I’ve been contemplating the thought that nature makes music, if you take time to listen…
reminded me of early mornings when I hear the birds outside… in the spring, summer and fall, I listen to the water flowing into the pond and the great variety of singing going on as the birds welcome the new day…
the geese, the rain, the wind… the quiet after the snow falls…
last evening I spent time on Instagram… people tend to put up their nine most liked photos of the year, but I decided to put up my nine favourite ones…
I was thinking they would be flowers, with maybe a bird or piece of chocolate included…
once I finished, there were seven with flowers, one bird and a monarch butterfly…
looking through the pictures reminded me of some wonderful times over this past year…
my orchids, which provide such joy for me all year long…
planting, growing and enjoying morning glories, datura and dahlias…
time spent, with and without cameras, viewing the birds in the garden…
a rose along the sidewalk on one of the walks I took this year, with my daughter in my ear;-)…
the amazing time I spent over the summer with eggs, caterpillars and butterflies… and the day my grandson and I watched the butterflies appear…
time with hearts and flower bouquets…
the water lily flowers that erupted in the pond… had the most blooms ever this summer… and I hope to overwinter them in the aquarium…
lovely reminders of a crazy, but wonderfully special year…
last night my grandson came over just after dark to bring me a few items and do some jobs around the garden… here he is arriving, thanks to my new camera…
and the goodies he brought… I’m excited to try the purple popcorn…
he took the pump out of the pond, moved the heavy furniture onto the back deck, and then we spent time trying to catch fish…
two cellphone flashlights lit up the pond as he searched for the fish… amazingly he caught one of the shubunkins… quite a feat as they look mainly black in the pond and by then it was very dark out, lol…
I’ve been masking up now whenever he is over because of where he works… last night I ended up taking off my glasses as they kept fogging up, so I was trying not to fall into the pond… which was a feat as there are a bunch of rocks that have been pulled out of the water and are all over the deck, lol…
because I knew he was coming I had made our favourite red curry lentils and packaged up some for him to take home, along with a couple of items for the others… he was sad to hear he had to share the lentils;-)…
after the boys left yesterday, I brought in the plants which they had removed from the pond…
took a while, but eventually I got them all into the tank in a way that made me happy, although the tank looks very full…
not sure if they will last the winter, but it is worth a try as they are expensive and the lilies produced a number of blooms which doesn’t always happen, lol…
once the two pails of fish were in the house, I waited for a number of hours so that they could acclimate to the water temperature in the house…
when I finally poured them into the tank most of them did fine… but one of the biggest ones got stuck between a plant and rock and didn’t seem to be able to get out from the spot… I was very worried and it took about half an hour before it moved out from the tight space…
today they seem happy, but maybe a little crowded;-)…
and I enjoyed having company to talk to throughout the day;-)…
our lives have changed so much in the last months… and I’ve spent time considering many of the things I am thankful for…
my retirement at the end of December has been a huge change… I had worried that if I retired I would turn into a hermit, lol… and so I did…
during these crazy covid times I have been able to find businesses that deliver groceries, books, technology, plants, meals…
I am in touch with friends through various applications, and have enjoyed many garden visits during nice weather…
I have found help with projects and my neighbours are available if I have issues…
my grandson has my car and picks up items on a regular basis when I can’t find them any other way… the younger ones have looked after maintaining the grass and helped with the pond…
time spent in the garden, following the shade, soaking up the peace and serenity has been amazing… watching flowers bud and open, birds and squirrels at the feeders, and fish, frogs, plants and blossoms in the pond have whiled away the spring, summer and now fall…
spent a lovely afternoon in the garden before the rain…
pulled more leaves out of the pond… more are coming down into it every day…
I read and listened to the birds as they crunched through the leaves looking for bugs and seeds… considering how small they are, they made a lot of noise…
flocks of white-throated, song, and house sparrows, as well as pine siskins landed in the grass and around the pond where they would carefully jump from rock to rock to get a drink…
went outside to see if I could get the waterfall going… it stopped for some reason early in the week so I had gone out and unplugged it… I wasn’t looking forward to the prospect…
I took a ton of leaves out of the pond and dug around the pump with my hands to clear out some of the muck… the water was cold…
got everything working, moved the milkweed, and emptied some of the pots which held dead plants… I left the fishnet in the water hoping the fish will get used to it so when we go to catch them they will be more cooperative, lol…
then I spent time cleaning out the morning glories, adding plants to a pot by the hot tub and rearranging furniture around the lower deck…
it looks lovely and will be a great place for any garden visits that might happen on nice days;-)…
by the time I was finished, I was very happy and pleased with all that had been accomplished…
