Friday, March 2, 2012
Thursday, such a beautiful day. There was a mix of grey skies but eventually the sun burst through and I could see lovely blue sky and interesting looking cloud formations. Ethereal, misty, robust and strong .. quite a mix.Caught a brief glance of one of the eagles high overhead. Some low flying Canada Geese, heading for Swan Lake.
Thus far there hasn’t been a whole lot of interest in the new roofed suet holder. I’ve seen a Chickadee or two stop by for a visit. The Sparrows try, but they aren’t able to cling upside down as the chickadees, bush-tits and nuthatches do! Guess it takes a few days for my feathered friends to try something new.
Yesterday was such a day of accomplishment. I’d spent a few hours at the kitchen table, studying more about organic gardening. Oh my. One of these days I’ll continue with listing some gardening information, as I used to do. This helps me open my books and look up more information. And I’d really like to share what I learn.
There were so many choices to make yesterday..what kind of activities could I get myself involved with .. walking, gardening, housework .. screech to a halt. Not housework .. not when it is sunny outside.
So, as I usually do when I’m seeking inspiration .. I simply went outside. And walked around the yard. Noticed some daffodils are getting ready to bloom. And the bluebells… those lovely little flowers that I’m just not able to eradicate. They proliferate here, and having spent a lot of time over the years digging them up by the bucketful – I’ve given up on eradicating them.
They even grow through the leaf mulch mountain, up through the gravel, and thrive just being tossed to the side. If only the strength and sheer tenacity of the compounds of this bulb could be harvested and used for something else, like garlic or wheat …someone would make a fortune.
Anyway, I enjoyed being outside, observing any changes in the plants, loving the antics of the birds. The Anna’s might be going through their mating rituals I think .. I should read up on this so I’ll be more informed. All I know is that I saw the backyard Anna’s zipping around and then settle comfortably in the same tree, although on different branches.
Finally, I decided to tackle the front driveway. We still have materials from our house renovations there.. and so I took a deep breath, and started sorting and sorting. And sweeping. And raking up leaves. There were the occasional Yorkshire Tea breaks and I did settle down on the front steps .. the beautiful stairway that DH constructed last fall. Perfect for a relaxing tea sipping, suduko solving period of time. And, since time doesn’t exist in either gardening or outside cleanup .. I just relaxed.
Tea break over, I continued onwards and upwards. Finally I reached the stage where I could unravel the hose and wash away the superfluous minute debris that remained.
DH was impressed and I was satisfied with a job well done! As I toted my tools and now-empty Rubbermaid containers from the front to the back I felt a little twinge in my back .. uh oh .. who didn’t do their stretches, then!
I remember a Master Gardener speaking at the Garth Homer Centre many years ago … the Horticulture Society used to hold meetings there. He was very emphatic on the importance of exercise when gardening! Having injured his back, he spoke from experience. Lifting properly was also discussed. And I did listen. Although sometimes I kind of forget. As in yesterday! So I stretched and crouched and soon I was back to my limber self.
That reminds me! The Coronation Street “Rosie” lookalike who works at Dakota Cafe told me that she saw that there is a class “Exercise for Gardeners” at a local rec centre! That is a very good idea! Although we had a laugh as we pretended to “lift that shovel” “dig and dig” ..
Anyway .. all in all .. Thursday was a great day in every way!! Although the same cannot be said of CBC and Coronation Street! Argh .. I was nicely settled in and set to watch the double show of yesterday .. only to discover that a hockey game had recorded. CBC had switched the time of the show and I had missed it.
Although, really, what did I miss! More badly written scripts. The storylines have been going from worse to “I can’t believe I’m actually watching this drivel” .. this from me, who had started the first ever Coronation Street fan club in Victoria, many years ago. I .. along with the 50 or so club members .. were all so thrilled to be watching this show.
CS has had its ups and downs over the years, but the downs normally lasted for a short time. Now, they just are nowhere near close to the integrity of the show as it once started out. And the plots are laughable. (don’t get me started!).
There is still a core group of 8 of us former CS fan club who meet monthly for dinner. And we are all in agreement about the lack of interest in the show. We are months behind, so no point in sending Granada Studios our feedback.
Anyway .. here are some extremely positive videos regarding our food and our planet, eloquently spoken by some young kiddies! Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUeLjNvjz9E&feature=relmfu
and:
and here’s a link to show how beautiful and easy it is to grow sweet potato vines: http://www.houseplantsforyou.com/how-to-grow-an-old-fashioned-sweet-potato-vine/
🙂