Saturday, January 24, 2014

Our Friday workout involved .. surprise surprise!  .. more steep stairways.  This was our second set and believe you me .. both stairways were workouts.  I went up and down only once for these and there were others who made multiple trips.   I bow to them.   A goal for the future for me.

And as always we made our journey through pathways that I doubt very much I can find on my own.

Some young deer making their way through the neighbourhood.  Someone commented that they belong in the wild.  Well, this was their wild till homes were carved out of this forested area.

The morning had started out overcast .. and slowly we could see some blue skies.

Some crows were having a grooming session .. taking time out of their day to just relax and watch the world go by.

I am thankful again for this opportunity to explore the many beautiful places in our city.   Always new places .. always more tranquil settings.

There was mesh fencing along the way .. and I’m sure there were pathways down to the ocean.  Perhaps another time.

Couldn’t you just sit here someplace comfy and just gaze into these clear waters for a while?

Then it’s back home .. and what do I see in the bird feeder!  A chubby little squirrel.  “get out of there” I said, rapping repeatedly on the glass.

This one listened to me and swiftly ran away.  See his little back feet gripping onto the wood?  They are pointed backwards for speedy getaways such as this one.

I’d purchased some burlap coffee bean bags from a local organic coffee roasting company.   The burlap is wonderful for all sorts of uses in the garden.  I always like to get the maximum use out of things, multi-purpose, you know.  So I was opening out the bags so I could get double the surface material to use.  Only problem was .. this material is as tough as nails to cut through, even with my large shears.  So, my sewing brain remembered my wonderful Olfa rolling cutters .. I chose my largest one.   Absolutely stunning!   I quickly cut through 10 bags.  So now I’m all set to be creative with this material in the yard.  And that will be for another day.

I so enjoyed the time spent working away on this project.  For the sun had come out and I could feel the lovely warmth on my face as I cut away.  The birds were singing.  The massive construction noise  in the neighbourhood was dimly heard through my temporary water fixture (a sump pump in a big wash tin) .. this works wonders at drowning out superfluous noise!  Plus my little i-pod, playing Ravi Shankar.   It was bliss.

I noticed these notices on the coffee bags and thought I would share them .. as not everyone would have the opportunity to view these!

See .. organic .. ethical …and I thought about all those people involved in the process of tending and harvesting the bean crops.   The persons who manufactured the burlap bags.  The machines that filled the bags and weighed them.  The office personnel who created these papers, after much research and documentation ..kept in files somewhere … the persons who stitched same to the bags.  Those who loaded the bags onto trucks and moved them to ships for transportation here.  If those bags could talk.  Well, they can’t so I’m left with my wild imagination of the steps involved.    And as I played with cutting the material I couldn’t help but think of those hard-working individuals who were involved.    All that energy in this material.  And I respect that energy and embrace that material which will help my yard in so many ways.

See .. here is that lovely blue sky I was talking about …

I had forgotten about this little Hellebore .. growing away in the shady part of the yard .. happily growing away, I should say!

And, since I had a few extra 2 Litre empty milk jugs, it was time to plant some more seeds in that lovely “winter sowing of summer seeds”   Notice that one shows “Coffee”

Well .. amongst some seams in those burlap bags .. I found some coffee beans.  Now, I have no idea if they will ever grow, but I thought … what is the harm in putting them in one of the containers to see if they grow.  So I will wait and see!

Well, that was pretty much my day.  Aside from walking around the yard .. observing some tree branches which need to be clipped.   And sundry other things to be done.

Another day.

🙂