July 31 ~ Victoria mural pictures

 

I often tell people that one day I will create a wall sized montage of all the crafts I know. When we were in Victoria to see the doctor last Thursday, we had to wait 2 hours before we could get in for the biopsy. So we decided to go down to the inner harbour and walk around.  Where we parked, there were three murals on the backside of a building. They were beautiful! I just had to take pictures of them!

And of course, a picture of the Empress Hotel, where I want to stay for our 25th wedding anniversary that is coming up next spring.

 

 

The lilies in the garden are starting to bloom, just as the rain is starting again. (The beads of raindrops look neat on the blooms)

July 24 - 26 ~ Hectic, scary times

I just adjusted the template of my blogs to include a pearl ribbon for lung cancer awareness.  Tuesday evening, I came home to bad news from hubby... and a trip to Victoria to a specialist to determine what to do about the results of his CT scan.
Please be aware of symptoms of lung cancer, and get help as soon as you can!
Knowledge is power.
Canadian Cancer Society
For the next little while, we will be trying to live a normal life as we wait for results. It will be the longest week ever!

July 24 - Who’d have thought?

I’ve let some biennials go to seed this year - the Red Russian Kale, and Parsley. I never thought that parsley would have such a lovely fragrance! I’ve also enjoyed seeing the different types of bugs that are pollinating them.

Above: Marcel’s shed with the scarlet runners reaching the eves. Parsley blooming in the front. Parsley blooming by flowering kale, brussel sprouts and calendula.

Below: I don’t know what type of flies were pollinating the parsley, but they sure let me get close with my camera to take this picture! Then there is the poppy that seeded itself in the garden. Too bad the blooms only last a day or two at most!

I seriously think that I should have named my blog “ a year in my garden “ LOL.

July 16 - A neat idea for grocery bag recycling

I have three weeks left before my vacation! Sounds like a long amount of time to start a count down with, but I am so looking forward to it! 

This past week was full of mainly work (5pm - 1am) and gardening.  Nothing really exciting. The weather has finally turned hot, so hot that I relished cleaning the fridge! (I took my time doing it too!)

I did do something different though! A friend showed me how to fold my plastic bags to save room. Its really simple… fold them lengthwise approx. 5 times. Smoosh the air out of them, and then wrap the strip around 3 fingers until you reach the bag handle… tuck the handle into the center of your “roll”, and flatten.

I ended up filling an empty Kleenex box with 35 of them! Makes a huge difference dent in the space they took up under the sink!

July 8 - Update on the Lovage

Remember when I first posted a picture of the Lovage? I had intended to try to take a picture of the bees pollinating the flowers… Not going to happen! Look how large (err…tall) the plant has become!!!

Before and After

The blooms are at least 8 feet high! No way I’m trying to get up there with a camera to take a bee’s picture LOL.

July 8th - A walk in the woods

Cody and I spent an hour or so doing a circle walk from home to Evergreen, cut through to the ERT road, and cut through to Homewood and then the power station and home.  I was amazed at how muddy some of the trails were still, mind you, its only really been nice for four days now.

Below is a picture of some of the wind damage caused over the past winter - boy, am I glad I wasn’t there when it happened!

 

 

Lots of Mountain Ash berries!

I took the picture below as a study in depth and lighting for painting.  I love the way the moss subtly changed in color in the trees in the center.

Loads of blackberry blossoms. The newer ones had a blush of pink color - beautiful, but hard to capture with my camera.

July 2 - 8th Garden Pictures

Cody Loves being in the way! Here he’s investigating me taking a close-up of the hardy fuchsia.

 

Above: Orange Oriental Lily that I’ve had for years, on the right is a picture of Red Russian Kale, Sage in bloom and Rosemary in the background framing it!

Above: Small clematis, deep purple, almost black velvet in appearance. This one grows on the far left of the clematis bed.

Below are pictures of the garden “jungle” between Marcel’s shed and the deck.  Its an oasis.

A Change In Posting

When I first started this blog, I was determined to post every day, a picture about what my life at 50 was like.  Over the past three weeks, it has become evident to me that, to be realistic, I should post weekly a short post on what I did that week, and another post with pictures.  Especially in the summer, and with some of the shifts I work, to insist I post daily is to invite failure. Changing the times I post is progress :-)


Today I attended church for the first time in over 12 years. It felt good.


This week was plain work, and relaxing in the back yard! I'm going to post garden pictures for the week :-)

July 2 - Day 80 - Perogies!

First time in a long time that I’ve made perogies from scratch. Used the leftover mashed potatoes from last night and spiced them up with garlic powder, pepper, sautéed onion, and grated Monterey Jack cheese. Marcel & I made enough for 4 meals in just about 1 hour. Well worth the effort!

July 1 - Day 79

Company for dinner!

Don’t you just love the way Cody sits on Marcel’s lap?

June 30 - Day 77

Garden path lights and spotlights on Marcel’s shed door! Its like our own city square at night now! I’m looking forward to warm summer evenings outside with Marcel, sitting on the bench in the arbor.

June 29 - Day 76 - One bad Friday :-(

My car was broken into, stereo taken , a Christmas present from #1 Son & Wife.

My favorite scrapbooking tool given to me by hubby two Christmas’ ago was tossed by accident by a co-worker.

Not a good day at all --- it threw my whole outlook on life a quarter-turn upside down and was not a great start to a long weekend.