debating a change

Well, hi there. Yes, I abandoned my blog this week. Truth is I've been thinking about giving it up again. You may have read between the lines in past posts about my bot compromised viewing audience and how those same statistics have shown a big drop in my viewers. Please know how grateful I am to those of you who do drop in regularly. It means so much to me, in my quiet little corner of the universe, that there are those of you who do care to see what I've been up to. Truly.

The viewing world seems to have moved on to Instagram and Tumbler and I've been considering a move there. They are places for shorter snippets of one's world which is partly what I was referring to in my last blog post when I cracked, " Don't get me started on communication...." So many people don't read anymore, preferring to look at the pictures. So I have some homework to do before I get set up elsewhere, investigating my feelings on the subject. I may very well keep up my blog. Still debating that with myself.

In the meantime, life carries on, the garden continues to grow.

The cherry tomatoes on the back deck are threatening to come in with a vengeance.

Crows are gathering in numbers again and it can get quite noisy with them sometimes.

This big male in our giant ash tree was answering calls from quite a distance off.

Our peaches have survived the onslaught of the blue jays thus far most surely because of the bird netting we've strung around the tree.

Last night we had the most delicious chard at supper, so flavourful.

That large leafy plant at the top is a cucumber, the dark red are beet leaves, and the white flowers in the foreground are cilantro, the miracle herb for leaching heavy metals from the body, definitely an acquired taste, but used sparingly can really do a world of wonders for health and well-being.

The bean flowers seem to be drying out as fast as they are blooming

and so we've only had a few beans so far.

I've hesitated to show Wally's new perennial garden on the south side of  Forget-Me-Not Cabin as it has had a slow start, having been planted with sale items that were already a little compromised about 3 weeks ago.  But it is coming along and worth being recorded. Beyond is the rhubarb backed by a shipping pallet to discourage the deer from wandering in.

looking through the pallet/fence from the other side

You can see why Wally wants to bring the height of the back hedge down to a more manageable height as it is as tall as the cabin. Personally I love the English tradition of huge privet hedges especially when used to make a maze. Unfortunately the only corridor it makes is between it and the giant wild rose (kind of a treacherous path.)

In back of the cabin, the hayfield encroaches and wild plants like these tiny cleavers that stick to anything that passes by are doing their best to look fruity and fall like.

The honeysuckle is putting out its poisonous berries

I hope the birds know better than to eat them

Our lily garden is finally blooming with, of all things, LILIES!

I was afraid we wouldn't get any of the pretty pink ones this year,

but here is the one lovely one left, in amongst the mallow

a new plant for us this year, a gladiola

and more pink, a snapdragon

And pink again, Wally's rose. The one I showed you last week is the faded one now, its two companions making a lovely hat for it.

the lush interior of a rose with a crowd of stamen

You can just make out that rose in front of the hydrangea.

We're so pleased with how well the Japanese Maple is doing in pride of place.

On it, we have a pink Christmas lights on a timer that come on at dusk- so beautiful.

Little drops of rain are beginning to fall as I walk back to go in. On my way I pass  the composter where the clematis are doing their best to fill it in.

The sky is foreboding as a few more drops begin to fall.

The cats are waiting for me by the back door.

They've had a long afternoon nap and are wanting some attention.

The rain comes down in buckets just as Wally arrives home.

Distant thunder abates before it gets close to us, and within 20 minutes the rain is falling in sheets, sending a river down our driveway as the sun begins to break through.

That was just right. Everything got a good soak.

Playing with faces in coloured pencil

more coloured pencil, this time with a quote by Nelson Mandela,

"May your choices reflect your hopes not your fears."

friday roundup

It's late on a Friday afternoon as I write this, having gathered up some pictures to share.

I had a morning cuddle with Babu.  He loves his ears rubbed, his tail pulled,

loving love-

a funny boy.

It's been a changeable week for weather, and today is much the same, this morning's sky quite moody 

a view past where the old shed once stood

the grape vines on Wally's jerry-rigged trellises under the laundry line

There is a tree or three above the lilacs that is/are blooming now

with something like a cherry leaf; I haven't a clue what it is (as it mixes in with the maples)

The lupin field is still a source of wonder for me.

looking ESE

I marvel at its beauty.

There are a few pink ones.

Their rarity makes them more special somehow

their blossoms up close

The honeysuckle is starting to bloom.

Mixed in with our lilac and maple perimeter are wild roses,

budding profusely from a serious pruning last fall

You can just see a pink petal beginning to show in the one on the far right

As I wander up the perimeter of our property, I come to where Wally has placed the stash of plants we've found on sale- out of the heat of the sun until they're planted.

This one is identified as a pincushion, looking very much like the centre of an Echinacea to me

This sweetie pie is an anemone

We didn't know it is considered ground cover

its exquisite centre

As I turn, I come to the grapevine

with a stem of grapes, still buoyant under its light load

though it will soon become so heavy that it must hang

the purple lupin plant that Wally left on one corner of the vegetable gardern, looking toward a hill full of hawkweed, or as we've always called it, Indian Paintbrush

looking toward the garden with Wally's various bean and pea trellises

Lupin flowerets

Lower Lupin Flowerets about to go to seed

In the left corner of the vegetable garden, the poppy is happily ensconced, though the first bloom couldn't take the extremes in heat, wind and rain we had earlier this week;

it is just a knob of seedhead now (in the upper right).

These two poppies look well, with more buds coming along.

On the far side of the vegetable garden, the baby peaches are coming in

They look strong

As I turn the kale is closest to me with the baby mesclun lettuces all ready to be used

Walking back to the house the huge hydrangea stand

with a myriad of buds.

There will be so many of these summer snowballs soon

Leaving the mass of hydrangea (at the top of this picture) I wander over to the middle garden

where Wally has planted his new Queen Elizabeth rose in the middle. He has wanted a rose for so long and we found this beauty on sale because of wind damage earlier in the week.

A fungus is growing on the old ash stump (that stands to the right of the last shot)

Forget-me-nots continue to bloom.

The allium are on their way out leaving a beautiful seed head,

with nubs similar to the baby grapes that I showed you earlier.

Two flies on an allium stem are engaged in fly love.

I'm thinking that our mould infested Ninebark shrub has passed on its ailment to its flower on the left.

The hosta shade garden along the side of garage with some unknown exotics

the old ash beyond the Japanese Maple

the Echinacea on the left with forget-me-nots beside it, the lavender below, in the composter garden

The Sage flowers have bloomed, like mini orchids.

The thyme flowers are beautiful too.

thyme, up close and personal

This fly let me get awfully close as it perched on the cement sheep sculpture

As I backed away, you can still see it there, but the point is that Wally has been planting up some flower pots for me and set out these sculptures, the dog being one I made about 15 years ago that cracked in the firing as it was made in a friend's studio from scrap clay that didn't mix well.

I've finally come inside to work on these photos, and this is how I get greeted.

Muji had been watching me the whole time from the back window, as is his wont.

He gets off his perch on the windowsill and is over to the side door before I make it into the house.

I hope you enjoyed this walk through the garden with me.

I think I may have some more to share with you by Monday.

til then...

peace in our hearts,

accepting what we cannot change,

changing what we can