What's happening in the Garden....

Well, it's March, and it all just depends where you're looking, what time of day it is, the state of the current wind (be it breezy or blowing) and just where you are in the schedule of intermittent storms that tumble in from the Coast, drop a little shower or two, bluster around and then move off to the East to make room for a session of sunshine.

A most peculiar month.

Last night we had a lovely rainfall, - puddles all over the lane, and one in particular that inspired a small thirsty robin to linger and drink, - the first robin of the season although my son tells me they have been as far north as the Chilcotin.

I go out into the garden when the sun is shining, and usually I manage an hour or so of losing myself in the task of clearing away leaves and old stalks, so that eventually a small bed will look like this...

with the bulbs and the iris and the elephant's ear around the Mountain Ash.

Over in the main raised bed there are a few crocus, and some lovely Lenten Roses.

and a few clumps of daffodils promise to be in bloom to grace the Easter altar.

There is blue sky to the west, tastefully decorated with wispy white clouds, and inside

the sun shines on last year's amaryllis which is blooming again, and on some 

sweet sticks of forsythia from our daughter's little bush.

But look, - here in the east the clouds are still a reminder that March can be just as fickle as April....

It is absolutely marvelous to be able to get out and dig around, poking at the scarlet stubs of the peony and the lacy delphinium leaves.

I spent all of yesterday's garden allotment time digging out buttercups.  One plant came into my garden twenty years ago, along with some early oriental peonies.  They have traveled with us, from garden to garden, but this year I seem to have lost the peonies,  Not so the buttercups, - much as I love their cheery faces they are terribly invasive and have spread the length and width of the bed, crowding out all their neighbours.

I'm glad I left some of them to begin the cycle again.....

The Hawthorn Tree

ABC Wednesday
March 2nd, 2016

The letter is H for Hawthorn

The Hawthorn Queen
It was one of those last swarms,
a blood-red immolation of ladybirds
so thick
the air appeared pixellated.
Traffic stopped.
My mother grasped my hand, and together
we picked a path across hot tannac
decorated with applique wing-cases.
They buckled like molten plastic, stuck
to the bottom of our sandals -
molted chitin, black gravel.
I looked up and saw tears on my mother's chin.
Quaking she led me past the stationary cars,
their engines overheated.  All the time
more dazed ladybirds
gathered in her golden hair
as if she guaranteed safe passage
or could halt the insect blizzard.
Looking up, I saw a Hawthorn Queen,
her crown alive with crawling berries.
Jane McKie
Hawthorn trees are a delight to have, - we had a small. young one in the garden on the hill

They are a lovely shape with clusters of pink or white flowers that bloom in spring

and in the fall there are bright red berries which attract the songbirds.

Medicinally the Hawthorn is amazing.

The dried fruits are used in nateuropathic and Chinese medicine, mainly

as a digestive, but the Hawthorn also is believed to strengthen

cardiovascular function.

It is a mild sedative in promoting sleep and

a help in improving exercise tolerance, blood pressure and heart

rate during exercise.

The wood is very hard and has been used extensively in make tool handles and fence posts.

The beautiful Hawthorn is also important in folklore.

A symbol of hope, it was carried by the ancient Greeks in

wedding procession and there is also a supposition

that the tree was the source of Jesus's crown of thorns.

In Celtic lore the hawthorn was said to heal the broken heart

and is strongly associated with the fairies

For more interesting Hs visit here at ABC Wednesday
with thanks to Roger and Denise
and all Hearty Helpers.

Stacked

....in all the convenient spots where I might be beguiled into sitting for just a wee while....

All the books I am reading, - and beside them the Ukulele which pleases me these days...

I am almost ready for my debut!  I contemplate making a sound recording with my ipad to send to far off family members, just as soon as I get Buffalo Girls coming out under the light of the silvery moon at a steady pace.  No hesitation between the C chord and the G7, and the right foot stomping in a nice rhythmic accompaniment.

I would take a 'selfie' but that is beyond my concentration!

About the books....

I was browsing through Amazon and found a new book (to me) by Horatio Clare, whose 'Running for the Hills' was so memorably enjoyable; a tale of his family and growing up on a sheep farm in Wales.
This is the story of his search for a bird on the 'edge of extinction' , the Slender-billed curlew; Orison for a Curlew.  The cover comments condense the contents of the book, but they only hint at the beautiful writing within.

"The Slender-billed curlew, numenius tenuirostris 'the slim beak of the new moon', is one of the world's rarest birds.  It once bred in Siberia and wintered in the Mediterranean basin, passing through the wetlands and estuaries of Italy, Greece, the Balkans and Central Asia.  Today the Slender-billed curlew only exists as a rumour, a ghost species surrounded by unconfirmed sightings and speculation.  The only certainty is that it now stands on the edge of extinction.........Orison for a Curlew journeys through a fractured Europe in search of the Slender-billed curlew, following the bird's migratory path on an adyssey that takes us into the lives of the men and women who have fought to save the landscapes to which the bird belongs."

The phrase ' a fractured Europe' opened my eyes to the state that Greece and more especially the Balkans, are now in.  But apart from that I was fascinated by the search, the passion of the people concerned with this possible extinction of a beautiful bird in the face of hunting, loss of breeding grounds, and 'human pressure on the wetland migration spots'.  Philip Hoare comments on the back cover "what Horatio Clare demonstrates, even beyond his undoubted gifts as writer, is his basic humanity", and I found this to be true.

Amongst all the sadness of this loss of species and beauty there is some lovely writing....."Now the land becomes dreamy, sunflowers hanging burned heads like choirs of the penitent dead"

I am getting close to the end of this book, and will probably turn back to the beginning and read it all over again..

In addition to this book that has so caught my imagination I also keep close at hand my gardening notebook and the West Coast Seed catalogue, and Jan Karon's 'Patches of Godlight' containing Father Tim's collection of heart-worthy quotes (from the Mitford Years Series)...

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, 

Old time is still a-flying 

 Robert  Herrick, Church of England. poet, 1591-1674)

And Ted Kooser's  'The Wheeling Year' - his own little Field Book in which he has included 'sketches and landscapes studies made out of words'   that carry one through the year and is comforting to have close by.  It is as beautiful book, - each small essay full of awareness and memories that touch the heart.

One day tells its tale to another.   Psalm 19

One of our sons brought me Mark Steyn's  "After America" which I know I will find despondent as I am well aware that Steyn has little optimism about the future of western civilization unless we pull up our socks.  I am inclined to agree with him, and I know Charles was of a like mind!

The garden tells me that soon I will be reading in the back garden, rather than cosied up under the lamplight at night, indoors.

Out there the bulbs are pushing through the ground with wild abandon, while indoors I have a sweet white amaryllis opening to the sunlight, when the sun deigns to shine.....

Life is good....

Grist Mill

ABC Wednesday
February 24th, 2016

The letter is G for the Grist Mill in Keremeos

Established by Barrington Price, an English Immigrant to British Columbia, 

and opened on August 21st, 1877,

The Grist Mill was of great benefit to local farmers, ranchers and native people,  saving them the long journey to Colville, Washington to have their grain processed into flour.

It continued in business until 1890, when trade declined and the site became a home, and the mill machinery building eventually a chicken house, with all the mill parts dismantled and left in a heap.

In 1979 the property was purchased by the British Columbia Heritage Trust as a last surviving example of pioneer settlement mills in B.C.

Restoration of the basic power system and machinery has resulted in flour once again being produced in the old mill - but for different economic reasons....

The Mill is now a Heritage Site and Tourist Attraction, and the grinding of grain part of a tour of the

property.

It has been expanded into Gardens and a tea room, with the usual Gift Shop selling items peculiar to the historical attraction and the development of heritage sites such as a field of wheat harvested in the old ways of the 19th century, local honey and hand crafts, cards and momentos, etc. etc.

There is a kitchen, where things are done in the old fashioned way, - spinning days, an ancient pump organ. and the local Museum Society is most supportive.

The Grist Mill is an integrate part of the community, - there are Apple Days, a return to the growing of Zucca Melons which was an early project of the newly restored Mill, wonderful musical evenings during the summer months, outdoors under the chestnut trees, - and an inventive co-operation between the Grist Mill and local wineries to add to the various well attended events.

In 1997, when Charles' Lancaster crew all came to visit western Canada, we took them to the Grist Mill and had a lovely time......

For more entertaining Gs visit here at ABC Wednesday, with Gratitude to Roger, Denise and all Great helpers.

Another gloomy day and I am threatened with the February Blahs!!

Binh Phan Photography

The weather man said 'possible sun' and ever the optimist

I thought 'wonderful'

anticipating a soul-satisfying hour or two in the garden

Well, there is always Sirius Radio and the Garden Books and Catalogues.....

I have some Forty's music reminding me of by-gone days

and glorious pictures of the crimson and green Swiss Chard  I had

planned to seed in the big blue ceramic pot on the patio,
with maybe a marigold, a nasturtium or a bit of alyssum.

Swiss Chard is the plant of my choice when it comes to green and leafy vegetables.

It is full of nutrients (vitamins K,A,C, and E plus several B's, magnesium, manganese, potassium, iron and fiber) and spectacular in the variety of colours in which it grows.

I am inspired by the NINE DOLLAR heads of California cabbage to be found in
the local grocery store to replace begonias and various trailing pot plants
with good nutritious vegetables, although I know I will
be tempted to add a few small bright flowers, tucked in here and there.

I am off to the farm store to buy some Swiss Chard seed, as all
the seed I have left from last year is that of exotic vines and plants
which I never did get around to planting!

And also some golden orange brandy, -  a small sip will satisfy
 in lieu of that hour in the garden!

Is it too early to plant Swiss Chard?  I don't think so, - it does well in cool
weather and I will keep the pot on the sun porch until ole sol
deigns to shine upon us...

I remember with nostalgia the lovely large gardens we had
in days of yore ("yore" meaning when the family was bigger..)

And I am going to advocate a return to the family garden and healthy eating

so perhaps the disastrous lowering of the Canadian Dollar in comparison

with that of the U.S. will have some good results after all...

$9.00 for a head of cabbage - ridiculous!

F for Falcon

ABC Wednesday
February 17th, 2016
The letter is F for the Falcon

The Peregrine, one of thirty-seven species of raptors in the genus FALCO, widely distributed on all continents except Antarctica.

A few things you might not have known about the Falcon.....

Their thin, tapered wings enable them to fly at high speed and change direction rapidly.

and to hover in the air...

The Peregrine falcon has been recorded diving at speeds of 200 miles per hour,

making them the fastest moving creatures on earth.

They are the largest genus in the Falconinae subfamily of Falconidae.

They kill with their beaks, using a 'tooth' on the side of the beaks.

A falcon has exceptional powers of vision, much to the mouse's dismay...

The fossil record of the Falcon indicates that they are from the late

Miocene, less than ten million years ago,

which is evidently fairly recent as bird species go....

There are three (or four) groups of Falcons -

the Peregrines, the Hobbies, dark in colour

and feeding mainly on small birds.

Sometimes included are the hawk-falcons,

and then there are the Kestrels

known as the Windhover in the United Kingdom.

I am quite sure I have posted Hopkin's poem 'The Windhover' before....

It has been a large part of my life for a long time, - I found our farm

'windhover' country,  and called my weaving adventure

"Windhover Weavings"

At first it was the beauty of the poem, the 'sprung rhythm',

the blending of adjectives, verbs and subjects in order to echo his theme

of smooth merging and the bird's perfect immersion in the air'.

As the years have passed I have become more aware and have read  'that a

sensuous experience or description leads to a set of moral reflections' 

in that the writer is drawing inspiration from the beauty

 of the hovering bird in comparison with man's striving

for spirituality.

Here it is once more!

I caught this morning morning's minion, kingdom

of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding

Of the rolling level underneath  him steady air, and striding

High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing

In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing.

As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on as bow-bend; the hurt and gliding

Rebuffed the big wind.  My heart in hiding

Stirred for a bird,-the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!

Brute beauty and valour and act, oh air, pride, plume, here

Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then a billion

Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!

No wonder of it: sheer plod makes plough down sillion

Shine, and the blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,

Fall, fall themselves, and gash gold-vermillion.

The Windhover  Gerard Manly Hopkins

For more F tales click here for ABC Wednesday

with thanks to Roger, Denise and any flighty helpers

who might be flitting around helping them....

Here is a painting of The Windhover, 

gashing Gold Vermillion

Lia Melia

Gratitude is the heart's memory

A moment in time - another birthday

You go a long and lovely journey,

For all the stars, like burning dew,

Are luminous and luring footprints

Of souls adventurous as you.

Oh, if you lived on earth elated,

How is it now that you can run

Free of the weight of flesh and faring

Far past the birthplace of the sun?

Sara Teasdale

E is for Egret

ABC Wednesday
February 10th, 2016

The letter is E for EGRET

grupakombinat.pl

A tall, slender, elegant and communal water bird, cousin to the Heron.  

Prolific in North America, the Egrets nest together ..

.

go dancing...

......even ballet mid-air

A lovely poem by Judith Wright, who was a prolific Australian poet, short story writer and environmental activist.

Once as I traveled through a quiet evening,

I saw a pool, jet-black and mirror-still.

Beyond, the slender paperbarks stood crowding;

each on its own white image looked its fill,

and nothing moved but thirty egrets wading -

thirty egrets in a quiet evening.

Once in a lifetime, lovely past believing,

your lucky eyes may light on such a pool.

As though for many years I had been waiting,

I watched in silence, till my heart was full

of clear dark water, and white trees unmoving,

and, whiter yet, those thirty egrets wading.

Here is where you can find out all the things there are to know about the Egret's habits,
its domiciles, its ancestory,  relatives and other interesting things.

And here is where you can visit ABC Wednesday
where there are many other takes on the letter E
with thanks to Denise, Roger and their ever-loving helpers.

Custard the DRAGON

ABC Wednesday
February 3rd, 2016
The letter is D for DRAGON

Dragons are not as prolific as they once were.

These days they are inclined to live in little white houses, 

and here is the Tale of one such Dragon, named Custard, 

written by Ogden Nash and performed by Dennis Massa

If you are not familiar with Custard quite probably your children are,

or your grandchildren, or your great-grandchildren.

His tale can be found here http://glenavalon.com/custard.html

(if the link doesn't work by clicking try typing it in), 

For more interesting Ds click here to visit Denise and Roger 

at ABC Wednesday, as well as their DETERMINED helpers.

A very musical day Part 2

January 30th, 2016

I had never heard anyone else play Weber's Last Thought

and my curiousity was piqued

so I went to visit GOOGLE, with high hopes.

There were three videos on You tube,  and the first two dismayed me.  The notes were there, but no music, no feeling.....

I tried the third, which claimed to be Weber's Last Waltz, but it wasn't - it was a really touching rendition of his Last Thoughts, by a United Kingdom pianist, Phillip Sear. 

 I know you will enjoy it.

The second piece he plays is the Fairy Waltz....

I also found a You tube rendition for the guitar

                                      and that Weber's Last Waltz is popular with Bands,
                                                 where it is played by the euphonium

or other bass instruments, -
or a saxophone.,,,,

 Here is a 1920's recording with a concertina and a cornet.....

As to who wrote Weber's Last Thought (Waltz)  Carl Gottleib Reissiger

seems to get the most credit.

He worked for most of his life at the Dresden Court

where he succeeded Carl Maria von Weber as Kappelmeister.

(back in the time of Schubert and Beethoven)

He is best known today for Weber's Last Waltz,

so called because of a manuscript found amongst Weber's belongings.

I was also very impressed with the repertoire that Phillip Sear

has to offer, and his reputation

as a professional musician.

He is just the person my granddaughter is looking

for to play at her wedding,

(but is probably going to have to put up with me,

as I am closer!!!)

A very musical day...

January 29th, 2016

Up early, showered and breakfasted and casting about for something entertaining to do!!!

I tie a few knots on the dummy warp ( will I EVER get it done) but my back complains bitterly....

At eleven I will tune into the Berlin Philharmonic Digital Concert Hall to hear Fisher conduct a rendition of Gustave Mahler's Symphony No 3, but what to do until then??

The ukulele leans against the piano, looking appealing.  I pick it up, cradle it in my arms, and think how nice it will be when I finally know how to play it properly.  Experience tells me that 'practise makes perfect', and so I go hunting on the PC for a teacher.  I have been there before.

Teachers of the ukulele are either old guys or bright young fellows, and of the two I have to admit I find the bright young fellows make it easier for me to learn.  Not because they are bright and young but because they talk slower, are more aware that beginners need gentle guiding, and explain things in much more detail.

So I find this bright young fellow who promises to make five ways of strumming on the ukulele fun and easy - and after an hour when we had finished the lesson and I had practiced as admonished, I had to agree he had met his goal.  Hopefully I will be back for a second lesson tomorrow.....

I can now strum D D U D D U  or D D U U D U D, or D d u d u D u (where D stands for down and U stands for up, and small letters stand for 'do not emphasis - but I'm sure you knew that...) and I know that a ukulele is strummed differently than a guitar, with a nice loose wrist-turning motion.

After a little action in the kitchen it is time for the concert, which was most enjoyable and took me a bit past lunchtime....

A little rest, a little strumming and I went to the piano and an old book of classical organ music, looking for an alternative to Wagner's "Here Comes the Bride" which has evidently lost popularity with young couples now getting married.  Things like Bach's Air on the G String, Pachelbel's Canon in D,  some of Chopin's Preludes  and a Cantabile or two.  The price on this book was $1.25 - you know how old it is.  Too old to have the Canon in D, - Pachelbel is a recent favourite, but among the crisp, yellowed leaves I found pages I had added at the front.  Amongst them was Weber's Last Thought (Carl Maria von Weber) which I was once entranced with but have not played in a long, long time.

So that's how I spent the last of the afternoon, losing myself in Weber's Last Thought, trying to make my fingers familiar with it again, and wondering if there was any way it would fit into our granddaughter's wedding....and hardly noticing the grey skies  and mist that engulfed the valley.

Maria Callas

ABC Wednesday
January 27th, 2016

The letter is C for Maria CALLAS
A superb Coloratura

Maria Callas was born in New York in 1923, of Greek parentage

Her parents separated when she was 14 and she returned to Greece with her mother.  

She had won some acceptance as a singer in America and almost immediately became a pupil of  Maria Trivella.  Maria gained great renown as an Operatic singer, as well as a reputation for being extremely tempestuous and stormy.

In 1949 she married Giovanni Batlista Managhina, a wealthy industrialist and follower of the opera, who took over management of her career.

When in later years she met Aristotle Onassis she left her husband, expecting to marry Onassis.

He, however, married Jacqueline Kennedy, leaving Maria completely devastated.

Her voice failed her, and her health.  In 1977 she died at the age of 53 of a heart attack, 

leaving behind a grand opera legend and a turbulent and tragic image.

Maria Callas singing the Gounod-Bach Ave Maria

I listen to it with prickly eyes.....

For more Cs click here at ABC Wednesday

and see what Roger, Denise and all their helpers

have to offer...

with many thanks.

This and that

Friday, - coming to the end of the week....

As I drifted off to sleep last night I thought,

 'yes, Friday.  Nothing to do all day long.

 A great day to get out the vacumn. the mop and the duster'.

Alas, when I woke all thoughts of housecleaning had fled in the night.

I remembered what a mess I had made of adding to my Family Tree
 some exciting genealogy news about my third great grandfather
and how I had failed to straighten things out so that
everybody was in the right place
when I printed out a report,
including his two wives.

And I was glum,  and not the least bit energetic

Yesterday the sun made a brief and glorious appearance.

That will account for the housecleaning thoughts
that sent me off into a virtuous sleep.

Callie thought it was pretty special too.

She has been Confined to Barracks (along

with me, because of slippery streets) and

would dearly love to have the cat-door opened

so she can investigate what has been going

on under the snow, and which cats

have been visiting lately.

Here is something that has been going on under the snow!

I put on some mittens and scraped away an inch or so of snow
to see if the Hellebores were awake!

Once we are past Robbie Burns' Birthday it is all downhill

and we are sliding into spring!!

The hyacinth I brought home from the grocery store sprang up about three inches

overnight, and promises a lovely bloom when I get up tomorrow morning...

A little blue sky outside, - time for lunch

and a little session with the ukulele...

my repertoire is getting slightly longer.

Come and sing Bye Bye Blackbird with me!

Robbie Burns

ABC Wednesday
January 20
The letter is B for Robbie Burns

The anniversary of his Birthdate being January 25th.

                                      Barbara Philips - an African painting

Known as the Bard of Ayrshire (and various other names and epithets) he was widely acclaimed and is still regarded as the national poet of Scotland.  A pioneer of the Romantic movement and a source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism, he was a 'cultural icon'  in Scotland, - and indeed wherever in the world Scots have emigrated his birthday is celebrated with great honour and tradition; and there is a plethora of statues, especially throughout Scotland

Those who have been fortunate to have gone to one of the many Burns Night Dinners 

which are held wherever Scots gather, will surely attest to the great passion that accompanies the Address to the Haggis, whether or not it appeals to one's palate!!

The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's) in 2015 at Victoria, B.C.
The Address to the Haggis by 2Lt Drew Shaw of B Company

See what you're missing!!!

Really what the Address is saying is that eating haggis is delicious, it 

is warm and rich and will make you strong and braw;

and that it has a great advantage over French cooking, -

and indeed, that of any other nation. 

I leave you with what some call the Greatest Love Poem of all time, which

will remind you of Robbie Burns' silver tongue and his great fondness

for the ladies...

A Red, Red Rose

O, my luve is like a red, red rose,

That's newly sprung in June;

O, my luve is like a melodie

That's sweetly played in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,

So deep in luve am I

And I will luve thee still, my dear,

Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,

And the rocks melt wi' the sun

And I will luve thee still, my dear.

While the sand o' life shall run.

And fare thee well, my only luve!

And fare thee well awhile!

And I will come again, my luve,

Tho' it were ten thousand Mile !

Robert Burns

For more interesting Bs visit here at ABC Wednesday

with thanks to Roger, Denise and all

brave and bonny helpers.