Our good friend Kelli with our little Gypsy. Kelli graciously agreed to look after all the critters while we were in England. We are lucky to have her in our life, and the critters were lucky to get the attention she showered on them. As for Jake, well we now have to teach him he is NOT to go on the couch!!
Fortunately we bought good sandwiches at the airport to take on the plane, as the food was disaster. We thought wine would be more appropriate.
I managed to while away the 9 hours watching the flight path on the screen in front of me.
Chris napped.
As we flew over Greenland the hostesses came around again.
So we each had a Heinecken.
We did finally arrive in Vancouver,no worse for the wear, other than very tired. We stayed up for 28 hours before having our first sleep back home. All in all it was a great trip for such a short time.
We spent 3 nights with our friends Gwen and Paul who live right in the heart of Hastings Old Town. The slideshow is available through the title link above. As you can tell by all the photos, we had a great time, and the weather was fantastic.
The next slide show, again in the title link, is of our adventures around Hitchin where Laurie and Anna live. We had a lovely tour of the countryside, a great walk and got to see the town itself.
Easter Monday we all gathered at Laurie and Anna's for a BBQ feast. Here we have Chris with cousins Pat, Eve, and Pat's husband Don. One of the hottest days of the trip. Photo album is again available by clicking on the title link above.
London was fun. Chris's cousin Eve lived on the outskirts of North London in Winchmore Hill. This was our home base. We did a few trips to South London and other areas to explore Chris's old childhood neighborhoods. View a short slide show of some of the London adventures by clicking on the above title link, and choosing slideshow.
Our Air Canada flight was on time at 6:15pm, and although we arrived earlier than necessary, we managed to do a bit of shopping and stop for a pre-flight glass of vino.
A very long 9hr flight to London's Heathrow airport saw us both very tired due to lack of sleep during the flight. After almost 2 hours clearing customs, we managed to make our way straight away to the tube and catch the Picadilly Line to Cockfosters. It was then an hour and a half on the tube, and Chris's cousin Eve met us at Oakwood station where we were whisked away to her home in Winchmore Hill.
So I threw the only stick I could find (Elisabeth is meticulous when it comes to keeping her property free of "debris").
In the end, Jake had a couple of good swims and got thoroughly soaked, just in time to travel home in the back seat of my car!!
I am lucky to have a male pussy willow which is one of the best trees for bees because it blooms especially early in March and April when little else is in flower and available to the bees. Of course if it is too cool, the bees still won't be out and about, and I suspect this is the case right now as it is not that warm yet. Regardless, these little bugs did not appear to me to be bees. They looked more like flies of some sort. You can click on the photo to enlarge/zoom.
By the way, did you know that only the male flowers produce the yellow pollen but both sexes produce nectar. The pollen is considered to be of high quality in terms of its nutritional contribution to bees, having a crude protein content of around 25%. Amazing what you learn when you take up gardening and bee, bird and butterfly watching. So while I was blogging, I emailed the infamous Eric the Bug Guy from the USofA, to see if he could identify these critters. Well, as usual, true to his style, Eric delivered the answer. These are Solitary Bees, male ones to be exact, probably in the genus Andrena! So now I am on a mission to learn all about solitary bees, which I had never heard of before. You can find Eric's very informative bug blog at: http://bugeric.blogspot.com/
Tucked away in my little woodland garden you will come across this little lenten rose (helleborus). It is one of the easiest plants to grow, and one of the first to bloom in late winter and early spring. I think I will source out some other varieties this spring. Oddly enough, I just found out that this happy garden specimen is actually a member of the buttercup family. Who knew!
It was indeed cold, and once I was into the pond over my knees, the water started to leak into to waders. It was cold and sloshy but I did get the job done.
It was worth the wet and cold. I climbed out of the pond and changed to dryer clothes, and then I taackeld the pond banks cleaning out all the dead plants and grasses from last year and raked and tidied everything to be ready for the season.
I even managed to get the water fountain going, but the water is still to deep to get the proper water effect from the fountain. It is basically bubbling.
After 5 hours, I retired to a hot bath and a glass of red wine.
Gypsy is loosing her winter coat already, and fast. The downside is that she is looking particularly scruffy these days. She is not the best self grooming kitty, but she does her best, and her best is all we can ask for.
The Rhubarb has poked its way up and is starting to come to life.
And the Raspberries...oh yes.. the raspberries are all sprouting their leaves.
It is very uplifting. Now we can't wait for enough time to pass so we can plant some more.
Flights are booked, arrangements are made on this end for the critters (thanks Kel), and April 17th we are Air Canada bound to England. Last year our plans were interrupted when the volcano in Iceland spewed out all its ash and canceled flights.
This year we are ready! Stay tuned.
Ok... I am 1 day early, but all the bulb plants are up and almost all are flowering. It is a sign of hope, really. That just around the corner, spring is here and that means summer is just waiting to make its appearance. These little crocuses are lining the driveway outside the gates. We sure can learn a lot from these plants - patience, as they wait all winter for the first warming of the ground; perseverance as they try so hard to poke their heads through the soil, or sometimes snow, and in this case bark nuggets; optimism for sure, because they believe once they poke through the ground the world and climate will be ready for them. I also heard the bard owls hooting this evening and frogs croaking. Perhaps it was the special moon last night. Happy spring!
And then we have the cuddly pup who has just decided to claim the sheepskin for his new stuffy:
How do you describe something like this?
Today it really rained.
We donned our wellies and hellies and investigated a new rain forest trail.
Chris me and Jake, and the rain.
For three years we have been able to keep the herons from the pond with fishing line barriers and have felt quite clever at outsmarting them. Who would have thought we would get a Smew duck in the pond. Chris actually saw it diving in and eating the poor fish. It was a bit too late though when he chased it away. We had about 60 gold fish in there from our original 5, plus 2 koi. We have counted only 4 goldies left and 1 koi. Thank goodness it is out large koi that has been spared. I suspect he is too big for the Smew.
I guess we need to net it. I am quite bummed by this, but it is nature I guess. A heron would do far less damage.
A recent Arctic front brought sub-normal temperatures this past week with -10c showing on the outdoor thermometer. We had about 2.5 inches of snow yesterday but the warming trend is on, and it is raining now. I couldn't resist the picture of icicles on a rock bluff, with what I think on the left is honey-suckle vine leaves already sprouting in hopes of spring.
Some cats are lap cats, some cats are not.
This cat likes crosswords, or perhaps just the lap.
A week or so ago I took the kitties to Tina the groomer and had there chest and underbellies shaved. This is the 2nd year I have done this as they get wet from rain and snow in the winter and they get bad mats that I can't get out. By doing this now, they don't get a chance to mat underneath. The down side is I think they might get a bit cold so they both spend more time indoors. It is very unusual for them to share the bedroom window without a battle for the sill. I don't mind them being in the house more, especially now that we have a marauding wolf hybrid on the island stalking and eating small dogs and cats. I will be glad when they trap it.
I caught this shot at the last minute. I wish I would have realized the sun was going down earlier as it would have been a good evening to whip down to the beach for sunset shots. Always in search you know, for that great photo. This isn't it.. but it was a nice night. Very cold. Minus 3.
As I walked out the back today, in the sunshine, I couldn't help notice that the weeping pussy-willow was full of pussy-buds. Spring must be just around the corner now and I can hardly wait. There will be so much to do in the garden this year, rearranging and making changes. In the meantime, I can enjoy watching the willow bud out.
