Friday morning, as I was uncovering the couch on the upper deck, I spotted this cute little visitor… I got a few photos as it moved around the various cushions looking for just the right spot to sun itself in…
looks like it is a tree frog and apparently they can change colour, like chameleons… clearly it went from dark gray to light gray…
last night there was a nice lightening and thunderstorm so the cushions were a bit damp, even after being covered…
but they didn’t take too long to dry in the sunshine…
the water was calm and the birds were trilling away…
well, after grocery shopping and packing up what felt like tons of stuff, we set off on our adventure…
we have returned to the superb Airbnb that we spent a week at last year…
it took about two and a half hours from leaving the house to sitting on the deck with tea and a refresher…
didn’t take very long to unpack the groceries and our personal stuff… then we headed to the upper deck to enjoy the scenery and our drinks…
as I sat there I listened to the waves gently lapping the shore, and heard the warblers, vireos, and sparrows singing in the trees nearby… and we’d already watched a couple of ducks working on their afternoon snacks as a pelican fly by…
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…
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…
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…
I decided on sarongs in each square and then books from various trips for me to enjoy during this birthday month…
ran the sarongs through the wash to get rid of any wrinkles and then filled in the squares… went with purple and orange… purple for me, and orange for my daughter, with whom I went on many of the trips, lol…
looks bright and fresh and I have lots of special moments to enjoy;-)…
for Christmas I gave friends a visit to The Leaf to see Voyage by Fleurs de Villes… it was fun because they got the card at Christmas, and then we got to spend time and have fun together during some very cold days in the city…
I was so excited when I saw that it was coming as I had gone to a similar show with my daughter in a mall in Ottawa and had been blown away with the amazing creations the florists had produced…
this was my favourite, but all the florists did a wonderful job…
I attended three times over the last week and every time I was there it was filled with many people (although I didn’t feel stressed) and the place was bustling… besides being a great exhibition, it looks as though it brought many new people to visit the space…
I had conversations with folk who had never been to The Leaf, members who had been many times, and others who had heard from friends and family about the show and decided to come for this special event…
seeing it in the biomes was much lovelier than in the centre of a mall, lol…
spending time in this wonderful oasis is like a little vacation in southern climes… well, for an hour or so, lol…
my membership, to both The Leaf and the Zoo, has been worth every penny and the cost of a membership for a senior is very reasonable and means I can visit as often as I wish all year round…
it was a wonderful treat and I enjoyed each visit… I had considered going for one last time this evening as I hadn’t been at night, but the tickets were sold out…
way to go Winnipeg… hope we get more shows like this;-)…
herbiggirlpants 