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: inspiration


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It’s Been Awhile Since I’ve Blogged & Guess I’ve Been Busy .. or Lazy???

When I first retired, I began my blogging .. I meant it to be an exercise in creativity to express the many events of my daily life .. in a garden sense.   It was a way to let loose my thoughts and let my fingers fly over the keyboard.

As the years have progressed .. so did my activities and I found it a challenge to take the time out to just sit at my desk and list photos etc.

The joy of writing has never left me…it’s always there .. and I do miss expresssing my garden thoughts .. the magic of watching plants grow.  Seeing and hearing baby birds of all types flit about the yard.  Learning their vocabulary in bits and pieces from their parents.  The pure energy of all living things in my garden.  How wonderfully lucky I am to experience all of this!

I normally don’t write of things other than my garden .. but …sometimes it’s better to share things than keep them inside.

Mid-April, we had shocking news that a dear friend of ours passed away suddenly while on a walking tour in Europe.  We had visited with him a few months ago and this was hard to encompass.   Unexpected loss is painful.

That is all that I will say and so I seek solace in the beauty and growth of my little garden and begin with some lovely photos . .please enjoy!

Turkey Vulture soaring overhead up-island!!

June 3, 09

An unexpected surprise last week .. while waiting for the light to change at Blanshard & Hillside!  I thanked him and sadly didn’t have enough time to take some money from my purse to give him.   I’ve seen panhandlers but never a fiddler at this location!

June 3, 17

This is how I start my gardening day .. A pottery mug (from dear Potluck Ceramics in Port Alberni) full of delicious Yorkshire Tea!!

June 3, 01

And sometimes, when I feel like it .. my gardening day ends like this!

June 3, 16

My JaneE Kat .. my garden buddy! Graciously sitting on her bench, regally awaiting her treats.

June 3, 15

How exciting!!  My peas are flowering and we have an abundant supply of crunchy fresh pea pods to eat!  I had so much fun starting these peas in flats a few months ago.

June 3, 13

Lots of potatoes planted in large pots.  Potatoes are growing everywhere in the yard, even in the garlic.  I love potatoes!June 3, 12

Spot the scapes?  I’ve been gathering them to make garlic scape pesto, which I will freeze by the spoonful to add to soups and pasta and .. lots of things!  Scapes are sometimes elusive .. just when I think there are no more to gather, I find some hidden away.  A mystery to me is how some scapes grow faster than others.  Scapes are only grown on hardnecked garlic!

June 3, 11

See?  Same garlic type (elephant .. i know, a member of the leek family but these are very garlic-y)  🙂June 3, 10

Luscious lazy lupins in Port ..June 3, 08

JaneE getting soaked by the sump-pump water fountain .. drops of water glisten on her fur!  Krazy Kat!June 3, 07

Loving the light through the leaves… nature’s artistic renderings of joy …June 3, 06

Springtime beauties .. happy little flowers ..June 3, 05

Woo Hoo .. towering Cues up in Port a few weeks ago ….

June 3, 04

June 3, 03

Since I have such an abundant supply of beads and things, I decided to create some garden art to share with my friends!  There were others also, where I played with colour and designs .. didn’t take photos .. maybe I’ll make more today after I’ve played in the garden and then prepared the scape pesto!  June 3, 14

Well, I’ve enjoyed this little visit at playing with words .. it’s been fun so I will continue tomorrow!

On with this most lovely day!  🙂


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Musical Spanish Musica Beans, tasty tomatoes and inspiration from the garden (yet again!)

So here is a photo of one section of the area beside the house that I recently renovated – neat and tidy when I first did this area and over the years overgrown with bluebells, morning glory and fallen leaves & rose petals.   Refreshing, really, to see it tidy once again.   A lot more to go before it is finished, but inspirational to have tidied it up thus far!  And again, motivational and meditational.  05

And you know that good ole saying “stop and smell the roses” .. well I did!  This rose bush is old, I planted it about 30 years ago.  Don’t remember the type, but it does have a faint scent.     Bonus, it grows like crazy and doesn’t need much water at all …. I suppose because the roots are so deep.

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Love surprises in the garden .. yesterday it was this delicious little tomato!

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Kale growing all over the yard and letting the seeds go to ground for more plants for the winter!01

Spanish Musica seeds growing like crazy.  Kinda funny that this one resembles a musical note and I’m learning how to read music!

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I thought these were dry beans until I read what type they are.  Turns out that they will be delicious when harvested young like this.   And, as it is never too late to learn and undo a cooking habit .. yesterday I discovered (online) that beans are best  when placed in a large pot of boiling, slightly salted water and cooked for only 3 minutes, then tossed with butter.

And there are many other ways to finish off the beans but this suits us fine.  Nice and simple.  Although I may toss them with tiny tomatoes & slices of garlic from the garden.  Quite a change from the insipid way I had been preparing them – placing beans in a small pot with cold water which I then brought to a boil .. resulting in all the goodness being cooked out of them.  Never again!

DH loves them the new way which is great as I do not plan on freezing my crops of beans ..just plan to enjoy them every day!

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Tenacity of the squash .. quite pretty and very strong.   I look forward to seeing the squash when they start to appear on the plants!

Absolutely stunning are these plants in the light of the sun .. all from a little seed .. fascinating and humbling …nature has it all ..

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This year has been a bumper crop of fruit.  Here, one of the plum tree’s branches was so heavily laden that it cracked and broke .. I cut away most of the wood but this branch remains and will be removed later.  See the new growth from the branch?   Resilience, strength, renewal.

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Another surprise squash .. seems to be many of them in the garden .. nice one!12

And of course .. the tendrils are reaching out for support, beginning with the surprise sunflower.

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Some flowers on “my favourite bean” .. these grow in a group of four, and each one takes their turn to commence on the next step to create a bean.  A bean a day!

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And finally, the Spanish Musica bean .. online, the length of the vine is purported to be 6 to 7 feet.  These are at least 15 feet and still growing .. reaching out for support.  I’ll climb the ladder this morning to try and train them to grow on a neighbouring tree.  Inspirational?  You betcha!

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Time to finish household stuff, practise my violin, and then will literally run outside to enjoy the day.  It is a bit overcast today so it will be fun to get things done!