Tuesday and Wednesday we spent hours at The Leaf in Assiniboine Park…
things have grown and been added since I was last there…
there was mist rising from the ground and there are now three cacao trees…
it was very exciting to see them in flower and with pods on one…
Tuesday we were there in the morning and came across some school classes and quite a few other visitors… we had a delicious lunch at Gather and went back into the biomes for a last look before heading home…
on Wednesday we went in the evening… I had hoped the lights would be on but they weren’t until after we left, lol… there were few others in the space and ample opportunities to sit quietly and reflect on the beauty of nature…
thanks to a very knowledgeable volunteer, we found the sugar cane and the dinosaur trees…
we did enjoy dessert at Gather before a quick walk through the Diversity Gardens… one treat was sitting by a fire in the Indigenous Peoples Garden…
looking forward to another visit in a few weeks… cheers;-)…
the latest project around the house has taken a little while… we began discussing it in February, lol…
the actual work started on Thursday, June 8th, when my grandson and son-in-law took down the back fence as well as the small one in the front yard…
it involved hammering, using the car jack and a great deal of muscle… once it was down, all the pieces were loaded into a truck… then we moved soil, cleaned up the leaves from the cedars and Virginia creeper, and filled many bags of yardwaste…
midway through the day the lumber was dropped off, but had to be brought onto the driveway a few pieces at a time, and by the end of the day we were worn out, lol…
on Friday, my grandson met our handyperson at the hardware store where they rented an auger and picked up a big bag of screws and nails…
they used more muscle to get the old holes redug and finished the day with all posts installed…
Sunday, the oldest dug up excess dirt around the shed while we waited for the rest of the crew to arrive, including one of his brothers…
they worked well together and got the back fence 99.9% finished, with a nice wide gate and the framework up for the front portion of fence…
on Wednesday and Thursday my oldest grandson put the finishing touches on the fencing and both sections look great…
so pleased with the final result as well as how smoothly the process went and what great help we had from everyone…
it has been fun watching neighbours check out the construction of the new back fence…
from stepping into the lane to see what was happening, to offering advice and tools to aid in the process, to checking out the ponds when they were easy to see without any obstacles in the way, to sweeping up some of the final debris…
I met a few that I hadn’t known before and enjoyed a tour of one of their gardens… wow, it certainly puts mine to shame, lol… flowers everywhere and dear little wooden items they build to add to the beauty of the garden…
it is quite amazing what can be found behind garden gates;-)…
Saturday morning I was surprised and amazed to spot a water lily flower popping up in the pond…
the reason I am surprised is that this water lily was in the pond all winter…
when I closed up the pond in the fall, just before I put a tarp over it, I was only able to bring out two lilies… this one was so stuck in the bottom I couldn’t remove it…
when I uncovered everything this spring, before I put water in, it had already started to sprout a bit, but was purpley-red…
it stayed that colour for weeks and only recently turned green… some of the leaves still have the purple colour around the outside edges…
and there is a second bud now… two buds at once has never happened before;-)…
what a shock…
so this fall I am going to leave all of them in the pond and see what happens, lol…
last night my daughter arrived from Ottawa… it was wonderful to see her in person…
the flight was early and my grandson picked her up at the airport and brought her home…
there were a number of thoughtful gifts which I will enjoy, including a delicious chocolate bar which reminds me of the amazing fudge that my dad used to make, a ceramic dragonfly, and the cutest little butterfly bowl which I will use to hold my pills…
I am looking forward to our time together over the next few weeks…
an evening in the garden ended with dueling computers… it was nice not to have to call her to discuss the piece of work we were doing, lol…
and then, an early night…
looking forward to many fun activities while she is here;-)…
no time to sort it out until that Sunday when I was able to charge it…
on Monday, the 29th, we managed to get it up onto the doorframe and working…
since then it has worked on and off… the battery is supposed to last for three weeks, but late on Saturday it advised it turned itself off and needed to be charged…
I found the special key to remove it from the door, then the charging cord, charged it, and was able to hook it back up…
I woke up rather early and was laying in bed trying to decide whether to get up or try to go back to sleep…
as I lay there I heard my sixteen-month-old neighbour chatting with one (or both) of his parents… there weren’t distinct words, just the sound of his voice;-)…
I don’t usually hear anything from him so the windows and wind must have been in just the right configuration…
made me think of when the girls were that little and the early morning happy chats;-)…
herbiggirlpants 