Tag Archives: pond

treasures…

27 Monday Jun 2016

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started the day with this beautiful orchid…


so lovely and perfect… a friend says it looks artificial…

on my way out to the car, got this great picture of the datura, which is opening up more every day…


this morning at work a colleague brought me this adorable purple African violet… what a wonderful way to start the week…


tonight a couple of my BS friends came over and we spent time in the hot tub… it was delightful…

while we visited, the goldfinch and his partner came and ate at the feeder right where we could watch… when he first arrived, he sang a song to his lady to come over…

a wonderful moment in time to treasure…

ended the evening sitting by the pond as the lights began to come on, writing my blog post…


didn’t make it till the post was finished because the mosquitoes chased me into the house…

landscape…

24 Friday Jun 2016

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up early, took a walk to the Park, and had breakfast and a walk through the Gardens with a friend…


arrived home about the same time as my grandson… we worked in the garden for hours…

mowed, dug, planted, weeded… ended up with a lot of yard waste…


ran out for lunch with my daughter and son-in-law and then back to work… pulled out tons of string algae from the pond…


then we tackled one of the front flower beds… we cut down just about everything… I have to pick up something to deal with the grass and next week we will put down landscape cloth and mulch…

put some of the pots in it to get them out of the way for now…


after he left and I’d done a bit more weeding, I took a break and got to spend a few minutes enjoying how much better the space looks…

excellent day…

story…

22 Wednesday Jun 2016

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just yesterday a colleague and I were discussing how best to look after orchids…

I was sharing the story of my IKEA orchid which I purchased in October… it bloomed until about a month ago and now a new stem is blooming…


I treat orchids like cut flowers… well, basically that’s how I deal with all plants…

I water them sparingly on Saturday… some people use an ice cube weekly to be sure they don’t overwater… my orchids have all liked being in the sun for a good portion of the day…

if they last longer than a bouquet that’s great, if not they get tossed…

way less stress and I am often pleasantly surprised when they last a long time… 

I have a bamboo which one of my daughter’s friends brought me when I had surgery in 2010… still going strong…

tonight I was sitting outside while the pond was filling and admiring the daisy explosion in the garden…


they are everywhere…

flowers inside and out… what a treat…

Veronica…

15 Wednesday Jun 2016

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arrived home, started dinner and checked out the garden while I was topping up the water in the pond… sadly it has a ton of string algae… going to have to put some peroxide in to see if that will get rid of it…

the Veronica blooms are taking over the garden… it looks wonderful…


got a nice close up…


these little white flowers are very happy but for the life of me I can’t remember their name…

and finally the daisies were blooming…


they are my older daughter’s favourite and I get to see her tomorrow so it was fun to see them…

soccer…

04 Saturday Jun 2016

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spent some time in the garden this morning pulling a few weeds… 

trying to decide if this is really purple coneflower or a very big weed…

was picked up just after eleven and proceeded to watch four soccer games… 3 in Headingley and 1 in North Kildonan…

got to see all three boys play which was great fun…

started at Blumberg with the oldest… saw about half of his first game before having to leave for the next game… it was overcast and a bit windy… also fitted in some baby snuggles at this game with a young friend’s little one…


then the youngest, his daddy and I drove across town to his second game of the day at Anderson Park in North Kildonan… it rained for about ten minutes as his game began, but then cleared up…

got this great shot when he scored a goal… he is number 8…


the rest of the family turned up when the other game was finished… 

then the two older boys, their mom and I had a pit stop at their house, checked out their new vegetable gardens, and headed back across town to the second game for the oldest, at Blumberg again…

when that game was over, we moved down a few fields and watched the middle one play his game… he is number 20…


they are all good players and it was a great opportunity for me to see them all play… 

the sun came out and it was rather warm for these last two games…

when the games were all over we went out for Chinese food to celebrate…


the little boys even tried the consume and liked it…

arrived home about 9:15… the boys had a hot tub and my daughter mowed the front yard…

played with the pond a bit, maybe saw one of the tadpole/frogs, and they headed for home…

after a very busy day I am going to bed…

water…

25 Wednesday May 2016

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it has been raining since around four this afternoon so I decided to write about a more positive view of water for me, lol…

I love water… rain, not so much… don’t like to get my face wet…

early yesterday I spent a few minutes in the garden…

enjoyed the reflection of the solar lights in the pond…


the waterfall looks so lovely and watching and listening to it makes me happy…


last evening I went to aquasize with my friend… 

at one point water splashed up onto my face and into my ear… yuck… 

I have come a long way because at one time I would have got out of the pool, dried my face, and not gone back in… 

with those darn big girl pants, I just wiped my face with my hands and carried on… although I did complain about it;-)…

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!!!

evaporation…

17 Tuesday May 2016

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tonight I found some tadpoles in the pond after I finished filling it up…


very exciting because we were worried that they had just vanished… guess the fish will be staying in the condo a bit longer as we wait for frogs to be big enough not to be eaten by them, lol…

took nearly an hour to fill the pond up, which shows how low it was…


I’m starting to think that maybe it really is evaporation and the wide waterfall that is leading to the water loss…

tonight as I was working around the garden I was missing my beloved a great deal…


maybe it is Spring, not sure really… continue to feel lonely these days…

walked a few blocks on my way home and came across these lilacs which are just starting to open… brought back memories of our oldest daughter’s wedding… she loves lilacs…


looking forward to the delicious smell in the next week or so, as there are a number of lilac bushes close by…

a beautiful day with a few opportunities to spend time outside… hoping that the warmer weather stays around…

it has been so cold that I turned the heat back on in the bathroom floor…


not going to turn it off for a while…

dumplings…

08 Sunday May 2016

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up early and had a hot tub… a red squirrel came to the feeder as well as this cute little sparrow…

 

went to Rona and got $56 back from when I bought the power washer, as it had gone on sale… woo hoo…

so then I picked up a gardenia standard and three mini roses, lol…


think all of these will go into the planter at the front door… once the risk of frost is over…

saw this Canada goose as I was leaving Rona…


headed downtown to meet the kids, my sister-in-law, and two nephews for dimsum… great meal and visit…

once home, put out the cushions, had a nap and sat out in the garden… looking forward to finishing the pond remodel now that we have all of the needed rocks…


sunny and warm, with very little wind…

had a few phones calls with my Ottawa kids and made chicken and dumplings for dinner… got the dumpling recipe right this time but not sure how I feel about the whole wheat flour… may go back to white flour and just not have as many… no point making them if they don’t taste good… using almond milk instead of 2% but that doesn’t seem to affect the taste…

was a bit odd not to have supper with the kids but soccer has put Sunday dinner on hold for the next while…