a side trip

Wally and I often get out in the evenings, to break up my quiet day alone and his manic day at work

There's still much to do around the old homestead, but we need the juxtaposition of change.

Note how slowly the leaves on the ash trees on either sides of the driveway are coming in, always the last to fill in. Their sweetly scented blossoms have fallen all over the driveway, and their pollen all over our car.

One of our neighbours is always doing home improvement to his pretty little property.

On the main street, this little place has done a nice job of softening the exterior with various bushes.

We enjoyed watching this small mansard roofed house get renovated.

So typical of its age, this lovely house is too close to the main street now.

I love its bay windows and other Victorian features.

A house sitting in the midst of commercial buildings, not unusual out here,

 it always has a grand lit up tree in the right window every Christmas.

Up the hill is Blair House at the Agricultural Centre.

Suddenly Wally turned into the Centre.

I just missed the prime shot of the big willow on the pond

This is where the high school graduates will take their prom pictures in the near future when even more flowers will be in bloom.

We drive past the old red barn

Built in 1912, it was originally a dairy barn. It remained in operation until the '70's.

Though the old silo is gone, it remains a heritage landmark, here at the Agricultural Research Centre.

We turn right, past the main building

We can see down the hill from whence we came

a hint at what's to come

A big maple branch blocks a stand of birch

I'm sorry I didn't get a decent shot of the front of Blair House, named for the superintendent who took care of the grounds these many years ago. This is a side shot looking towards the back.

As we left the car, I fell into a world of Rhododendrons.

We often see these and Azaleas in private gardens, and while pretty, I never really fell for them.

But up close...

OMG!

I never realized how much like lilies these really-quite-exotic flowers are.

Peeking through the massive planting back at Blair House

we wandered deeper into this magical, dare I say "enchanted", garden

It's froth of blossoms was enough to make one giddy

more varieties that I couldn't identify

a whatcoulditbe

with its somewhat bell-shaped flowers

up close

We wandered along grassy paths noting the pine needle beds that the Rhododendrons were planted in to acidify their soil.

Wouldn't you think this was a lily at first sight? 

exquisite

The place was humming

literally

an unusual amount of bumblebees

yet these flowers have no scent

I asked Wally to pose for scale.

These flowering bushes are insanely prolific

Wally suggested we pose together.

some more whatcoulditbe's with some lovely red leaves? flowers?

These tiny budding flowers

on this giant bush

Am I in Costa Rica?

I would have sworn this was a tropical flower, this crazy mottled Rhododendron about to bloom.

.

Another mystery flower in bud

up close

We were actually on our way to pick up a few groceries!

how lucky we are.

please find beauty where you are

catching the last light

It's evening now, midweek. The day started with a gloomy fog, and when the fog left, it didn't take the gloomy with it. So gloomy it stayed all day.

But yesterday...

As usual we waited late in the day for our country drive. Wally had the day off.

And as usual, he stopped for me to commune with cows.

 

These gentle beasts were concerned for a mate of theirs who mooed from a barn across the road.

They were only mildly curious about me.

 

Their concern was palpable, and occasionally one would moo back.

 

Eventually this girl with the curled down horns came to join us.

 

She had her eye on some bit of stuff on the ground.

 

But this shy one who hid behind another wanted its mate to know they were there and cared.

 

As the dark began to fall, Wally headed back to town for us to walk around

the Bird Sanctuary pond. I spied this lovely milkweed that monarch butterflies love so well when they bloom in the summer.

 

The light was getting quite low and a damp cold was moving in.

 

Wally posed for me at the entrance bridge.

I brightened the photos but lost some saturation here. It was a glorious rosy pink sky.

We could see the community that lays along the shore of this pond, fed by a tributary of the Cornwallis River

The ducks floated safely in the middle

 

sending a tranquil ripple through the pink water

 

so sweet

We began our march around the pond, here at the northwest corner

 

when I had to stop again in the fading light

to capture these rose hips against the pond

as festive as holly

You can just see the bridge from whence we came at the top of the picture.

By now my camera is really struggling to catch the exposure of the fading light.

We were home again by 5:20pm, amazed that it was still quite early,

 but glad to leave the ducks in their cold, darkening pond. Brrr.

 

Grateful for creature comforts even if the days are already so short, or perhaps because they are.