A Golden Reminder

A friend who was staying over remarked that the golden leaves of the deciduous trees kept making him think that the sun was out and shining. When he glanced out of the window, he would again be tricked into thinking the day was blue and sunny despite the unceasing rain.

And of course, in one way, he wasn't being tricked with sunlight having been once used to make the leaves to begin with. Preserved Sunlight. A wonderous thing.

The weeping birch tree in my yard, with its fine, delicate leaves is like a spire of dappled sunlight against the grey sky. It is a fifty foot lightning rod, though in this case,  a sunlight rod, that is channeling the gold energy of sunlight back into the earth.

How fitting for the coming of winter and the darker days ahead. When the last gold leaf falls, I shall imagine the earth below storing and holding the golden energy for the greeness of spring.

In this way, my weeping birch is a reminder of the continuous flow of energy, energy that changes, transforms and transmutes.

 

The Garden Gardens Itself

Mags_nasturtiums

The garden overfloweth. I left my little garden area to its own devices. I put in the perennials I had brought from the old garden, threw in some sunflower and nasturtium seeds and ignored it. I wanted to see how well it would fare on its own and if indeed there would be enough sun for anything to flourish.

I needn't have worried. Everything took off, even the grapes finally got in on the act though I still might move them to another spot. The rose bush is not happy. I do realize that and that too will have to be moved to an area with more sun. I am pleased it survived the move though and that is all that matters. Mags2_nasturtiums

I tell Maggie not to walk through the nasturtiums as the bees are humming in the blooms and wouldn't want any sudden misfortune to happen either to dog or bee.

So she sits and waits while I admire the tumble.

 

Mags3_nasturtiums

Yawn. Okay. One more pic.

 

Nasturtiums

Ya think I planted too many nasturtium seeds?

Quite different from when I first arrived and it was a chicken pen.

Garden_july

 

Garden_beginnings

Read More

The Raptors

GreatgreyowlfeatherAfter the Lavender Labyrinth, our Magical Mystery Tour took us to the Pacific Northwest Raptors Center. (No, not velociraptors. I don't know, that just always comes to mind when I see their sign. Maybe that's just me.)

And although 'tis always sad to see such lovely birds in cages or tethered, it is good to know there is a place for injured animals that can not be released back into the wild. Here, they get cared for and exercised and take on the roll of educators. It is good to see a child with a hawk or owl on their arm instead of a gameboy in their hand. You know that's going to set a great neural pathway in the brain.

 

Read More

Cowichan Valley Lavender Labyrinth

Whitespike_lavenderThe bees were a-buzz at the lavender labyrinth and no wonder, with 20 varieties of lavender to examine. The variety "White Spike", was a favourite amongst those walking the labyrinth although there were some other fantastic lavenders as well, such as the ones that had an apple or fruity scent and oh yes, the yellow lavender that smelled like lemons was also a hit (I noticed they were sold out of the pots).

 

The maze itself is fairly large but not overwhelmingly so and if you get a chance, when you are in the gift shop, ask for a peak at their drying room. It is truly a wonderous place of cool, dark lavender goodness. You could be cured of what ails you just by standing in there I reckon!

 

TullyThey of course have the sweetest dog. She's a little scruff of a thing with the cutest fur, well, just look at her... snoogums! She's the official greeter.

If you can get a chance to go, I highly recommend it. Cowichan Valley Lavender Labyrinth

Read More

Aurora Borealis

Standing half-way up Mt. Erskine, the first thing that came to mind was the incredible sweet smell in the dark air. Long grasses, Douglas Firs and Cedars, all mixed in the warm air. Then, as our eyes adjusted to the dark, more and more stars appeared until the Milky Way was so dense above us, we could see the shadows left amongst the stars. I had not noticed these before until a Peruvian friend pointed out the negative shapes. In the Andean heritage, the shadow shapes were as important as the starry shapes. These shadows, the Andeans call "The Llama, the Fox, The Toad and Snake."

We were up on the mountain to catch a glimpse of the Aurora Borealis and we were not disappointed. Although it was a 'diffuse aurora' and not a 'discrete aurora' with all its wave-like curtain formations, it was still a stunning sight.

Auroa

Over the orange glow of the city, a faint band of green could be seen. It grew stonger as time passed.

Off to the north-west, out of the glow of the warm city lights of Vancouver, a more ghostly green illumination backdropped the fir trees.

Auroa borealis

 

Read More

The Hives

We have two beehives in the garden now. Did I already mention that? I can't remember with all the goings on around here. At any rate, we have two hives named "Party Hive" and "Sky Hive". The nicknames kinda stuck the very first evening we put them in their homes. I'm sure something more noble will follow, but for now that is who they are. Both hives have different personalities. Party Hive is always super active, really sweet-tempered and always curious about what is going on in the garden. Sky Hive is very mellow and also sweet-tempered but more busy with what is going on IN the hive rather than out. Yin and Yang I suppose.

Hives
Sitting with the Bees

Anyway, I had a peek to see how they were faring with the poor weather conditions. I'm pleased to see both hives looking healthy.

 

New_comb
New Comb

 

Read More

Time and Tide

...wait for no man...

I like this view, sitting on the top of Erskine, watching the swallows, vultures and the tide below. I also thought I saw a whale... but maybe not... but maybe so...It was a shadowy shape that rose, seemingly to the surface and made, what I was assuming a white frothy churn from its blow-hole before disappearing again. These are times when you wished you had packed binoculars to an already straining backpack. Alas... now I will never know if what I saw was what I saw or what I saw wasn't.

Tide

Read More

wol

Sitting neat as you please, on my garden fence post was this enormous Barred owl.

Barredowl2

I had been making some lunch and noticed that the robins were being particularly shrieky and annoying. So I stood on the patio, idly glancing around at the sky and trees, wondering what on earth the fuss was about... until our eyes met.

Then it was me who started making shrieky noises as I raced around looking for cameras and lenses. "An owl, an owl, an owl! A Wol! My first one of the year. In my yard. An owl. A Wol!

And WHY is this camera on a tripod NOW? And what do you mean it won't fit through the door with all three legs splayed out? Zounds!

The owl, cool as a cucumber, waited for me to get my nit-witted self together and take a couple of snaps. No doubt it heard me crashing about in the house, talking excitedly to myself.

After about fifteen minutes it flew into the forest, her patience with the dive-bombing robins coming to an end.

Barredowl4

When those eyes fix on you, you feel as small as a mouse and I recalled that often owls can bring shadowy messages. I left her to her woodland roaming.

Read More