This old pale yellow, "Own root " rose has only been in place four years. It must be very happy, as it's taking over the porch. I give it a drink of fish fert twice before it blooms, then I try to keep up with dead heading, but that's nearly impossible!. In the foreground is my potted gardens. We have very little soil, so I grow most everything in raised beds, or pots. These are 15 - 20 gal size from a nursery that sells trees.
I was checking out Erin Benzakeins' flower farm blog this morning, and she inspired me to get out and snap a few pics. It has been so cold here ... 'How cold was it?' ... well under seasonal averages, and everything seems to be shivering.
However, I do have a few nice vignettes in the yard.
Fairies must live here, don't you think?
There are loads of places for the wee folk. My Granddaughters and I discover special hiding places, and try to make good Fairies welcome.
So, even in the cold, dreary June we've had, there is an abundance of beauty around. You just have to get out and have a look. Thanks Erin from Floret.
Our computer has been acting up, perhaps a case of the flu? So it makes it difficult to post, however, there are a few pics' worth sharing.
These are Pink Fawn Lilies, from the Honeymoon Bay Wild Flower Reserve . They bloom in early Spring, and carpet the forest floor for a couple of weeks, but if you miss them, you have to wait another year to see them. Fleeting and beautiful.
This is lovely old "Vulcan" rhododendron at our front porch. Quite a show, it almost glows.
I'm at a lul between late Spring flowers, and some summer blooms. June is proving to be unseasonably cool and wet, so things are taking some time. However, our 12'-14' temperature is promising to heat up next week! Peonys are on the horizon.
Such a day! A group of us gathered at Val Galvins' Renditions in Rags for a Studio Day. Wool had been soaking overnight, and Vals' passion for what she does so well soon had us all caught up in the excitement of hand dyeing wool.
We had a lesson in the colour wheel and intensity, dyeing recipes, and two techniques.
The 'Casserole' dye results were very reminiscent of our old Hippie, Tie-Dye days. Yes, you scrunch up the wool to be dyed, and put it in a casserole dish, add dye, vinegar and salt. Yum! Cover, and bake.
The other method, was probably more 'Traditional'. You know, "Bubble bubble, toil and trouble". This way each dye pot had one colour and several pieces of wool. If the wool was re-cycled, and had already been coloured, there were surprises to be had there too.
This is all the dyed wool in the sink, there were four batches (four pots on the stove). As you can see, the pink/red has a little plaid piece, that when cut for hooking will make an interresting texture, without having to think about it.
The piece you see to the left of the yellows is a casserole dye piece.
What a beautiful sight! I really do remember hanging diapers out to dry, and how that pleased me. Just the sense of accomplishment I guess. But now this! This truly is my pleasure.
The past couple of weeks, I've had the pleasure of visiting long-time girlfriends. Needless to say, it's been a busy time, involving the pleasure of company, and just getting 'out there' experiencing nature. And tea. And bakeries...
We went to Milner Gardens at Qualicum Beach as they were having a plant sale. And the Tea room was open for lunch. Inside the house was a lot of memorabilia of the current "Royals". Charles and Diana were there when they attended Expo '86 in Vancouver. Her handwriting was very innocent looking, all loopy with a little happy face. Sweet girl. Other Royals, too. Such a beautiful private setting.
I also had the pleasure of peeking into a couple of girlfriends gardens a little closer to home. This one is a perfect example of a Spring garden in Ladysmith.
And the next one is of a summer houses' very old, beautiful garden in Honeymoon Bay.
And now, out to my garden! Enjoy your day.
Here are a few blogs I've been following lately. One day, I'll figure out how to feature blogs on my 'sidebar', but for now, this was the best I could come up with.
Deanne Fitzpatrick's newsletters are full of info on one of my recent addictions, rug hooking. Her article on "Create Beauty Everyday" sure makes me think I'm frittering my time away.
I go to Val Galvins' rug hooking workshops in Chemainus every month. I featured her studio Renditions in Rags in a previous post. She has lots of pics and info on her facebook page.
This Blog is inspirational. Get out there, and create a beautiful flag, that means something to you, and hang it outdoors to spread your message. We have a ton of Tibetan Prayer Flags hanging off our porches, spreading Peace as they shred in the wind. I love the idea of them, and the look of their shreds.
I seem to be wanting to post a really happy scene, and the only ones coming to me lately are indoors! The weather outside is frightful ... really. So here's Sunday morning. Lovely.
In a few days I'll be on an adventure in "Sidney-by-the-sea" and should return with signs of Spring.
I can't keep giong on and on about our freaky weather, can I? Seriously, in the past three days Honeymoon Bay has had well over 16 inches, or 40 cm. of snow. Yuk! I'm dreaming of this:
Photo from Southlands
and what do we get?? This! No kidding...
So a little more web surfing, garden planning, and dreaming of warmer weather.
