this morning I started my day with a wander around the gardens…
I started with the vegetable garden and checked on the two tomatoes, miriad of peas, beans, and the couple of cucumbers that appear to have made a go of it…
the cucumber and butternut squash seeds have yet to reach the surface…
the columbines are getting ready to flower and it appears that the ones with double petals are happy in their new location along the house…
the dahlias are growing taller every day and the ivy slips from the house are holding their own…
next I checked out the pond garden, where the irises are blooming and the poppies are raising their heads slowly to get set to open… I had to detour back around the deck so that I didn’t brush against any of them… the hanging baskets are filling with flowers as they recover from the hail storm…
the petunias around the deck look good, but I need to find a way to raise up the new planter boxes as they are just a tiny bit too narrow…
the begonia and orchid in the back shady area seem to be doing well and the pansies by the bathtub pond are growing nicely…
the hibiscus is still in the shade since coming outside recently and the begonias and verbena are happy… sadly the pansies in between them are not doing well…the strawberry pot and dahlia next to the back door look excellent as do the morning glories as they come up…
on the deck the mandevilla seems content in its new location and the clematis continues to wind its way up the obelisk… the lobelia and alyssum on the table are doing very well…
after that lovely stroll, I brought out all the cushions, uncovered the deck chairs, and sat with my tea and read some of my book as the birds sang their morning welcome;-)…
this morning a memory came up from our night at Free Spirit Spheres on Vancouver Island…
it was the cherry on top of our trip that took us on a cruise to Alaska; visiting Chihuly Gardens and Glass, and blowing glass in Seattle; tea and a carriage ride at the Empress Hotel in Victoria; and a morning taking photographs in Butchart Gardens in Brentwood, BC…
it was delightful and we enjoyed every minute… delightful times…
for whatever reason (that I can’t figure out) the pump at the end seems to keep tipping up… I decided to put a fair-sized rock in to hold the edge of the pump down and give the fish somewhere to hide under, other than the bridge, lol…
and I removed the two dead water lilies which were clearly not coming back…
we will see if it works… well, look…
it seems as though the fish have finally decided that they can swim around the entire pond…
yesterday my memories reminded me that eleven years ago, we went on a cruise and ended up in Seattle where we took a glassblowing class… it was great fun…
we had to wear cotton, which explains my delightful outfit, lol…
I made a purple float for the pond and it came out very well…
later I took a photo of that same float in the pond… oddly, it sat lower in the water than the others, so I got it out and discovered it had water in it…
I couldn’t figure out where the water was getting in so brought it into the house and set it on a yogurt container on the counter, hoping it would drain out…
somehow I moved and knocked it off the container… and it broke into many pieces…
I enjoy spending time in the garden watching the birds that come to the feeders, and the pond, for a drink and maybe a bath, lol…
sometimes I will see a new visitor but can’t quite identify them, but the Merlin sound app often gives me something to compare them with…
yesterday I’d seen a cute little bird, about the size of a chipping sparrow, but didn’t have time to look it up… today I was sitting in the garden with the sound app on and discovered it was a pine siskin…
this morning the mandevilla and Japanese Maple made their annual hiatus to the garden…
the mandevilla is probably four or five years old… it started out on the deck and has come in each fall and lived over the winter in the living room like any other houseplant… it has grown quite tall, but always loses a ton of leaves so I spent time pulling off many brown crispy dead bits, lol… it now has a very tall obelisk in the pot and most of the growth is at the top… looks good now that it is cleaned up…
the Japanese Maple travelled by car from Vancouver island about ten years ago, when it made the trip with the kids as they moved from Courtenay to Ottawa, with a short visit here on their way… it had done well over that time but hasn’t grown much… today I repotted it in a bigger container with some fresh soil… hope it likes it;-)…
they will be in the shade for a few days and then move to their summer locations…
on Saturday, we went to Giant Tiger as I’d seen an ad that had Debbie Travis bed sheets with a pattern I’d been looking for…
I have been searching for a particular leafy pattern without success…
the plan for the lounger was to combine two cushions, that I already have, into one, with a kind of slip-on pillowcase…
the store didn’t have the sheets but did have curtains with the same pattern, although the green is a bit darker than what I had in mind…we checked the measurements, which worked, so brought the curtains home… the fabric feels soft, but also strong…
got out the two cushions and laid them on the dining room table and got to work…
one curtain fit perfectly so I sewed the two sides together by hand and the fit looks nearly perfect…
it wasn’t quite as long as I’d hoped, so I couldn’t do a fold over to slip over the top of the lounger, but with two cushions inside it is a tight fit so it is just right…
I had been looking to have a custom cushion made, but, for less than $40 and a bit of sewing, I got something that was ten times less money and looks very nice in the garden;-)…
so excited this morning when the new phone case I ordered awhile ago, via Etsy, arrived in the mailbox…
it has a slightly bigger wallet portion so I was hopeful it would let me add a few additional cards to it…
it came in a lovely black felt envelope which I will be able to use for something else;-)… the colour is a pale mauve and it has a strap so it can be worn like a crossbody bag…
it does have more room for cards which makes me very happy as I no longer carry a purse…
it is a touch thicker, so I am getting used to that, but so far I am very pleased…
although I didn’t think I’d use the strap, I have found it quite handy, lol…
herbiggirlpants 