had a fun time in the Shirley Richardson Butterfly Garden at The Leaf on Thursday… it wasn’t too cold outside and bright so there was lots of activity…
a fair number of people were in the space and there were many butterflies…
apparently I was enamoured with the orange ones, lol…
this little one sat and offered different poses;-)…
and, of course, I tried to catch the elusive Blue Morpho… there were quite a few of them, but what makes it elusive is that you need to catch it in flight to capture the blue colour, lol… but I did get a partial shot;-)…
at least you can see some of the blue…
spending time in this space sure does make me happy;-)…
dug out an old watering jug so that I could set the vase of flowers into it and fill it with water so the floral foam inside the vase could soak up all the water it needed…
took a while, but after half an hour or so I was able to get it out with a bit of finagling…
sitting in the container of water…just a touch over the top of the vase…back on the table…
it is amazingly difficult to add fresh water to the container every day, lol…
my grandson and I have been working away in the basement…
we have now been through all of the boxes from after the 2013 hot water tank flood… apparently I didn’t really need the stuff that was in them… we have tossed out, recycled, and packed up a huge amount to give away to the pass-me-over folks…
we even went deep under the stairs and discovered lots more stuff that has nearly all been dealt with…
looked like a bit of a disaster down there, but it is coming along… always interesting how the process moves from stuff everywhere, to more stuff everywhere, to finally organized… apparently it was so bad, I didn’t even take photos of the worst period, lol…
the space was nearly emptied, an item was sold, a few things will be going online for sale, items were given to a small business that helps women starting fresh… and there was a big pile of things for donation… besides filling the garbage bin, a large collection of items is in the garage waiting for the next few garbage days…
we have done a great job and I am thrilled to have this all done;-)… a great stress has been removed from my shoulders…
they are making improvements all the time… it looks like they may soon have machines so you can purchase your ticket without standing in line…
we had a lovely time walking through the biomes… it was quite warm and humid in the tropical biome and there weren’t too many people when we arrived around ten am… by the time we left, just before noon, the place was starting to fill up…
the gardeners were working in the space cleaning up fallen leaves and checking the temperatures around the various areas… had a lovely chat with one of them…
I seemed to focus on orange flowers this time;-)… and I was happy to see the coffee beans even though I don’t drink coffee, lol…
love the banyan tree and got shots of a few others… can’t wait to watch them as they grow… and I found a couple of banana trees…
the waterfall is adding a lot of humidity to the space…
got a nice shot of the other direction from just under the waterfall…
and a view from the catwalk…
looking forward to more visits and to watching the areas change and grow…
spent an hour and a half wandering through The Leaf in the daytime…
we took ample time to search out the plants as we wandered through the tropical biome… and we found the cacao tree;-)…
the waterfall continues to over perform…
I am betting that there are people working very hard to figure out how to end up with less splash, lol…
I spent at lot of time on the bridge, watching the beautiful koi swimming around the pond… a lovely treat;-)…
there were a lot of people there, but it didn’t feel too crowded… we wore masks but the majority of others didn’t… since I was last in the space there have been large fans added, so there did appear to be a lot of noise, but once through the doors into the Mediterranean biome, it was quiet…
the Shirley Richardson Butterfly Garden was a much busier place with numerous butterflies flitting about… it is always fun to search for the ones that have landed and are blending in with the foliage… as visitors move through this area they are quiet and will sit and patiently watch the action…
there are two elevators to take you up to the canopy and the Butterfly Garden and only one was working… seems to slow the flow down a bit…
there was ample space for jackets in the coat room, many volunteers to answer questions and direct the flow of people, and lots of open space…
the trees have been stunningly beautiful over the last while…
quite a bit of that time the sky was gray so even though it was lovely, it didn’t make for any great photos…
the last few days the sun has been shining brightly…
this frost appears to be rime frost…
from Weather Lab:
“With rime, the moisture comes from freezing fog water droplets that turn directly from a liquid state to a solid state, or through direct freezing. On the other hand, hoar frost occurs on a clear, cold night where water vapor sublimates: transitioning immediately from a gaseous state to a solid state.” Jan 5, 2021
last night we went to The Leaf at Assiniboine Park…
I’ve been waiting ages for it to be finished… the Conservatory closed in April 2018, which feels like a long time ago… this was our view as we stepped into the space… possibly the waterfall is splashing a bit more than expected as there are a few areas that are wet, lol…
it didn’t disappoint;-)… the tropical biome is lovely and I expect it will look even more beautiful as times goes on…
the technology always interests me and they have done a great job of hiding the fire extinguishers but making them easily available…
the space is big and bold with the tall waterfall and large pond…
we spent a lot of time watching the koi… they were beautiful colours and huge… I was struggling with a bit of fish-envy…
I am looking forward to visiting next in the daytime…
the Mediterranean biome was reminiscent of the CMHR building with lots of stone… and it was possible to touch most of the plants;-)…
the display area was cute with many poinsettias, seasonal decorations and places for group photos…
the poinsettias were a sweet reminder of the old Conservatory at Christmas time…
the view looking down from the catwalk was wonderful although I felt a bit nervous with the height, so my grandson took all the pictures, lol…
the Shirley Richardson Butterfly Garden at the top of the building was nice…
it was late and dim so we only spotted a couple of butterflies that were resting… I definitely need to visit it in the daytime as well…
it wasn’t too full of visitors, and there were a number of staff (likely many were volunteers) to get you in and around the site…
there was a place to leave your coat (unattended) before entering the biomes, which was great as the space is warm;-)… there is ample parking and you can purchase tickets online or as you enter… you need your membership card, with ID, just like at the zoo…
a wonderful treat and I can hardly wait to visit again😊…
herbiggirlpants 