A Portal to Somewhere!

I love the idea of making "rooms" in the garden.  It's not always easy and sometimes you need a fence, but one cool way is to forget the fence and just build a gateway -- a portal from here to there that implies a change of space without presenting a physical barrier. That's the beauty of an "Arbour".
We currently have one as you enter the front patio and one as you leave the other end - and one in the middle to take you to the front yard. The entry and exit arbours are hot to bead curtains to further create the room effect.   The one in the middle just had to go as it was burdened with old vines and starting to rot.  So Chris  took that one down:

 

and like magic he built a new one:

I will be staining it this weekend, and Chris will fix up the old one and we will use it to create a portal to the pond out the back somewhere. Have not decided if this one will have bead curtains yet or not.

There was only one drama during the exercise.  Poor Chris hit a wasp nests in the boxwood while he was working around it and he got stung 4 times on his forearm.  The swelling was dreadful.  I wrapped it in vinegar soaked gauze to take the sting away.  I didn;t know that wasp stings are alkaline and bees are acidic - so you treat with the opposite - vinigar vs baking soda.

Christmas Tree Lettuce.

If only we could decorate this wonderful little leaf lettuce we grew in the garden this year.  How perfect a little Christmas tree it would make.

Those Pesky WASPS!!

Our warm spring temperatures after a relatively mild winter have created perfect conditions for  pesky wasps!  Now with above normal summer temperatures, the wasp population is surging and I reckon we are having a bumper year for those nuisance pests. At least year on Bowen.

That said, Chris  and I continue to use the good old fashioned and proven deterrent – “Cloves”!  We have small dishes of powdered cloves on all out outdoor seating tables, plus we sprinkle a few whole cloves around our plates if we are eating outside.   Cloves contain an oil called eugenol, which repels wasps and some other insects as well.  This oil is actually used in some pesticides believe it or not.  They also don't like cut lemons - so you can put some of those out as well, or poke some whole cloves into a slice of lemon for a double deterrent.  We just stick with cloves.  "au naturale".

Of course we also have 2 wasps traps hanging on the patio.  One with coke inside and one with beer.  Both of these fluids are the best attractors.  Take a look at how many wasps are in the bottom of this beer filled trap after only 20 minutes of refilling it.  Chris empties both traps about 3 times a day - and there has to be close to 100 in them each time.

  Last night we enjoyed BBQ rack of lamb and Greek salad with no disturbances from the wasps. Thanks 100% to the cloves.  The bonus is that both of us like the smell of cloves.

 

 I sprinkle clove powder on Jake as well because he is very annoyed with wasps and catches and eats them.  He has been stung more times than we can count.  Good thing he is not allergic to them.

Wood Workout

Woo hoo!!   We just had a load of Douglas Fir delivered tonight.    That`s it for the season for our 2015/2016 winter heating fuel.  Tomorrow I will get it all stacked in the wood shed before the sun hits it.  One of my favorite physical work outs - stacking wood!!

Morning Peace at the Pond

Visiting the garden up at the pond in the morning is always so peaceful.  Despite the fact that there is hardly any water left in the pond and we can`t turn the fountain on, it is still one of my favourite spots to sit with a coffee.
You may recall one of my posts earlier this year to do with the log carving project. Well the log has been planted with drought resistant wild flowers and is thriving nicely.   Click here for a reminder of the before log.

There is always an abundance of dragonflies at the pond like this fellow taking a rest.  We have many red ones as well and it is almost hypnotic to watch them fly about over the pond.

One of the highlights of mid-summer is seeing the Angel’s fishing rod in full flower! This plant has an air of distinction and when in flower, is irresistible. The foliage mound of fine, rather reedy stems produce long, arching wands, that carry pendulous pink to purple flowers. They really do look like fishing rods blowing in the wind..

And of course the water lilies. They have been non-stop, even with such little water.

Wild Flowers Grown by a Wild Woman!

Naturally this little sign had to come home with me when I first saw it..  So perfect in every way for our garden.  The stargazer lilies are blooming and this is the first year they have been so small.  We can only imagine it is because of the drought that they are stunted.  They still smell lovely and that`s the most important thing.

The Bee Balm is the same - lovely but small blooms and short stalks this year.  Again, it must be the lack of water or the heat.  They make a nice low maintenance wildflower and I continue to plant more each year.

And of course a selfie of the wild and crazy women!!

Today's Harvest

Beets are the popular crop this year, and we have lots of them.  The chard was a volunteer but has done so well we think we will plant some next year.  We keep picking the chard leaves and they keep growing more.  Zucchini is always abundant, and of course we share with the neighbours.

 This is the first year we have grown onions, and the first year I have planted some of my own outside of Chris's vegetable garden.  Pulled up my first 3 this morning.  They smell so good!

Fires are Burning!

With forest fires raging all over our province, smoke from the fires covered not only our island like a blanket, but most of Vancouver, with ash falling all over us.  An eerie early morning haze over the island was like looking through rose coloured sunglasses.  The smell of fire was choking us.  I took these 2 shots at 7am - and we are on the south west side of the island so it is not a pink sunrise you see, but a reflection of the ash in the air.

 

I took this shot of the sun 12 hours later at 7pm.   So very eerie and also scarey that our province is so tinder dry. 

Veggie Garden

The 2015 vegetable garden has been a real challenge for Chris this year due to to the drought and the need for conservation of water.  We are on a well, after all!  When you have extreme heat like we have been having since early May, you just take your chances and see what works and what doesn't work.  The broad beans did pretty well to start, but the foliage has died off now and we are just letting the beans go to seed and will use them for next year's crop. 

Russet potatoes needed more water than we thought so they really won't yield much, and they are drying out now as well.  We have since done some research and will plant in squares not rows next year as this helps retain maximum water in the soil.

The tomatoes on the other hand are doing extremely well.  Chris is using the old Italian method using pails to contain them.  He cut the bottoms off the pails and put them over the tomatoes plants, setting the bottomless pail a few inches into the ground.

This has been effective for 2 reasons.  The water soaks down into the ground directly around the tomato rather than running elsewhere in the garden.  The pail protects the base of the tomato from the heat of the sun so the ground stays moist, meaning watering maybe every 4 days.  The pail itself adds a greenhouse effect to the base of the plant..  They are huge, happy and loaded with flowers and green little tomatoes. 

Swish chard and beet root are doing well.  Lots of beets.  Yummy.

Raspberries were loaded this year with flowers and unfortunately due to lack of watering the berries only grew to pea size and dried out, as did the bushes.  Too bad! 

Lettuce definitely needs more water than we can provide so we won't do a second sewing.  The romaine was very dry by the leaf lettuce was fair.

Zucchini you just can't seem to go wrong with them. Water or no water.

We also have leeks and onions that are doing well, but in summary - this is not our year for vegetables or berries. 

Back Yard Colour

I love the colour of the back yard.  Colour and texture in the garden are my new focus.

New Patio Lattice Garden

The lattice Chris built me for my vines this spring is proving to be an interesting growing project.

I wanted to make it look like some kind of cottage garden, with mass plantings of lupins, valaerian, campanula, monkshood, and vines for growing up the lattic (and they are starting to climb).

 

All was pretty good until the drought began at the end of April.  The lupins and campanula were wonderful shows, however, I haven't the heart to take a photo today of the sorry sight.  I can only hope that this is not the case for weather next year because this new garden does have potential. Finally.

It's All About Chris!

I was debating putting a post on my blog about this, but then I remembered that the whole point of my blog is to turn it into a book at the end of the year so I have a keepskae of the year in review.  So, Chris had a little health scare a couple weeks ago - an early morning REM sleep related seizure.  This resulted in a 911 call, an ambulance arriving 30 minutes later and a transport to hospital via water-taxi.  He remembers nothing.  It was scary.  They did a CT brain scan which was normal, and the neurologist prescribed a pill to take at night to prevent another seizure, and he is scheduled for a sleep-deprived EEG on August 11th. 

 

In the meantime, the meds seem to give him great sleeps and he has not had another incident so far.  Here is is with our neighbour Dennis, celebrating their June birthday.

 

And to top it off, he put the boat in the water at the end of June, and is happy as a puppy to be back on the water again.  Hopefully the EEG in August will help to find out what is going on at night to cause a seizure.  We don`t want any more of that.

 

Happy Canada Day!

I love July. This Canada Day I realized how much I enjoy red and white - our flag colour.

It`s also the colour of my car(s).  Seeing all the "red and white," reminds me of how colour impacts our lives. When we experience the world in colour, we are able to be more creative.   Like my garden for instance.  I totally love pinks, blues and purples; some shades of orange and red.  Like the orangey-red below on the Lucifers.

BUT - Chris has a bit of colour blindness and finds it hard to distinguish some of those flower colours against the green leaves.    This is where creativity in planting comes in.  The splash of white Shastas mixed with the Lucifer lets him see more pretty stuff.   Though not my favorite flower colour, I also add yellows just for Chris to see and enjoy.  Like this yellow Junceum (mediteranean broom) growing nearby my purple budelea.

 Or the white lilac above my purple and pink lupins.

One of my favorite colour combinations for both our benefits is green, white and purple.  There are so many shades of green you can contrast to brighten up the visual experience.  Here is one of my favorites.   Brunnera has fabulous foilage and the white and green leaves allow you to see the veining of the leaf clearly - and when they bloom (not in this photo) the tall flowers are blue.  Chris can see the leaves and the flowers just by nature of the way the plant presents itself.  And of course I add to the mix my periwinkle blues. 

So next Canada Day, while you are celebrating and waving "red and white," use it as a means to spark your creativity by seeing and experiencing how the colour in your world impacts you.  I thought of the garden, but hey, just think about food!! 


  

This Morning's Project - Wood

Yup - it's that time again.  Getting wood ready and stacked for winter fuel for the wood stove.  This is one of my favorite things to do for physical exercise.  This nice mix of Fir, Cedar and Hemlock was delivered this morning at 11:30am.  And already dry!

I was able to stack it all by the time the sun hit the storage shed.  Voila!  We did have a bit of Alder already in there on the right from a few trees we took down in spring, so this shed is now full, 2 to 3 rows deep.  (Not that we are looking for winter to arrive anytime soon).

Things I Like This Year in The Front Garden

The Japanese ornamental red maple against the sweeping lines of the Hakone forest grass;  with St. Francis keeping watch.

 

  Red Valerian which consistently attracts these wonderful butterflies.

Yellow flowering Jerusalem Sage protecting the bird bath.

My wonderfully scented Wisteria on the patio arbor that bloomed this year for the very first time.

And my secret woodland trail lined with weeping ocean spray flowers.

Summer Bar

I’m sure you’ve heard of the man cave—that sacred male sanctuary,void of feminine touch, marked by the scent of undisciplined manhood and cigarette smoke.   It's sometimes called manland.   Chris has one so he can do as he pleases without fear of upsetting me.  He even has a TV in his cave.  Typically I avoid the cave, at least until this summer.   We usually have the cave wide open in summer with a glass-table bar and umbrella in front, which makes it a little more bearable for me and for guests on the patio, but this year Chris went for a different look and I am liking it. He closed the front in with cedar, left an open window space, and set in a bar shelf.

 

I really like the look of the cedar against the patio, and I also like sitting on the inside, looking out into the patio garden.

I wonder what he will think of to do with the cave next year.  If he leaves it as is - I may paint it.  Oh no - I couldn't do that.  It's is man-space, after all.