A Story
Where to Go?
It had been a year since Steven had died. Paula missed the travelling they had done together. Some of her friends had recently gone on cruises, or trips to the Blue Lagoon in Iceland, or down to Costa Rica to do a little birdwatching. She felt she should go somewhere before she got too old to travel at all, but she was nervous to go alone. Steven was such a confident traveller and she always felt secure with him by her side.
She almost booked a cruise to Alaska but being so far away from home in a wild environment was scary. A bus tour down to the Maritimes? More manageable but what if she got a seat mate that drove her crazy with their chitchat. She'd never taken the train across Canada . She could book a little roommette so she could have privacy if she wanted it. But Canada was so big and she didn't know if she wanted to be on a train for that long.
Suddenly something on Youtube caught her eye. Something fun, something she'd never done before, but something that didn't look intimidating.
It was an art trip to Spain with one of her favourite Youtube artist creators. The small group would stay in a lovely villa and practice their painting under the encouraging guidance of the artist. And she noted, looking at last year's group photos, the participants were all women. No couples, no men.
She clicked on the link and sent off her payment. Now to buy some new clothes...
The gaillardia is giving the garden a nice punch of colour. It is a low-growing, spreading plant which may be why it is also known as blanket flower. Barely hardy in zone 4, but comfortable in zone 5. The man who sold me this plant said his plants self-sow in his garden. They are considered a short lived perennial so a bit of self-sowing would be good.
This is wood aster and zigzag goldenrod. I was not familiar with zigzag goldenrod, just the regular fluffy flowering kind, but the zigzag grows happily as a native flower here in central Ontario. Both of these plants are good pollinator plants and provide a source of nectar late in the season when many other flowers have stopped blooming.
It can form nice little clumps. Although the tall regular goldenrod likes full sun, the zigzag goldenrod seems to prefer some shade. It is only a couple of feet tall so shorter than the regular goldenrod.
I keep finding plants I didn't notice earlier in the year. Here is some American bittersweet. It is a vining plant that can curl around trees and eventually girdle them so I'll have to keep an eye on it. The berries are eaten by birds but are poisonous to people. The bright orange berries are attractive for now.
I recently bought this watercolour book by Emily Olson. I have followed her Youtube channel for a few years. This book consists of 52 small paintings of simpler subjects. Also included are some landscape paintings. Only 7 colours are needed for all the projects. This book would make a great gift to anyone you know who likes art, or give it to yourself. Available on Amazon or Indigo and some other online booksellers. Her Youtube channel, Emily Olson Art, is really helpful if you are trying your hand at watercolour painting.
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