last Thursday night I think a raccoon (or more than one) came into the garden and attacked the pond…
they got at least two fish and tossed around the water lilies… they don’t care for fish scales, so end up leaving them on the ground… I found two piles on the stepping stones alongside the pond…
the fish were clearly traumatized and have barely come out from under the bridge…
after doing some research, I put down epsom salt all around the pond and hoped that would dissuade them from finding their supper in my garden…
I also put on the motion sensor at the back door and the one on the garage…
since then, they have come back a few times, although I am starting to wonder if it might be the coyote that has been wandering in this area… the plants have been disturbed, but I haven’t found any fish bits…
this Thursday I put up a new wireless camera to see if I can spot whatever has been coming by…
Monday, a friend dropped off some alyssum and lobelia and Wednesday I got around to planting them…
opened the shed to discover a small paper wasp nest attached to the door… I used the recycling bin to hold the door open and went in carefully to find some pots…
happily there were no injuries and I pulled out a couple of pots and a hanging basket…
got each one filled and popped them over by the garden bed…
this was good as the beds look a little thin now that all the poppies have been removed, lol…
the weather was a bit odd on Saturday… I put out a few cushions, and then brought them in when it started to spit, then put them out, and brought them back in… and so on… kind of a game…
when I was out, I had a blanket on as it was cool and a touch windy…
my grandson had put the old waterfall up on a for sale board and a couple were coming by to pick it up… I rinsed it off before they arrived and was happy that the garage camera got a shot of it because I didn’t think to, lol…
their plan is to add it to their current pond in Beausejour…when they arrived, it was sunny and we had a little tour of the garden… it was wonderful to hear others’ thoughts on how tranquil the space really is…
the first involved putting a new bottom piece on one of my favourite bird feeders…
it is made of copper and the bottom rusted out… I found a plastic saucer and with a great deal of effort… including hammering and drilling… was able to attach it to the bottom of the feeder… it is going to work perfectly…
looks good and got hung up in a great spot that the birds like…
then I moved the one that had been there previously over beside the pond… and the one that had been by the pond over to the new hanger I attached to the garage last week… phew 😅…
I spent half an hour standing along the edge of the hot tub trimming the Virginia creeper, which was trying to cover the den window…
pleased with how it came out… this time I was clever and moved the hot tub steps over to make getting up and down much easier, lol…
as I wander around the garden every day and spot the morning glories, I am reminded of our fortieth wedding anniversary…
I spent six weeks in St. Boniface Hospital with pancreatitis and then gall bladder surgery ~ instead of a trip to BC ~ and each day when my beloved came to spend time with me, he brought photos of whichever morning glories were in bloom…
using the camera on his phone was not something he did regularly, so it was special when he brought these to me…
it also meant that he took the time to check out the garden as he knew how I loved these flowers… and they had just started to bloom after I ended up in the hospital…
recently I wrote about how well the clematis is doing along the driveway…
now it is blooming… and I think this is the most blossoms since we planted it many years ago…
it has more stems and leaves too…
now that I’ve done the math… 🤪… I realize that it is about twelve or thirteen years old… I am actually surprised as I hadn’t realized how long it has been in this spot…
Thursday the kids came over and we spent most of the late afternoon in the garden…
my grandson started work on a bonsai tree and it was great fun to see him trim a blue cedar into something resembling a small tree…
it is going to live in the garden for the summer…
then, we finished the irrigation system… yay… the hose was straightened, holes were punched in various places and tubes with sprinklers were connected… they had no trouble connecting the tubes to the hose, sigh… we ran a test and made sure each little piece was spraying appropriately…
we need a few more pieces of tubing, but most planters, baskets and perennials now will be watered when I turn on the tap… I am sure they will all be happy about this, lol…
so excited to see how well the garden will grow when it is watered regularly…
then we had barbecued steak and asparagus, baked potatoes and a salad on the deck…