I open the doors to a beautiful fresh morning, a faint chill in the air that is as sweet and clear as a June morning can be after a day of gentle rain.........you know, that lovely promise when the flowers are all drenched and happy and you know you won't have to run around with the watering hose saving all the pots from dehydration, at least for the next twenty-four hours.

Callie and I take sustenance in the first cup of morning coffee, out the back, sitting on the blue bench, happy with the new day  but averting my eyes from  the remains of the beautiful birch that the neighbour had sliced at the knees, piling all the beautiful branches against my sweet pea fence.

A tall and elegant tree, clothed in beautiful white birch bark and reminiscent of the gorgeous native costume that the lady of the house wears at First Nation celebrations....

I shake my head and say a little prayer for beauty destroyed......

This is not going to be a sunny day.  Already the clouds gather and there is the promise of more rain, but that's quite welcome in June - a sure defense against the threat of wild fires in dry forests.  The waters in the Similkameen have receded since flood time, making room for summer rains and a nice flow for the usual river rafters.....

Breakfast over I eye two very black bananas sitting in an empty fruit basket, and think about a batch of warm muffins - I think it's going to be a perfect day for baking!  Maybe a dozen scones to tuck into the freezer so I am not surprised by unexpected company and only some rice cakes to offer.....

I'm off to make the day happen......

Here is a little poem by David Rosenthal to remember the lost birch tree that brought me such pleasure when I would stop to drink in its beauty as I gardened, or snapped a picture of the blue sky against which its lovely branches were framed.

Trees need not walk the earth

for beauty or for bread;

Beauty will come to them

Where they stand.

Here among the children of the sap

is no pride of ancestry:

A birch may wear no less the morning

than an oak.

Here are no heirlooms

Save those of loveliness,

in which each tree

is kingly in its heritage of grace.

Here is but beauty's wisdom

in which all trees are wise.

Trees need not walk the earth

For beauty or for bread;

Beauty will come to them

In the rainbow -

The sunlight -

And the lilac-haunted rain;

And bread will come to them

As beauty came:

In the rainbow

in the sunlight -

in the rain.

David Rosenthal

V for Violin

ABC Wednesday

The letter is V, and what better to represent it than a beautiful VIOLIN performance.

David Garrett plays Tomaso Albinoni's  heart aching Adagio

His rendition of Bach's Air on the G String is equally touching.

thank you to Denise and Roger and all vigilant helpers at ABC Wednesday.  

Click here to see more of their offerings.

Out and about....

Sometimes the days go by slowly, - lovely, lazy, languishing.  But then along comes a week full to the brim with activities and one is not as well equipped to deal with everything with the aplomb which once greeted busy weeks.

However, I am now into a week that  at least has the first few days free, and so I have been pottering.  Out in the garden, at the kitchen table with the camera, trying to demystify the three important aspects of Exposure, -  Aperture, Shutter Speed and OAS.  For as long as I have had this wonderful camera I have been depending upon Auto, and it has not failed me, but now that I am taking a little course in photography and editing  I think it's now or never and I'm trying to be cheerful and confident about it all!

So what kept me so busy last week?

On Wednesday the Ladies of the Royal Purple celebrated their special day by taking a cake to the local Care Facility, visiting and donating a nice sum to the Similkameen branch of the Special Olympics.  Nice cake (shown here with the Honoured Royal Lady) and a bitter sweet visit with old friends who are now resident there.

Thursday I spent at the Computer, doing the Pew Bulletin for Pentecost Sunday (and musing about when it used to be Whitsuntide and we dressed all in white and were young and wore ankle socks) and preparing some posters and Table Cards for the Royal Canadian Legion and their commemoration of D Day....

In the evening I went to the Museum meeting and took the minutes.....

Friday morning I watched the D Day Commemoration from Juno Beach, and cried a little at the Last Post and the Lament.

In the afternoon I went to the church, changed the hangings to red, put out the red candles and did all the Altar Guild things, - and then I played the organ for an hour and treated myself to some wonderful music. - Bach's Air in G,  Bellanoni's sad and beautiful Adagio and then a few jazzy hymns.

And Saturday!!  What a fun day that was.....   up early to be ready at 9.30 when Margaret's daughter picked me up and we went to the Farmer's Market in Penticton.  That was a real lark, and I appreciate so much these outings with  them.  I bought some exotic bread, a wild, flaming orange and red and yellow silk scarf  (perfect for Pentecost).  We went to Tickleberries for ice cream and then home through the green woods of St. Andrews......

And yesterday, - Sunday - not a day of rest.  Early to church to finish my Altar Guild duties and play the organ, - a nice visit with a couple of sweet young ladies from Magdellan Island in Quebec who are here to work at Cathedral Lakes, which is a marvelous resort for tourists and locals alike up in the Cathedral Lakes National Park.  The road up the mountain starts just as you leave Keremeos in the west and it is an adventurous trip.

Home to make sandwiches for a baby shower for that gorgeous new great grandchild, Tanner - popped in there for an hour and then my son drove me down the valley and we went to a memorial tea for an old friend.  After we left there we went to inspect a new orcharding endeavour a friend has, bordering the USA, and on our way we stopped when we saw a small blonde bear cub that seem mournfully alone.  No mother around - Sid went home to phone the Wildlife who are wonderful about rescuing animals in distress.....

I made myself a small supper, put on a DVD about Alexander McCall Smith and the series he has written about the #1 Ladies Detective Agency in Botswana, but then I fell asleep!!!!  How could I have done that when I admire him so!!!

Well, today I am somewhat exhausted!!!!!  Got out my camera manual, but my head nodded over it.  I am reading Miriam Toews  'All my Puny Sorrows' and even it wasn't enough to keep me alert.  Thank you for listening to all my doings - writing has made me think and remember with pleasure, but now I am going to pour myself a mild and gentle ginger ale and orange brandy and watch the news,  (maybe)....

This week has a luncheon date, a BBQ and installation at the lodge, but in between times you will find me in the garden!!  In the evenings, when the Nicotiana spreads it beautiful aroma, I will be resting with my evening cocoa...you would be most welcome!