Green Wellies

A west coast welcome...

It seems like only days since Em, Adam and Aethan were here a week and a half ago and they came again on Monday.  Adam's mom, Andrea flew from Ontario for her first visit to the west coast and they wanted her to have the ferry experience and to have her meet me and me meet her.  I felt as though an old friend had walked through the door...she's wonderful to be with and you've got to love someone who will help themselves to tea, look in drawers to find a knife for the cheese and thinks the quirks of a tiny cottage are perfect.  Naturally, a walk on the beach is a must for anyone who arrives on my doorstep and the day couldn't have been better for this time of year...no rain, no wind, calm ocean and brilliant blue sky as the backdrop.

It gave mom and son a chance to catch up...

The dogs relished the extra hands throwing balls...

Aethan picked up rocks and walked with his nanny, chatting the whole time, a wonderful sound that I can't get enough of...

Two shadows of two great people blended together on the sand...

   

...while a gull gave new meaning to "a bird's eye view" as it watched us from the top of a totem pole.

Welcome to the coast, Andrea and I can't wait for you to make a return visit!

* all photo credits go to Em...she had the foresight to take the camera

Mother and son weekend...

I booked time off from doing respite with a foster child, so that I could free up the weekend to spend with my son.  Robb came up on Saturday and after a quick lunch, I donned my new arc'teryx beanie that he brought for me and we took Casper and Indy to the beach.  I still haven't quite got the hang of using the Chuck-it thingy with the tennis balls, so Robb gave me some pointers and captured the moment, while Indy waits up ahead.  I think more practice is in store, but the dogs are game for anything...

It was raining on and off all day, so that morning, I made a good thick soup of yams, potatoes, carrots, onions and rice for dinner to have with foccacia bread and brie and look at this, the rain stopped and the sunset through the trees was an incredible golden light reflecting off the ocean...just before we sat down to eat...

Later that evening, we decided to rent a movie and chose Fido, namely because Billy Connolly stars in it and my son-in-law was involved in the filming of it...over the top and good fun.

On Sunday morning, Robb made one of the best omelettes for breakfast that I've ever eaten...with finely chopped shallot and red pepper. Then on went my new beanie, the dogs were loaded into the car and we drove to Porpoise Bay Provincial Park.  We walked the beach, the salt marsh and followed a trail into the woods that ran beside a stream.  Here's a sampling of the photos he took as we tramped along...

This photo of Indy running through the reeds at warp speed is one of my favourites...it looks more like a painting than a photograph and captures the spirit of this little terrier...

And finally, Robb had to head home to Vancouver and while visits with my kids never seem long enough, we certainly made use of every minute together and I loved every one of those minutes...

* Credits to Robb for the photographs, with thanks for a super time!

And he can cook, too...

Jayne and I had an incredible time with our brother, Phil and his wife, Janet.  For the most part, the weather was kind and that meant beach walks both here and at Jayne's.  It wasn't long before the beach glass bug struck and pockets were being filled...

We walked and walked, much to the delight of the dogs in tow (Jayne is still laughing in this photo, after repeatedly warning us about holes along the breakwater, only to stumble into one herself)...

 

We marched along a trail dotted with old logging equipment, perfect for a brother and sister photo opportunity...

We built our own inukshuk and it was a real group effort with my niece being part of the fun...

It ended up looking like a rock version of a sock monkey...

We left him watching out over the ocean...

What really happened was that we played and played all day, laughing and joking around from morning until night.  Janet is like a sister to Jayne and me and has the most wonderful outlook on life that we find contagious.  Even after so many years together, my brother is still her dear, dear sweetheart and we love her for it. 

Phil was like my own personal Mr. Fix-it (I didn't ask him to be...honest).  He put in new kitchen taps for me, changed some door knobs, filed down an old skeleton key to fit the lock on my door, fixed one of the cupboard doors so now it really closes, urged me to buy a rice steamer (I did and have been eating rice ever since), filled in cracks that stuck out like a sore thumb after I'd painted the dining nook's walls and gave us a lesson on toilet tank 101, complete with flashlight so that we have a real understanding of its internal organs and how to fix them.  But, that's not all.  Phil can cook up a storm and we all pitched in as sous chefs, chopping, dicing and mixing according to his instructions, with the end result being some of the best meals I've had in ages...his own special pasta with barely cooked crunchy veggies and a rice and veggie stir fry that would be hard to beat (scallops and tiger shrimp for the non-vegetarians in the crowd, namely everyone but me).

A week wasn't nearly long enough.  He needs to either open his own restaurant or come to visit much more often.  Thanks for those wonderful, happy and laughter-filled days...the memory of our time together warms the cockles of my heart.

Sister love...

I will be away from the computer for a week or so.  My brother, Phil and his wife, Janet are driving across Canada to the west coast to visit my sister and me.  They should be arriving tomorrow, weather permitting.  They've had nothing but rain and fog for most of the journey...not the best way to see the sights through northern Ontario and across the prairies.  We've had nothing but rain on the coast for days on end, too and I've got my fingers crossed that the sun will be back on the Sunshine Coast when they get here.  The garden is a soggy mess and the high winds have toppled most plants.  They will be staying with me for a couple of days and then we are heading north to my sister's place for a few days.

I went through some vintage family photos and found some of Phil and me together...Jayne didn't arrive for another fourteen years...a most welcome surprise for the whole family.  It's apparent from looking at the photos that I wouldn't let go of him for a minute...I'm either hugging him or have him in a headlock.  Just wait until he steps out of the car tomorrow...some things never change!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM CANADA

I send out a very hearty and heartfelt Thanksgiving to friends and family around the world.  May your life be filled to the brim with bountiful love, joy and laughter.  I give thanks for the friendship from each and every one of you.  I feel so grateful to be sharing this part of life's glorious journey with you.

And the minute you get the chance, please, please read this wonderful book by Elizabeth Gilbert...

Taking a little trip...back soon

My sister and I are flying east to Ontario to visit with our mom for a week.  This is the last hurrah of the summer, which has been a busy Grand Central couple of months.  Once the garden is tucked away for fall and the outside work is done, I'll have more time to devote to reading your blog posts and I'm certainly looking forward to it.  Just because you don't hear from me as often, know that you are all in my thoughts and I continue to be grateful for this worldwide web of friendships that keeps on growing.  What magnificent women you are!  Have a great week and I'll be back with photos and stories of our journey.  Peace...

Surprise and then some...

Last weekend was the great surprise party for my son-in-law.  His mom arrived from Toronto and forty guests showed up at Gwen's house to help the family celebrate.  We had a window of two hours to transform the place while Sean was out on the pretense of helping Robb and Vi move the sofa into their new home.  The car went off down the street and we went into action.  A tent was put up on the front lawn, complete with a neighbour's wicker furniture and lanterns and everything got rearranged in the kitchen and living room.  Wine, cheese, crackers, fruit, dip, bread, plates, napkins, glasses and birthday cakes came out of hiding and onto white tablecloths.  Guests arrived in droves and we were ready and waiting.  The look on Sean's face when he walked through the door, was priceless.  He thought we were having a family barbecue and had stopped to pick up some corn on the way home, so the surprise was a surprise after all.  The rooms were full of laughter, good music, remember whens and heaps of fun until well after midnight.  Even the pouring rain couldn't dampen the spirit of the day.  The next morning called for a little quiet time, but out on the back step, the music continued as nephew and uncle sang a Beatles song...Mother Nature's Son...

In the loop...

After having a foster child here for respite for the past week, I'm getting ready yet again to head to Vancouver for the weekend.  There's going to be a rather large surprise birthday party for my son-in-law at Gwen's.  Sean's mom is arriving from Toronto tomorrow to take part in the festivities and all of the west coast family members will be there.  Yippee...more grandson time with nanny!

I've been busy in the garden since I got home from Jayne's, despite several rainy days doing their best to put a damper on things.  Regardless of the weather, Casper looks forward to his long beach walks twice a day and so do I.  He looked like he'd been dragged through a hedge backwards yesterday, after swimming through seaweed, scouring the rocks for crabs and nosing about in a freshly edged muddy border of the garden searching for wood bugs.  He's not fond of baths, but we didn't have a choice in the matter and once it's over, he loves to preen.  Just look at my wispy dandelion of a dog, all clean and fluffy.  Good dog, Casper...

 

This is completely off-topic, but after Sandra commented on a flickr photo of mine, showing some piled rocks and saying that it reminded her of the land art of Andy Goldsworthy, I decided to try my hand at doing something similar on the gravel patch in front of the fountain.  Here's Andy's handiwork...

His stones are cracked to follow a continuous line around the spiral and even though another flickr member told me how to do this by hitting the rocks with another rock, I couldn't manage to come even close to breaking one.  I gathered basalt from the beach and placed a heart-shaped stone in the center.  I started scratching the stones to imitate the crack lines of Andy's and when it stops raining, I'll be able to work on the rest...

"Half the interest of a garden is the constant exercise of the imagination."  Mrs. Earle 1897

I received a surprise card in the mail, all the way from Sanday, one of the Orkney Islands.  Beth found it at the little post office there, when she rode her bicycle to mail some letters.  She knew that I would love it and it's easy to see why...

Beth and I met after leaving comments on each others flickr photos and I find her blog fascinating...she writes about living on a small and very remote island.  Small, yes, but they have green wellies at the post office!

While searching for rocks for my spiral project, I found the driver end of a golf club and four golf balls...not your normal flotsam and jetsam and the joke is that they floated there on the Golf Stream...

So much to do, so much I want to do and not enough hours in the day...and that's a good thing!

No time to sit still...

The three days at Jayne's meant going flat-out from morning until night, jumping from one thing to another and cramming something into every second...that's how it always is when we get together.  We charge each other up and the energy flows.  We did the usual things...thrift stores and crafts until midnight, but the real fun came when we decided to make another natural filtering system for her pond.  The spark for that idea came after she'd taken me to tour a magical garden space of a friend of hers...five ponds, water dripping everywhere, lush plant groupings, found objects put to good use and colourful blooms to the left and to the right of us.

We found a metal shelving unit and dismantled one of those tiered wire baskets used for hanging fruit.  We cut the chains and hooked the baskets onto the bars of the shelf.  Then we lined the baskets with netting, grabbed the dogs and headed down the road and into the woods to collect moss and baby ferns.  Once these were set into the baskets, Jayne hiked up her skirt and waded into the pond to hook up the pump and plastic tubing.  Water flows through the tube and works its way down through all three baskets, being filtered as it goes before dripping clean into the pond.

Before and a few hours after...

We first tried the rusted heavy metal koi fish as a topper, but it wouldn't sit right, so we settled on a piece of pond lily pottery that Jayne made.  Eventually, the moss, ferns and other plants will grow down over the metal baskets.  I was amazed at how clear the water was that dripped from the bottom.  Altogether, a good recycling project with much fun and laughter added to the mix.  Jayne isn't one to throw on old clothes for something like this.  I wore a pair of capris, a thrift store Hawaiian shirt and my Holey Soles and my sister looked like this when we wandered the muddy trail through the woods in search of moss...

...new lime Converse runners, light gray skirt and sweet little white sweater.  Even building pond filters can be a fashionable event for her and she does it with such ease.  She did change into her bathing suit when we discovered a huge wheel of wood caught on the rocks down on her beach and it became an instant must-have.  I'm not sure how we managed, but we used poles and feet to pry it from the side of the breakwater and into the water, waded with it to shore and upended it over and over until we got it above the tide line to dry.  She figures it will make a fabulous circular bench.  Getting it from the beach to her garden is going to be another story and I wish I could have stayed to watch it play out.