Visions of Green.

The end of the day light from the West, shining

thru the oval window above our front entrance.

And the beautiful green leaves outside the of

the cottage, picture perfect in the window.

~ Chy

 

After the Snow.

A series of meetings and counselling

sessions on the snowy day that kept

us busy while the wind howled outside.

The day before, the landscape was full

of colors, which quietly turned to a big

blanket of fluffy white snow everywhere.

~ Chy

Lush and Green.

Despite the harsh heat wave (ending today, thankfully!), the landscape around us is lush and green. This time of year at the cottage is so beautiful. Except for the weeds. I'm hopeful the cooling trend for the weekend does happen so we can get caught up again. We did let the dandelions grow this year as recommended for the bees but now I want to pull them up before they turn white and seed. We also have horsetail weed that has come up in the last 2 years. I just read a great article on how to get rid of it (not pulling as that encourages more growth) so we'll be working on this as well. Living in the country, we'll never get rid of every single weed but we like to keep them at bay so our property looks well cared for. We take pride and the hard work is worth it. 

Today I'm excited to meet with our new team member this morning. She'll be integrated into our team as well as the residential care team. We are all tired at the moment as hospice care is hard work so having new energy is already proving to be helpful. I love sharing our programming and look forward to working with her. We hope to hire another grief counsellor as well soon as our caseloads are high and at the moment, just the 3 of us providing this care. I'm doing less and less counselling as my position as director entails a lot of commitment to other areas so in time, the wait for client care is going to be long. A work in progress is in place for a new team member. That will take some pressure off. 

I'm off to work out, shower, water the garden and then head in to hospice. Home in the afternoon to do more work, then an evening off to do whatever I want while dh does his radio show. No plans just yet. I should paint our granddaughter's dollhouse that I'm working on. She requested pink for the exterior. And I have to see if I have enough shingles to attach those for character. At the moment, the roof is just flat wood. The windows are opaque as well so I'm hoping I can find windows the same size to order. I hope she loves the end result. Finding furniture will be up to the mama and the papa but I may see if there is anything in my stash to get her started. I love how much she wants this dollhouse. 

Wishing you a beautiful sun~filled day.

Namaste my sweet blogging buddies.

~ Chy

Greening Up.

I love this time in Spring when everything finally starts to bloom and the green is overwhelming. I love the lighter green of this season and the fresh colors of pink, blue and purple in our gardens. Fresh dirt and just a few weeds here and there so far. We weeded our veggie patch last Sunday with the hope of planting our seeds but then it started to rain early in the week and we ended up with snow! Now we wait for a few dry days, like to day, with warm air and hot sun. A long weekend here in Canada ~ Victoria Day. I was done work yesterday in the afternoon and now don't go back to the hospice until Tuesday. Even though I only go in the mornings at the moment, it's lovely to have this break as our bodies are weary. We plan to clear where our new shed will go so our neighbor can level out that spot and do some regrading for us in the front gardens ~ our front path needs to have a better angle so the water doesn't pool. And once that is done, we'll then plant our seeds. If all goes well, we may be able to build the shed deck. But it is supposed to rain on Monday, so fingers crossed the rain stays away until Tuesday. My dream for gardening schedule would be light rain during the week (no thunder and lightening) and sun on the weekends. Wouldn't that be a perfect weekend set up? 

Today was busy. A bit of a sleep in, then workouts, showers, tidy up, head off to the little greenhouse down the road from us ~ in our 5 years of living out here in our little cottage in the big woods, we've never ventured over to the greenhouse so it was great to visit today and see what we've been missing. It's quite a bit bigger than it looks from the road. We were greeted at the entrance with a purple and green gnome sporting a sweet mask. Lovely staff eager to help and so many plants to choose from. We bought a trailing vine, a six pack of pink begonias and a six pack of baby's breath. I already picked up 2 spikes from the big greenhouse in town but they didn't have anymore wave petunias for my pots. We have to go back next week as they will have more planted by then. Also looked at some sweet shrubs for when we've done the landscaping we have planned for this year. 

After the greenhouse, we headed down the road to swap out our bbq tank for a new one. Then home to unload our plants and the tank. Headed into town to pick up landscaping lights, some tree fertilizer and then to Indigo to see if my County Living U.K. Edition was in .... and it was! Over to the grocery store to pick up some fresh food, then to our bank to clear out our Safety Deposit Box. We've switched banks but have our main account and our 2 TFSA's still at the old bank. One step at a time as it's a lot to move financial institutions after 20 years. So happy for the switch and our choice for our new bank. Just a lot of work to get everything moved. 

Home to put our groceries away and as we pulled up, we were surprised to see the fridge we ordered last week sitting on the driveway. We weren't expecting it until Monday. But it's here now. Tomorrow, we'll move it in to the spot we have set aside in the garage. This is going to be so helpful when we have celebrations and need extra space for food and drinks. We chose a vintage style and hope when we uncrate it tomorrow, all is well. While dh taped a radio segment, I chilled out on the deck, reading the final chapters of my book. Dd brought dinner home and we then settled in to watch the hockey game ~ we lost. It was still a great day. 

More as we go.

Namaste buddies!

~ Chy

Isn't it awful?

Our landscaping continues. This is the

corner that I hate but we have plans!

Here our air conditioner is housed, the

dog run for our pup who is no longer

with us. We hope to have a new pup

in the future, so it's clean and ready to

be used then. We have 4 lamps on the

left (only 3 are visible) and there are

some weeds and a scraggly tree that

planted itself! So what are the plans?

We started today and cleared out the

weeds, leveled the ground, picked up

any large stones we could find, moved

the 4 lamps to their mutually agreed

upon spots, extended the tiny walk way

with the recycled tire stepping stones,

decided where we would put the extra

rain barrel we have and put the falling

apart straw bale into the trees in the

middle of the trees. Next we'll fill the

open space with mulch, dig around

the tree and fill it with fresh dirt, and

then we'll be bringing in some clay

and dirt to build up the space beyond,

Pictures to follow of our progress as

we go. It's hard work but so rewarding!

~ Chy

Finally .... Rain.

We finally received a day and half of

sweet rain. Finally, our landscape is

beginning to look and feel more like

Spring should at this time of year.

~ Chy

Landscape.

 

A cold morning ~ but NOT deep freeze cold.
Looking forward to a cozy weekend at home.

~ Chy

Our Local Park.

Recently we spent some time in our

local park that is in the centre of town.

It features a lake, complete with a couple

of bridges and even two little islands.

The landscaping is so colorful. Pretty

pink flowered trees and gorgeous bushes.

A fountain in the middle and geese

and ducks all over. Love this place!

Buds and Floods.

Late afternoon walks and we finally

found some buds on our willow trees.

These will grow a bit more and then

we'll harvest some for our preschool.

Water in areas where water normally

does not go. So much snow this year ....

.... which has resulted in flooding in

different regions in our Province.

We've been okay so far but some areas

are devastated by the enormous amounts

of water. Hoping the warm temperatures

will dry up all the extra water. Hoping.

Our Winter Garden.

 As pretty as the snow is right now, I

much prefer a greener landscape.

In the Spring, we're going to start

to plant some cedars and firs so that

there will be green all year long,

once the leaves fall from the trees.

Our little garden bench, looking lost

and forlorn in the bitter cold wind.

Our perennials are now buried deep

beneath a white blanket until Spring.

And our tiny little teeter totters are still

happily "playing" away despite the cold.

Is there snow in your region?

Do you miss your garden like me?

The Shining.

Our beautiful landscape when the sun

is shining on the freshly fallen snow.

A blue sky with few clouds and bright

sun to warm the Earth. Incredible shot.

Wishing the snow would be just this

amount for the entire Winter season.

But we know that soon it will be in abundance

and we'll somehow find ways to survive it all.

Rebirth.

An old stump beside the garden, that once

supported a tree, is now in "rebirth" mode.

Landscape Dreaming.

Our landscape artist brought over our plan

a few weeks ago for our final approval.

She worked magic with our blank slate.

And now we have ideas to fill our space.

It's likely going to take us 4 or 5 years to

finish all that we hope to create in the garden.

I'm sure it will be worth the wait.

Until then, I continue to dream ....

Spring Vignette.

Today, we are in the middle of a heavy snowfall.

Of course, its the long weekend and we were

hoping to try to begin our gardening. But at least

we can be home, warm and cozy while it snows.

A couple of weeks ago, we brought out our

wicker rocker, bench and kids wicker chair.

The sun was shining, the air was warm

and the chickadees were singing sweetly.

We had fun putting together a little Spring vignette

for our veranda. Soon we'll bring out the rest of

the wicker set and start working on our plans to

create a hanging swing for one side of the veranda.

For now, we can gaze out the window at

the snow covered trees and the drifts that

have accumulated around our landscape.

It's not freezing cold so I'm sure this will

melt soon and after last years fires in our

region, the extra moisture will be welcome

by many. I'm hoping that once it melts,

we'll see a much greener world. Truly

looking forward to landscaping our little

piece of country paradise this summer. 

How is the weather for your Easter weekend?

Do you have big family plans to celebrate?

Out the Window.

A frosty morning landscape. One of

my favorite things about Winter.

With the overcast sky and the hoar

frost covered trees, it's cozy inside.

But chilly and silent outside. I love the

quiet of the pretty scene gifted to us.

Big Difference.

Our front veranda and landscape late

in the day on October 4th, 2016.

Our front veranda and landscape late

in the day on October 8th, 2016.

What a big difference just a few days 

can make. Our world is now all white.

Did you get any snow this weekend?

Or is your world still brightly colored?

Floral Forest.

We had a very dry and warm Winter. 

The beginning of our Spring was hot 

and dry. Now we are being hit hard by 

storm after storm, with big rainfalls,

loud thunder and impressive (but scary)

lightening! The plus side to all this

moisture is the lush and green plants.

I just wish we had some sun as well.

How is your garden doing?

Are you receiving lots of rain?