall and don’t have winter tires, don’t like driving in snow so was going to stay home .. but .. D convinced me to go.

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I tried to capture the fluffy snowflakes on the bamboo leaves, they looked so pretty.
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And there are iris rhizomes, bulbs, climbing vines, flowers … just waiting for the warm weather so they can grow .. grow .. grow ..

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To think that I would have missed this beautiful vista if I had stayed home!!!

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I could easily see a tiny faery door in the interesting textured bark of this tree .

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Our little group of four were among a few others up early to walk along this marvellous pathway in the woods.  We were at Thetis Lake park .. quite a beautiful place to be.

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Majestic, handsome, rugged, ancient .. the roots of this tree run deep and .. you know that they communicate with all of the other trees in the forest.  Instantaneous messaging of any changes.  Magical. And I can clearly see a little faery door at the front base of this tree . …how fun.12

Salal growing out of a decaying tree stump .. which feeds the soil and provides a lovely home to this plant and many other creatures besides.

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Such incredible beauty … 08

The water in the lake was still .. like glass .. doesn’t it make you feel that there is really another dimension living in that space .. and we can only catch a glimpse of it when the water is quiet like this.

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Silent beauty speaks for itself …

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There were two Bouvier des Flandres or just “Bouviers” happily trotting along with their doggy daddy .. I was just able to snap one quick photo before they were gone.  This one had just been called away from the water’s edge … where he was testing the weight of the ice and we could all hear a distinct crunch as his paw made contact with the icy surface.  Good thing he obeys right quick!  It would have been a big struggle to get him out of the water, with all that heavy fur!05

The thundering noise of a fast-moving creek caught our attention and called all of us to a side path to see what was going on.

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Ok, we had a little discussion about whether the sign was warning everyone of a possible UFO sighting.  It was much more interesting to make that interpretation!

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We continued along our way .. footbridge looming ahead, our session is nearly done.  But perhaps we will see more interesting sights along the way.  We usually do.

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Blue skies are appearing overhead .. a lovely sight to see …

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And here is sweet little Lilly … a little doll!

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This dog was just priceless .. his doggy daddy was trying his best to have him pose with his stick in his mouth, he kept picking it up and dropping it and looked so cute.  But he just wanted to either play with his stick and jump around or just sit , stick on the ground and look up, adoringly at his dd!

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So I took several photos … while he was temporarily still! (edit:  I just looked closely at his bandana and this is what I found . … fantastic!  http://dogbeach.org/  oh, to think that I would have missed this if I’d stayed at home!!)

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Back at home, I’d been taking the hummingbird feeders in at night as the temperatures were low and the nectar was freezing. (I make 3:1 for the winter).  While I was holding 2 of the feeders, a little Anna came up and started feeding.  Don’t you just love those special moments in the garden ….
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And this little one visited the other feeder once I had hung it back in the tree.  I’ve read that hummingbirds don’t depend on these feeders, they eat insects and drink moisture from the leaves .. but when the weather is freezing, we all want to ensure that they have nectar.

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Looking out through the basement window I saw this little White Crowned Sparrow ..30My decluttering is coming along in bits and pieces.  I’ve been finding all sorts of positive posts about this issue.  Many have struggled .. as am I … and I love reading the stories of their progress.  So I thought that this subject would deserve a posting .. perhaps in a few days.

Anyway …here I go again .. to try to fill up some of the empty boxes that I picked up a few days ago.   I was going to have a garage sale with my “wonderful” stuff .. but have decided to donate to a charity shop.  So I’ll give everything a quick clean and a polish before filling up the boxes.

🙂