Friday, March 01, 2013

White Rabbits

Did I remember to say White Rabbits this morning, – well of course I did, even before I opened my eyes…..we need all the good luck we can get ! 



white rabbithaylelymerrington

The snow from the roof next door to my bedroom window gradually disappears, revealing tons of walnuts that got caught in the first blizzard, before they could fall in between our houses, eager to spend the winter in the garage, ripening and drying.  Now they are fair game for the Clark’s Nutcracker and the Flickers, and an occasional Jay, – a wonderful spring treat after a winter of pine cones….


nutcracker


March is meek and mild this morning, if a trifle misty and overcast, but I see a few rays of sunshine in the East, and perhaps the weatherman was right in saying the Similkameen would be sunny all day. 

I will snatch a couple of hours in the back garden, attending to some of the tidying that got neglected last fall, and just luxuriating in being outside where the air is fresh and all around me are signs of new growth, – promises of tender green leaves, spring flowers, and roses calling urgently to be pruned.

I’m off to be mesmerized by burgeoning buds and the enthusiasm of new bulb shoots, – 2 inches tall, then 3 inches tall and now, suddenly six inches of yellow-green rockets on their way to heavenly days…..

bulb shoots

daffodils

All pictures this morning from Google - no time to search the archives - only have a couple of hours outside before I go to represent a woman of France in a lemon yellow scarf at the World Day of Prayer this afternoon.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

ABC Wednesday; February 27th, 2013

The letter this week is the Great G

G is for Gypsophila, 'a genus of about 100 species of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae, native to Europe, Asia and North Africa'  (Google)

But today we will consider only one species that is familiar to all, - Gypsophila Paniculata, or Baby's Breath.

What would the florist industry ever do without these wonderful clouds of tiny white flowers to enhance their bouquets?


Inclined to be invasive Baby's Breath grows famously on  dry, sandy, stony soil, and there is a portion of the highway between Keremeos and Olalla where at certain times of the year the roadside ditches are filled with these beautiful white fairy flowers, escaped from an abandoned commercial enterprise on adjoining fields.



One of our sons has a most prolific patch  of four foot high gypsophila perfectly content to be growing in the dry soil up against his steel plant,  always available for quick bouquets, either fresh or dried.
 
My favourites are the Bristol Fairy


 
and the lovely double pink Rosenschleier

 
The pictures are all borrowed from the Internet,  alas 
 
For more Great Gs click here to visit ABC Wednesday.
created by Mrs. Nesbitt and currently maintained  by
Roger!

Monday, February 25, 2013

This and That



I thought I might go for a walk today, now that the snow is disappearing, - melting, evaporating!  The roads and sidewalks are dry and although the sun wasn't shining the thermometer was saying good things about the temperature outside.

I was restless all day, as I often am when I know someone in the family is on the road, and today it was our youngest son who was going back to the Meadow in the Cariboo after having had surgery at the beginning of February.

So I picked up the mail keys, and hearkened to the voice that said 'have you got your cane' - gave Callie a handful of food to keep her happy while I was gone, and made off down the road.

However, by the time I got to the mailbox I realized that little bit of breeze that was making the branches sway was not the spring breeze I had imagined, but a bitterly cold wind, blowing right off the mountain tops where the snow is still ten feet deep!  Or thereabouts.....

Well, I think I will wait until it is warmer to walk, or at least until Winter is not blowing cold puffs down the valley.   I came home and put the kettle on, played a bit of music, sat for half and hour and spun a half a bobbin of lllama wool, finding I was somewhat out of practise and it is going to be a thick and thin skein when I get it finished.   Just right for a warm toque.

 
 
 
I took some pictures of small pots of hyacinths that came home with me from the garden shop last week, and have begun to blossom - some dainty grape hyacinth and two pots of lovely fat pink spring blooms;  brushed Callie for a bit as she begins to lose her winter coat and gets more sleek, - I won't say slender as she is really quite plump and matronly looking these days, loath to go out and exercise until the weather warms up.

Vincent phoned from Cache Creek, - good - a third of the way home.....

I wandered into the computer room and tried once again to get Diane Gabaldon's small novelette about Sir John on to my Kobo, and became thoroughly frustrated...... 

There was only a half a glass of sherry in the cupboard, - just enough to last me through the news, and then it was time to think of supper.  Some nights when I think of supper I am inspired to do something different and perhaps even exotic.  Some nights it is just an omelet, but tonight I had wonderful leftovers from the dinner  our daughter-in-law cooked in my kitchen Saturday night, while our oldest son entertained us with his 'cocktail bar' piano music.

I wrote a little in my journal about this 'empty, restless' day and then the phone rang, and Vincent was in Williams Lake, just an hour from home.  And the phone rang again, and it was our youngest daughter, whose day had been lonely too, so we cheered each other with love and bits of gossip,  And so it goes......

Tomorrow the sun will shine and I will see if I can burrow down under the snow and discover what is happening with bulbs and violets and early spring movements under the icy covering that lies beneath the snow.

Vincent has made it to the Meadow, - everyone happy to see him there!

Almost time for bed, and some lovely music that takes the place of pillow talk, as I drift off........

Here are some catkins and pussy willows that sit at the front window to cheer your wintry hearts.