Sunny Sunday, New Camera

Posted on June 5, 2011 by candace

Saturday, Cory & I went out and did some shopping and I got a new camera. I love my little point-and-shoot camera, and I’ve learned to take some pretty good photos with it, but sometimes I would like to be able to do more. So, it seemed like time to buy a fancier camera which turned out to be a Canon EOS Rebel T3i. I don’t know how to use it yet, but I will learn.

On Sunday I tried out the Creative Auto settings. The cats did some posing for me.

Frank

Zappa

One of these things is not like the others...

I also decided it was time to place my garden stones.

How perfect is this one? Zappa obviously approves.

Lily of The Valley just starting to bloom.

And eventually I did something productive and transplanted two Orange Cherry Tomato plants.

There is a used book store on Germain Street that puts out transplants for sale this time of year. Last year I bought an Orange Cherry Tomato and Yellow Grape Tomato. I loved the Orange Cherry Tomatoes so much that this year I picked up two of them. They will likely get moved off the deck eventually, but that’s where they are for the moment.

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Special Guest Appearance By THE SUN!

Posted on May 31, 2011 by candace

May has been a rainy, rainy month; it feels like we hardly saw the sun at all. I’ve barely spent any time outdoors, I’ve not touched my veggie bed. All in all, I’m feeling a little spring-deprived. At least everything is green. 🙂

As a matter of fact, our lawn was starting to look like a jungle.

This was May 18, the Wednesday before the Victoria Day weekend. We had a rare sunny day, so I had to go out and have a look at things in the yard. The grass was long and the ground was squishing and squelching as I wandered around. Still, it was good to soak up some sun.

As you can see above, the phlox were starting to bloom and the forsythia bushes were showing some colour too.


Glory of the Snow are showing up a little late, going by the name, but we’ll take it.

The forecast for the long weekend didn’t look very promising, but we did end up getting a sunny Sunday afternoon. Dad helped me get my potatoes planted for this year, and I put in a few plants that arrived from Vesey’s on Friday.


Two Summer Sun Echinacea and two Heather Allegro. The other package on the table was an extra bonus that Vesey’s included – a package of Pink Fairy Lily bulbs. I haven’t quite decided where to put those yet.

Our Cherry tree was in full bloom and looking purty.

My bird bath with the little fairy got broken over the winter (I may have shed a tear over that), but I stuck it in the ground so I can still have it in my garden.

And Dad hung our new welcome sign (anniversary gift from Dad & Mom last winter – have been looking forward to seeing it all winter).

Since then we’ve had more rain, with the odd bit of sun. Yesterday and today were absolutely beautiful though – it feels sort of like we skipped spring and went straight to summer. Our lawn actually did get mowed last week, but the yard is still pretty wet. Hoping for some more sunny days to dry things up.

Addendum regarding the long weekend: The deer have indeed been munching on the new bunch of hostas. Sorry Mom! Maybe they will still manage to survive. Also, we did make the Beef & Asparagus rolls; we made a huge mess doing it but they turned out to be quite tasty. Thanks for the fresh Asparagus! 🙂

New closet is looking good too! Don’t worry, we’ll fill it up in no time. 🙂


Posted in Garden 2011, House Stuff | 1 Comment

Seedlings – Week 3

Posted on May 1, 2011 by candace

The seedlings are starting to look like tomato plants!

Today I transferred my tiny catnip seedlings to a bigger pot – still kept out of reach of the cats to give them a chance.

Catnip

Japanese Catnip

The should start to grow a bit faster now. I’m looking forward to comparing the varieties when they get bigger.

Posted in Catnip, Seedlings | 1 Comment

Seedlings

Posted on April 25, 2011 by candace

Tomato Seedlings - 2 weeks

I love starting seeds; I think it helps to soothe that longing for spring and the garden season.

I started mine two weeks ago, and by last Sunday all of the tomatoes (most of the top tray) had sprouted. There are also 4 peppers, which just sprouted this weekend. The second tray is mostly herbs, and they have mostly all sprouted within the last week. By this weekend, my tomato seedlings had their first set of true leaves.

Ailsa Craig - 2 weeks

At this point, the weather is up and down – we have some beautiful sunny days, but we also have some cold, rainy weather. In other words – Spring.  So I am happily tending to my seedlings every day and looking forward to (hopefully) lots of tomatoes.

Crocuses have also been blooming for a little over a week now. They are starting to wind down now, but I took these photos last weekend.

These are in the flower bed by the driveway, so we’ve been seeing them every time we come home, or whenever we look out the front window. They provide a welcome splash of color.

Speaking of looking out the front window, this is what I saw earlier today:


I looked out the window and happened to notice Frank staring intently toward the road, and the next thing I know deer were sauntering through our yard. A third one showed up after I took these photos.

And just for fun – Cory bought me a new waffle iron; how cute is this?

Hello Kitty!

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Getting Started for Garden Season 2011

Posted on April 10, 2011 by candace

April 10, 2011

We had a beautiful weekend and late Sunday afternoon I realized that I was missing all of it, spending time on indoor things…Like making baguettes for example…
We bought a container of Bruschetta at Costco but didn’t think to buy Baguettes or anything to go with it, so I decided to make my own. One came out kind of deformed looking, but they both tasted good.

However, there is a certain amount of waiting around time in the bread making process, so while the loaves were rising, in preparation for baking, I decided to head outside for a bit. Frank was of the opinion that he should come with me, so we went for a walk up the hill. Frank thoroughly enjoyed himself.

There are still patches of snow among the trees, but it’s almost gone.

In the garden, things are coming to life.

After I went inside and got the baguettes in the oven, I decided it was time to start my seeds. My little window greenhouses are now started, and before too long seedlings will take over my kitchen.

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April Fools Day – Prank by Mother Nature

Posted on April 3, 2011 by candace

Did you see my photos of flowers? And the fox running across mostly snow-free ground?

It was nice while it lasted. Friday April 1st? We had a snow storm.

We are not amused.

Posted in Winter 2010-2011 | 1 Comment

Friend Fox

Posted on March 22, 2011 by candace

We’ve seen our fox a few times, but it always happens so fast and the camera is never to hand. Our most notable viewing would have been the 3 am visit where the fox was taking care of our gopher problem – sadly, not a good outcome for the gopher.

However, today I happened to see the fox sauntering by and the camera was there in the living room. Still not a great photo, as it was taken through the window, and I was rushing, but I got him.

Wish I could have got a better shot. He’s a pretty cute little fella, and he had a jaunty air about him as he made his way up the hill.

It does make me extra glad that we have our fence and don’t let our cats roam though.

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Happy Vernal Equinox!

Posted on March 20, 2011 by candace

First day of Spring and what a beautiful day it was.

Nice to see you Firefly Crocus!

And you too Snowdrops!

Looking forward to your arrival tulips!

So the garden is not exactly bursting with life just yet…

As a matter of fact, the veggie patch is still covered in snow.

But the sky was blue and it was a lovely afternoon to relax and enjoy a bit of fresh air.

We even found some catnip.

Seems like a good start.

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Two Weeks

Posted on March 13, 2011 by candace

Two weeks can make such a difference!

This was our deck on March 1st:

March 1, 2011

On the following Friday the weather started to warm up, and by Sunday a lot of the snow had disappeared.

March 6, 2011


By this weekend, the snow was gone from the deck.

March 13, 2011

I couldn’t say for sure when all the snow disappeared, but I’m happy to see it gone.
There’s still snow out in the yard, but it’s definitely disappearing.

March 13, 2011

I was busy this weekend, doing all the usual weekend stuff, and while I wouldn’t say I didn’t notice the nice weather, I wasn’t really taking time to appreciate it. I went out this afternoon to drop something in the mailbox and realized that it was beautiful out and I didn’t want to go back inside right away.
So I took a quick detour through the house to grab my camera and went out to check on things in the yard.
Still snow around the edges, but closer to the house the snow is gone. Of course it’s pretty wet out there right now – I was squelching my way around. There are signs of life though and I’d say I will have snowdrops and crocuses before too long.

Snowdrops

Crocuses

Frank & Zappa assumed the usual positions.

Frank

Zappa

It really was a beautiful day. After touring the yard, I went for a short walk – wanted a bit more fresh air and sunshine!

I’m trying not to get too excited; I did hear a meteorologist utter a nasty word starting with the letter ‘s’ this morning. Still, a warm & sunny weekend does wonders for the spirit!

Checking in on those baby catnip plants; they’re still tiny but they are coming along.

Japanese Catnip

Regular Catnip

Posted in Catnip, Winter 2010-2011 | Leave a comment

Inching Closer…

Posted on March 1, 2011 by candace

Inching closer to the end of winter, I hope!

February went out with a bang. We had a snow storm on Friday, the 25th:

And another yesterday, Monday the 28th:

Today was sunny, the better to see our mountains of snow.

This has been one of the stormiest winters I can remember. At first I didn’t mind it much. Cory and I can work from home if the weather is bad, and if you don’t have to go out in it, a storm doesn’t seem so bad. But two solid months of snow storms is enough. It’s time for winter to wind down and give way to spring.

It’s too early to be starting seeds for the garden, but the catnip plant I keep in the house for the cats is pretty much done. If I’d noticed in time, I may have been able to repot it and save it…but I didn’t. So I’ve started some new ones which are oh-so-slowly growing on my kitchen window sill.

The one on the left, with the white tag, is a Japanese Catnip. I will be interested to see how different it is from the regular catnip, growing in the pot on the right. Right now they are just little green sprouts of course, but the cats and I are biding our time, waiting for them to grow, and waiting for spring to come.

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