November 21 & 22, 2010
Brrrr .. I was going to write on my blog yesterday … and all I felt like writing was a big BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
This is really winter, there is no pretending any more. Looking out the window and seeing the snow and frost .. just can’t deny its presence anymore.
Oops.. maybe I shouldn’t have looked out the window .. I spy with my little eye: plants that didn’t get dug in …despite my best efforts. Luckily, these are hardy perennials, so they’ll be ok in their pots. Although, I will mulch around them with some more hay & leaf mulch. Also see some of my lovely new hoses somehow missed being coiled up and brought inside. When the first frost free day appears (it will happen) I’ll drain them and will roll them up neatly to rest up inside till next spring.
I think of the lovely little garlic cloves, nestled in their leafy mulch/hay, resting up, saving energy to grow with abandon in the spring!!
We tried to logon on to NASCAR yesterday, registered, paid for the day, drilled down to the final screen and saw that we needed to be using another cable system! Last race of the year, race had already started an hour prior. Race not shown on tv, just football .. couldn’t there just be one channel with the race?
Finally contacted Redd’s Roadhouse and we could watch there, so on we went. Joy .. able to see that final 60 laps and see Gordon’s backflip, what a guy. Good race. Nice thing about NASCAR, besides their absolutely hilarious commercials, is how they welcome viewers into that world. Explaining the techniques of the tracks, introduce the racers, their vehicles/teams. I used to think of racing as a world unto its own .. and to a certain extent, it is .. however, they do their utmost to share this world with all its eccentrities, personalities and variables with everyone. And I’m finding it more interesting the more I watch.
Later we zipped out to Dakota Cafe hoping to have a pot of tea and watch the aviation world outside … winter hours, close at 2:30 .. so we had to cancel that. Lovely feedback on the appearance of hummingbirds at the pineapple sage .. happy about that! Snow covering flowers .. so will prune at a later date.
Planning to bring out more drought tolerant plants in the spring .. have been propagating Buddleia (white & lavender) more Euphorbia, will start some sage & wildflower seedlings. Will try and keep the calendulas contained in some pots and leave room in the herbal garden for more edible plants and will place some stepping stones throughout, so it will be easier to maintain!
Right now I’m listening to Yadong Guan .. such graceful, enchanting music. And remembering the song that she song to her husband on Saturday evening .. although I could not understand the language of the song, there was no doubt as to her love for him .. which was evident by the tone of her voice. So lovely.
More beautiful music to listen to when I’ll be working in the garden. Looking forward to that.
Today’s weather is unchanged from yesterday. So no gardening (outside) today. Plenty of other activities, though. Sorting. Drawing up a plan of what is where in the garden. Started to do that a few weeks ago and realized that I need to do this in six foot sections. I was running out of paper, when I tried to list the plants from left to right. Ok, maybe I have a few too many plants in certain areas right now .. will have to work on rearranging them in the spring.
The rich soil has led to increased plant growth, especially with the incredible Costmary plants .. which I’ll be separating in spring. I love the minty perfume of these leaves. The plants do get leggy at their final height of over 3 feet .. so need to be staked or pruned. The tiny yellow flowers remind me of Tansy buttons. The leaves make great bookmarks, too. Hmmm … will bring a few of these to Dakota Cafe in the spring – they’ll look nice in pots against the fencing.
One thing is for sure, this winter I’ll be able to indulge my joy of looking through all of my gardening books, making notes and planning for the spring. With well over 100 books, this should keep me out of mischief for awhile.
🙂
Snow … lots and lots of … snow coming down!! Time to go outside and play.
Searched for and found .. my winter boots! Bundled up in warm clothes and my trusty brown chapeau, I walked around the yard, taking a few photos, protecting camera with said hat. No gloves, so fingers frozen .. had forgotten how painful warming up frozen hands could be!
Gloves on .. set out on a long walk around the neighbourhood. Traffic was light. Roads were clearing, it doesn’t appear as if the snow will stick around, at this point, anyway. Found another route to part of the Swan Lake creek area. Mine were the only footprints .. up to a point. One other person was taking a short circular walk and back home! Had a close up look at the allotment gardens and the mountain of leaf mulch outside, awaiting the transfer to the individual beds by the avid gardeners. This allotment seems to be quite large .. so good so see the land being used for this purpose.
At a few points during my snowy morning walk – the traffic sounds faded away until all I could hear was the steady scrunch scrunch scrunch sounds made by my boots as I progressed along my route. The soft powdery sounds of snow swirled around .. enveloping me in a little cocoon of fluffy white dots .. felt as if I were in a Christmas globe that someone had just shaken up. A la Polar Express! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Polar_Express_(film) All around me .. as far as I could see along the roads, through the trees and bushes, up in the sky … was snow snow snow. No other person. Few vehicles. Lovely … relaxing.
Saw some chickadees and a squirrel flying cheerfully through the trees. A jolly fat robin in a pyracantha …. pretty flowers bowed over with the delicate layering of snow.
Twas a lovely walk and I’ll soon go out for another! Hmm … another look out the window shows thicker snowflakes!!
🙂
Well, the weather has definitely taken a big turn for the worse. Wind still swirling around, gusting, actually. Thicker snow. Snow warnings abound. Tillicum closed off, big accident at Cadillac. Pat Bay traffic blocked up, northbound. Black ice. People discouraged from driving. Up to 10 cm of snow. Think I’ll postphone my walk.
