Category Archives: garden

banyan…

21 Tuesday Apr 2020

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a photo of the banyan tree in Lahaina came up in my Facebook feed this morning so I pulled out a few more…

I’ve been thinking of this particular tree for quite a while… it is the largest banyan tree in Hawaii, and covers an entire block… the aerial roots are astonishing… it is stunning, and also one of the most peaceful places I have been…

the area is filled with visitors, many, like we were, there from out of the country, but lots of regulars as well… a gathering place for lunch and work breaks, there were many of the town’s workforce in the space… it is also clearly a place where those who have very little spend their time… what was also obvious was how they cared for the place and treated it, and everyone there, with respect and kindness…

we visited it a few times while we stayed in Lahaina and it provided a wonderful break… the weather was very hot and it always provided shade and a slightly cooler place to be… each day as the sun goes down the tree is filled with the sound of hundreds of birds gathering there for the night…

before we left the town, it was the last place we stopped, to soak up the amazing feeling…

I took this panorama of a corner of the block…

this beauty of nature reminded me of Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island, another breathtaking place which I will never forget…

I hope you have memories of a special tree…

expert…

20 Monday Apr 2020

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the dahlia tubers are here, the dahlia tubers are here;-)…

they are a variety of colours and sizes…

I am very excited… I will let them sit in the box for a few days before opening it up and then plant most of them in pots so they can start to grow in the house…

I ordered them through an Ontario company, The Dahlia Expert, and they were very helpful…

the first ones we ever got were from a lovely gentleman on Vancouver Island… we spent hours in his garden and garage deciding on which ones to bring home on the plane…

they grew beautifully but we didn’t store them correctly for the winter and lost all of them… hoping I do a better job with these;-)…

pruning…

19 Sunday Apr 2020

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today I spent hours sitting in the living room reading and watching the neighbour across the street working on the lilac bush… this is how it looked a few weeks back…

here is how it looked a few years ago when it was blooming…

yesterday they had surveyors out measuring the edges of the property, so I am assuming they are going to put up a fence… the surveyors had to dig into the bush to set their mark…

this morning I spotted him chopping down a bunch of the branches and wondered if he was removing the whole thing…

eventually I went outside and shared the story of that particular bush… maybe twenty-five years ago we removed a lilac from the backyard… we gave a tiny piece to our neighbour who lived in that house…

I shared how her teenage son would take out his frustrations with a golf club on the little bush… so was amazed that it grew up, lol…

the new neighbour advised that he is putting in a fence along the side, but was just pruning the bush so he could work with it without needing a ladder…

here’s a final shot of how it looks now…

glad it is remaining and looking forward to watching it grow;-)…

sunlit…

17 Friday Apr 2020

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yesterday I was in the hot tub early in the evening, which is not my usual pattern…

I watched geese flying south in the blue sky…

I also watched a number of birds in the elm tree next door… in the sunlight they looked like they were bright red in colour… many flew from there past the garage…

I stared at one of them for the longest time trying to decide if it was a sunlit robin or something else… because there were so many of them I didn’t think they were robins as usually I see them alone… eventually it flew away…

thinking how my beloved would have been able to provide a certain answer as he had eagle eyes;-)…

as soon as I got into the house I checked my bird book and my bird app (of course I have one) and am pretty sure it was a robin…

but it was exciting for a few moments as I imagined all kinds of very red birds, lol..

here’s the photo that my Merlin Bird ID came up with…

set…

16 Thursday Apr 2020

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had a fun time in the living room today…

replaced all the cushions with more summery ones from the stockpile… added in a few hints of turquoise and moved some plants… I am trying to get a clear view from my spot on the couch of the bird feeders in the front yard…

yesterday I refilled the feeders and there has been lots of activity since then… so far I’ve spotted juncos, nuthatches and even a purple finch… and of course the squirrels, lol…

I’ve put up the tripod and have the camera ready to go, so I’m all set…

hopefully the purple finch will return and I will be able to get a photo;-)…

melt…

07 Tuesday Apr 2020

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the weather has been very odd over the last week…

on Friday it snowed all day and into Saturday… everything was covered… then it started to melt and by today it is nearly all gone…

above shows the front yard Saturday on the top and today on the bottom…

the backyard has changed a lot as well… yesterday there was still a fair bit of snow on the deck and by the pond… today it is almost completely gone…

crazy, but I hope to be able to sit out there soon…

deadhead…

30 Monday Mar 2020

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Monday is now plant watering day… used to be Saturday, but this new schedule is working well…

was talking with someone about their friend who, whenever they visited, would walk around and deadhead all the plants in the house…

as I was wandering around the living and dining room this morning I was reminded of my mom and mother-in-law and how they both did that in my house… they were both gardeners and certainly had green thumbs, actually – hands, lol… the plants always seemed happier after they had been over…

I think of my friends who are also amazing with plants… right now I am working on growing an avocado following one of their directions;-)… hope it works…

I also spent a bit of time enjoying the newest blooms…

flowers sure do make me happy…

avocado…

28 Saturday Mar 2020

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had a wonderful day outside yesterday…

topped up the hot tub and added chemicals to it…

found my gardening gloves and planted an avocado…

although it is still messy on the deck, I sat in the sun and read for a while…

noticed that there is actually water in the pond;-)…

Spring is really coming, yay…

leaf…

16 Monday Mar 2020

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this morning I decided to order groceries from Save-On-Foods, which I’ve done a few times…

usually the delivery happens the next day… the first open spots started on Saturday afternoon… apparently many people are using the delivery system;-)…

went to the Park for lunch with a couple of friends… it was very quiet… no one on the path, and they have replaced the usual menus with single sheets of paper which are discarded after being used… the tables have nothing on them and the few people there were seated quite a ways from one another…

as I was leaving I noticed the new Leaf construction is above the trees now… kind of exciting;-)…

I don’t think I will be going out for lunch after this as it is clear that older folks need to be staying at home, away from others…

tonight my BS group met by phone… we are so lucky that we have the technology to allow us to connect this way…

the new normal...

forward…

10 Tuesday Mar 2020

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had a lovely wander around the living room and dining room to check on the plants…

a few of the orchids are starting some new buds and the other plants are doing nicely…

it was a nice treat to wander around and see the growth…

we just sprang forward on the weekend and I think Spring is really coming…