photo of the week...

We've been having great summery days....as a matter of fact, yesterday was more than just a bit summery.  It was darn hot walking around 18 holes of golf..... and humid too after only a few dry days.  Not even a breeze.. and the mosquitoes!!!! oh, wow! .... they were swarming us when we stopped and stood still.  Luckily my Muskol works...but, still...it is annoying when they find a bare patch of skin...or zzzzeeeee in your ear just as you are lining up a putt.

Monday's theme for the photo was "self portrait" .... but, I haven't been in the house long enough to get on here to post ..... so....finally....here's a photo of me....

Hahahahhah.... gotcha.....nah..... it's not really me. I have hair that is straight as sticks.....not a bit of curl to it at all....

......oh, wait!  here's the one I decided to use.... ........ and I will entitle it "Self Paw-trait" .....  'cuz just look at those grubby paws!  Terrible...but, somehow, gloves just end up like a multi coloured trail of size 7 bread crumbs behind me.... I have to retrace my steps several times in an hour to find them ... and ...well, ....after a bit I just give up.  Later in the day I go around picking them all up.... then, go in and scrub.  No wonder my  hands feel like Velcro and look worse... nails? what nails?.... jewellery will not be worn until sometime in November, so as to not draw attention to these hands.

Okay..'.nuff fooling around. My self portrait on this day is me in my gardener's "hat".....  isn't it surprising how many hats we wear on any given day? .... more figuratively speaking than literally of course .... especially for me.  I only have caps, no hats when it comes right down to it.  And, I wear them golfing, gardening, sitting in the sun or walking...or for going to the dump or to the garden shop.  Monday when I went to the garden centre with my little baggy of clippings from my new Caragana shrub..... this was me.  It was cool enough for my big warm shirt at 8 a.m. .... but, I was stripping down by my second stop... the grocery store.
When I show up like this at the gardening centers, or I'm walking around Burnco looking for the limestone to shovel... or other sod or wood places. I invariably get questioned about where things are kept...or if there is still a sale on mulch or how to plant a certain shrub.  It's handy to know a few things...and I've given up telling folks I don't work there .... they get embarrassed ... now, I just point them in the right direction or tell them what they want to know if I have answers.  If I don't know... I direct them to Maureen for info on any plant .. or one of the girls at the checkout for further directions.....

... ask that crazy lady in the gardening duds.....

oh, and ps..... apparently my new Caragana has White Powdery Mildew..... which is what I figured it did have from the look of the leaves and what I found on the internet.  It had it when I bought it.  I thought it was just a bit of mineral deposit on leaves from watering.....sigh......   However, what I didn't know was what to do about it because every other write up said something different.....but, Maureen.... she knows and has helped us with several other shrubs and trees over the past 7 years.  And, so... instead of ripping it out ...I'm trying fungicide... and no watering from the top...and no watering late in the day..and ...well,.... you get it.........

..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....

finally!! they're gone!

Worse than in-laws! Those horrible hiccups lasted from Thursday afternoon thru till 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning.. ...poor Mr. BV.  With only a few hours of respite during some sleeping hours....when after two hours of lying there lurching, he finally would manage to doze off and it seemed to abate. It was pretty wearing on us both, but he must have been totally exhausted from the physical severity of it. Me, because I was panicking a bit, especially by Saturday night when there seemed to be about 5 hours of crescendo... where every 3 seconds there was a huge "hic-GULP" with a very obvious gut wrench. Honestly, I just wanted to call the ambulance! My guy... typical man in that department if no other ... poo-pooed that of course. He has had this before ...but only once that I remember since we have been together... perhaps before my time with him ...and declares that it goes away in three days. I don't care..it's not right and I don't like it. There must be some underlying problem... I would want to know what that is...but then, that is me. Not him. By midnight on Saturday, listening to the sad sound of that almost "sobbing" of those damned hiccups...I, too, was sobbing ...... .

Somehow, during the day on Friday and also on Saturday...he continued to putz away on bits and pieces for the laundry room. I hung around helping where I could; worrying about using a table saw when he seemed so worn out. Did I mention he is more than a bit stubborn? He is safety conscious, but when he is that distracted... I still worry. I figure if I am there helping..it makes a difference. When he sat on the patio, in the sun, to make more calculations...I dashed out to plant a few more pansies....... I got lots done in the gardens, believe it or not. My favs... Delta Mix....














When he decided to call it quits...he looked at me, grinned, and asked if he should just hose me off on the driveway....... uhm...did I get that dirty? Oh, yeh.....I was filthy! Why is it that a person can begin puttering in gloves...and all of a sudden.. where did they go? why am I pressing fresh moist dirt around pansies with my bare hands..yet again? How, by the end of several hours... have I used about 4 different gloves, each belonging to different pairs?.... when I picked up my "toys" at sundown... I rounded up two leathers, one green fabric and another that was pink fabric with rubber palm.... good grief! Couldn't find my little hand rake.... had to do a major search for my hand shovel.... and it took me three trips to the shed with the rest of my "stuff" .... but, good thing we had a busy two days because for the next week it is going to be cooler and raining. Hope it smartens up for Wednesday... for golf with "my old guys".
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There is a recipe for this ..... the "best ever" Carrot Cake on my other blog if anybody is interested.

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"....