Cloudy with a Chance of Flowers

An overcast day today ... yesterday we had some rain, so the ground is now too wet and heavy for gardening  :( 

 

Some of my flowers are coming into their prime however ... 

 

... gorgeous iris in the softest shade of purple ...

 

 

 

... bleeding hearts  in pink ...

... and white ...

 

... dwarf columbine ...

 

 

... this one was a surprise in its muted pink ...

... and of course the lovely scented lilac ...

... still heavy with  yesterday's rain ...

 

 

I've been negligent with the knitting, and plugging away slowly on my book (lack of interest there too), so haven't joined in with the Yarn Along this week (again).  But there's no pressure for that is there?

 

I felt like blogging today, but nothing much happening here to share.  Happy Wednesday everyone.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

 

Wendy

Victoria Day Weekend of Gardening

I have had a very productive weekend of gardening!  I was so happy to finally have gotten started on the backyard gardens, and we had the most beautiful weekend to do that :)

I started off earlier in the week in an effort to move my composting box from one side of the yard to the other.  Over the past few years, our lilac bush was swallowing up the back corner of the yard and the compost was no longer in full sun, but full shade, and it was taking a long time for the yard waste I threw in there to compost.  I didn't take any 'before' pictures, but under the lilac was the compost box, long uncut grass, a huge pile of dirt in front of the compost (from my son's pond expansion last summer), and masses of weeds growing happily on top of the dirt pile!

Here's the corner and the lilac now (the yard is full of the scent of this beautiful lilac!)

 

And underneath the lilac, my lovely remade corner garden ... this is where all the mess was.  But I dug out all the dirt, weeds and even emptied the compost box (no mean feat!) so that the ground was all nice and level again.

 

 

I emptied six (!) bags of "bark nuggets" all around the lilac ...

 

 

I replanted the hostas (which grow like weeds in my somewhat shady gardens), and transplanted some young ferns into the back corner, and then tossed the rocks I dug up into a little pile, and tossed a log in for good measure.  I love ferns.  Where I grew up there were ferns growing wild in the woods below our house alongside the creek.  They were as tall as your shoulders and smelled so wonderful.  And the dappled sunlight from the trees down by the creek was so pretty on all those ferns ... magical! 

 

I took away as many ferns from my mom's house as I could manage, and last year my son and I created a fern garden in his pond area.  This is how it looks this year ...

 

 

We're both glad that the ferns like this spot and are doing so well.  They've sprouted up all sorts of tiny fronds, and it was from here that I had extras to transplant in the back corner.  The stepping stones were some that I gave my parents over the years, and then brought back to my house.  This small area was fixed up last year by my son and I.  It's just beside our patio and quite shady.  Nothing really grew well under the bush (which none of us know the name of, but the flowers stink, so we have referred to it always as the "Stinky Bush"), so we lay bark nuggets down in this area and lined the edge with rocks we'd collected over the summer.

 

This is my son's pond, which he drained of stagnant water today and will now clean the liner, fill with clean water and two shebunkin fish (all that the great blue heron left last year), and get the pump running again.  He's had a pond for about five years now, this is the second pond (just larger than the first), and he added a waterfall last year too.  My son recently had a birthday, so we bought what I'm sure every 15-year old would love ... a wooden garden bench :)  He was very happy with it and laid some leftover stones down for the bench to sit on ... it completes his pond garden very nicely.

 

 

My husband very kindly set in the black edging all around the back garden and alongside the lilac bush.  As you can see I need to repair some bald spots in the yard, but I have a plan for that too. 

 

 

A small ring of found rocks I placed around our pine tree.  I tidied up this little area too, raking all the pine needles off the lawn and back under the tree.

 

 

My sleepy helper ...

 

 

My bleeding hearts, which grow as well as the hostas.  Can you believe that I transplanted these bleeding hearts just last summer, and look how huge they are this spring!  This garden got tidied up as well, with the edge along the grass sharpened and weeds pulled.

 

 

The iris from my mom ... and I'm happy to say that there are quite a few buds amongst those green leaves!  This garden gets hidden by our pool in the summertime, but right now it's looking pretty good.  Can't wait for the iris to bloom ... maybe this week or next!

 

 

And this is where I moved the compost box ... into full sun again.  It doesn't look like much here, but the amount of work that went into digging the compost out of the box was a lot of work, and I had to spread it around all the gardens one shovel-full at a time.   Even the box was set deep into the ground (as you can tell from the dirt marks around the bottom), and it took a fair bit of work to get it dislodged again.

 

 

Now all that dirt that you see surrounding the box, and the 2x4s leaning against the fence used to be where we had one massive pile of firewood.  I had to first move two stacks of firewood from against the fence before I could put the compost box here.  It took forever, but now the wood is stacked here ...

 

 

and I've listed it on Kijiji for free to the first person who wants it.  I have blisters on my hands from moving all this wood.  My son helped me move the last of it this morning, but it was only about one-quarter of the entire stack.  I was so tired of these wood piles looking awful in the backyard and they were attracting wasps and who knows what else.  In fact I even found a tiny black bat hidden under the top logs having a snooze yesterday.  It startled me at first because I thought it was a mouse, but when I saw how slowly it was moving I realized it had wings!!  Cool!  I removed the rest of the logs very carefully after that. 

 

So after three days of intensive gardening, I'm exhausted and ready for a well-deserved cup of tea.  Here's a couple of photos of the entire backyard (using my fancy 'panoramic' photo feature).  First looking towards the house from the back fence (leftover edging there, and the weedy circle on the right is where our pool will be, also why there is a fence running through the middle of our yard) ...

 

And then looking towards the back fence from the house ...

 

 

I hope you all had a wonderful Victoria Day Weekend ... not long now before we'll hear the explosion of fireworks in the neighbourhood!!

 

Happy Victoria Day to my fellow Canadians,

and thanks so much for stopping by!

 

Wendy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

G'Morning Cheeps

 

Baby robin who has been hopping around the yard the last couple of days.  His parents have had a trying time this year.  A red-winged blackbird took over their first nest and I found the shattered tiny blue eggs on the ground.  But the determined robins built another nest by stealing bits and pieces from their original nest.  Then earlier this week I spied a huge black crow feasting on one of their young :(  This little guys sibling.  I was happy to see the parents taking such good care of this scrappy little piece of fluff, but they were getting upset that I was around, so I left them to their work after taking only a couple of shots.

 

 

Heading into the Victoria Day long weekend ... SOOOOO looking forward to this weekend, and I'm hoping for good gardening weather!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Wendy

 

 

Back to Regular Programming

On to a new day.  Mother's Day over and done with and glad for it.  My family resists that urge to spoil me, or heaven forbid, acknowledge me on that day, and they never notice how it upsets me, and since I didn't want to sit around the house moping (especially after writing yesterday's post ... and yes, I turned comments off there for my own messed-up reasons), I headed to a store that I was saving up just for yesterday.  I knew I would need somewhere to go on M's Day well in advance (since last year!). 

 

You probably know the store was the thrift store.  Not too long ago, "the store" would've been the book store and the fabric store, but lately I've been enjoying the thrift store where it's always a surprise as to what you may (and may not) find.  I was somewhat disappointed at the crowds of people in the store yesterday!!  Why was everyone there on Mother's Day?!  Shouldn't they be home having chocolates and gifts bestowed upon them?  Shouldn't they still be at the Sunday brunch?!  Alas, I had to share the aisles with many others, but was still able to find some nice surprises ...

 

First off was a pretty crocheted throw. 

Not too large, but very nice colours (more pinks showing up in real life).  Hanging on Grandmother's clothes horse to dry this windy and cloudy day.  I should probably dry it flat, but I've been rotating it around on the rack, and it isn't too large so I don't think it'll stretch (too much!).   It's quite soft in texture, and I believe it's a wool/acrylic blend as there was some colour left in the water after the washing, and a steal at just five bucks!

 

Then I found these two pottery dishes ... why is pottery I find lately all blue?  I want to paint my kitchen blue sometime soon (right now it's a ghastly deep yellow, which I loved when I first painted it, but am tired of it now 6 or 8 years later), so these should fit right in. 

 

 

 

And another blue pot ... have you noticed I have a thing for lidded pots?  Something to hide bits and pieces of crafting clutter I think is my objective, although in truth, they more often than not don't end up holding anything!  This pot has lots of birds and butterflies and all things spring-like and lovely :)

 

 

 

Then I bought this book ....

 

 

 

of which I now have two!  I found this book earlier in the year, and bought it because there was one craft that I thought looked really cool.  When I brought the first book home (it too was a thrift store purchase), the page with the instructions for said craft were ripped out of the book!!  Why would someone do that?!  Just keep the whole book rather than fool someone into thinking it was complete.  So needless to say, that was disappointing!  I didn't return the book either because there were other crafts that also looked good, and I may even one day get around to making.  But when I saw the same book yesterday, I scooped it up again.  Of course I checked to make sure the crucial page was still intact first!
 

I also found a little creamer for when I want to make myself a pot of tea.  Just big enough for milkfor one or two cups of tea.  There was no matching sugar bowl, but I don't put sugar in my tea anyway, and have been looking for a lost little creamer that needed a home :)

 

 

 

Then onto the drug store where I bought a pretty magazine with lots of wonderful images of cottage-styled rooms, and even more blue pieces!  And a bag of chocolate malt balls which just about made me ill after a couple of handfuls (I should know better, but I was trying to cheer myself up).

 

There was a white-on-white and a blue-and-white theme going on throughout the magazine.  Love the look of crisp cotton vintage linens tucked into a natural wood cupboard :)

 

The blue & white stuff was pretty too, and something I've always had a fondness for.

 

 

These are some of my own blue & white plates which I will one day (!!) get displayed on the walls again.  They once belonged to my Great Aunt, and my great grandmother or great-great grandmother before her.  I've always loved that shade of grey/blue and the details of birds and flowers is so pretty.

 

 

... the stamped bottom for those who are interested ...

 

 

So the day ended not too badly, even though no one in my family was aware of my purchases.  I also stopped at my favourite gardening centre which has a huge selection of wonderful and often unusual perennials and picked up a couple of poppies (I don't have any in my garden and have wanted them for a long time).  Even though my husband refused to join me on Saturday when I asked him to go there and he threatened "you can't buy anything yet because it's too cold!!" .  They're hiding in the garage, but they're a spring plant and I'm sure they'll be fine.  I also bought some packets of seeds, and I'm looking forward to getting those going indoors this week. 

My garden is so pathetic right now, as I've not had any spare time to clean it up and sort it out.  The hostas all need splitting, and I need to organize a lot of plants that I brought from Mom's garden.  This weekend it was actually snowing on Sunday ... snowing!! ... and so cold and windy that it was no fun being outside (although I enjoyed my outdoor time at the gardening centre admiring all their plants.

 

So I'm happy to move onto another week, and hope that the weather warms up because I don't like putting the furnace on in May!  And now back to regular programming and chores ...

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by, and thank you very much to those who left comments on other posts regarding my mom's post, they were all very touching (I was just feeling a bit disheartened yesterday).

 

Wendy

 

To Mom

To your parents you were a sweet little girl, the youngest of three children, their only daughter,  sweet little Violet,

 

 

To your friends you were the fun-loving teen, a cyclist who found escape and adventure on two wheels. 

 

 

You cycled across our entire country east to west, and then through Europe ...

 

 

 and down through the States as far as Florida ... "it was the only way for me to travel cheaply".  And it's how you met Dad!

 

 

 

 

And the cycling past time continued through your entire married life ...

A true farmer's daughter, loving all living things ,

 

 

A young working woman.  You gave this photo of yourself to your father for his birthday.  I first saw it when you moved house for the last time and asked if I could have it.

 

 

An artist, who had such talent, selling many of your paintings in the early years,

 

 

  But all of this was before my time.  To me you were Mom. 

 

You cared for us ...

 

 

You encouraged animals to be in our life, and even though you were somewhat terrified of riding ol' Scamp, you did love that spotted horse who would spend hours keeping you company on the other side of the garden fence while you tended the vegetables.

 

 

You gardened, growing all our own vegetables, and surrounding our property with flowers. You worked endlessly in all your gardens, surrounding the house  ...

 

... and down the long drive ...

 

Iris being a favourite of yours ...

 

 

You were a wonderful grandmother to all nine of your grandchildren ... you always told each one of them they were your favourite ... and had nicknames for them ... Sam was "Queen Bee" ...

 

 

And how they LOVED you!!

 

 

 

This is one of my favourite photos of you ... in my sister's backyard.  It was cool that summer day, and you hugged your mug of tea to keep your hands warm.  And there's a small bandaid wrapped around your finger, covering a small cut which you got from gardening (of course). 

 

 

And in the garden is how I will remember you the most.  It's the easiest place for me to envision you.  Always interested in new plants, but still having your favourites in the old fashioned flowers from your own memories of your mother and grandmother.

 

How you delighted in Spring's arrival every year, as it brought forth all your beauties ...

 from poppies ...

 

 

to tulips ...

 

 

to iris ...

 

 

and lupins ...

 

 

But I think you coveted the wild woodland flowers the most, as you delighted in transplanting them from our woods to the "north" garden where they thrived under your expert care ...

from trilliums to jack-in-the-pulpits ...

 

 

they all repaid you in years of enjoyment.

 

Missing you very much today Mom, but knowing you are happy once again in your "true home".

 

 

I love/hate the above photo as it was the day of your move from our beloved country home, and the last time you were truly happy.  You were showing your incredible optimism here as you stood beside your gorgeous iris garden which neither of us would ever see again.

 

Happy Mother's Day

 

love "Twink"

 

 

PS All photos of flowers were taken in my mom's garden years ago.