Category Archives: nature

outdoors…

26 Wednesday Aug 2015

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first thing this morning took pictures of the big morning glory… apparently they are never going to open on a day when I am home and can see it when it is fully open, lol…

  
interesting colour on it… also took this one of the mandevilla… there are lots of blossoms on it…

  
on a walk at lunch I spotted some kids climbing on Emptyful… they were having a great time as the spray blew over them… 

 
beautiful day… on the way home enjoyed the lovely weather as I walked…

  
got a shot of the morning glory when I arrived at the house… bit of a hybrid I think…

  
got a pretty good shot of it as it was starting to close up…

finished off my day with fresh corn on the cob which was delicious…

  

walk…

24 Monday Aug 2015

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spectacular day…

up early and walked over to the Park… the Assiniboine is lower than I’ve seen it in many years…

  
had a wonderful breakfast with a dear friend at the Park Cafe… quite like their Black Bean Benedict…

  
cool but sunny… we had a leisurely walk through the zoo… quiet, and enjoyed a wonderful time in Journey to Churchill…

  
this is one of the three newest baby polar bears…

  
enjoyed the Shirley Richardson Butterfly Garden and found some cute caterpillar friends…

  
spent a fair bit of time with my camera taking pictures of butterflies and flowers… my friend was very patient, lol…  

I took a wander through the Gardens before walking home…

  
finally had a chance to see the new statue just inside the entrance to the English Garden… nice…

  
borders are at their best right now…

  
caught a frog by a purple water lily…

spending time in the Gardens brings such relaxation and peace… reminds me how lucky I am to live within walking distance of such a special place…

tasty…

23 Sunday Aug 2015

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got home before noon after our last night of camping in the basement of my daughter’s new house… no furniture in the place other than our camping chairs and air mattresses… but it was warm, had toilets and running water… pretty darn nice…

when we got up this morning, the rain was going sideways as the wind was blowing like crazy… happy to be inside, lol… the guys ran out to check for basement flooding at one of the houses… they brought home egg mcmuffins for our breakfast… a tasty treat after the last few days of cooking on a campfire and doing endless dishes in a bucket, lol…

I brought in my gear and took a quick look around the garden as it had stopped raining during the drive…

  
this is a picture of the eggplant… when I left on Friday there were three hanging on the plant… apparently something or someone decided they needed them more than I did… hope they enjoyed them…

also picked some tomatoes while I was out there, finally ripening…a few of the Romas had blossom rot so I took the rest off…

  
had a few of them with my supper… tasted good…

it’s been overcast and windy for most of the day, but late this afternoon the sun came streaming through the window into the living room… had to get a photo…

 dahlia flower blooming on the deck…
  

creatures…

22 Saturday Aug 2015

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after supper last night at the campsite, all the boys and dogs went for a walk to the beach to catch frogs…

it was dark and nearly eleven when a skunk came to visit we three women as we sat around the campfire…

one ran into the tent, another climbed on top of the picnic table… I sat in my chair as the skunk came and sniffed my toes before moseying along to the next site…

was going to take a picture but decided not to in case it got nervous and sprayed, lol…

at 1 am it started to rain… at about 2:30 the thunder and lightning show started… shortly after that lightning blew the electricity at the site with a huge bang… for two hours the light flashed, thunder rolled and rain poured down… can’t even think of a time when I was in the midst of such a storm… made for a long night…

this morning we saw geese at the beach when we went for our cell phone connection fix…

  
had a lovely breakfast cooked on the fire…

  
bacon, pancakes and eggs was wonderful… soon after that the heavens opened again and it poured…

we gave up, packed, and headed home… saw a mommy deer and her twins as we left the campground…

  
now we are back in the city, camping out at my daughter’s new house which is pretty much an empty construction zone, lol…

and have two dogs laying here keeping us company…

  
gonna make s’mores soon…

packed…

21 Friday Aug 2015

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in the car, on the way to the lake…

kind of late but life intervened in our desire to leave earlier,,,

day started out great with the large morning glory having an open blossom on it… not purple this time, but a lovely shade of blue…

  
got a few pictures first thing as I was running around getting the car packed…

as I was leaving for work I had to stop and take a few more pictures of the lovely shadows and sunlight on the plants…

  
took the few extra minutes to enjoy the moment…

over lunch hour helped prepare some appetizers for a shower a colleague was attending this evening…

such fun… every now and then I miss the catering business, lol… much more fun when you are only getting a few things prepped…

drove to my daughter’s new house and had a tour before we ran around and got groceries and did that last minute packing of the car…

not sure we have an extra inch available… of course, George would have had excess available… he was such a great organizer of space…

brought warmer clothes this time… flannel pajamas, heavier jackets and an extra blanket… can you tell I was a bit chilly during the night last time, lol…

looking forward to a campfire…

harvest…

20 Thursday Aug 2015

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sitting out beside the pond as I fill it up… water is rather low again…

  
everything was thirsty so used the hose to provide drinks, lol…

here is tonight’s harvest from the garden…

  
a Roma tomato and a lovely eggplant… ate both of them with my supper… very tasty…

can’t believe that the big morning glory blossom is going to open tomorrow, while I am at work, sigh… still hoping to be here during the day when one is opening…

  
goldfinches were at the feeders when I came out…and a bunny ran off when I was getting the hose…

   
 
I think this little one is a goldfinch but am not certain…

picked up tzatziki, a lovely loaf of bread, cheese biscuits, and radishes today at the Farmers Market… had half a bagel at lunch so will save the biscuits for tomorrow and take the bread camping, lol…

there was barely room to move at the Market… clearly the harvest has been good this year…

need to go in as it is getting dark… earlier and earlier, sigh… already missing the light…

green…

19 Wednesday Aug 2015

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took a few photos of the violet blooms today… the greenery in these plants is very deep and rich looking…

  
pleased with how they came out… this was with my iPhone…

had some delicious green beans for my dinner…

  
I spent the rest of the evening preparing about seven pounds of beans, mainly green, but a few yellow… lots of work involved…

  
many minutes of “top and tailing”… that’s what my mom called it… 

she’d be so proud… I remember when we lived on the farm in La Salle and had a large garden and how she loved working in it…

  
blanched the beans…

  
popped them into cold water and filled bags to go into the freezer…

  
rather proud of myself when I put ten packages into the freezer…

that was besides eating about 3 cups and putting aside a large container for us to take camping on the weekend…

great fun… now to rest, lol…

insects…

17 Monday Aug 2015

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this morning before I left home I got a shot of my little caterpillar friend… a slow mover who is starting to get a bit bigger… really loves the parsley which is mixed in with the morning glory…

  
there are a number of insects that I don’t care for, but caterpillars, butterflies and dragonflies are not on that list… 

also took a picture of the mandevilla which is covered with blooms… so pretty…

  
not too many flowers on the morning glory… but gorgeous…

  
as I drove into the driveway, had to stop and take a picture of the dragonfly sitting on the garage…

 

wonderful to have and take the time to see what’s going on around me…

 

tv…

16 Sunday Aug 2015

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woke up early this morning and turned the tv on…

well, tried to turn it on… last night it was working fine, but this morning it is completely dead… sigh… I spend a lot of time on the bed watching it… tried everything I could think of, but nothing worked…

went, did grocery shopping, brought it home and put it all away…

then I rearranged the main floor tv room so that I felt comfortable watching in there…

spent a lot of time in the garden… there are at least two baby goldfish and possibly three… must have sat at the edge of the pond for half an hour watching for them…

  
moved the lounge chair onto the back deck so I could sit in it and watch the bird feeders… might just leave it there…

  
the goldfinches have been around and about… the garden just brightens up when the little flashes of yellow and light green flit past… and I even saw the bunny in the neighbour’s yard… 

much cooler today and sort of overcast, well not sunny, for a good portion of the day…

  
did pick up a few treats for next weekend in case I go camping again with the kids… we all love chips and I got the makings for s’mores… packed them all up in a bag ready to go…

tears…

15 Saturday Aug 2015

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day started with breakfast in the garden…

there were lots of birds… chickadees, goldfinches, sparrows, a woodpecker…

   
 
and I was very excited to discover a caterpillar on one of the parsley plants…

  
was enjoying the activity around me when all of a sudden I burst into tears… never know when the grief will hit you… must have sobbed for fifteen minutes before the sadness passed… miss my beloved so much…

did some gardening… one of the jobs was to take out many of the water hyacinth in the pond… couldn’t even tell if there were fish because it was completely covered over…

and discovered two baby fish… great news and they are both very pretty… moved too fast to get a good picture, lol…

got some nice shots of flowers…  

 
these are tiny ones in the pond…
  
morning glory ready to unfurl tomorrow… can’t believe it but the big morning glory didn’t open this morning…

  
love the shape of the mandevilla buds…

out in the garden for a good portion of the day, other than a nap and when it rained a bit…