Last Sunday, I was happy to be part of a group of HAT volunteers (Habitat Acquisition Trust) that were going to plant native plants at a turtle habitat, near Eagle Lake.  Here is a link that shows the hard working HAT volunteers who prepared this site, below (at the HAT link go to near the bottom of the page and you can see that)  

I must admit that I was ignorant of the life span (60 years) of turtles, that there were so many varieties .. and how they find special places to plant their eggs, which take a very long time (I think over a year) to hatch and then the babies know where to follow their correct route.  Paige, from HAT, patiently educated me and a few others about turtles.  I now have more respect for these creatures and I felt quite proud to be part of this event. Everything has been carefully planted and watered  – the water was obtained from Eagle Lake and brought up to the planting site, bucketful by bucketful.  I simply had to encircle the plants with rocks.  This, hopefully, would allow passersby to understand that these plants were intentionally placed there.Important information for people to see and learn more about the turtles.I also learned that one can have one’s property noted as a Habitat Steward!  The information is on their web site.  This is wonderful.There are about 5 or 6 logs near the edges of the lake.  These were placed there by HAT, so that turtles could bask in the sun!

Once the planting was done, we had some time to wander down to the lake, so we followed this lovely green pathway there.

And here we had a good view of the lake at more of a ground level.  What a peaceful place.   There were several families alongside the lake, swimming, relaxing, enjoying a quiet Sunday away from the traffic!

Some aquatic plants floated in the water, a gentle breeze created some graceful arcs around them .. in a very artistic manner.There is a cob house in the area and the owners take people on guided tours to show them how the house was built.  I think that the same people built this cob building for the park.   It certainly suited the surroundings.  At any moment, I half expected Snow White to saunter out of a little doorway in the building, basket in hand, all set to harvest greens and mushrooms for supper.  Really, that is how my mind works and I like my imagination a lot.  We spend a lot of time together, and this is how it should be, for a creative person, n’est-ce pas???  🙂

Anyway, I quite enjoyed my second outing with the HAT group.  Each time was an adventure.  Another day I will blog about our very special outing to Senanus Island.

On another note, last Friday was another fiddle lesson for me.    I travel from just outside the grand metropolis of Victoria to get to my teacher’s home.   The route entails going along Blanshard Avenue, and whatever construction is happening near downtown Victoria and so I never know if I’m going to be stuck, again, in traffic.  So now I just plan to leave extra early and just relax at Beacon Hill Park until just shortly before my lesson, at which point I get back into my trusty little freckled car.  It’s freckled because the red paint has been slowly lifting off of the surface of the car, leaving a bedraggled look.   It doesn’t bother me at all, but I do get sneers and snide looks from people who seem to find it disgusting.    I mean, really, it’s just a car with a worn out paint job, what is the big deal anyway?

So here is the big watering can at the outskirts of the park, along Douglas Street.  During the hot summer months, the water will sprinkle down on lots of little kiddies and happy  parents!  Picture me, so not there!!So my pal, D, whom I had visited just before driving out here, packed me a little picnic treat.  She’d made a delicious apple crisp (made with the dehydrated apples I had prepared from our tree!) and insisted on giving me a portion to take with me, complete with a fork to eat it with!   She also gave me the Red Green bathroom book .. he is such a funny guy!  And there is my watch, ready to let me know when to leave for my lesson!Back home, I kind of wandered around the yard with my camera .. and saw the Iris flowers blooming away.   Beautiful, floppy, gentle, calming and graceful.From the backyard .. more pretty flowers ( and yes, cannot remember the name).Salal growing like mad at the front of the house .. and more evidence that the Leafcutter bees have been active!Darling, lovely Bewick Wren .. perched atop our First Christmas Tree … so precious.  I love them.   This photo was taken from the back yard, about 30-40 feet from this 50 foot tree (or maybe higher than 50 ft., it’s hard to tell, but it is tall!)I hadn’t noticed that my garlic was growing scapes, my pal D pointed them out to me!This is the first year that I had planted all my garlic in containers.  They are doing well.Bizzy Bee …On one of my (too) many trip to Michael’s Craft stores, I happened to notice this Guide Dog vehicle.  I have the highest respect for what they do and this was the first time that I’d seen a car with the signage on it, so I just had to snap a photo.

Life has been pretty busy, now that the rains have stopped and the sun has begun shining.

The rains were frequent and heavy.  I was happy for that meant that I didn’t need to be concerned with watering the plants.  This complacency continued after the rains stopped and so I lost a few precious blueberry plants.  So sad, really.

And a few days ago I began paying more attention to the needs of my garden and the rest of my plants are faring well.

I’m still shaping the veggie garden and have begun planting tomatoes and other things.  The peas are growing fine .. and even though I had bought seeds and inoculate, I kept delaying the start of planting them so I finally resorted to buying some starter plants.

Even if I don’t harvest any peas, the greenery looks lovely.

I’m still working on the placement of the tall bamboo poles, to create a special little hiding place for me to be, during the summer .. a place that will be like a secret garden, the mini version.   A place for me to be and not see anything but greenery.

I find it to be a magical process, to shape a garden.   I go outside, look around, drink mugs of Yorkshire Tea while contemplating what I would like to do.  Can’t think of a thing.

The ideas appear when I’m actually digging around the garden, moving things, the creative process begins and I’m always surprised at how things turn out.

When I’m kneeling on the ground, grubby in my long sleeved t-shirt and Carhartt bib overalls and gumboots.  Trowel in hand, I dig away and suddenly the ideas pop up and I dig away, reshaping some areas into mini-garden spaces.  It isn’t a large area but big enough for me to move around and shape things.

Once it is all finished and things are growing, I’ll post some photos.

I find it all quite exciting!

So now, it’s off to watch that dreary Coronation Street … argh.

🙂