picnic time

Just because I miss the ladybugs:

tiger lilies!

... or are these day lilies!

useful beauty

I got home from Nova Scotia to find that my neighbour to the north had cut down the two glorious fruit trees that graced the yard for so many years, gave us a nice shady place to sit and were home to birds, bees, squirrels and butterflies. Two trees at the front of the house had also been also been injured and destroyed.

On Monday, the fifth tree - the beautiful, not-so-lonesome pine - met its demise.

Warning: Videos not suitable for all audiences.

In the Aeroplane over the Sea , Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane over the Sea (2000)

sleeping

And of course ... the garden gnome!

planting 3

Cucumber, watermelon, more raspberries, more peas, lettuce, tomatoes, more herbs & strawberries.

planting 2

Raspberries, blackberries, oregano, lavender, rosemary, and some peas.

planting 1

Sweet peas and morning glories - I grew them from seeds!

served

A well-deserved vodka tonic after a day of gardening. Pics of garden later.

wonder cat

Look who came to visit.

faster than a speeding raindrop

Beat the rain home. Yay me.

elves

Last week we cleaned, raked and weeded the garden space and put down some fertilizer - regular, odourless fertilizer that is usually used by urban gardeners, not the smelly poo that [redacted because of this request] favours :)

We found a new sprig of the Sophie Setnyk Memorial Onion. Last year this onion grew to glorious heights and graced a very special pizza in a very special way so I decided to protect it with a tomato cage until it could grow big enough to fend for itself.

Another thing about Mrs. Setnyk was her love of flowers - a love so profound that she decorated the garden with silk and plastic flowers in places and at times where flowers could not thrive.

This morning I went out to let Callum out for a romp ... and look!


The Sophie Setnyk Memorial Onion has been decorated in true Mrs. Setnyk style. Much of her beautiful legacy garden has been covered over by the new management ... ironically(?) her beautiful border of lilies and phlox has been replaced with rows and rows of onions.

Thank you garden elves for bringing this little touch of whimsy back to the garden. It is as if a long lost friend has dropped by for a visit.

layers

Tonight was an exciting night for many reasons. One reason was that it was the first time that the Schumacher cousins (Christian and Amanda) and the Vancouver cousins (Liam and Dylan) met.

Another reason was that Christian decided to dig up the Sophie Setnyk memorial onion to put on our pizza.

You can see Christian at work in these photos. The last picture shows Christian and Amanda with the onion -- Liam is standing behind them. Not pictured here is the goofiness of the first annual cousin whompfest.

decorating

lettuce for lunch

lettuce for dinner

goodbye fred

As my sister said, he was a good friend of flowers. Thanks for all the good cups of tea, the good laughs and bringing so much colour and life to your corner of the world.

newly charded

The expansion team put in their plants today. Ta dah!

first fruit

I had a glass of lemonade this afternoon ...


















with mint from the garden!
















No rum in this one but I feel a mojito party coming on.

expansion team

Another housemate joined the garden this weekend. Her friend and his daughter helped. They are going to plant a crop of Swiss chard. They lifted out the sod from a patch that measures about 4 feet by 4 feet. Ooops. I mean 1.2 metres by 1.2 metres.

Last week I dug out a strip about a foot (30 cm) wide and was pretty fed up by the time I finished. I was filled with admiration for this ambition. They worked hard and it took a long time.





















Our housemate made us a beautiful meal: blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs with cheese and sausages. It was delicious. We ate under the pear tree. I did not take a photo but somebody left this flower on the table so I photographed it instead. You'll have to imagine the feast, dubbed 'brinner' by the daughter because it was brunch and we ate it between lunch and dinner.
































The expansion team got arty with the landscaping. This is the new territory. Frank Gehry has nothing on us. We are now world class for sure.

Yay expansion team! You rock.

watering everything

The wonderful friend who gave us the gnome and the good advice is still giving. The latest is this fantastic hose nozzle.
















The Housemate said, "This is better than my shower."
















We may start bathing in the backyard. Like this lady.



















The attachment works well. It has a super-soaker setting that is perfect for cleaning out the super-stinky green bin. It has a light-rain setting that is just right for our delicate, new plants.
















The right tool makes life in the garden even sweeter. Ask Flora who got 2 new shovels for Christmas.