The Saga of the Tree

 

Well, earlier this month I was visiting my sister Pat in Chilliwack and I paid a visit to one of my favorite nurseries (Country Gardens). I ended up buying a goofy looking tree called a weeping pussy willow. It was loaded with pussy willows and I just had to have it. Of course it wouldn't fit into my car so I had to arrange for my brother-in-law Terry to pick it up for me when he had time, and then I had to arrange to borrow a vehicle to go back and collect the tree. Easy enough. But it gets better. My friend Robyn has a small pick-up truck, so she kindly agrees to a road trip to Chilliwack to collect the tree. Here's where the fun starts. We get to my sisters and somehow we end up back at that same nursery and I decide I want to buy a fruit tree while I have the use of the truck, but the Italian prune plum that I want is much too small for my liking... and I end up eying (odd spelling that word) a small weeping willow - which is actually what I thought I had bought the first time but it turns out there is a difference between a weeping willow and a weeping pussy willow. Who knew!. Well all the weepers are too big/high for the truck. Along comes Ruth. Ruth is a very customer service oriented nursery worker and can be spotted in the collage above wearing the black shirt. She pulls out a willow tree that looks a bit worse for the wear to me, but is not as tall as the others. She says its fine, and proceeds to explain why and examines all the little shoots. I still don't think it will fit in the truck, so Ruth, Pat and myself carry on discussing the how and why's of the whole situation, while Robyn disappears, only to go out and open the back gates of the nursery and drive her truck in so we can measure. Too funny! Along comes Bruce the tree moving guy. Bruce thinks I have picked the ugliest tree on the lot, and that the 3 of us ladies are crazy. Ruth, on the other hand, continues her stick-to-it-tiveness and convinces us all that the tree can fit in the truck and that I won't be disappointed. (Of course I am disappointed - I am going to have to wait at least 10 years to see the tree I would have really wanted to buy). Anyway, I think this involved most of the afternoon. It was really quite an event, and this description does not do it justice, but suffice to say, I bought the tree, thanks Pat!! and we manged to get it into the truck, get back to Pat's and collect the original tree, and then be on our way. Now.. what to do with these ridiculous looking trees you can almost see in the collage. Ruth should get the employee of the month award! This weekend I will plant them!

Larvae in my pond

Well, take a look at this lovely little critter all covered in a casing of twigs and leaves. I have heaps of these in my pond, and they are apparently some type of a caddisfly larvae. Oh goodie! Can't wait for them to mature, crawl out of the water and fly around. You may remember this caddisfly photo I took last year when one of them paid a visit. The joys of having an eco-friendly pond!!

How Much Can be Accomplished in One Day?

Still Saturday March 6th. Sunshine always gives me energy. While Chris was installing a fan ventilation system in his workshop, and after I took my garden photos, I finished off the powerwashing on the patio.. then cleaned all the windows, removed the screens and cleaned them as well. Also got the water fountain on the patio emptied and cleaned and refilled and ready to go. Noticed the Christmas lights were still up, so got the ladders and took down all the Christmas lights. That was a biggie for me since I don't like being up high on the ladder. Next I got the tree pruner with extension, and topped the alders in the front yard for maximum sun exposure this spring/summer. Cut all the branches in half and took them out the back. I next took photos of a strange bunch on larvae in the pond, that I am trying to get identified. Sent pictures to Eric the Bug Guy, so hopefully he can help me on this one http://bugeric.blogspot.com/. I then gathered large rocks to make a new bonfire pit. The old one you will remember is about to become a centre-piece garden in our roundabout driveway. Once the fire pit was made I got it going to burn the alder branches etc.. Chris watch the Toronto Maple Leafs win a game, and I enjoy some wine out by the fire.

Spring Flowers in My Garden

 

Saturday morning, March 6th. Well, despite waking up in a dreadful mood, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. I went to the gym first off, then when I came home I took a little stroll through my garden in the morning sun. I captured these flowering photos - top left is the amandi clematis still waiting to pop open, to its right the good old reliable perriwinkle; in the middle is the early blooming lenten rose; the jack frost is on the lower left, and finally my bleeding heart to its right!. Lovely way to start the morning! Click on the collage for better close up pictures.

Beginnings of the Vegetable Garden

Chris has been very busy in his spare time getting the vegetable garden put in. He started with the fence to keep the deer out, and then roto-tilled the area. He then put in 7 raised beds of various sizes, ordered some soil/manure mix to be delivered, filled the beds, and today he made the lattice panels that the beans and peas will climb on. The next step will be to get some seeds and start planting. This is Chris's project/baby... he is the vegetable gardener not me.. so I wish him every success and a great first harvest this year.

Baguettes for Canada

Couldn't resist picking up these cool french baguettes at Artisan Eats on Sunday before the big game! We had a few friends over to watch the game, and what a game it was, with Sidney Crosby scoring the winning goal 7 minutes into overtime for a 3-2 win for team Canada!! I was not thrilled with the closing ceremonies, there were a few good moments: the humorous raising of the 4th Olympic torch that didn’t come up at the opening ceremonies, the parade of athletes, comments from William Shatner, singer Neil Young, and the speech from John Furlong. Most of the rest was noisy entertainment to me – thank goodness for the mute button. Now its back to reality. It will be interesting to see how the spirit of the Olympic games will be sustained throughout Canada.