SPRIINNGGG

March 31st, 2016

Tomorrow is April Fools Day, and tonight, if you are up at midnight, quickly say White Rabbits for good luck, but today, - today was a wonderfully warm spring day.  The sun shone, the sky was to drown in, - all that beautiful blue enveloping the warm earth...

I planted some more Swiss Chard, a bit of lettuce, and lost myself in the compost heap before I gathered a fair amount in a pot and made a little corner bed, surrounded by stones, wherein I shall tuck some lilies, I think.

The neighbour's apricot tree is in bloom - early for fruit blooms but looking lovely with the white picket fences and the blue sky.

In the raised bed a few hellebores still linger

and some blue hyacinths

Across the lane my daughter's sweet forsythia bush glows in the afternoon sun.

Bruce, who reminds me so much of Caspar, keeps me company, and Callie in line.

The daffodils out front are in their glory, and the peonies and delphiniums

are stretching their lovely limbs and even showing a bud or two

on the older, earlier peonies that were here when we came.

 in the house the hellebores that graced the altar on Easter Sunday

sit on the dining room table,

enchanting, - the shades of rose and white are tinged with just a touch of green

and they droop so languidly and with such grace....

A few daffodils and a bit of forsythia 

and across the valley K Mountain still clings

to snow in the crevices

as a reminder that April is fickle

and sometimes goes elsewhere and sends

cold winds and chilly rain in her place.

I find great comfort in the garden!!!!

It is so alive, so promising.......

L for misty love and lazuli

ABC Wednesday
March 30th, 2016

The Letter is L for Love-in-a-mist

Nigella damascona

Do you grow this charming old-fashioned flower in your garden?

The fragrance is not its tour de force

but it's beautiful blue delicacy and the

feathery surrounding to the flower

makes it a favourite.

I used to grow it at the bottom of the steps

in my old garden

Now it is tucked it  a pot along

with the nicotiana

and they make a lovely combination.

I included that sweet Lazuli Bunting because I just

happened upon him and he 

seemed perfect for the picture.

More Ls here at ABC Wednesday

with thanks to Roger and Denise

and lucky helpers.

Korean Spice Viburnum

ABC Wednesday
March 23rd, 2016

The letter is K for Korean Spice Viburnum

Earth's crammed with heaven

And every common bush afire with God

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

For me this speaks of the Korean Spice Viburnum

A lovely, most fragrant shrub that has showy pink buds in the spring

that open into beautiful white flower clusters....

that attract butterflies, and in particular the caterpillars of the

spring azure blue butterflies

Korean spice viburnum shrubs are indigenous to Korea, and the

inclusion of 'spice' in the name

is an attempt to describe the complexity of the plant's aroma...

sweet, but with a sharpness to the fragrance

that is a reminder of cloves

Ever since we left the garden on 10th where the Korean Spice

bloomed profusely I have been looking for a

Korean Spice Viburnum shrub to replace it....

but in vain.

I will try again this year and plant it under my bedroom window...

if I'm lucky enough to find one....

or at the entrance to the garden where it will please all who pass by.

More interesting Ks are here at ABC Wednesday,

with thanks to Roger, Denise and all KIND helpers.

Look who's come to stay with Callie and Grandma to be Doorman and General Jolly Companion.

Meet Bruce!

Callie is still hesitant about the Jolly Companion role - she made the mistake of acquiescing when Bruce decided to eat her food, instead of hissing and batting and and making her rights known. 

 But then she is prim and proper and peaceful and courteous. 

However I am now looking for a place to put her food where Bruce can't gleefully gobble....

I left the bedroom door open a sliver last night and just past midnight I felt a warm furry head on my shoulder and a mew that said ' love me!'   It will take a few days until we're all friends together.

Bruce has been in the family most of his eight years - our granddaughter's dog 

and pal to our great grandson.

And when he was a puppy jumping on Grandpa's knee and covering him with kisses 

(been there, done that!)

Life is full of new adventures, for us and for Bruce!  Happy days ahead....

Jerusalem Artichoke

ABC Wednesday
March 16th, 2016

The letter is J, for Jerusalem Artichoke

When we first came to live in town we discovered this lovely fence screen in the back garden, - what looked like sunflowers, but obviously weren't.

A little research and we found they were Jerusalem Artichoke plants, and they grew from tubers that look something like ginger root, with a knobby, irregular shape.  

The plants bloom in late summer and the brownish red tubers which grow in clusters underground are ready for harvesting once the flower dies, through September and October - and maybe even November.

They are very easy to grow in backyard gardens, and although it was a couple of years before I tried to cook them eventually we found them to be a little sweet, a little crunchy

and slightly watery in consistency.

To cook them, don't peel, but scrub them well.  Then steam them whole for about fifteen minutes and refresh in cold water.  They are best eaten at room temperature, says Karen Barnaby, a Vancouver executive chef, and she would serve them with a garlic mayonnaise. (half a cup of mayonnaise, stir in a clove of minced garlic, about two teaspoons of honey and two teaspoons of whole capers)  Cut the cooked Jerusalem artichokes in half inch slices and serve them with a nice piece of roasted halibut, with the mayonnaise on the side......

I would probably peel them, drop them into cold water with a teaspoon of lemon juice, cook them for ten to twenty minutes or until they are a bit resistant in the centre when pierced by the point of a knife (but not hard).  Remove from heat and drain, slice, toss with parsley and butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  And I would serve them hot.

Bon Appetit for those of you who have them growing along the fence in their back yard, crowding out the barnflowers,  Or perhaps your local super market carries them

in their exotic section of veggies....

For more interesting Js click here to visit ABC Wednesday

with thanks to Roger, Denise and Jolly Helpers.

The Dilemna

Having reached this ancient age with my wits still about me (well, mostly) and still harbouring  a vital enthusiasm for life, I am now faced with the dilemna of how to squeeze everything I want/must do before I board the Train to Eternity, which chugs along the track with anETA sometime surely in the next ten years!!!!

Oh dear, oh dear, - what a problem presents itself when one is drawn to every new and exciting project that comes to one's attention......  I am reminded of the Alfred Noyes poem, "Time you old gypsy man/will you not stay"  just while I attend to all these things I want to do.  All these things it seems necessary for me to do!!!!

There is the loom, - the dummy warp half tied - and the spinning wheel with a half filled bobbin and a braided swatch of carded wool waiting to be spun into glorious yarn.

And then what, I ask myself.

 What's to be done with yet another skein of blended silk and wool????

With the prospect of a summer-time family reunion I have been digging into the accumulation of genealogical papers I amassed when that was my passion - two shelves and a suitcase full of records and emails - marvelous correspondence from far removed cousins both in distance and relationship.  For a while in the '90's I felt myself in dual times and places, - here at home with family and the beloved, and there, back in the village of Loyalists who fled the American Revolution, or in Germany, Ireland, Scotland and England where these loyalists originated.  There are still mysteries regarding some multiple-great  grandparents and and aunts and uncles which I would love to have answers to, and so many off-shoot families whose records have been sent to me.

When my imagination wanders through my own descendants I am in wonderment that some of the pictures I have will be the 5th great grand parent of my own great grandchildren.  Golly!!

Oh yes, the pictures, - scattered in the most random fashion through my computer.  Will I ever get them into files and folders that will spring up at the click of the mouse??

Or learn to shoot pictures in RAW....?

Then there is the garden, calling to me, calling to me......  And I, completely seduced, cannot ignore this new life that is springing out of the sweet earth....

And the music - I still play Scott Joplin sometime during the day, in case it reaches Heaven....

Also the Ukulele - new and exciting as I conquer more and more chords and my feet tap along to the strumming.....can I take it to the campfire at the family reunion and pretend to be a musician???  A matriarch musician??  As long as the chords are simple and the fingers fast and supple, I guess....

Well, I make lists and schedules, but what it really comes down to is mindfulness and discipline, and those I am trying to cultivate with profound affection.

Most importantly I keep an eye on the track and hope the Train is just a-chugging along slow-like, enjoying the scenery.....

I is for Ibis

ABC Wednesday
March 9th, 2016

The letter is I for Ibis

"Every one has heard of the Ibis, 

the bird to which the ancient Egyptians paid religious worship; 

which they brought up in the interior of their temples, 

which they allowed to stray unharmed through their cities, 

and whose murderer, even though involuntary, was punished by death; 

which they embalmed with as much care as their own parents."

'Description of the  bird called the Ibis by the ancient Egyptians'

CUVIER 1831

This most ancient of birds has survived plentifully in some areas of the planet, 

to the extent that they are sometimes referred to as 'chickens'

so common have they become.

However, in China the crested Ibis is considered an endangered species

and every effort is made to protect them.

(seen in the lower right hand corner)

Can you guess which one is the Glossy Ibis?  

The lower left hand bird is the Sacred African

and the upper left the Australian Ibis.

An excellent article on the Ibis can be found here at 10000 Birds -

far too much fascinating information  to

include in this small blog.

If you are interested in poetry based on the Ibis, Susan Hahn has written

a lovely eighty page widely acclaimed book....

More interesting Is here at ABC Wednesday with thanks to

Roger, Denise and all Invigorated helpers.

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.