they seem like a lovely couple, but they have two dogs…
the dogs bark whenever they see or hear me in the garden… or if there is any activity in the area… if another dog barks, they bark, if someone goes down the lane they bark… if someone gets too close to the front of their house, they bark…
the former residents had a dog, but it was taught not to bark, and I knew the words they used, so I was able to reinforce their training… so it didn’t bark at me after a very short while…
I asked if there were any specific words to use to stop the barking, but apparently they don’t have any…
I am hoping that these dogs will eventually accept that I am not a threat and will stop with the barking whenever I move around the garden…
I have been trying to sit very still as I read or watch the nature around me…
not too many caterpillars, and they seem to nest on the plants closer to a wall rather than the ones nearest to the pond… maybe there is more protection from predators there… too bad for me, as pictures are easier beside the pond, lol…
the odd thing is that the plants along the edge of the pond, all with the same origin, have produced two different coloured flowers…
the usual pink/purple flowers…
and these white ones which are turning yellow…
will be interesting to see what they do next year, lol…
the current iteration of the pond is ten years old…
hard to believe that much time has passed…
this is how it looked just as it was completed…
after it was finished, they had to come back and deal with leaking and runoff…nearly all of the plants have changed over time, lol… and I have changed the slate around the edge of the pond for large river rocks…
it still loses water when the waterfall is running and this year I have left if off for a good portion of the time… I also think the fish are out and about more when it isn’t running, lol… I do have a bubbler going all the time…
this year the water lilies are extremely happy… they continue to produce blooms daily, it is both amazing and delightful…
today, I turned the waterfall on and realized that I’d been missing it, and how well it dilutes other sounds in the neighbourhood…
Thursday I picked up the second flower bouquet from my Sweet Petals Farm subscription…
it is at the same place where I went last year…
unfortunately, it involves Kenaston Avenue, yikes… the construction that is going on will likely take place all summer, so I need to find the best method of getting there and back without being stuck in a very long parking lot…
most recently, I crossed Kenaston and travelled along Corydon to Moray and that worked well…
I think that will be the route for the next while…
we had to get milk, raspberries, and whipping cream… although, not being clear, I was presented with a can of already whipped cream, lol… we chose raspberries instead of strawberries, as they are both of our favourites…
the recipe calls for separating the eggs, beating them, and folding the whites in at the end…
the most complicated piece was figuring out which bowls to use…
they came out great and we even froze a few to try reheating in the toaster…
been spending a bit of time each morning in the veggie patch (aka the side garden)…
the tomatoes have been doing well and there are now pea pods beginning to fill out, flowers on the beans, a few new cucumbers starting and, just maybe a squash…
there have been many squash flowers, but they have mostly been male… I have been trying to pollinate the female flowers in hopes of getting at least one squash…
one batch of cucumbers haven’t put out even the start of a cucumber, so I have been brushing them with a drafting brush that was my beloved’s in the hope that some might get pollinated and produce fruit…
think I will try to plant another few beans and see if they have enough time to produce;-)…