Tag Archives: garden

nearly blooming…

14 Wednesday Aug 2013

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had a little wander around the garden tonight…

red mandevilla, although my favourite is white...

red mandevilla, although my favourite is white…

the mandevilla is just about ready to bloom… I had been hoping that it might have been open for the Bubble Party which was over a week ago and it is still waiting…

purple dahlia...

purple dahlia…

the dahlia has been getting ready for days but now I can see a few purple petals ready to burst open… it is nearly as tall as me… some of the others are just getting buds on them… I purchased most of them when I was in Courtenay…

dry waterfall...

dry waterfall…

the pond is still losing water, even with the waterfall turned off… got a few good pics of the fish and a great shot of my purple float from Seattle…

fish under the water hyacinth...

fish under the water hyacinth…

watered a few baskets and plants and then had a nap…

my hand blown purple float...

my hand blown purple float…

looking forward to a quiet week and weekend as I continue to recover from all the excitement over the last few weeks…

beautiful day…

13 Saturday Jul 2013

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had a wonderful day in the garden…

the weather was hot but a breeze blew for most of the day, making it comfortable…

weeded along the driveway and finally planted the two tomato plants… one of them has fruit that is heart shaped…

continued with planting some purple and white coneflowers that I picked up yesterday…

watered the sod and dug up quite a few dandelions which were trying to take over the yard during the construction… consulted with a neighbour about how to raise the level where the sod has been put down as it is a little low and I keep tripping when I walk over it, lol…

in amongst all that, I finished book 3 and started on book 4 of Game of Thrones…

had a nap and a lovely dinner of Goldeye and Caprese salad with my fresh basil…

lots of time remembering fun in the garden with my beloved, particularly when I was trimming the Virginia creeper by the hot tub:-)…

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the garden…

11 Tuesday Jun 2013

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all the plants I bought before I left are still not in the ground so the garden looks rather dreadful…  the kids were busy while I was gone and although the grass has been cut a few times there are weeds everywhere… Jeff dug up some grass and dead plants in the front bed which was a great help… the wild roses have taken over the other front bed so that is going to take a fair bit of work, lol…

wild roses overrunning the front garden...

wild roses overrunning the front garden…

this feels particularly funny, because when we brought the little wild plant in from the lake it took about 4 years before it even had one blossom and hardly grew at all… now it is trying to take over the whole place…

lobilia wanting to be planted, maybe tomorrow night it will make it into the flower boxes...

lobelia wanting to be planted, maybe tomorrow night it will make it into the flower boxes…

I wandered around the garden tonight and took a few pictures… it looks very sad…

columbine in the side garden, blooming while the rest is taken over with weeds...

columbine in the side garden, blooming while the rest is taken over with weeds…

my goal had been to come home and do some planting but it seemed more important for my body to eat and rest… maybe I will do some planting tomorrow…

bleeding hearts and ferns are happy...

bleeding hearts and ferns are happy…

I may need to go and buy some additional flowers to add to those I have and I did bring home a bunch of dahlias so on the weekend I can get those planted…

torenia, one of my favourites in a hanging basket, a bit of what will make them a bit happier...

torenia, one of my favourites, in a hanging basket, a bit of water will make them a bit happier…

hoping that a few good hours of work with a couple of helpers will get it looking better…

preparing…

19 Sunday May 2013

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ran out with Crystal and the boys this morning to find a few last items for the garden… couldn’t find exactly what I wanted and when we got home it was rainy and cool so we didn’t do any planting after all…

picked up a few items that I still needed for the trip… got a great rain jacket, some bigger sticks for both cameras, a battery for one and a cute little tripod to replace one that George had given me and I passed along to Cyndi…

new jacket and bits and pieces for the cameras...

new jacket and bits and pieces for the cameras…

spent a good portion of the day laying things out to take… tonight I put the majority of them into the suitcase… spent quite a while decided on which suitcase to take, thinking a little one might do, lol… the big one is just about full to bursting…

suitcase is filling up fast...

suitcase is filling up fast…

still have to figure out what I will use for the carry on and how much needs to go in it… let’s see, two cameras, tripod, meds, contacts, yikes, still have quite a bit to do…

don’t know how one minute it was months to wait to go on the cruise, and now I leave in just a few days and don’t really appear to be ready…

getting excited…

 

in the garden…

04 Saturday May 2013

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was reading a blog tonight and saw a beautiful magnolia flower which reminded me of some great shots I got of magnolias when visiting Courtenay, BC a few years back…  they were in Filberg Park and were spectacular…

Magnolia tree smelled beautiful...

Magnolia tree smelled beautiful…

Magnolia blossom...

Magnolia blossom…

spent a good portion of today dealing with the hot tub… had a lovely time in it first thing this morning watching Juncos and Sparrows… then I turned it off and let the water drain…  takes quite a while for that step… during which I took back an ottoman and had lunch out at a lovely little Vietnamese restaurant with my nephew and his girlfriend…

in the garden this morning...

in the garden this morning…

then home to clean and fill the tub… now it is heating up – slowly – and I am hoping that by tomorrow night I will be back in it… I took some pics of the process but my daughter stopped by and borrowed the camera, lol…

while sitting outside I got a bit of sun, but put on lotion and then stayed out of it… easy to forget how strong the sun can be early in the season… heard a variety of birdsong and also the wonderful sound of the Canada Geese flying overhead… someone new has arrived in the neighbourhood but I haven’t figured out the song just yet..

what a wonderful day… I truly am blessed…

the garden…

01 Monday Apr 2013

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spent a lovely half hour in the hot tub this morning while the birds were singing in the sunshine… I love it when it is warm enough that the jets don’t run and I can enjoy the sounds…

then I did absolutely nothing for a good part of the day…  it was absolutely wonderful…

later I met with Byron, who is a landscaper and is going to redo the big pond in the garden… I am looking forward to seeing some designs in the next few weeks and hopefully the work will happen mid-June…

this is very exciting as last summer I thought I had a company to come and redo it but they never showed up…

the before shot...

the before shot…

George and I have designed and built (well mostly he did the work) our entire garden…  this particular pond is the focal point of the garden…  it has been there for at least fifteen years but for the last few the main portion has been leaking and we haven’t been able to fix it…

checking out the fish with the boys...

checking out the fish with the boys…

George always went on about how they were my ponds, but he spent a lot of time making sure the pumps were working, the plants were growing and that the fish were doing well… he enjoyed them just as much as me… he built a lovely deck that is sculpted to match the edge of the pond and this is my favourite spot to sit and relax and contemplate life…

looking forward to sitting back there soon… if the snow ever melts, lol…

Lego…

26 Wednesday Dec 2012

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last year, for Advent, Cyndi sent muffin tins filled with 24 treats… this year she sent the items to my office, and my colleagues put them into the tins…

over the 24 days I have received 3 muffin cups full of purple and pink Lego… I made a train-ish thing with the first pieces and kind of added to it when the second batch of pieces arrived, but I hadn’t done anything with the last batch…

train-ish thing I made...

train-ish thing I made…

a few days ago I brought all the pieces together and asked Tavin, when he was here, if he’d like to make something… he’s pretty into Lego these days…

final batch of Lego pieces...

final batch of Lego pieces…

I was making dinner while he was working away, and had just sat down when he advised he was done, and brought me his creation so I could check it out and then take a picture to send to Aunty Cyndi…

“here it is Grandma, the little space is for Grandpa’s ashes” he said, “as we haven’t buried them, this could be a spot in the garden to spread some of them”… “we should put some of the others in places Grandpa loved”… have I mentioned he is seven…

Lego house with place for Grandpa's ashes...

Lego house with place for Grandpa’s ashes…

on Christmas Eve at their house, he showed me a Lego creation he had produced there and advised that this one also had a place for Grandpa’s ashes…

we both miss Grandpa, a lot…