Category Archives: nature

parcel…

24 Friday Apr 2020

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had an excellent day yesterday… got a parcel in the mail… with chocolate in it…

spent time in the garden… reading in the sun, washing down a few pieces of furniture… moving chairs around for a different view… cleaning out some planters… it was lovely…

ended the day with a visit from a dear young friend… she was on the sidewalk and I was at the front door…

going to enjoy the time in the garden…

EarthDay…

22 Wednesday Apr 2020

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today, Earth Day 50, I’ve spent time thinking about our world and how blessed we are to be here…

and how this virus, which has made us all stay home, has given the earth a chance to rest and start recovering from all the grief we have given it…

in my little corner of the world, I spent time watching the birds and squirrels at the bird feeders… after I refilled them…

and also was able to spend some time on the deck in the garden, enjoying the balmy weather…

I’ve been thinking of a few small changes I’ve made at home… the one I am most pleased about is using cloth instead of paper towels… I put away the paper towel holder shortly after arriving back home in January… I’ve been using extra hand towels and facecloths and have a bin for the used ones on the kitchen counter… it has been amazingly simple and is encouraging me to see what other small, but helpful changes I can make…

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;-)…

casting…

15 Wednesday Apr 2020

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happy that I figured out how to cast Facebook Live onto my tv…

I’m sure others have been doing this for ages, lol… I’ve done it a few times with my photos but not often enough to remember how to do it easily;-)…

I think it is funny what things I can do without a problem and others which I’m not comfortable with just yet…

I’ve enjoyed watching the programs that Assiniboine Park and Zoo have been presenting… they are on Facebook Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1 pm CDT… nice to see the animals close up and learn some interesting things about how the keepers work with them…

much nicer on the tv screen than on my phone;-)…

gonna keep practicing…

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…

sauce…

05 Sunday Apr 2020

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today, I got dressed, lol… I know that is a big deal for me and a lot of you, I’ll bet… not having to worry about anyone coming to the door makes pjs perfectly acceptable all day…

in the morning I cooked spaghetti and let it cool down so that the sugars would fly through my system when I warm it up…

looked in the fridge and found part of a jar of spaghetti sauce which I used as a base for my sauce…

the addition of spices, A1, ketchup, and soy sauce, with time to mingle together, makes for a tasty addition to the spaghetti… also added some frozen meatballs to get in the required protein… smelled lovely as it was simmering…

while that was cooking, I went out and shovelled between the front steps and the driveway… snow seemed heavier than in the backyard yesterday, lol… and my back is not so happy just now;-(…

my shovelers came by this morning and did the driveway and sidewalk (but not the connecting area)… very happy they were able to get that done as it needs to be clear for the mail carrier… and Tuesday my grocery order should arrive as well…

supper was tasty and there is enough sauce and spaghetti for two more meals… yay…

seemed like a full day;-)…