Tag Archives: garden

helpers…

21 Saturday May 2016

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spent a good portion of the day in the garden…

finished the plant shopping with my daughter and youngest grandson…

everyone spotted at least a few tadpoles… they move through the water quickly but when sitting still they look like seed husks…

while we were shopping, the oldest helped his younger brother mow the backyard… a bit difficult due to the terrain and the great quantity of furniture in the space, lol…

when they left, the oldest grandson stayed to help me with gardening… 

lots got done… he moved a lot of rocks so they weren’t blocking the path and deck…


it was very hot and he worked hard… he added more stones in the pond as well as making sure that the two plant additions won’t move from their new spots… 

he evened out the gravel in the floating basket so it stays level and made sure all of the water hyacinth were right side up…  


dug out dandelions and planted two empty pots so that we can change the plants going into them…


still lots to do but he made a big dent in the list…

I filled pots and baskets and watered everything… still have planting to do tomorrow but for now am enjoying the tidy space… all those disorganized rocks and stones were making me a bit crazy…


really appreciated all of their help…

choices…

20 Friday May 2016

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what a glorious day… up and out early for tests, and then to the Park for a walk around the Gardens, both of which were open… 


the newly paved walkways are much easier to maneuver…

breakfast at the Park Cafe, followed by another short walk where I spotted some goslings…


was pleasantly surprised with how relaxed I was as I ate on my own… those big girl pants get easier to wear nearly every day…

home, set out the cushions in the garden and had a lovely cup of tea…

my daughter picked me up and we had some plant therapy… 


a lot of it actually… we made a few trips to drop stuff off, lol…

while waiting for her to arrive I took this shot of the front yard, covered in dandelions…


before she left she mowed it… yay, looks way better now…

sat out and read for a while, then filled the planters that circle the deck with alyssum and campanula… slight departure from the usual choices, but looks good…


the last few years the trailing lobelia has not done well in this location, so we will see…

had leftover sushi for my dinner and cleaned up from the planting…

it has cooled off a bit, but I am cozy under a light blanket enjoying a book… 

earlier I spotted tadpoles in the pond and got this shot of one a few minutes ago…


wonder how many frogs there are going to be!!!

relaxing…

30 Saturday Apr 2016

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had a great sleep… yesterday my son-in-law fixed the flapping piece of siding on the house that has been loose for months…

  
it was amazing how noisy it was… the silence is lovely…

while they were cleaning out the pond, he discovered this little guy at the very bottom…

  
I am always excited when we come across critters in the garden… hope he hangs around for the summer…

  
spent the day reading and eating and napping after putting out all the cushions…  

  
moved from chair to lounger to chair throughout the day…

could have just vegged, but went for a walk in the sunshine while my dinner was cooking…

very relaxing day…

rocks…

29 Friday Apr 2016

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what a wonderful day…

met up with my son-in-law and we went in search of rocks for the pond…

we found some river stone for the bottom of the pond and eventually some nice sized fieldstone for around the perimeter as I haven’t felt the flat slate edge worked well…  
 

we also picked up a power washer…

   

came home and someone played with it for quite a while…

 

had lunch on the deck, put together the hammock, enjoyed looking at my new hibiscus, and headed out for more fun…
  

found a rain barrel on sale, some dahlias and three air plants…

  

very happy with the barrel as the garbage can I’d been using sprang a leak at the end of last year… this one is very fancy and can hold plants in the top…

picked up the boys from school and on our way back here, stopped for soft ice cream and found purple gazing balls – 3 different sizes which I think will float in the pond… and the kids bought them for me for Mother’s Day;-)… 

  

this was my first ice cream of the year… woo hoo… ordered Chinese food and while we were waiting for it to arrive, work began on cleaning and re-rocking the pond… 

  
finished filling the pond after they left and got the waterfall going… it sounds wonderful…

great to spend time in the garden… even got to sit out in the chairs for a bit…

flowers…

27 Wednesday Apr 2016

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early this morning I got a shot of the sun rising…

 

sunrise

 
loving the mornings… it is light so early now… could hear birds singing… and saw squirrels darting about the garden…

took a few pictures of the tulips I picked up a few days ago and brought to the office…

 

purple tulip

 

tulips

 
they are a lovely colour and have lasted very nicely…

reminded me of a colleague who, on my return from New York, commented that most people who visit NYC post many skyline pictures… but I posted pictures of flowers, lol…

then she said: “which is so you“…

I do love flowers and plants and gardens…

helper…

23 Saturday Apr 2016

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woke up to a cool looking sky out the window … the clouds made an interesting design…

  

had a good time with my grandson… he came over around lunchtime to help me in the garden… 

made his favourite red curry lentils for lunch and then we got to work…

  
raked up all the leaves and pulled up lots of dead grass… filled three yard waste bags…

while he finished up, I put the furniture into its usual arrangement and cleaned the tables…

then we moved the rocks that came out of the pond in the Fall…  we are going to reset them to have a better look… will probably be getting rounded rocks because the flat ones just don’t look right around the edge of the pond…

looks good back there now… hopefully the temperature will perk up and I’ll be able to sit out in the next few days…

  
he got the front yard cleaned up as well… next time we are going to tackle the front flower beds…

enjoy getting to spend time with him…

working outside reminded me of my walk through the woods yesterday…

  
similar type weather… made me think of one of the lovely cards I received for my birthday… it is a copy of a friend’s painting…

  

bit more sunshine in that picture, lol… 

  

thinking…

21 Thursday Apr 2016

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today would have been my friend’s forty-eighth birthday…

she would have loved my new Fitbit bracelet…

sure do miss her…

a week ago I was finishing packing for our trip to New York…

 

Central Park, New York…photo J Noordman

 
brought to mind all of the people who have gone from my life – parents, in-laws, friends… my beloved…

been thinking about how each of them have influenced and shaped me into who I am…

how blessed I’ve been to have such special people in my life…

Japanese Maple ready to go into the garden…

entertaining…

14 Monday Mar 2016

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had a wonderful day…

began with making my favourite zucchini basil soup for tonight’s dinner…

  

took the time to take pictures of each step in the process…

  
turned out great… as I worked on each step I thought of the people coming for dinner and how lovely it will be to see them and spend time together…

the hardest part of making this is finding the basil and zucchini at the same time… much simpler in the summer, lol…

had the screen door open as I was working on the soup… was so beautiful, decided to eat my lunch on the deck and read for a bit… the sun was so warm…

  
set the table and went for a walk…

  
planned the dinner with St. Patrick’s day in mind, thus the green soup, lol… enjoyed preparing it as I don’t do much entertaining these days…

made a huge garden salad and shredded a bbq rotisserie chicken to go along with the soup and some fresh bread… the salad reminded me of my beloved’s wonderful salads… have not been able to recreate them…

also set up our conversation spot to focus on lean-to/support to go along with a program one of the group had sent everyone…

  
took the last few minutes before their arrival to sit and relax…

dinner was enjoyed by everyone, and we had some thoughtful conversation…

melting…

08 Tuesday Mar 2016

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it was lovely out this morning and I stood outside waiting for my ride…

  
lots of melting yesterday…

on my walk from the corner tonight took a few shots of the creek which was filled with water… amazing because it was overcast all day, not a single ray of sunshine…

  
the solar lights in the garden are on tonight… very exciting that the sun is strong enough to light them up…

maybe spring is here…

tidy…

15 Sunday Nov 2015

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what a gorgeous day… had an urge to go shopping, but decided to work in the garden getting it ready for winter…

spent an hour taking out the last of the plants and emptying pots to tidy it up…

  
very hard to pull out the alyssum which was still happily blooming… excited to discover lots of morning glory seeds which I carefully packaged up to plant in the spring… hope I can find them then…

even brought in the parsley plant which was still alive… can’t believe things are growing and blooming in the middle of November… also brought in the orange butterfly plant which had tons of seeds that I hope will grow as well…

my grandson came and helped me finish up the work… he used the mower to pick up the last of the leaves, and put away numerous pots and furniture in the shed… great to have his assistance… he even dealt with the smelly dead water hyacinths…

closing down the garden is certainly one of the times when I miss George tremendously…

this is what we discovered when we opened up the shed…

  
the squirrel(s) stuffed many containers with tasty cedar treats for the long winter… 

made me laugh as I shared the story of the year George cleaned out a squirrel nest in the garage and put all the nest material and peanuts into the garbage can… and how the squirrel chewed right through the heavy plastic at the top of the garbage can to get their stuff back… just hoping the city doesn’t notice and want to charge me for a new container, lol…

all the boys were here for dinner… had roast beef and twice stuffed potatoes… very tasty, and we topped it off with chocolate cake, which even I enjoyed… not usually a cake fan and had a very small piece…

stood at the window and waved them on their way… this is something I do with everyone when they leave… started with my Aunty Vi who always waved to us when we left her house… now it is part of my routine…