Back by popular demand ... well ... sorta.

How are you doing my friends ?  

I present to you the "Cole's Notes" version of my life.

Life has been a series of woodland rambles,  gardening fun and explorations of this beautiful province.  In other words, not much has changed since I paused Blogging.

As you may know by now, Winter is my fourth favourite season.  

But now it's almost May and Winter is well behind us.  

Dexter and Sooki are wonderful companions. Sooki is on several medications to help lessen the pain from her leg surgeries.  As she is now well over 13 years old, I suspected that winter would put an end to her; but happily it did not.  She still looks forward to going for walks.  Now the warmer weather is coming, she enjoys lying in the sun on the back deck.

In November my daughter Kaitlyn, went to England to spend three months with a friend there.  Well, that three months turned into six; and though she is coming back in May, her heart remains in London.  As a result, I am experiencing "empty nest syndrome" at age 73 !

My dog walks are also another way to get out and observe nature.  The photos I take I then post to iNaturalist.

I tell you more about my explorations.  Next time ...

I'm hoping to keep in touch via this Blog.  However I gather that Blogger.com doesn't send out notices of new posts.  I send notices of new posts out to an email list of friends and I'll share too to FaceBook.  I don't know if commenting is still functioning either.  Guess we'll all find out together  I would like to hear from you either by a comment or email.

So ... what have you been up to ?

Things I miss ...

 Well, I'll tell ya what is DON'T miss; I don't miss Winter.

At least Spring brings the distraction of gardening.    The garden doesn't look like this right now, but it will in a month or two or three.

And of course the dog walking never stops; both on and off leash.

              

And of course the nearby woods are always there to be explored.  

Sorry.  I lost my train of thought.  Yeah.  Oh, I know, I was going to tell you about missng stuff.  I was gonna haul out a slew of lovely photos of Fundy; pics of Scott's Bay, Grand Pre and Hall's Harbour and engage in a moderate pity party.

I was going to share a lament for friends I miss.  So far it's been FIVE birthday get-togethers with Sara and Kelly that haven't happened.

And of course I miss being able to visit family and friends in Ontario and England and ... Cow Bay !

And choir !  Don't get me going on how much I miss choir !

                                                                        BUT

I am still here.  Fundy still exists.  I haven't lost any family or friends.  I've had my first shot.

There will be a tomorrow, and more tomorrows after that.

Things haven't really been missed -- they've just been postponed.  

And when we do get together again think how much we will appreciate being together.

And when we can go places we haven't gone in ages, think how mucy we will appreciate being there.

Sending you virtual hugs and my sincere wish that you find what you CAN do, and enjoy it ... until the day you can do even more.

Leave a comment or send me an email telling me about what you've been up to.

Garden dreams ...

Quite UNsurprisingly enough, on-line seed suppliers are having trouble keeping up with orders this Spring. I totally get that.  I find comfort in dreaming about gardening and I am sure I am not alone.

Year after year my garden expands.

In anticipation of Covid-19 looming large in our lives for the next few months, many of us are looking forward to digging in the dirt; doing something productive while trapped at home.  That growing things care not a whit for Covid is marvellous.  It's like thumbing our nose at the virus and saying "life goes on.  You cannot stop my garden from blooming".

Thinking that perhaps you are feeling the same, here are some cheery garden pics to warm the cockles of your house-bound chilly Canadian hearts.  If however, you live in England or the U.S. or even warmer climes where it's already warmer, think of me still stuck inside while you enjoy the advancing season.

A thriving garden like that in the image above is four months away for us in Nova Scotia; but the planning can begin now.  Seeds can be started indoors.  Cold weather plants like peas can be planted out as soon as the ground is diggable.

Gardening is such a hopeful thing to do.  

When I'm out puttering in the garden my mind empties of stressful thoughts.  Does it do that for you too ?

I am at peace.

Looking at images of veggies and mosses and flowers on a cold soggy April day, helps me hang on until the arrival of the warm, Earthy-smelling days that are waiting in the wings.

In this scary time of Covid-19, our gardens give us hope that things will be better again.  Perhaps not as soon as we like but hopefully before the raspberries ripen.

Happy garden dreams everyone.

And in the mean time, stay safe.

Dreaming of Spring

Here in Canada there are two seasons; Gardening season and wishing-it-was-Gardening season.

We fool ourselves in February with thoughts that spring will soon be here.  Unless you live on our West coast that is not the case.  Tender annuals and many veggie plants cannot be planted till all danger of frost is past.  Do you know when THAT is ?  Late frikkin' May !

Prior to that magical time  and after the ground has finally unfrozen I console myself with digging up and moving unsuspecting perennials and planting peas and other things that can handle the cold.  Toward the end of April I may start some seeds indoors but I often start seedlings too soon and they end up very leggy and sickly.

February is a good time to sit inside staring moodily out the window at the frozen ground and sigh over the lush photos in garden magazines...or search my computer hard drive for past garden photos.

I talk a lot these days about my lack of pictures in my mind but I wonder in this case if spring holds a greater magic for me than it might for you.    I know that things grow and look marvellous but each spring when leaves sprout forth on trees I feel like I am seeing them for the first time.  

Just as in summer I cannot visualize what the trees would look like without their leaves, so too in winter I cannot imagine them crowned in green.









Most trailer park lots are small.  Houses have minuscule front yards and side yards into which their neighbours back door and windows face.  I specifically chose a corner lot with a large front yard and a back door facing onto a modest rear yard which I promptly had fenced for the dogs and cats enjoyment.

I worried the sloped back would be very sloppy in spring so I decided to build a stone retaining wall and plant some shrubs and make s stone path ...

The small bushes and trees along the fence now are as high as the fence.

The front yard has been and still is a work in progress.

It was all lawn when I started.  Raised bed gardens were added.

Each year another bed.

 

My dream was for the front yard in front of my picture window to be a bit of a wild woodland area that would provide a natural environment for critters and privacy for me.  It started with an end of season sale of scraggly plants at Canadian Tire.

After a couple of years that area was well established with the addition of wildflowers.

And then each year the flower garden was extended across the lawn.  Did I mention I'm not a fan of lawns ?

As the garden grew, a windy path came into existence meandering past the flowers, around the wild garden and back.

As the new beds were created my wild garden provided an environment for frogs and salamanders.

And became home to a hidden seat and a three-part dragon sculpture my dear old da' had made years ago.

Right now the lawn is covered in snow but a small heater is keeping the pond open and six goldfish peer out at the frozen world over their heads.

Should I tell them that I'm dreaming of expanding their pond and perhaps adding a waterfall ?

Are you dreaming of spring time ?

Darrell's magical garden.

My brother Darrell lives in Ottawa.  Like me, he really enjoys gardening; however, his teeny, tiny city lot is even smaller than mine.

While I garden on every little bit of dirt available to me, Darrell creates new garden areas where none existed before.

It wasn't enough that Darrell built a lush, covered area on the back deck,

enveloped in planters with hanging and climbing plants.

He created one more planting area.

There it is just outside Darrell and Janet's bedroom window.  

Looks sorta like a meadow doesn't it ?

Guess what ?  

That window is on the second floor of their house. 

Now THAT is intensive gardening !

Darrell is my Obi Wan of gardening.

And yes,

I stood out on the roof to take this photo of him.

And yes,

he warned me not to take another step backward.

Permit me to dream.

Like many other northern clime dwellers, I'm sick-to-death of winter.

I am in need of some intensive warm weather therapy.

My side yard in its lush phase.

I yearn to be out digging in the dirt: working in my yard.

My garden in late summer.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll go out and collect smooth beach rocks to add to my dry river bed.

I hope the frog that lives in my bigger pond survives his hibernation.

Over the course of last summer all  the frogs but one, left.

I know the fish are OK as I've seen them.

I wonder if the salamanders hibernated under the bridge between the ponds ?

The temperatures are due to slowly start rising this week.

Like I said, I can't wait for it all to thaw so I can dig in the dirt.

How 'bout you ?