Laughable Morning.

"Anyone walking by this house this morning would say there's a bloody lunatic under the front porch.  Here I was trying to crawl over big rocks and stumps and drawers coming off.   I burst out laughing so many times.  It all seemed so ludicrous.   I'm just taking a break now then will finish.  The old body will be sore tomorrow I expect."  This is what I emailed my daughter this morning.   I was trying to fix some of the places where drafts might be getting in the house.   After all, winter is not far away.    I've been busy, busy, busy and haven't even started on the garden yet other than to move a few of the perennials to better spots.

Many of the leaves have changed colour.   It was a bit nippy when I got up this morning but it has turned into a beautiful day.   A breezy day with lots of sunshine.  

The birds seem to have voracious appetites these days.   I can hardly keep the feeders full.   I hope this isn't a sign of a bad winter to come.  

Well, must get back at it.   What's the saying "time and tide waits for no man".  (or woman).

Breezy Day.

My first steps outside yesterday morning I found it unusually warm.   The breeze was like a kiss on the cheeks.  The wind picked up considerably during the day and by afternoon the huge, tall Aspens, Birch and Spruce trees were swirling around in a manic dance.   Even the rose bushes were doing the dance.  How strange I thought.   Then a friend dropped by and said we were in the tail end of a hurricane.   Of course it all made sense then.   But how wonderful to stand in the garden with the power of the wind swirling around my body, hair whipping about my face and the trees, the trees, laughing along with me.  

Chilly September Morn.

Early morning.   I was looking out through the patio doors and thinking how very lucky I am.  There before me were Blue Jays drinking from the bird baths, crows on the platform feeder enjoying breakfast, chick a dees, juncos and nuthatches eating sunflower seeds from the globe feeder and  squirrels running around the tree branches.  For me it's heaven.  Each morning when the crows fly in, I can tell you, it puts a grin on my face.

So....it's been a while since I posted anything.   Just lazy I guess.   I have been busy though.   I've put tiles down on the guest bedroom floor.  I've gone through all the dishes in the kitchen and eliminated quite a few then put new shelf paper in the cupboards.  I'm trying bit by bit to get rid of stuff in the shed so it can be torn down   Not an easy job as there is much I want to keep so the problem is finding places in the house to store it.   Not an easy task as my house is small.  I bought a heating wire for the water pipe coming up from the ground and going into the house.   I don't want to face the chance of frozen pipe this coming winter.   I might have to crawl under the house myself to do the job, not something I look forward to I can tell you as there is little space under there. 

Fall has arrived.   I'm getting things done in the garden bit by bit.   Always seems an awesome task.  My computer went bust about a month ago and I'm only now back on line.   I lost all my pictures and my bookmarks.  Not happy about that.  Here are some of the latest shots.

A walk on the beach.

Tommy trying to catch a moth in the early morning.

Bits and Peices.

I've been so busy most days not only the garden but I've been trying to clear out the shed of stuff I have stored there because it has to come down.   I'm a bit of a pack rat so it's been no easy task to sort out what to get rid of and where to put some of the things I want to keep.   I've also been trying to prepare for winter.   Call me crazy but I've even been stocking up on food stuff.   Last winter was such a rough one so I'm feeling a bit anxious about the one to come.   I didn't have the storm door on last winter for some reason and it does stop a lot of the drafts coming in so yesterday I scraped it and today I'm planning on giving it new life with a coat or two of paint.   Figured I might as well do it now while the weather is nice so it will be all ready to put up come fall. 

The weather has been wonderful.  Warm sunny days and nights.   The plants love it.   The rose trees are laden down with flowers and the black currant tree is packed with berries.   Not yet ready to pick of course.   My peony is heavy with buds and flowers as well.  

There's been activity around my mason bee house for the first time and I'm very excited.   Two of the holes have been plugged so I'm assuming there are eggs inside.  Here's a picture.

A few pictures from around the garden. 

Young Tommy.

A couple of bumble bees.

And, my white lilac showing off.

Early Morning.

Sunlight hitting Birch trees.

Saturday in June.

More cold nights lately with temperatures getting near freezing.   Not bad during the day though.  Good temperatures for working in the garden.   I've been so busy outside this past few days.   By late afternoon yesterday my body was aching so I decided that in the interest of being able to go out at it again today, I'd better give it up.   I often think when looking around that I've gone far beyond my capabilities in making so many gardens.   In fact yesterday while digging up some sods I was wondering how much longer I could do this and would at some point, if I didn't want it all to go to pot, would have to hire someone this time of year to do the work for me.  

This morning I'll tackle what my mother calls the "rock" garden.   It's become completely over grown.   When it's cleaned up, I have a few buckets of compost left that I'll dig into the soil there.  I have to admit that I do get excited when I have a challenge like this and can't wait until it's looking good once again. 

A few of the early plants are in bloom and it looks like the black currant bush will be laden down with berries once again. 

Saskatoon berry tree.

There's a tiny fairy there among the rocks.

Pan overseeing one of the gardens once again.

Tommy

Still Here!

I'm still alive and kicking.   It's not been the best winter/spring.  The brutally cold nights and days and the snow, snow, snow.   There seemed to be no let up in it.  Keeping the old wood stove going as my only source of heat was a chore at times.   If it weren't for friends I don't think I would have made it through.  My poor old body just can't seem to take it like it use to.   Then my partner of 24 years passing away in January.  Then my beautiful big bear of a cat Stanley got killed by a truck out on the road.   Fortunately my daughter was here at the time.  We were devastated to say the least.  I don't know how she managed to dig down through all the snow and then the ground to bury him but she did it. 

So, May month came in.....I got a case of the flu, something I haven't had since as far back as I can remember.   I was in bed for the first week just getting up and about to feed the cats and put some food out for the birds.   Then another week slowly recovering.  

My partner and I had talked about what we wanted  done with our ashes after we died and he thought an apple tree would be good to put his ashes around.   I ordered a flowering crab tree from the nursery and it arrived the middle of May.   This past week I dug a hole by the rock wall  and planted the tree.  Then with his ashes in hand I sat on the steps, wept a few tears, spoke to him for a bit then placed the ashes around the tree.   It was very sad. 

The leaves are only just now coming out on the trees.  There have been more icebergs in the bays than ever seen before, according to some people.  This of course keeps it a bit chilly when the wind is coming off the ocean.   I had new shingles put on the roof this past week.   A great relief as there had been leaks and I can't count the times I've been up on the roof patching cracks.

We had a nice day yesterday so I managed to stain the floor of the back deck.   A job I've been anxious to do for weeks.   Still lots to do as always. 

So, that's a few highlights of what's been happening.   Here's a few pictures ...........

Thursday in March.

Last night the wind was so high with blowing snow that it was battering the house.   I got up several times to make sure everything was secure.  The first time, I had just gotten into bed, turned light off and cuddled down, ready for sleep, when the fire alarm went off.   I got out of bed so fast and out through the living room that  it's all a blur.   The wood stove was back flawing, (wind sending smoke back down the chimney and out the stove.)   I had to take the smoke detector down, something I certainly didn't want to do, but it could have kept up all night.   The wind has  calmed down some this morning and the temperatures have gone up a bit.   I'm still expecting the power to go and as it's still dark, I'm carrying around a small flashlight. 

A couple of days ago I hauled out my box of seeds.   A bit premature but spring has to come sometime and at this point one is chomping at the bit to get out at the garden.   I lost heart in gardening last year what with himself so sick and in and out of hospital.

The cats get frustrated on the days they can't go out because of the snow.   Not much for them to do outside at this point.   The deck was clear of snow for a bit and they did enjoy sitting out in the sun.

Tommy and Freya watching a neighbours cat go by.

  

Tommy and Stanley.

Tommy loving a sun spot inside the house.

Lots of birds about these days.   Here's a few.

Nuthatch.

Woodpecker.

Blue jay.

Hard Winter!

I was sitting here thinking this morning that this was the winter from hell.   Not only that himself was so sick and then passed away but the brutally cold nights and many days as well.   The pipes freezing twice, having to then let the water run every night after so they wouldn't freeze again.  Putting up with the loads of snow we've had this winter.   Dealing with five cats that have cabin fever at this point.   Having to make a trip to the dentist to have a tooth repaired.   Now with tendinitis in the elbow.  Got a prescription from the doctor for that but when I read the bad side of taking those particular pills, ie:  bleeding stomach, stroke, etc.  I only took two of them.   Then the ice build up, about six inches of it under the snow on the roof and.because the sun is giving off more heat these days, the ice is starting to melt and I now have leaks.   Then late in the afternoon when the sun goes down, the ice and water freezes and the leaks stop.   I went up on the roof yesterday and pushed as much snow as I could off that area but don't think it did much good.  I expect I'll need a boat to get out of here by the time all the ice melts and comes through the roof, haha. 

So, then I thought, girl, you're feeling sorry for yourself.   And I thought of the people with no food, no roof over their heads, sick and miserable and my problems seems so small.  I have two wonderful fellows, I'll say looking after me, that are making sure I have enough wood to burn, freeing up the frozen pipes that I had, just being darn good people.  I wouldn't have survived here without them.  Other friends are coming to my aid with getting me to appointments, etc.  I really am blessed.  So, as bad as things seem there are so many others worse off. 

A rather cheerful picture taken in the kitchen.

Now I must go and take care of the water that's running in under the front door...sigh!