It’s been nearly 4 months since our most beautiful JaneE Kat, Queen of the Garden, left us here for the mystical magical Rainbow Bridge … to join our other special pets and it makes me happy to visualize them cavorting about, having fun .. no more pain. I’m content to be away from the “now” pain when it happened, I longed for the faraway future to comfort me and broaden the distance. And now the future is here and I can think of her and be happy about all of our time together. But I still “see” her here .. you know what I mean .. a flash where she used to sit by the front door, patiently waiting for who knows how long .. till we came home. Thousands of those happy memories. As long as they exist, she is here. Along with our other lovely furry pets .. those memories don’t fade.
Just last night, I was roasting cauliflower, dusted with spices and a little olive oil – I hadn’t made that special dish for many years. And up flashed my memories of Samuel T Dawg, a most handsome black and tan dog, I’d just begun fostering him (I’m a foster flunkey, btw) and he needed to lose a “few” pounds so he learned to love carrots .. and this one night, I’d prepared the cauliflower for me .. but as I took the roasting pan out of the oven .. his eyes lit up and he genuinely smiled .. a big goofy grin. He was ecstatic with happiness .. and so we took turns eating the cauliflower. One for him .. one for me .. and soon it was gone! Oh we had such fun!!
And here, via all the magic of cameras, time and the incredible computer .. is a blast from the past .. Samuel T on the left and Oreo on the right! We were camping at Salt Spring, 2007 .. whoa, that is a “few” years ago! Happiness abounds!!
From time to time I volunteer at Fort Rodd Hill, in the Learning Meadow and surrounding areas. It is such fun to participate and learn new things. Here are a few Swallows, the adult and a baby … how picturesque is this, heh?
The ever vigilant parent …keeping an eye on baby ..
Baby .. see the beak is wide, as he grows, the beak will narrow …and become more pointed.
How sweet .. a little Wren sings a song atop her lovely little home ..
Beauty surrounds us everywhere .. the morning dew sparkles on the underside of this leaf …forming jewels of varying shapes and sizes. To an ant or a ladybug, they would be like huge mountains of water. Luckily, there is lots of room for tiny insects to walk around these features!! 
Ahhhhhh .. .Nasturtiums. So vibrant in colour, so playful in shape. I like the light and dark tones of this orange flower .
I have a packet of giant sunflower seeds that I have been meaning to plant but just haven’t done that yet. It is my belief that this gorgeous giant sunflower was planted either by one of the many birds that visit the feeder or perhaps a squirrel had one too many of the seeds in its little mouth and one fell out. For whatever reason, I am grateful and happy to see this one growing strongly near the fence, during the summer. There were a few other surprise sunflowers also and they were of a smaller stature. The bees are ecstatic, buzzing all over this one!
Speaking of bees, I was happy to see this little guy, am pretty sure it is a Leaf Cutter bee. I’ve seen the telltale circles removed from leaves all throughout the garden and I once saw one zip to a leaf, swift as lightning, cut out a circle and gone in a flash! I’ve often wondered where they nested. And suddenly noticed this one, look at the bottom area of the space between the 2 sections of sidewalk. It was challenging to even get a photo! Then I noticed another bee, a few feet away, doing the same, preparing a nest. This was late summer and I had been busily tidying up an area where I store my gardening supplies, when I took a little pause and that’s when I noticed this activity. 
And I discovered my first “digger bee” .. these bees are just amazing and there are many varieties of these bees. My bee knowledge is increasing, thanks to the wonderful Learning Meadow at Fort Rodd Hill!! Tomorrow I’ll write a bit more about bees!
And these little guys are big bad bullies! I’ve seen them hunting wasps for protein, they are swift. I’m very very respectful of them.
Little Ladybug .. I didn’t knotice many of them in the garden this year. And the climbing Nasturtiums were quite infested with aphids, towards the end of the summer. My pal D tells me that Nasturtiums are grown in gardens to attract aphids and thus they won’t be drawn to the rest of the garden. So next year I will plant them away from my veggies!
And taking the time to notice things .. today I was in traffic, waiting for the light to change and I happened to look at the grass growing on a nearby traffic island. The invisible wind manifested its prescence by causing millions and millions of the blades of grass to sway in various directions. And for some reason this struck me. Something unseen that causes such motion to happen. Later that day, driving another route, stopped at yet another light .. I started looking at the various shapes of tree branches, uplifted to the skies above.
Then I made myself stop thinking along those lines and focus instead on my driving! Lovely as these nature thoughts are that trickle through my mind .. that activity is best left for my walking!
🙂
This city, Victoria, is simply mad with Snowdrops popping up everywhere, gracing the tiniest of spaces with these delicate flowers… as soon as the snow disappeared, they emerged from the earth. Silent reminders of beauty and joy.
Below, photo taken this week .. snow has gone (yea!!) and the flowers are still looking great.
My little garden bench .. where JaneE loves to perch and await her treats! I liked the way the sun brought out the shadows which always adds interest. 
Leaves decorating the frozen water in the bird bath. I replenished the water so that the birds could bathe. 
Honestly, these sweet little flowers just add so much beauty and carefree energy to the garden .. love them!
One of the many reasons I love taking photos in the fall .. so I can remember how beautiful nature is. Took this photo last week. Nothing like a cheerful sunflower to brighten the atmosphere, n’est-ce pas?
And this venerable rose bush, another tough as nails plant! I planted this – maybe 35 years ago? I swear it lives on love as I rarely water it even during the hot summer. It does not mind a heavy pruning and just seems to flourish. The Anna Hummingbirds love this one!
Alpine strawberries. I do not plant these in the ground as they are tenacious and would soon cover the yard, as I discovered a few years ago! Now I just keep one plant in a pot and that is enough. Yesterday, this caught my eye, I loved the dainty flowers against the broken clay pot. This .. to me .. is true beauty of the best kind.
A few days ago, I gathered some pumpkin seeds and scrapings, placed them on a Rubbermaid container lid for the birds to feast on. Our lovely JaneE (nearly 22 years old now) loves pumpkin squash and I caught her eagerly dining on this! She soon stopped and walked away to her little bench. The Stellar Jays noticed this food and quickly made this disappear. I noticed one of the Jays swallow a seed whole, snatched up another and flew away to rest in one of the trees!
Not far away is this lovely old rose bush .. the roots are deep so it doesn’t need much water at all .. my favourite kind of plant. Once in awhile I’ll add some EM or some other nutrient .. liquid seaweed. It’s a tough old plant and adds beauty and nectar for the bees and I’ve seen the Anna’s there also.
I planted some blue Columbines and now I see that there are pink ones also. Love garden surprises.
The blue Columbines that I planted …years ago ..now flowering away like mad .. a neighbour to the pinks!
So here I’m being “artsy” and applied a Slate shade to the blue Columbine.. glad that the flowers aren’t really this colour, but I do like the dreamy effect.
Some thornless blackberry flowers .. huge berries!! I wonder if the Leafcutter bees have been active .. as I’ve noticed some circular indentations on a variety of leaves. Busy Bees.
Sweet little Lady Jane .. this is one of her favourite places to have her treats. She keeps running towards this little bench, sits and stares expectantly upwards .. “where is my picnic?
Where are the rest of my treats?????
I finally decided to try growing potatoes in straw, having read many online accounts of success. I carefully unrolled some chicken wire, folded in half, lengthwise, inserted bamboo sections for the frame. Added some organic seed potatoes and covered with the straw. The potatoes had already started rooting when I planted them. Added some water and now I’ll just wait to see how they grow and will keep adding straw as the plants grow. I shovelled some soil on top, just a little bit.
These are the little potato sections that I had cut up, a few weeks ago, and planted them in little pots. 99% of them rooted and sprouted leaves .. see how strong the root section is!! And also, I see a couple of bean plants in the cells .. no idea where they came from as I had not planted them. happy to see them, though. Time will tell what kind of beans they are. One of the joys of using homemade compost, I think! the magic continues.
Every year I shape-shift my veggie garden. Every year I just cannot fathom how to come up with a new design .. and .. every year I do! This year is the same. We have had steady rains up until last week, so I haven’t gone outside to play. Now the sun is here and I’m all excited about work in the garden. It takes a few sessions outside before I’m really energized so patience is a virtue there.
Sunshine on the Lily of the Valley leaves … sweet. 
Sipping my mug of Yorkshire tea, I wander around the yard a bit .. this also is a ritual that I follow. To see all the changes that Spring has brought to the garden. And enjoy the sweet little songbirds. Here is a little 
My Lovely Garden … Mon Joli Jardin 