Once upon a time ....not so very long ago....

We had a beautifully functioning sprinkler system.

This is what our yard looks like at the moment..... pretty sad .....

In 2009 we installed our own underground sprinkler system....and it works perfectly.  Let me rephrase that ...it used to work perfectly.  Now?...well, who knows....

Some of it is crushed...some dug up... most of the small spigots stepped on.  It will all have to be repaired.

I remember how excited we were the first time we turned it on and the heads all popped up and it worked perfectly.  We clapped and laughed and had a great time admiring our handiwork.

This was how pretty it looked then....


http://bumblebearies.blogspot.ca/2009/06/photo-week_15.html

Hey, I've got colour now!

It happens so quickly once things get moving doesn't it?  A few weeks ago, nothing.....and now... all sorts of things are blooming.   Lots of rain helped I'm sure.  And...now we need some more sun.  The only bad thing right now is mosquitoes!  And yikes@!  they are reeeelly vicious...and there are millions more than usual (yes, I'm counting!) because we have had more rain than usual for the past few weeks.  Can't win.  Finally get some rain and they love it... but, the plants and grass definitely needed it....

Look what I have in the gardens... in my wild garden area...... the annuals I actually planted in pots and other garden areas are still just babies.... more of them when they get bigger.

This is a type of wild geranium... the leaves are so potent if you touch them at all your hands are almost unbearable.  I was really happy with how the shot turned out .. can't believe I can actually see pollen on the little stamens...

Snow Drop Anemone.... although we call them Wendy's Weeds because a girl named Wendy gave us our first two plants many years ago....and now....they're everywhere!!  I have to pull dozens of them every year as soon as they finish blooming... to try to prevent them taking over.  They re-seed as well as creeping underground and popping up beside the bigger plants.  This one is odd because look how many petals there are... 7 ...   normally they have 5... and a few have 6....but, this is the first I've seen with 7... plus...it is huge!  A mutant....

This is more the normal dude..... 5 petals....and smaller...

One of my favourites.  Wild flax... which is supposed to seed easily, but, up until last year, didn't. This year, all of a sudden... it is popping up all over, which is good because I was trying to transplant some here and there and it just kept dying.  It is so beautiful... fragile and dainty looking but hardy enough....and I love the colour.

Wild pansies...or johnny-jump-ups..... I have different colours...but, like these best...with the yellow.....

Dear Vikki ...

(that's my sister) ... Please stop already with the rain dances, prayers and chanting.... it's obviously working wonders.... but,.... on the wrong side of the mountains.  I DONT WANT RAIN!  Yes, I know you do and you need it and love it and all of that ...but, can't you at least TRY to set some boundaries?  On the west side of the Rockies would be fine with me.  And... you know it doesn't matter how long or how much it rains over there at your house (which, by the way, I don't begrudge you)  ... it will dry out in two days as soon as your blistering sun pokes out anyway.  Here, on the other hand...... so far this year, there is no blistering...no sun.... and, so very little golf.  Dammit...I'm getting tired of going from window to window hoping for things to change so I can get out there and use my golf lesson time.  At my great (and, now, very green) golf course.  Where, strangely, nobody is willing to show me anything in the pouring rain even if I desperately want to be there to learn something...anything.  They have flatly refused.  As a matter of fact..I think I heard some rather unflattering mumbling about the state of my mental health....

I'm beginning to wonder why we, in this geographic location that must have the shortest golf season in the world.... would want to bother with the stupid game anyway.  We must be nut jobs.  All of us.  Because we seem to also have the highest per capita number of golf courses and golfers on the planet..... just plain weird, that's what it is ...(or maybe that should read...  we are...) ....

I think it's high time I learned to do some dancing of my own.... in opposition to somebody's supplication to the Rain Gods.  I definitely need to learn the Sun Dance.  Fortunately the Canadian Government outlawed the skin piercing and flesh sacrifice portions of Sun Dancing in 1895...so I don't have to worry about totally exposing myself to the elements ... as a matter of fact...I will be wearing my winter parka, a toque and my foam padded bra.... at the very least....

Poor Basil is really fed up with the cold...

.... the violets love a little moisture, but come on... I bet they're in danger of getting root rot standing around in puddles....

see any tadpoles in there? ...

no bleeding here...just a lot of weeping ...watery tears.....

and, see this?  I got a bag of dirt, I got a bag of dirt...sounds a bit like Johnny in Pirates... but, his was a jar of dirt.  I ordered this two weeks ago. To dig into my depleted garden soil ...and there has been no digging.. NONE...   All I have out there at the moment is mud.  And I ain't standing out in the rain digging in my mud... so... I impatiently wait for a sunny day to whack some balls ... to dig....

Today..... I'm staying warm baking strawberry banana muffins ... making a hearty stew...with "those puffy white things"...
and putting some paint on little dolly.....

..can't win....

One day it's hot...the next cool.... and it was hot too early...so all the bushes are flowering early.  Look at this .... my  neighbour's double flowering plum.  Well, I think that's what it is. Beeeyoootiful!

Today it was cooler after raining off and on through the night....but, warm enough for golf!  Hah!  So... golfing I went.  My old guys are pretty hardy... plus as they say... who knows how many games they have left so they go rain or shine.  They tell me they don't even buy bananas if they are green...then they laugh their heads off.  They also mention that I better show up every Wednesday too...or else.  One of them will be 91 in a few months...they are amazing old gaffers....

Tonight it is much cooler... some sprinkling...and tomorrow..rain and cooler yet.  Darn it.  I wanted to get busy and plant things.  Usually I don't dare put anything in pots or in the ground before this weekend...which is a long weekend.  As a matter of fact, this is the first long weekend of the summer and everybody and their dogs go camping...and usually get a dusting of snow on their tents..or camper and RV's....hardly anybody actually tents anymore it seems.  Just as well.

Anyway...it is going to be slightly cooler for a few days...but, not cold.  So...I may take a chance and put things in early...

See why I drive my old cargo van?  I need plenty of room.... for all sorts....

oh, let me get a bit closer...

Trees, shrubs, dirt, fertilizer spreader box of wine, flowers, plants, herbs... the list goes on.  We had some shrubs die two years ago...and have been dogging it... didn't get anything planted in the holes we made digging them out.  Tsk, tsk.... this year, the yard will  look a lot better.... and I still need to order some dirt.  Imagine having to order dirt.  Brother.  But... our gardens are getting "tired"...more mulch, compost and even some new dirt is necessary to get things back to where they should be.  I wish my sister lived closer...she makes great dirt.  By composting.... and it's got great horsey manure in it... ooohhh...now that would be good stuff....

I even got me some herbs this year.... Thyme, Rosemary and some Basil... I'm not exactly sure how to grow them...or where I'm going to put them...but, last year I grew little chili peppers for the first time...and they did great!  so... I hope....

Yup.... I do indeed put an ice cube in my wine on occasion.  My Mom and Aunt used to do it all the time... their thought was...it seemed like more..it went further...and it was lovely and cold! Works for me.  I'm not a connoisseur ...but I know what I like.... and that's what I drink. Now, where's that darn sun!?  Maybe I'll wait another week before I plant anything..it'll be fine in pots til then....

workin' out.....

Working out takes on whole new meaning in the summertime. When it's cold and slippery outside, I stay in the house ... faithfully using my treadmill for the first 40 minutes of each day's workout. I keep the remote handy ... even watching some reality shows... at least 'til I break a sweat and then I'm fine ... it seems a struggle to keep at it hard enough to do that without some entertainment. But, as soon as the weather turns warm and sunny, I have more than enough of my own reality to keep me occupied .... and, outside.













..diggin' rocks in the hot sun... diggin' rocks 'til it's all done.....

This weekend, I shoveled about 1/4 tonne of limestone rock... I know that because you buy it by the tonne and have to weigh in and out of the rock pit on the scale. Shoveled it into the back of the van...out of the van into a wheelbarrow...and then out of the wheelbarrow into the patio garden area. That should take the place of some weight training...and burn about 50 calories..... . ....strange how much you actually have to move to burn even one solitary little guy.

Ran Little Red around the yard.... love the smell of freshly mowed grass....not that the lawn is in great shape yet...it is a bit sparse actually. My only consolation is that most of the neighbours have the same sparse, matted... sort of dead looking patches...

Watering can weighs plenty when full.... carried it all over the yard watering pots and newly planted babies.... more weights.... balancing on rocks while stepping between plants and flowers... a little core training.... digging, stooping, squatting, til my legs and butt felt so tight I could hardly move.... What difference will a few more hours make at that point? Everything already hurts.... just keep going.














Dandelions were masquerading as anemones.... lots more stooping ... they always look so healthy....














the first yellow iris....











sedum and creeping phlox are looking great now....

A bath, Ibuprofen and some ice packs.... and do it all again tomorrow...... at least for the first few weeks of each gardening season..

ooooooh........ lovely 16 degrees... Celsius...

tomorrow...... + 19C....wheeeeee......
We don't really get much "spring". It jumps straight out of the snow banks directly into summer. It went from this...











to this...in just over a week. The ladybugs are still quietly sleeping under twigs, near rocks.. under old, dead, warm ground cover. It seems rude to roust them just yet.... so far it's a sort of gentle tidy .... leaving lots of coverlets of dry old leaves....... but, after hearing that Rachel was out having such fun planting spuds already...I had to get my hands a bit dirty. Did a few long stretches reaching for dried old lily and iris stalks.... the glutes and hamstrings felt it.... squatted around the edges for a bit....my knees know darn well I was squeezing them... high stepped over the still barren Daphne shrubs.. the quads and abs said thanks. There, don't have to do a workout today then and actually got a bit of spring cleaning done in the front garden.











...... it sure doesn't look like much right now, but, "just you wait, 'Enry 'Iggins, just you wait!"
I'll have blooms and I'll have flowers.... oh, I'll while away the hours...just you wait......

Only mad dogs and Englishmen...

(and me) .... go out in the midday sun. What was I thinking?.... I'm only half English. Whew!! and was it a hot one here by noon yesterday. It was still 27C at about 7:00 in the evening .... so am assuming it got several degrees higher than that earlier in the day.




















I should have left the south (and sunniest side) before I did...but you probably know how it goes. The poor blue fescue looks so dead, dry and cluttered with leaves, needles and cones after the snow melts....










ahhh... much better. A good trim .... hehehe.... okay, so it looks a bit skinned! Not to worry..they grow back. That side of the yard is my xeriscaping project.










Three maids in a row...look how gloriously well they grow! Why is that? .. but, you know, I still think dandelions photograph so well..in all stages of their growth cycle. I've seen some great shots of them full blown...seeds sailing off on a breeze against a blue, blue sky...... .lovely....

Just one more thing to trim..or rake under or sweep... and already it was 1:30 ..... time for lunch.










This is it when I get dusty, dirty and can't be bothered going in to eat.... crackers out of the package..a blob of peanut butter and some juice... ahhhh heaven. And perfectly fine nutrition. I was happy to sit in the shade for a bit. I was getting toasty! My back was killing me too...so it was time. Boy, after the winter laziness...I am outta shape! I better toughen up. I had to sit on my folded up mat to do anything after the first hour... couldn't bend over or squat anymore.










the dafs are still beautiful...more of them have bloomed... several different colours it seems.










These are almost peachy pink...not yellow at all really.... a lovely colour...

Today; another perfect day....off outside to check out my garden.......still plenty to do...a few more days yet til I can say I have things to the point where I consider it "tidy"....