In The Garden

Doggies in the Sun

2012-01-30T10:31:00.001-08:00

Snap makes a good head rest for Ginger as they both enjoy the sun.

Sisters are forever.
Friends are nice, too.

Jaws in his favourite chair pretending he's in Florida.

Going through life, paw in paw.

More Catalogues

2012-01-30T06:04:00.001-08:00

The perennial plant and summer bulb catalogues come a little later than the seed catalogues. I just received these three in one package as they are all owned by one company now. Breck has excellent fall Dutch bulbs, but they also have a good selection of summer bulbs and plants. Prices perhaps a bit on the high side but there is a discount if you order early. Quite a few interesting lilies and dahlias as well as daylilies. I particularly like French Lingerie , a reblooming pink daylily with a ruffly yellow edge and center. Interesting perennials: a red helenium, lavender meadow rue, a blend of rudbeckia in different shades of yellow and red, a white perennial geranium.

Henry Field's is a mixed seed and plant catalogue - good prices, basic plants. Of interest, a red-speckled lima bean, an extra early cauliflower (40 days), mini iceberg lettuce, and many varieties of seed potatoes. They also sell trees by mail: white birch, blue spruce, sugar and red maple, nut trees, and more. All for very reasonable prices. As well, they sell miniature citrus trees and interesting fruit like goji berries, honeyberries, sea buckthorn and thornless gooseberries.

Spring Garden always has some unusual perennials along with the regulars. This year, they offer a dwarf oakleaf hydrangea with flowers that change from white to deep pink. Very nice. It's not often easy to find a heucherella but they have Gold Zebra with yellowy green leaves and dramatic red markings in the middle. Heucherellas last, year over year, much better than heucheras which tend to get pushed out of the ground. Shining Light astilbe has lime green leaves early in the season that gradually darken over the summer. For hostas, they have a giant variety, Empress Wu, grows to 4' tall, and a very attractive blue mix (solid blue, blue with cream edging, and blue with light green center.) For the bargain hunter, they have perennial grab bags of undetermined varieties - usually perfectly good quality, just plain Jane varieties.
All these catalogues are available online.

Sunrise

2012-01-28T04:53:00.001-08:00

One of the upsides of the short winter days is that it's not too hard to be up for sunrise. Yesterday we had some freezing rain and wet snow that stuck on the trees. This morning the rising sun is glinting off the ice and looking very pretty. The photos are significantly duller than the landscape in real life, but you can still see some of the light reflecting off the sides of the trees.

Solids

2012-01-26T06:53:00.000-08:00

One of the kids made this rock paperweight years ago.

To realize that a solid is mostly space,
Is to understand the illusion.
What is strong and permanent has no boundaries;
And what is bound is mostly empty.

Pretty Primulas

2012-01-25T08:48:00.001-08:00

I bought a couple of primulas at the local grocery store yesterday and had some fun taking pictures of them this morning. They are so bright and cheerful.

The sun is shining. Life is good.

Mr. Penguin

2012-01-24T05:16:00.001-08:00

Last evening my husband and I came home to find a penguin in the yard.

All the way from Antarctica? Or perhaps the handiwork of our daughter. Since it was mild overnight, he has melted a bit and lost part of a flipper but he is still a charming fellow.
When we were kids, every year at school we would have a winter carnival. Each grade (we only had one class per grade) would plan and build an ice sculpture, or I guess more accurately an ice-covered snow sculpture. We would be given time off our classes so that we could go outside and work on our masterpieces, and we'd also work on them before and after school. It was always lots of fun and we really looked forward to it. Usually there was ample snow and we would use shovels to pill it up and shape it. Every so often we would spray it with water from a hose to make it icier and stronger. We were pretty divergent in our choice of subject - one year we made a sphinx. Another year, we built a genuine igloo out of blocks of snow which was pretty impressive. On carnival night, the sculptures would be judged and prizes awarded.

Thompson and Morgan

2012-01-23T05:40:00.001-08:00

Thompson and Morgan is a British seed company with a long history. They've been in business since 1855. They have the best selection of flower seeds of any of the catalogues that I get. Not only do they carry an abundance of annual seeds , but they offer many unusual perennials. So far, any seeds I have bought from them have been excellent quality. Each entry in the catalogue has ample culture information, including hardiness for perennials and germination requirements. They have many varieties of sweet peas, nasturtiums and primulas that aren't usually found elsewhere. Of course, they offer vegetables too, but I usually buy vegetable seeds from Canadian sources because they are better suited to our short growing season.

Destructible Toy

2012-01-19T05:14:00.000-08:00

This fun toy bought for the dogs is suppose to be tough. It's made out of heavy nylon material and the rope goes right through the body. However, it is not Snap proof.

Who would think a Labrador would be so rough on a toy? What if that was a duck you had hunted? There would just be a mess of feathers by the time you got it. So much for the "soft" mouth.

Surgery done on an earlier wound. We almost lost the head that time.

And here is the culprit, checking out the toy. She is hoping that I will turn my back and then she can really start ripping at it. Who knew that our sweet, gentle Snap had such aggression in her.
I guess we all have unexpected characteristics that people haven't noticed yet.

Silk Embroidery

2012-01-16T05:16:00.000-08:00

This is a set of silk emboidered bird pictures that I have up on my walls. As the characters suggest, they are made in China.

I really like the colours and find the whole picture very appealing.

I don't know what kind of birds the first two are but the last one looks like a tanager.

Very cold here this morning ,about -25c (-15F) but we are cozy in our well-insulated house. Very short outings for the dogs, just long enough to get the job done. Pepper is fine in the cold. As long as I keep stoking his tummy with hay, he stays toasty. Not all horses can handle the cold, but Quarter horses and grade Quarter horses like Pepper are very hardy. The only time he prefers to be in rather than out is in the summer if the flies are bothering him.

A Reasonable Dump

2012-01-14T07:17:00.001-08:00

We got a 'real' snowfall over the last couple of days of about 6". It has turned quite cold and the snow is sticking nicely on the trees.

The woods look soft and inviting , and the snow muffles all the sounds.

We don't normally get icicles on our eaves because our roof is well insulated but these formed when we had melting temperatures after some snow. We used to love sucking on icicles as kids. Probably meant we were ingesting all kinds of toxic chemicals, but here we are, still alive and kicking.

The evergreens give lots of protection to the little animals and birds.

Some artistically bent branches on a maple tree.

Now the sun has come out and the snow is just sparkling . So beautiful. I'll try on another day to get pictures of the sunny snow but it's really hard to capture the incredible brightness of it.

Something Parked in our Driveway

2012-01-12T06:30:00.000-08:00

Our son doesn't usually bring the truck he drives, home for his off-days but he brought it back last night.

It has travelled with him all over the eastern US and Canada.

Who knows where it went in its former life.

So many, many miles. Say a prayer for all those truckers who work long, long hours in all kinds of weather making sure all the stuff we need for our daily lives gets to where it needs to be.

Icy Snow

2012-01-11T11:12:00.000-08:00

The freezing and thawing that we've been having over the last few days makes some interesting patterns in the icy snow..

There are many words to describe snow but there is only one word to describe the hands of the person taking pictures of snow - cold.

Cara-cara Orange

2012-01-09T12:13:00.001-08:00

Last winter I discovered Cara Cara Sunkist oranges and I was very pleased to be able to buy some again. They look like a regular navel orange but the flesh is pinkish like a pink grapefruit.
They are very juicy with a slightly sour tang to them, rather like a tangelo.
I was so enjoying eating my orange that I decided to give it bit of the spotlight.
Look at all those plump sections!

Only two sections left -

All gone - yum.

Tractors

2012-01-07T17:37:00.001-08:00

Some tractors at a dealership waiting for new homes. Over the winter, the farmers will decide whether to invest in new equipment or try to keep the old stuff running. A young man we know works at this dealership. He is a diesel mechanic and, even in these times of high unemployment for young people, he has steady work.

Some good-sized snowblowers also looking for new homes. We have had so little snow this winter that I don't think they will sell very quickly.

Blue Barn

2012-01-05T16:48:00.001-08:00

This light blue barn looked so attractive in the sunny winter landscape. It's the only light blue barn that I am aware of in our area. The barns are usually natural weathered wood or red or brown. In the distance , you can see the rolling hills of the Laurentian mountains.

It was late in the afternoon when I took this shot of a little school that, up to about 10 years ago, was a functioning one-room schoolhouse for kindergarten to grade six. The add-on on the left was built about a decade ago so it became a two-room schoolhouse. It services the few English family in this western part of Quebec and is officially part of a Montreal school board. We expected it to be closed years ago and were surprised when they put the little addition on. It is not located in a village, just at a cross-roads. I guess some people really wanted to keep it and did some very active lobbying for it to remain open when all the other one-room schoolhouses were closed decades ago.

Interesting People

2012-01-03T11:22:00.000-08:00

My daughter gave me this book for Christmas. This is the story of a woman (the author) who has face blindness, that is, she can't remember faces . If she is looking at someone, she sees the face and understands the facial expressions, but as soon as they are out of sight, she can't remember what they look like. It is so acute in her case that she often would not recognize her mother or husband. Most of the time she has to use other visual cues to help her to know who someone is : their clothes, their hair, their voice, the way they walk or stand. The book details her journey of discovery first to get a diagnosis and then to understand the significance of it. Not only does she have the face blindness, but her parents are pretty disfunctional - her mother is a paranoid schizophrenic and her father is a severe alcoholic, though not a violent one.
Her childhood was most unusual, but she has managed to build a positive life for herself as an English professor, and to come to terms with her parents and her face blindness.

OSC Catalogue

2012-01-02T11:40:00.001-08:00

For someone who doesn't have a very big garden, I get way too many seed catalogues. I know I could just check out the listings on-line, but there is something special about having an actual hard-copy catalogue to look through while I sit in a comfy chair with a hot drink. While each catalogue covers the basic vegetables and flowers, every one is a bit different and has certain items not available elsewhere. OSC( Ontario Seed Company) has pretty run-of-the-mill vegetables and flowers, but a closer look reveals some unique items. They offer a mini cantaloupe - Lil'loupe - which produces personal size fruit. I have grown them before and they are very tasty. I get about 4 fruit per plant and I'm sure they would produce more in a hotter, sunnier location . OSC has 13 varieties of radishes including a green one, and one that is white on the outside and red on the inside. Not many tomatoes to choose from, but they have Pink Ponderosa, a tasty pink beefsteak, that isn't easy to find. In the flower section, I was pleased to find a dwarf sunflower that makes seeds (so many of the new varieties don't). OSC also offers a wide selection of wildflower and grass seeds. They have naturalizing blends of native plants for wet and dry conditions,and they sell native tree seeds.

First Bloom of the Year

2012-01-02T05:56:00.001-08:00

This little primula bloomed a couple of days ago. It's on my kitchen windowsill reminding me that spring is not that far away. I'll give it a bit of fertilizer and soon it will fill out nicely. Primulas are lovely plants because they are happy in the garden but also do very well inside on a bright window. I dug this piece out of the ground the first week of December on a warm day.

Wrightman Alpine Nursey in Kerwood, Ontario (www.wrightmanalpines.com) has a good selection of primula with some quite unusual ones that like the spare soil of a rock garden. I think that most of them would be hardy to zone 6 so I'm just a bit too cold for the more exotic ones, but at some point I might try them as houseplants.

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T09:37:00.001-08:00

Our daughter painted me this lovely little picture for Christmas. It is only 2 x 3 inches. A cozy picture to warm my heart as we go into the cold part of winter.

We had a lovely Christmas with the two little grandsons keeping us amused. All four of our children (and our son-in-law)were able to be here so we had a full house. I tried to get a picture of the five dogs all together this morning but they were too wiggly. They all get along well - our two, my daughter's two and my son's one - five happy doggies .

Thanks to all the bloggers who put up such interesting posts and wonderful pictures. I really look forward to seeing your posts. I wish you all a Happy New Year with lots of beautiful flowers, yummy vegetables fresh from the garden, and fun times exploring the world around you.

Surprise!

2011-12-23T08:01:00.001-08:00

I woke up this morning to snow. We'll have a white Christmas after all.

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny which will sparkle up the snow.

A Bit of Ice

2011-12-22T06:40:00.000-08:00

We had a bit of freezing rain yesterday and overnight. Fortunately it is starting to melt. With the grandkids coming for Christmas, I really don't want ice around. It looks like a green Christmas this year. It won't be the first time we haven't had snow at this time of year, but it is still unusual.

This is the shortest day of the year. Yeah! Now the days will be getting longer. I have some primroses that I dug up the first week of December that are resting in the basement. After the holidays, I'll bring them up and put them on the south windowsills. I noticed that some of them already have buds forming so I should have some flowers by the end of January.

I hope everyone has a blessed holiday and Christmas - loud and rambunctious, or quiet and cozy - whatever suits you best. And , of course, that you get to eat some delicious food.

A Dusting of Snow

2011-12-19T05:40:00.000-08:00

Still no significant snowfall in our neck of the woods, but the dusting on the ground makes some attractive patterns.

The ditch is frozen. All the little frogs I see in the summer will be hibernating in the mud at the bottom.

A snow skyscape.

I can imagine a little mouse burrowing into the leaves beside the fallen tree, which will block the wind and keep it cozy until we get more snow.

Little Elephant

2011-12-16T05:46:00.000-08:00

My sister lives in India and, when she came to visit last summer, she brought me this little elephant. It lives on my kitchen windowsill where I see it several times a day and am reminded of her. We chat on the phone periodically, and it never ceases to amaze me at the good quality of the phone connection .She's half way around the world from me and yet I hear her very clearly. The only hint that she's not in the next town is that sometimes we get an echo and a bit of delay in the sound. She is in the north of India,and recently has seen mongoose around her house as well as red pandas. The mongoose, which look like a fairly large weasel, are good because they eat rodents and snakes, and can even eat a cobra because they are immune to the venom. They are friendlier than weasels and people sometimes tame them, I suppose like ferrets can be tamed. The red pandas, which actually look like red raccoons, are cute and playful,but they like to eat fruit and have no problem climbing the fruit trees to get at it. One morning my sister's friend found a cherry tree pretty well stripped of fruit and a red panda trying to figure out how to get out from the netting that's put on to keep the parrots from eating them. Gardening has it's challenges no matter where you live.

Ogilvie's Window

2011-12-14T04:50:00.000-08:00

My husband and I were in Montreal yesterday to have a birthday meal with our daughter. On the way home, we stopped at Ogilvie's, a well-known store downtown that always has a fun display at Christmas. Many of the animals and characters are animated making it fascinating for children (and a bit blurry in the photos.)

On the left of the photo, there is a little boy watching the scene.

On the sidewalk outside the store, a man dressed up as Santa was playing and selling wooden spoons. The photo is unintentionally jazzy, but it also captures the uncertain nature of the man.

Tracks

2011-12-12T11:34:00.001-08:00

When we get fresh snow, I like to see who has been sharing our property, and check out the tracks in the snow. These are just squirrel and bird tracks but sometimes we have rabbit , deer , or raccoon tracks. Once we even had a muskrat wander through.

I'm listening to Charlotte Church's album titled simply 'Charlotte Church'. It's a lovely album that really showcases her great voice. Sadly she no longer sings classical music. I haven't started listening to our collection of Christmas music yet - maybe I'll wait until some of the kids are home for the holidays. Our collection includes a wide range of styles: English choirs, Canadian fiddle, Liona Boyd on classical guitar, Salvation Army band are some of them. So many of the traditional carols are beautiful, I never tire of them and look forward to singing them, and hearing them every Christmas.

Stitch Pattern Samples

2011-12-09T05:19:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the stitch patterns that I've been getting to know.

Cabled Feather- has a nice curve to the bottom

Shell lace - nice movement to the pattern

Little Butterfly -cheerful little accents to it

Trellis- solid with depth

When I was knitting the doily last week, I was frustrated with stitches falling off the end of the needle as the number of stitches was increased. I bought some small clips at the dollar store and they have worked really well as stitch stoppers on the double pointed needles. They're easy to put on and take off as needed.

Candy Tin

2011-12-05T05:15:00.001-08:00

A while back, we were able to buy a tin of hard candies for Christmas at our local grocery store. The assortment had all the traditional flavours and shapes, and was a real treat to suck on over the holidays. Sadly a couple of years ago, they discontinued the candies. Every year I check out the candy section of the store, hoping that they have brought them back, but to no avail.
I not only liked the candy, but I like candy tins too, so it's been a double disappointment. Oh well, better for my teeth, I suppose.

Knitted Doily

2011-12-02T08:09:00.001-08:00

Since I have been wanting to knit lately, but I'm not in the mood for a big project like a sweater, I have decided to learn some new stitch patterns. I just finished this doily. The variegated wool confuses the pattern somewhat but it looks really good with the spider plant on it.www.knittingonthenet.com has lots of neat stitch patterns . Some of the directions aren't quite as clear as they might be, but I found I could, with a little experimenting, figure out what they were trying to tell me. Someone on a knitting site had a very good suggestion when you are knitting a pattern . She said to run a strand of wool through a row every so often so that if you have to rip some of the knitting out ( I guess I'm not the only one who makes mistakes), you can rip back to the row with the wool threaded through and all the stitches in that row will be lined up correctly ready to be put on the needle.

Flower Cup

2011-12-01T05:54:00.001-08:00

I bought this lovely cup that Ronna handpainted at the sale that Ronna, and her two friend, Natalie and Holly hosted last weekend. It was a great show of some very attractive art. I always look forward to their sale with its refreshing displays, so unlike the mass-produced tiresome stuff you see at the regular stores.

I just love Quebec. In the news today, a big hooplah because the language police are wondering if "import" is a French word. A business with "import" in its sign is under investigation. The world economy is in crisis, but Quebec has other fish to fry. They also have a new political party, Coaliton Avenir Quebec, which according to the polls could easily win an election if it took place today. No messing around, don't like any of the parties, make a new one. It's so refreshing. I'm not being sarcastic, I really do love Quebec.

Little Feathered Friends

2011-11-27T16:48:00.001-08:00

I love having the little birds around in the winter. I don't have much zoom on my camera so I had to stand pretty close to the feeder to get the picture. The clever little birds decided it would be wiser to eat from the far side of the feeder so this was the only shot I got. You can see that this chickadee is ready to fly away after grabbing his seed. Over the years, I have tried different mixes of seeds, but I always come back to sunflower seeds. All the birds like them. Later when the snow comes for good, I'll sprinkle some on the ground for the cardinals and juncos.

My mother always fed the wild birds when we were young and the chickadees got pretty tame. It didn't take very long standing near the feeding with a hand out before one would land on it. It was always a special moment. My mother still feeds the birds at 87 years old. She can usually get someone to fill the feeders when it gets too snowy for her to go out herself, and she really enjoys watching them out the window.

A little info on chickadees. They are the state bird for Maine and Massachusets, and the provincial bird for New Brunswick. I thought that they built a nest on tree branches, but they use a nesting cavity , either one they hollow out themselves or they reuse a woodpecker hole. They only have one brood per year which would explain why we don't have more of them. The eggs are white with small brown speckles . In the summer, they eat caterpillars, moths and other insects, so they're good for the garden. In winter, they will eat seeds, fruit and suet. They have about thirteen types of vocalization including the famous chick-a-dee-dee-dee. Apparently the number of "dees" is determined by how threatened they feel,so if a hawk is in the area, they will add many more "dees" to the song. Other little birds pay attention to the warning too and like to hang out with chickadees because they are good at giving warning, and also because they make lots of noise when they find a plentiful source of food. Longest lived chickadee on record lived to 12 years old. I guess we're feeding some great-grandbirds of the first ones we fed when we first moved here thirty odd years ago. Scientists believe that every fall, the birds prune some neurons from their brains -radical fall cleaning- and grow more for the next spring. They like to hide seeds and insects under leaves, in tree bark and other clever places, and then retrieve them at a later time. For a great bird site, go to www.allaboutbirds.org at Cornell University. They have sounds and video as well as written descriptions and photos.

Bibles for Christmas

2011-11-26T05:53:00.000-08:00

This year for Christmas, I am giving Bibles to my mother, and my sister , my brother-in-law, and my niece and nephew. I know my mother has a Bible but it is a King James version with small print so I got her an NIV (a modern translation) large print bible. She doesn't normally read the Bible , but she might on a sleepless night open it up. I don't even know if my sister has a Bible. If she does, I doubt she has read it. So they all get spanking new Bibles and hopefully that will inspire them to open them up and read them.

It is a great mystery to me why people would not want to read the Bible at least once, even if only to find out what is in the most famous book ever. And the other mystery, is why after reading it ,so many people don't want what God offers. We had an interesting discussion at a Bible study last week that focused on significance , or rather our desire for significance. Perhaps that is something that makes the scriptures unappealing to people, because the Bible does say that to follow God you need to be willing to be insignificant in man's eyes. Maybe the desire for man's praise is just too hard for some people to give up.

First Snow

2011-11-23T05:39:00.000-08:00

We got about four inches of snow overnight and it's still coming down. I love the first snow. Everything suddenly gets soft and muffled, and the air makes you so wide awake. Even the animals love it and get all silly, running and rolling in it. We have big windows on the south side of our house, and the light reflecting of the snow brightens up the inside space. Later today I'll find a snow shovel and clear the steps of the house and the walkway. It's a great excuse to spend time outside.
Earlier this morning I checked the blog of our friends, Jon and Amy, (www.jachalmers.blogspot.com)who are in Kenya right now, and I realized that one of the great things about blogs is being able to do some virtual travelling. I can get of tour of an English town on another Jon's blog at www.stargooseandhanglands.blogspot.com, and later check out some wonderful pictures of Appalachia on Jim's blog (www.cumberlandvistas.blogspot.com). I have followed a travel blog of a trip to Ecuador, and another one by a pair of truckers as they crossed North America. There is a probably a blog from just about every country in the world, and it's fun to follow other people's adventures.

Snap

2011-11-21T16:10:00.001-08:00

ok So it's Snap's turn for the limelight. What can I say about Snap? She is a very smart, very emotional dog. She's often apprehensive of other dogs , but she likes people and loves someone who will play an interesting game with her. Whereas Ginger is best friends with everyone, Snap is more discerning and has her "special" people. When the kids are home, Snap will lie under the dining room table so that she is physically touching three people, and she will often lie with her head on a favourite person's foot if that someone is sitting watching TV.
She is very curious and, as you can see in the picture, is more focused on her surroundings than on me. If we are outside together, it's not unusual for her to disappear off into the woods for a while as she investigates some interesting smell.
She loves to learn tricks and we taught her how to roll over when she was young. I hadn't asked her to do a rollover in quite a while and she was unsure of the word signal, but when I gave her the hand sign, she did it right away. I wasn't quick enough with the camera, so this is her finishing her rollover. She's wondering why I asked her to do it on the cold, frozen ground.
So this time I caught the action - Snap half-way through her rollover. She was very quick to learn the trick when we first taught her, but Ginger took about 3 years before she really mastered it! Snap is definitely the brains of the family.
Snap loves toys but destroys anything but a Kong in short order. Squeaky toys are her favourite ,and she will bark and get terribly excited if one appears at the house ( usually courtesy of our son.)
Unfortunately they don't make a squeaky Kong, so all the fun with a squeaky toy is very, very short lived as she aggressively pulls it apart. She would have made a lousy bird dog -the duck would have come back in tatters.
When she was younger, we used to play a search game which she was crazy about. Outside, we would have her sit on one side of the house, and then we would go out of sight on the other side of the house and throw her Kong into the bush. On the "go" command, she would fly into action, scouring the bush, her nose in overdrive, until she found the toy. She never gave up until she found it. She would have made a great search dog.
Except for some excess weight which we managed to get off after a two-year diet adjustment, Snap has never had health issues or injuries. Hopefully that means she will live a long, long time . She does have a phobia though, that she has passed on to Ginger. They are terrified of the beeps that cell-phones and some cameras make. If there is a cell-phone with a low battery beeping in the house, both dogs with start to shake and pace and be totally stressed out. One time a friend was trying to take pictures of the dogs and her camera had the wrong sound and the two dogs just became basket cases. Fortunately, my camera's sound is OK.

Vase with dry grasses

2011-11-21T05:04:00.000-08:00

I like to have some kind of dried plants around for the winter to remind me that spring will come again. The wild grasses are quite varied and make an interesting little bouquet. The vase was hand-painted by Ronna ( www.ronnas.blogspot.com) who does all kinds of wonderful artsy stuff like hand-painted ceramics, amazing decorated cakes and coloured pencil paintings, just to name a few.

Hat and Scarf

2011-11-18T05:32:00.000-08:00

I've been feeling the annual urge to knit again. I just finished this hat and scarf set knit with yarn that's 50% mohair, 50% acrylic. I particularly like the way the hat fits on your head, snug enough around the front but a bit loose over the head. This set is for a cousin of mine, but my daughter liked the hat and I had some yarn left over so I knit her a hat as well.

Jaws

2011-11-16T12:26:00.001-08:00

Jaws is our son's dog. He was rescued from the humane society about three years ago. When our son first adopted him, Jaws was a very sad, withdrawn little fellow, but our son is good with animals, and soon Jaws blossomed into a playful, affectionate dog with tons of personality. We think Jaws is around 4 or 5 years old , but that's just a guess. He appears to be a miniature German pinscher, sort of like a miniature Doberman. I like the way his ears stick out. One of his nicknames is Turbo because he can shake himself so quickly and violently that he almost gets airborne.
He loves his fleece blanket on the old recliner. I like that chair too and it's often a race to see who gets it first. Sometimes we share, but he prefers to have it to himself.

Here he is in a thoughtful pose. Perhaps he's pondering how to catch the squirrels or one of our cats. We have to be careful he never gets close to our cats as he is a determined hunter of vermin, and, in his books, cats are vermin. He is generally friendly with other dogs, but he did, on one occasion, chase our neighbour's large German shepherd up to the door of their house.
He loves to ride in the car, but he hates it when trucks pass him if he is going for a walk . They make him go quite ballistic.
Here he is pretending to be hard-done-by. We haven't had any ham for a while and that's his favourite treat so maybe that accounts for the sad look. When Jaws feels stressed, if our son has left for work for instance, he will sometimes chew comforters. One comforter in particular is pretty much Swiss cheese now. This was more of a problem when he first came to live with us, and doesn't happen much anymore which is a good thing. He never chews his favourite chair blanket though.

Jaws is friendly with adults , but he's sometimes nervous of children and has the potential to bite so we keep him away from the grandkids. He is absolutely smitten with Ginger and loves to play with her if her back is up to it. Clever fellow that he is, he realized from the beginning that Snap does not like to play with other dogs, and he doesn't try to play with her. Snap has learned to trust him and they get along really well.

Jaws has come to like all the members of our family, but our son is still very much numero uno. When our son holds Jaws on his lap, Jaws just melts and you can see the total trust and love that Jaws feels for him.

Ginger

2011-11-16T05:09:00.001-08:00

I haven't posted any pictures of the dogs in a long time so I thought I would give them each their very own post over the next few days. This is Ginger, sister to our other dog Snap, who turned 9 this September. Although she is the bossy one of the pair, she is also the more fragile of two. She hasn't had her hips x-rayed but from a visual assessment I would say she has hip displasia. She also has an overly flexible spine and she can hump her back up like a cat when she's stretching. That probably explains why she put her back out a couple of years ago on Boxing Day. She could barely get up or walk so we had to get her to a vet. Of course, our dog vet wasn't available so we ended up taking her to our horse vet who was on duty for his practice. There was freezing rain that day and it was pretty tricky getting her and ourselves across the icy parking lot to the clinic, but we managed to slither our way into the building. The vet was excellent, gave her a couple of jabs of anti-inflammatory and antibiotic and she was OK to go home. She recovered over a period of days, but every now and again her back acts up a bit.
This is Ginger and Jaws, our son's dog. They are best buddies and when Ginger feels up to it, they play silly wrestling games with lots of sound effects. Ginger is every dog's buddy and hasn't met a dog yet that she doesn't like. Her sister won't play with her anymore though because when they were young Ginger would always get too rough. One of her nasty tricks was to grab Snap's collar and twist it. We had to take Snap's collar off so her sister wouldn't strangle her. There are many sides to Miss Ginger.
As you can see, Jaws is trying to get into the action. " Look at me!" Actually he thinks that I am going to trim their nails. For some reason, Ginger and Snap got it into their heads that they should lie on their backs with their feet in the air to have their nails trimmed. It works very well. Jaws, clever boy that he is, started copying them and now he also flips on his back if he thinks it's nail cutting time. Ginger is very assertive at home and often gives us a lot of lip (I'm trying to figure out a way to record her and post an audio on the blot). Usually if you ask her to sit, she gives you a hard stare and, only after repeated commands, will she begrudgeinly do it. But in spite of her tough attitude, she's a real chicken when it comes to health care. Take her to the vet and she's a great trembling heap, unlike her sister, who is usually the nervous one, but takes the vet visits in stride. When we first got Ginger as a puppy, she had ear infections which I had to treat with drops. The drops probably stung her sore ears so she learned to dread the drops. Even now, for a routine cleaning, she tries to hide in the corner.
Although she is assertive and bossy, Ginger is the best tempered dog ever. She has never, ever growled, much less nipped or tried to bite a person. I have met a lot of dogs over the years, and I usually cringe when someone glibly says that their dog would never bite someone, but I truly believe that Ginger would never bite anyone.
She not only loves every dog she meets, but she loves every person too. She welcomes everyone and is instantly their friend.
There is lots more to say about Ginger , but I guess that's enough for today.

Odds and Ends

2011-11-14T17:39:00.000-08:00

A lizard with a very sneaky look.
Some kind of fancy boar sleeping at the Toronto zoo. Just before he lay down, he was busily rooting in the ground.

An old stump that the squirrels like to sit on to eat their nuts.

A soft cocoon protected by a birch bark roof.

I had fun yesterday picking out some toys for the grandkids as I got started on Christmas shopping.

We're still having nice mild weather and more sun today. I really appreciate good weather in November when the days are so short. I usually find a cold, dreary November a real grind to get through.

Seed Pods

2011-11-13T16:11:00.001-08:00

Seed pods add some interest to the November landscape. The seeds are also food for the wild birds and little animals.

On My Walk

2011-11-11T04:37:00.000-08:00

A couple of Shetland ponies in a nearby field.
A pond often home to geese, mallards and the occasional beaver.

On this Remembrance Day, I'm thinking of my Dad who served in the Merchant Navy in WWll. He was only in his late teens when he signed up, so young. The war stayed with him all his life and he often spoke about his experiences or other people's. He and his fellow vets in the village where he lived read books about the war and passed them around to each other. When he was dying and starting to hallucinate, it was his old shipmates that he saw. He was so glad to see them again.

More Fungi

2011-11-10T04:47:00.001-08:00

This fungi covers the whole surface of a low stump.
Reminiscent of seashell patterns.

A fungi growing on a dead birch tree.

Tamarack trees

2011-11-08T11:13:00.001-08:00

Tamarack trees belong to the larch family. The word "tamarack" is Native American for "wood for snowshoes". As the name implies, the wood is durable and pliable. It's easy to miss tamaracks in the summer when their green needles blend in with all the other green trees, but at this time of year they really stand out. They are the only tree in Ontario with needles that turn yellow in the fall. In the photo above, several tamaracks form a background for cedars.
The little seed cones are reminiscent of hemlock cones.
The needles grow in tufts like some pine trees.
Tamaracks will grow in a variety of soil conditions but they need a sunny location to survive. If they are planted with other trees that will grow faster than them, chances are that, over time, the other trees will begin to shade the tamaracks and they will die out.

Touches of November

2011-11-08T05:18:00.000-08:00

Sedum in the November sun.

My burning bush is slow to turn red this fall, but it has some interesting fruit on it.

Sedum and evening primrose make a pleasant red duet.

Tribute to Hickstead

2011-11-06T16:00:00.001-08:00

Sadly this past Sunday, Hickstead, the best show jumping horse in the world, died of an apparent heart attack at a show in Italy. Hickstead was an amazing horse. Ridden by Canadian Eric Lamaze, he captured the individual gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. In 2010, Hickstead was named "Best Horse in the World" at the World Equestrian Games in the US. He won numerous world class competitions virtually always with a flawless performance. He was a beautiful dark bay Dutch warmblood stallion that Eric trained from the time Hickstead was 7 years old. Eric said of him: "He's feisty , he knows why he is out there, and he knows that knocking down a rail is not good." Feisty is a bit of an understatement - this horse was powerful, strong-willed and full of energy. I can't imagine what he must of been like to train but for sure it was challenging. But Eric found a way to get inside that horse's heart and head and together they were fabulous to watch. Hickstead would be all concentration as he went around the jumping course and his form was always perfect, every leg tucked up as much as possible over the jumps. You could see that he wanted to have a clear round. Although he was smaller than many of the other horses, he was able to beat them at speed classes. Riders around the world loved to watch Eric and Hickstead because it was such a special partnership. They were just so in synch with each other. Eric was a talented rider from the time he began riding as a young person, but he had challenges in his personal life. He used drugs for a time and struggled to keep his life on track. He came very close to being banned from the Canadian equestrian team for life, but working with Hickstead seemed to straighten things out for him . Now, he owns a training stable and is well respected in the riding community. His relationship with Hickstead helped him so much more than just allowing him to win competitions. Eric has other horses to ride and he will be part of the 2012 Olympic team, but there will never be a horse like Hickstead. If you want to watch Eric and Hickstead, you can see clips on youtube.

Late Season Berries

2011-11-04T06:18:00.000-07:00

Here are some berries I spied the other day. These red berries are found on the false Solomon seal plants that are native to our area.

The blue berries are found on the blue cohosh plant that is native to our woods. Looks like a blueberry, but not edible.

These bright berries are peeking through the fronds of my asparagus plants. Asparagus has male and female plants, and only the female plants make berries.

Have a good weekend everybody. We are expected to have more sun. What a treat to have sun in November.

Beech Tree

2011-11-02T06:23:00.001-07:00

We have several American beech trees on our property. They are a beautiful tree with lovely form and striking green glossy leaves in the summer that turn a rich orangey brown in fall. The leaves stay on the trees well into the winter, unusual for a deciduous tree. This little one almost looks like a shrub but will eventually grow into a very tall tree.
This tree is about twenty feet tall .
This one is probably about 50' tall. It has lost a lot of its upper leaves but there are more leaves on the lower branches.
Beech trees have smooth grey bark and, with the flaring at the base for the roots, the trunks always remind me of elephant legs and feet.
At this time of year, the new buds have formed ready to open out next spring. The beech nuts , which I haven't seen yet on our trees probably because they are up 20' or so and then the squirrels get them, are three-sided and quite small. Buckwheat, the forage plant that makes white flowers and small black three-sided seeds, is actually named after the beech nut. Originally buckwheat was called beech wheat. Buckwheat isn't a beech and it isn't wheat either so it's a bit of a misnomer.

Last Rose 'Til Next Year

2011-10-31T14:18:00.001-07:00

The last bloom on the Winchester Cathedral shrub rose. We had a hard frost a few days ago so the flowers are finally over.

I had a lovely visit with the grandkids and our daughter and son-in-law. Our two -year old grandson is interested in so many things: cars, buses, playdough, Canadian Tire, lawn mowing, Caillou, drawing, singing, dogs,...and PIZZA! The baby is on the verge of crawling and spends lots of time exercising his legs jumping up and down in his play-circle or when he's held. He has also mastered raspberries and usually gives a big grin after a particularly moist one. What neither of them is especially fond of is sleeping - poor Mom and Dad. I guess the wee ones don't want to miss a minute of fun if they can help it.

I only snapped a couple of pics - too busy playing with the kids and going for outings.

I visited our son who lives on the 32nd floor in downtown Toronto. It was in the evening and the view was very sparkly with all the lights. And you can see really far when you are up that high. In daylight, he can see Lake Ontario.

Ode to Pink

2011-10-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

I'm off to see our little grandsons (age 2 yr. and 6 months) for a few days. I'm sure it will be a busy time but perhaps I'll be able to snap a few pictures when I'm in Toronto. Also hoping to spend a little time with our son who is studying to be a dentist. We anticipate toothbrushes, etc. for Christmas presents this year.

Shapes in the Forest

2011-10-26T05:17:00.000-07:00

Just some things I found interesting on my walk in the woods.

Canada Yew

2011-10-24T11:37:00.000-07:00

This is a patch of Canada yew that has been growing in our bush for decades. I always assumed it was a strange kind of hemlock because the needles are similar. Yesterday, I decided to google it and identify it properly. Although one of its names is ground hemlock, it is a yew (taxus) not a hemlock (tsuga). It is poisonous, but birds will eat its berry-like seeds , and sometimes deer will brouse on it. During the cold months,it provides shelter for little animals . The pharmaceutical industry harvests Pacific yew and Canada yew because they use it to manufacture taxane, a chemical used in some fairly common chemotherapy drugs. So our little patch of yew is not just attractive to look at, but someday may help to treat someone with cancer.

Raking Time

2011-10-24T05:23:00.000-07:00

Most of the leaves are down now. I think the trees had a good summer because there are plenty of leaves to be raked.
I enjoy raking the leaves. I use them all in the gardens in one way or another. This year with my two lovely red tea roses I have made a ring around them with 14" high pots, empty ones upside down, and some full of earth. I'm covering them with a good pile of leaves. As a final topping, I'll probably toss some hay over that. I have, other times, piled earth around the roses, but I always find it a pain to get the earth off in the spring.
A volunteer calendula poking through the leaves. Calendula always remind me of my grandmother, a good gardener, who liked to have a fine showing of calendula in the fall.

My friend Jennifer sent me this link to Youtube, and I just thought it was so remarkable and fun that I wanted to include it in the blog. Hope you check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSKyHmjyrkA

Almost the End

2011-10-17T13:26:00.001-07:00

I picked these zucchinis a couple of days ago which is pretty late to be picking zucchini. Normally I would have pulled the plants up by now but we still haven't had frost so I'm going to leave them and see if I can still get some little ones yet. How far can I push a zucchini plant!
It was nice to still be able to pick a few beans. I am definitely going to do a couple of later plantings of beans next year so that I have some just starting to produce at the end of August. I find the first flush of beans on a plant always seems to taste the best.

There is still some Swiss chard growing happily in the cool weather. Some celery plants are also hanging in there. Every spring I think I won't bother with celery , but then I like having it in the fall when there is so little of anything to pick in the garden.

Our internet was out this week but it's back this morning. Yeah!

The Final Act- Toad Lily

2011-10-17T06:22:00.000-07:00

The toad lily is the last of my perennials to bloom. It bloomed about 10 days ago. It's a funny looking flower about 1" across but I like it because, well, there is no other flower quite like it.
I have two clumps, both in the shade, but next year I'm going to try some in a sunnier location. The clumps spread easily and, I suspect that in rich soil, it could be overly aggressive. It grows to about 24" tall and is very sturdy - no flopping even in the shade.
Each flower only lasts a few days but it will keep blooming over a period of 3-4 weeks depending on when the deep freeze hits. Hardy to our zone 4, no problem.

A Bit More Colour

2011-10-14T05:22:00.000-07:00

I think we get a little triggger happy with our cameras in October because we know November is just around the corner. We just want to absorb as much colour as we can before the "darkness" arrives.
A little clump of asparagus growing wild in an overgrown field. Hard to see in the photo, but it has bright red berries on it.
We're getting rain today so the leaves are coming off the trees. If we get wind later today, as they are predicting, the leaves will be pretty much gone from the trees by tomorrow.

Lately I've been hearing and seeing the chickadees in our cedars , and I saw a pine siskin yesterday. Soon time to put out the sunflowers.

St. John's Anglican church

2011-10-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

Since the gardens are wrapping up, I thought I might feature some of the churches in the area.
This is a picture of St. John's the Evangelist in Lancaster, Ontario. It is a cruciform church (the buildings form a cross) with a belfry and three bells. It was built in 1897 and received it's first rector in 1898 who happened to be my great-grandfather, the Rev. Arthur H. Whalley. He moved on to other parishes in later years but my father told me stories of his father being given lessons in latin as he travelled around the countryside in a sleigh (or carriage in summer) with his father. They were a scholarly bunch but also very practical and handy . My grandfather built a summer cottage on a lake north of Brockville and my dad and his siblings all enjoyed boating and camping every summer. My dad also told me that when my great-grandfather had a church in Ottawa, he was often called in to break up bar fights. I guess back then even a drunk wouldn't hit a clergyman.

Cracked Rock

2011-10-12T05:50:00.000-07:00

This rock has cracked from our crazy winter frosts. The crack is about 4 inches across and goes down about 2 feet. The surface of the rock also has some flaking. No wonder we have so much trouble keeping our roads in good shape.

I grew up in the Laurentians north of Montreal where there is lots of rock. My parents' house is actually built on bedrock on top of a small hill. I felt very safe in a house whose foundation was connected to so many feet of solid rock. Our childhood featured lots of jumping off rocks, climbing rocks,stepping from rock to rock in bubbling creeks and sitting comfortably on rocks enjoying the view. For me, rocks have a very cozy feel to them. If we're driving to Toronto or New England, I always look forward to the parts where a hill was blasted for the road to go through, and you get to see the exposed rocks.

A Big Maple

2011-10-11T05:25:00.001-07:00

Out walking yesterday, I noticed this lovely big maple that had a lot of orange to it. It is more colourful that it looks in the picture .
Looking through the leaves with the leaves against the sky.
Standing under the maple, you see the dark branches contrasted with the leaves that are glowing with the sun shining through them
This picture gives a better idea of just how orange a lot of the leaves are. We are supposed to get rain for a few days later in the week so that will probably knock the leaves off. The season of colour is short.

L'Automne

2011-10-10T05:52:00.000-07:00

Since this is Thanksgiving morning, I thought I would make note of something I am thankful for besides my family, friends and many, many blessings. Je suis reconnaissante pour les gens du Quebec. I am thankful for my fellow Quebecers. I grew up in Quebec and I will always appreciate the warmth and humour of the people I knew there. After I had lived in Ontario for a few years, I was surprised that I could often pick out former Quebecers just by their demeanour. They are a friendly bunch of people.
The fall colours are subdued again this fall. We haven't had amazing colour for a number of years - perhaps the weather is too warm in September? But still, the trees are a treat to see. And the sky is just as vibrantly blue as it always is at this time of year.
Because we haven't had a hard frost or a big storm, the leaves are still, for the most part, on the trees.
As I was walking along, a ladybug landed on my shirt. Some years we have thousands of ladybugs at this time of year. They come into our houses and become a bit of a nuisance. Sometimes they will even give you a little nip. They are used to keep aphids under control on the soybean crop. This variety of ladybug is not native to the area - our native ones are red rather than rusty coloured.

More Fungi and ?

2011-10-06T11:15:00.001-07:00

A classic little mushroom by a rock.

This green stuff is growing at the base of a stump. The leaves (?) are almost plastic in texture. I don't know if it is a type of fungus, lichen or fern. Anybody know?
I think a squirrel has been nibbling on this fungi. Amazing how they can eat mushrooms that would make a person seriously ill, or even kill them.
There was frost by the road last night, but we missed it here in the woods.

Fungi

2011-10-05T07:20:00.001-07:00

Fall fungi pop up in unexpected places and grow in unexpected ways.This stack of fungi is really slimy and shines with the sun on it.

This pure white mushroom is all by itself - a diva wanting the spotlight for herself, I guess.
The end of this tree log is almost all covered in fuzzy orangey-yellow fungi. It looks quite striking with the bright green moss on top of the log.

Mushrooms

2011-10-04T05:25:00.000-07:00

Mushroom season is upon us.

Just read "Rockbound" by Frank Parker Day. It's about an island off the coast of Nova Scotia in the early 1900's. I found it very colourful and dramatic - lots of conflict: man against nature, man against man, man against himself. All those elements we learned about in English lit. Excellent descriptions of fishing and weather. Day was born in 1881 so he is writing about a time in his life when he would have been deeply impressed by his experiences. He grew up in Nova Scotia , the son of a clergyman, and he spent time on the fishing boats. After school he went to Mount Allison U. and later , as a Rhodes scholar, to Oxford. The book is not autobiographical, but the story has a real feel of authenticity. Good book to go along with a hot drink on a dreary fall day.

New England Aster

2011-10-03T05:39:00.000-07:00

Last year I started this magenta aster from seed and I'm pleased that it is blooming this year. It bloomed about 2 weeks later than the wild purple asters, but, other than that, it is identical in form. I like the vibrant colour so much that I think I will start more next year and establish a nice big patch. Some wild purple asters are growing near it, and I may transplant some more of them that are growing elsewhere to join the group. I have seen these asters for sale as plants in Veseys catalogue, and Home Hardware had some potted up, but the seeds germinated well so I'll save some money and start my own. I bought the seeds from William Dam Seeds - they have a very nice catalogue suited to the home gardener.

A Last Summer Bouquet

2011-09-29T06:12:00.000-07:00

I picked a few bits and pieces in the garden to make a little bouquet. The campanula and rose gave a last hurrah before the cold weather sets in. It has been such a wonderful September with so many sunny days. I feel like my "sunshine tank" is filled up and now I can face the dark days of November that will soon be with us.

Milkweed pods

2011-09-28T05:35:00.000-07:00

The milkweed pods were sparkling in the sun like little bursts of fibreoptics.

I like the way the one on the tip looks like a tiny fireworks.

It's surprising that such delicate fibres can pop open the tough outer skin of the pod.

Across the Road

2011-09-27T05:42:00.000-07:00

The colour is muted in this field across the road from us , but I was struck by the line of light coloured grass.

Today Hydro is cutting some trees that are growing under the power lines, and leaving the wood cut into lengths. I love the smell of the fresh cut wood. We used to heat with wood and did some of our own wood-cutting . There's something very satisfying about gathering your own fuel. Now we heat with propane: very clean, very convenient and very unromantic.

Fall Combos

2011-09-26T06:26:00.000-07:00

The pale asters really stand out next to the vivid red of the Virginia creeper and sumac.
The Virginia creeper and sumac make a beautiful combo at this time of year, but they are both very aggressive growers. This pic is taken on the edge of a neglected property where they are keeping poison ivy at bay so they are welcome in this environment. On the other hand, I have Virginia creeper that keeps trying to take over a section of garden and it's really hard to get rid of.
Some asters in front of what I think is a small wild apple tree.

I saw a grey squirrel yesterday that had a tail that was almost twice as long as it should be. It looked very odd. We have quite a few squirrels gathering hickory nuts from the trees. They should have plenty of food until I start feeding the birds in November, when they will take their share of sunflower seeds.

More Fall Colours

2011-09-23T17:23:00.000-07:00

Enjoy the first weekend of fall.

Fall Colours

2011-09-23T13:37:00.001-07:00

The fall colours are really starting now. The trees haven't changed much yet but the shrubs and vines are turning all sorts of lovely shades of purple, red and yellow.

I heard yesterday that scientists think that a neutrino in the accelerator in Europe went faster than the speed of light. I'm not sure what that means for you and me, but the physicists are hopping with excitement. Apparently if it proves to be true, e will no longer equal mc2. I think it's so cool that while we are wrestling with pedantic issues like getting the laundry done, some people are turning the laws of physics upside down. Wish I could understand some of it.

Rosebud

2011-09-22T07:35:00.000-07:00

A sweet little bud on the Iceberg rose. The blooms are white but for some reason this bud has a pink blush to it - perhaps the cooler weather.

For anybody interested in personal finance, Dave Chilton has a new book out "The Wealthy Barber Returns." He has a fun, easy style to read but he hits the nail on the head. He has heard all the excuses and has answers for them. His advice is sensible and reminds me of my mother with her "Depression" practicality. Her father lost his job in the Depression of the '30s and she never forgot what that was like to lose their house. She is frugal but not afraid to splurge on something special once in a while. When they were in their 50s, my parents made a some trips to Europe which they really enjoyed. They were able to do it on my Dad's limited income because they watched their pennies on a regular basis.

Attractive Foliage

2011-09-21T05:45:00.000-07:00

Most of the perennials have wrapped up their blooming but the foliage of many plants is looking great with the cooler temps. The brunnera always looks striking.
Alaska nasturtium has lovely motley leaves.
The yellowy lamium came in a collection of plants in a pot I bought several years ago. It makes a nice highlight mixed in with the Silver Beacon lamium.
This is variegated weigelia. It suffers dieback in the winter because we are on the border of its hardiness, but it grows back nicely in the summer. It doesn't bloom particularly well because the flower buds often get frozen, but I really like the leaves so I keep it.

Cyclamen and Japanese Anemone

2011-09-20T05:41:00.000-07:00

The hardy cyclamen has delicate little flowers and striking leaves. It survives our zone 4 with no mulch over the winter. Mine are planted in a small garden where I also have spring bulbs so I get two seasons of interest in the space. The leaves will keep filling in over the fall, until the snow flies and they go to sleep for the winter. They are dormant through spring and summer and just begin to grow this time of year. The corm is like a slightly squashed smooth potato. Mine are about 2' across and every year get a bit bigger.

Japanese anemone also bloom now. They have a basal rosette of leaves and then grow long wiry, often curvy, stems that the flowers bloom on. Usually they come in pinks and white.
They make excellent cut flowers. Part-shade works well for them and they don't like to dry out, although they don't want to be drowning either. No problem with hardiness in zone 4. They self-sow the odd plant but basically the clump just expands a bit every year. They can be divided in the spring, and they transplant well.

I am going to plug Birds and Bloom again. The Oct/Nov issue has some fabulous pictures of owls.

No Frost Yet

2011-09-19T05:35:00.000-07:00

The impatiens are slowing down but are still pretty.
This is a bloom on a Thunbergia (Black-eyed Susan vine). The usual variety of Thunbergia has bright yellow flowers with a black eye , but this one, Blushing Susie, has varying shades of peach, and red fading out to cream. Quite attractive colours. However, I don't have a good full sun location for this plant so it's not blooming as much as it could. The ordinary yellow variety is more vigorous but this vine will grow to 6 or 7 ' by the end of summer. Thompson and Morgan carry the seeds. I haven't seen it as a plant anywhere, but the seeds are relatively easy to start. It's a bit slow to get going so a March or April seeding works well.

Children are so original. Yesterday I was watching a set of twin girls (2 years old) in the church nursery. They seemed a bit restless so I suggested that we could pretend to be dogs. The girls don't say much but I was getting a positive response, so I got down on my hands and knees and did my best woofs. They liked that , but then one of them, put her arm around my neck and assertively took me for a walk. I could be the dog, she would be the owner! We went for a pretty long walk around the room and then her sister wanted to take charge. The first one was not giving me up and I got stuck in the middle of a bit of a tussle. Eventually sister no.1 won and we went for another walk. No dog is ever going to get the better of that determined little girl.

Some Good News

2011-09-15T06:03:00.000-07:00

Along the roadside near our house is this patch of wild lettuce. And yes, the bees like it. Pepper also likes to eat it, so if I have him grazing here I watch that he doesn't accidentally get a bee in his mouth. When the sun is warm on the flowers, you can smell a dandelionish smell. Quite pleasant.

Some good news that I read about yesterday is that major progress is being made in the fight against malaria. For the last several years there have been different campaigns to get bed nets over to Africa and other malaria ridden countries. Well, it's really helping. Some areas seeing 50% reduction and others 30-40% reduction. The UN is even daring to suggest that malaria may be irradicated in the not too distant future. It's certainly possible. Back in the early days of Canada's settlement malaria was around the Niagara area and I think possibly the Ottawa area. Once they provided adequate housing for the workers so that they could be inside in the evening and night when the mosquitoes are worse, the malaria gradually disappeared. The mosquitoes need to bite an infected person and then bite another person for the disease to spread.

Bits and Pieces

2011-09-14T05:24:00.000-07:00

As I was sitting near this hosta the other day, a hummingbird zoomed by me like a little fighter drone. I suppose she's on her way to some southerly clime now. Hope she comes back next year.

The Weather Network has some great pictures of the Northern Lights. Check under Features. Most of the pics are out on the prairies so the Lights show up really well. I've seen them a few times where we are but they were never very dramatic, just a pale greenish light over the sky.
The Weather Network is actually lots of fun if you poke around their site. One day I found spectacular photos of clouds from England that were unlike any I'd ever seen. I never knew England could have such a skyshow. Now that one of our sons is driving longhaul I've been checking weather in the Maritimes where he often goes or the NE US. Driving has its challenges
just like any job but the other day our son commented jokingly on the short commute to work - a short stroll from the truck into the truck stop for food and bathroom, back to the truck and he's ready to roll. He's really enjoying the scenery down East and the friendly people.

Bees and Half-truths

2011-09-13T05:49:00.000-07:00

Sedum is great for the bees. Whenever I pass this patch, it has honeybees, bumblebees, and usually some other kind of bee or wasp on it.

I woke up this morning with truth on my mind after a dream about buying a new house that had two swimming pools. Rather strange since I don't like to swim much. Anyway, I don't usually pontificate on the blog , but I'm going to this morning. My subject: truth or more specifically half-truths. What's niggling at me is our willingness to accept half-truths and our reluctance to dig and discover a more complete picture. For instance, I meet a sizable number of dairy-eating vegetarians who don't eat meat because they don't like the idea of animals being killed for food. They don't really think about it or inquire into it. If they did, they would find out that dairy cows don't live out their natural lifespan before they are slaughtered for meat. Yes, every cow ends up as meat, unless they're somebody's pet. Also every cow has to have a calf on a yearly basis. Odds are half of those babies will be male , and all those little boys end up as meat. Then there's the:"It's natural so it's got to be harmless." The argument being that pharmaceuticals have side-effects. Well, yes they do, but so do plants. Obviously, these people who think all plants are benign have never encountered poison ivy! Or organic foods. Do they ever inquire as to how that food is fertilized? Do they know that if it's not done properly that they are at risk of e-coli ? or being exposed to toxic fungi?
Or the notion an animal at liberty in nature has the best life. Wild horses live an average of ten years. Domesticate horses live an average of twenty years, with some going on to even thirty years. A wild horse, especially a stallion, will get into fights and likely sustain injuries which won't be treated. Infected wounds sound fun. When the horse gets old, he will likely be taken down by wolves or cougars. When my horse is old, he will be humanely killed by a vet.
And how many times biblical phrases are taken out of context or shortened. For instance this passage from Romans:" And we know that in all things God works for the good..." We hear paraphrases of that bandied about many times. But the end of the sentence is "...of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." There is a qualifier in there. Not everything that happens to everybody is for their good. Popular culture loves to leave off the many qualifiers that occur in the Bible. It cherry-picks phrases and leaves people with so many half-truths. According to the Bible, Jesus said, "If you obey my teaching, you are really my disciples; you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." I wonder what knowing a half-truth (the other half being a lie)does? Or does a half-truth really have any truth in it.

Asters

2011-09-11T15:56:00.000-07:00

I always look forward to seeing the wild asters in September. The little green bee is also enjoying the flowers. There were different kinds of bees and wasps flying around all the different types of asters that are in the pictures , although not all the pictures captured them before they moved.

These spiky small asters are an incredibly subtle shade of mauve. It reminds me of the colour of snow in shadow. The centers are a mix of red, yellow, purple and white - quite interesting when you get up close to them.

All the blooms in this pic are on one plant, and, in fact, the pic only shows some of them. It's just as pretty as any domesticated flower.

I particularly like the purple ones. They aren't as bushy as the other kinds but the shot of rich colour is very welcome at this time of year.

I'm reading a book by Dr. Bill Bass, forensic anthropologist, who founded The Body Farm, a place to study decomposition of human bodies. It's based at the University of Tennessee. He and his staff have compiled tons of data, and that data base is used by many different law enforcement agencies around the world to help identify victims of violence or disasters. An interesting phenomenon that he describes is the way that bones fluoresce under UV light. Apparently depending on where you live, what you eat, genetics, your bones will absorb a variety of minerals other than calcium , and these other minerals will glow with varying colours. So my bones might glow a pale green, while someone else's might glow purple. It helps investigators,in situations where there are multiple skeletons, to sort out which bones belong to which skeleton.

Late Bloomers

2011-09-09T04:57:00.000-07:00

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I like to have some plants that get going later in the season so that as the days get shorter, I still have new colour to look at. This is shrub clematis which started blooming a week or so ago. The plant grows to about 12" high and spreads slowly by its roots. Not the prettiest plant in the world, but very easy to grow and it makes a good ground cover . I'm always thinking of the bees, and they like the clematis so it's another food source for them late in the season.

The bees don't care for the hydrangea, but I love it's over-the-top flower clusters. I usually dry some and enjoy them all year. I still have last year's in a vase. Time to replace them.

Now salvia is not an end of season bloomer- it's blooming when you buy it in May. It's just that my salvia is an end of season bloomer. I often buy it because I like the unusual colours such as this coral pinky-orange or the reddish purple below, but for June and July it just seems to be food for the slugs. Finally in August, it manages to grow big enough to actually look decent and in September it's at its best. One of those plants that I decide I am never going to bother with again, and then it suddenly looks good and I relent.

I like to read Louise Penny's blog from time to time. She is a Quebec author who lives in the East Townships and writes mystery books. She is a very accomplished writer, and her latest book "A Trick of the Light" has just climbed to no.4 on the New York Times Bestsellers list. She is so thrilled! As she was writing the book over the last year, she detailed some of the process on her blog. She talked about times of anxiety, times when the plot got stuck, times when the words just flowed in a great rush, and times when she had to cut great chunks of writing. The book has a tie-in to the monastery at St.Benoit-du-Lac in the Townships,and she and her husband spent time there visiting with the monks to get a better understanding of the monks' lives. All her books take place in an imaginary town called Three Pines and feature Inspector Gamache, who is a French Canadian. It's a novel experience to be able to read about places and people who seem familiar.

Hostas

2011-09-08T05:55:00.001-07:00

Because so much of our property is shady, I have quite a few hostas. I only have about six or seven different kinds but I keep dividing them and spreading them around. They are super easy to divide and, although spring is the best time, I've even divided them in the middle of summer and they managed fine. I particularly like large hostas because they make a bold statement and cover a significant patch of ground. They make excellent transition plants from the forest to the garden as they shade out scruffy intermediate weeds like brambles or wild purple flowering raspberries . I like the white blooms of some of the blue, or green and yellow hostas. The stems are shorter and the flowers fuller. The flowers are slightly fragrant and I have seen hummingbirds feeding at them. I have minor slug damage - my slugs seem to prefer more delicate food like my tomatoes or salvia. I like the fact that hostas are clumpers not runners, and that you can regulate their size by manipulating the soil. For instance, in one spot I don't want the hostas to get too big and outgrow their space, so I leave the soil lean and dry. Elsewhere, I want them to be at their biggest so I give them rich soil and let them go bananas.

I got some bargain perennials at Canadian Tire - .99 each for a four inch pot. I bought a couple of Minnie Pearl phlox which turns out to be a good variety of short white phlox that blooms earlier than most. I have just the spot for them. Also some white astilbe which will expand a patch of astilbe that I've already started. I love bargain hunting at the end of the season. Veseys always has an end of season sale that is only shown on line . Their leftover products go for half-price, but they sell out quickly so you have to jump right on it if you want anything. I think the fall sale will be the beginning of October but I'm not sure because they don't tell you ahead of time when it will start. I just keep checking their site.

Homemade Yogourt

2011-09-06T06:54:00.001-07:00

Since yogourt keeps going up and up in price, I thought I would try making it myself. I used to do that years ago. I checked online for some recipes and gave it a go. I used Activia plain yogourt as my starter as it has a variety of bacterial cultures and I like the taste of it. To start, I heated 1 liter of 1% milk to 185 F and kept it at that temperature for 30 minutes. Then I let it cool down to 11oF and stirred in three generous tablespoons of the Activia yogourt. I poured the milk into two 500 ml canning jars, and then placed the jars in a small cooler that had two jugs of hot water in it. I put a cooking thermometer in the cooler so that I could monitor the temperature. The goal is to keep it at 110F for seven hours. I had to replace the hot water 3 times to keep the temperature right. After seven hours, I put the jars in the fridge and left them overnight. By morning, I had yogourt. Because I used 1% milk, it wasn't as thick as regular yogourt, but it was thick enough and the taste was very good. Now I can feel free to eat a BIG serving for breakfast with some delightful fresh peaches and a small drizzle of maple syrup.

End of Summer

2011-09-05T08:17:00.000-07:00

Well, it's Labour Day. For me, that means the last day of summer. I think that September is the beginning of the new year , not January 1st. Time to get into a new schedule, time to reassess what I'm doing, time to get organized. It's an inspiring time and a get- back-to-work time after the sunny days of summer. Maybe it's just some underlying anxiety about needing to get ready for winter. When we were kids, we heated primarily with wood , and every fall we would get a couple of big loads of firewood dumped by our woodshed. For the next few days, we would all pitch in and stack the wood into neat piles. It was so satisfying to see all the wood we needed to keep us warm all winter. Even if the power went out, we were toasty.

I heard an interesting show on CBC radio last week on adult ADD. They pointed out that even though many people lose the obvious hyperactivity as they mature, they still suffer from most of the Attention Deficit problems their whole lives. It affects their relationships, their finances, their work. Often they become depressed as they struggle to meet the challenges of everyday life. Speaking on the show, as well as a psychiatrist, were Bill (Rick Green) and Harold(Patrick McKenna) from the Red Green show. Both these men suffer from ADD and they are trying to raise awareness about the disorder. Along with Dr. Jain, the psychiatrist, they have started a website for ADD adults and those interested in finding out more about it. The site is www.totallyADD.com. It consists mainly of video presentations since most ADD people really don't like text presentations, but love visual stuff. I found the site and radio show really informative and answered questions that I had about some of my ADD friends. I also realize that I must be quite a mystery to my ADD friends since I am so unlike them in the way I go about my life.

Moving Days are Over

2011-08-31T08:49:00.000-07:00

We were in Montreal yesterday to help our daughter move into her new apartment that she is sharing with 3 friends. They wanted to be downtown and they managed to get a very good location handy to the universities where they are studying. As I was driving around Montreal, I couldn't get over the number of bicycles. The city made a bike lane along de Maisonneuve which is protected by a low curb, and it was like rush-hour traffic on the bike lane. People obviously appreciate the protection of the curb. But even off the bike lanes, so many people were biking. I always thought that Ottawa was the biking city, but Montreal definitely has them beat.

So we have done all our moving for this year. One son brought his stuff back home as he is driving a transport long-haul and there's no point in him renting his own place. Another son moved to Toronto for more schooling, and then our daughter in Montreal moved into a different apartment. We are becoming familiar faces at the truck rental place. Our daughter in Toronto did her moving last summer , and thankfully didn't have to go anywhere this year.

Our son got stuck on I-87 driving his truck on Sunday as the road was closed because of flooding. He managed to grab some food at a truck stop before the power went off, and then he was stuck hanging out in his truck. He travels with extra food and water, so he wasn't worried about that, but it was pretty boring. He has limited calling from the US on his phone so he couldn't even chat to pass the time. Anyway he finally got to Maryland on Monday and made his delivery. Now he's got a day off at home.

Diversions

2011-08-28T17:12:00.000-07:00

I picked up some used books the other week at the Fair and one of them is a three story collection by Ruth Rendell featuring Inspector Wexford. I quite enjoyed the first story that I finished yesterday. She is able to engage the reader without a lot of obvious authorly antics, and keep up interest in an understated but very effective way. I'm definitely going to try more of her books. She has also written under the name Barbara Vine. Those books explore the psychology of the criminal mind more. She is 81 years old now but still writing new books. Amazing the mental energy some people have. She also sits in the House of Lords for the Labour party in England.

When our son was here for a couple of weeks commuting to work, we rewatched some episodes of Kingdom, a British series starring Stephen Fry as a lawyer. It is a comedy but there are serious undertones to it. Like other British series, it has great theme music and photography. This series takes place in Norfolk, on the southeast side of England where the land is very flat, much like Holland. In 2006, a real flood occurred in Norfolk and the series incorporates that incident into one of the shows. The Doc Martin series (another BBC show) takes place in Cornwall on the other side of southern England and the landscape is very different- more like Newfoundland. One of the episodes in Kingdom features a trip to Cambridge. The buildings there are just fabulous - wonderful to see on TV and how much more impressive they must be in real life.

We got some rain from Irene, but no more than we had a couple of weeks ago from a regular storm. However, the I-87 in New York state is closed (Sunday) because they are worried about landslides from all the rain. My sister is in NYC so I was glad to hear, that apart from losing the power, the city fared all right.

Brunnera

2011-08-25T04:43:00.000-07:00

Brunnera is one of my favourite plants. With most of my garden space in half-shade, I'm always looking for good performers for that light environment. Brunnera certainly fits the bill. In the spring, it gets sprays of small blue flowers that look a bit like forget-me-nots, and then later the leaves fill out and make an attractive clump. Planted close together, brunnera makes an excellent medium-low ground cover. In the above picture, there is a plain green brunnera as well as Jack Frost brunnera and Silver Wings (with less silver on the leaves)brunnera. This collection is planted near some pulmonaria which looks great with its spotted leaves.

This clump of plants is Looking Glass brunnera. It's in a full shade location and thrives there, blooming well in the spring in spite of so little light.
Variegata brunnera is a bit harder to find in the catalogues or nurseries. I really like the striking markings on the leaves. None of the brunnera get eaten by bugs as their leaves are slightly prickly. Brunnera are hardy to zone 4 at least. I've had them now for several years and I haven't lost a single plant no matter how crazy the weather has been. They self-sow a little and transplant easily so I've been spreading them around the property. They can also be divided in the spring. The hybrids seedlings don't always come true so some of the volunteers will have unusual markings like a leaf that's half green and the other half whitish, but the Jack Frost seedlings usually look pretty much like the parent.

Fuchsia

2011-08-24T05:01:00.000-07:00

This past spring I ordered a collection of fuchsia starter plants from Veseys - 3 plants of each of the 4 varieties. I've been very pleased with the quality of the plants and, although I had to wait a while until they were big enough to bloom, they have been giving me lots of colour the last month or so. A few days ago, a hummingbird paid them a visit which was a happy surprise. I will try to overwinter them in the basement where it will be cooler but still bright. If I manage, then I can get them going earlier next spring and have blooms for longer.

I discovered that the Globe and Mail cryptic crossword is now available in a printable version on-line. They used to block access to it online hoping you'd buy the paper version. The solution is available the same day which is great when I get stuck as I inevitably do.

I saw about 30 wild turkeys (adults and young) about a mile from home, in a field. It's the most I've seen at one time.

Agastache

2011-08-22T06:11:00.000-07:00

Agastache , Mexican hyssop, is not a very spectacular plant but it is a plant that bees really enjoy so I grow some plants for them. Golden Jubilee has nice greeny-yellow leaves that contrast beautifully with the light purple flowers. It grows to 18" -24".
The regular dark green leaved variety grows to 4" but it has very sturdy stems and never flops over. One plant will have several blooming branches. It is hardy to zone 4 , but it will rot out spring or fall if it gets too damp. It self-sow to some extent but I don't find it gets out of control. Full sun is best, but mine grows with only about 4 or 5 hours of sun. The leaves are aromatic with a scent that's a cross between mint and beebalm.

Spring Peeper

2011-08-19T05:32:00.000-07:00

This little spring peeper showed up on the screen door the other morning. With the sun shining on him, his legs looked almost transparent. He was a frisky guy,and kept moving around so most of my pictures ended up just being his back legs. His toes are long and sticky, sort of like gummy worms. Although July was dry and our ditch dried up, we still have lots of frogs hopping around the yard hopefully catching lots of mosquitoes and flies.

Phlox and Balloon Flower

2011-08-18T04:49:00.000-07:00

I bought this pinwheel-stripe phlox from Veseys a few years ago. This year it's done particularly well. At the outer edge of the clump, some all pink shoots are growing as part of it is reverting to a solid colour. I don't really mind because the pink perfectly matches the pink in the bicolour flowers. I think the whole phenomenon of reversion is so interesting - I would love to know what is going on at the DNA level.
I bought this balloon flower last year but it didn't have time to bloom last summer. The white is very fresh looking and in sunlight is super white. Balloon flowers are not very spectacular but they can withstand drought(didn't water them all summer) because they have a big fleshy root. However, because of the taproot, they have to be transplanted when young and they don't divided well when they are mature. I like them because they bloom later in the season when some fresh new blossoms are much appreciated. Balloon flower also comes in a purpley-blue and pink. The pink ones I have, though, are a bit disappointing as the pink is very washed out. The white and blue that I've seen are much better.

Wood carving

2011-08-17T04:29:00.001-07:00

This intricate piece of cut-out woodworking is a bit of a puzzle as hidden in it are many images of tigers. I haven't counted them up but I'm guessing about 10 -12 tigers. It's certainly a very skillfully done piece of work.

That's it for the Fair pictures. Back to some flowers next time.

Fruit and Flowers

2011-08-16T04:51:00.000-07:00

A lovely little arrangement of fresh garden flowers. Unfortunately, the number of arrangements was down this year but perhaps it was the dry summer. The under 5" arrangements are always captivating in their petiteness.
"Decorated unusual-shaped vegetable". When the kids were younger, we never had any shortage of funny-looking vegetables, so we used to love entering this class and letting our imaginations run wild.
This arrangement is drooping a little from the heat, but I love the dramatic pose of the figure.

Handicrafts

2011-08-15T04:27:00.000-07:00

An old-fashioned cross stitch picture that captured a first prize.
The large quilt was a "best of show" and it's easy to see why.
I like the vibrant colours in this poppy quilt.
A lovely little sweater. There were other beautiful sweaters - I remember a couple of Aran patterned adult sweaters, as well as baby sets. Lots of knitting talent out this way. It got me inspired to pick up the needles myself, and now I'm working on a simple blue sweater in chunky weight wool. I ordered from Crafters Gallery which has been bought by Mary Maxim. I got a great deal on the yarn.

Children's Exhibits

2011-08-13T04:13:00.000-07:00

The exhibits are protected by chicken wire which messes up the picture, but you can still see the attractive collection of fungi, berries, milkweek pods and moss. This was a junior class: nature collection.

The Fair always has great classes for children of all ages. This entry, in the 4 and under age group, was entered in "snowman made of marshmallows". A snow bride I think in this case. I love the eyes.
I'm not sure of the age or category for this one, but it sure is a lot of fun.
The Fair also has photography and art classes for the children. Getting some entries ready for the Fair is a great activity for kids in the summer.

The Exhibit Hall

2011-08-12T05:46:00.000-07:00

A very well done cake in a teen class - category probably "200 years of the Fair"
Another cake in the same category. I like the cheerful decorations.
This would also be a junior entry in the Rice Krispie class. Fun idea. Notice the little cake wrappers that represent the ferriswheel seats.
Another excellent cake in the "fair" category. I'd hate to have to be the judge and choose between them.
I was just going to do one post for the Exhibit Hall, but as I was reviewing the pictures I realized that I wanted to showcase as many of the exhibits as I could. So today it was baking and next week I'll show some veggies and handicrafts.

Old Tractors and the Midway

2011-08-11T05:32:00.000-07:00

Every year there is a display of old tractors at the Fair, but I don't remember seeing this old car. It's so basic and functional - no possibility of a flat on the back tires. The older men always love to hang out around the tractors and chat with their friends.
The tractors are painted and spiffed up, show-ready just like the cows.
The midway had a merry-go-round with some old-fashioned horses.
The ferris wheel is small enough that even the faint-of-heart like me could probably handle it. But I didn't take a ride. Last time I rode a ferris wheel at a local fair, I needed to close my eyes and my daughter had to let me know when we landed.
A display of equipment meant to deal with corn.

The Fair also had steam operated machinery. I think one of the machines was used to make cedar shakes. On Sundays, an antique car show is held and usually a good assortment of vintage cars are on display.

Other Animals at the Fair

2011-08-10T04:52:00.000-07:00

The pigs are some rare breed of pig. They were quite content to snooze away the day regardless of the hubbub around them.
This one was sleeping but a young boy picked some nice green grass for him, so the pig had a little snack as he lay there.
The oxen were brought from Upper Canada Village which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. They seemed very calm , and although in the photo it doesn't show up, the one looking at me had a friendly air about him. I wasn't going to get too close to those horns, though. You could get a nasty wallop if he was swinging his head around to chase a fly.
As always there was a petting zoo. This attractive llama was quite happy to pose and let me get a good picture. The zoo had smaller alpacas, goats, sheep and a miniature pony away from the fence (presumably he bites). I think there were also some ducks and chickens.

On Sunday, a rabbit and hamster competition was going to be held for the first time. The organizers are always coming up with new ideas. What a great bunch of people!

Horses at the Fair

2011-08-09T05:11:00.000-07:00

This little pony was having a break and a bite to eat after his shift on the pony ride squad. He totally ignored me and just got on with the serious business of filling his round tummy.
This was part of a junior hunter class. Years ago, the Fair was considered an A level horse show, one that you could earn points at if you were aiming to be the provincial champ. This weekend though, there didn't seem to be enough entries for it to still be an A show. I guess people just find it too expensive to haul horses to shows or maybe kids just don't want to ride anymore. Anyway, the kids that I saw rode quite nicely, and the horses were well-behaved and looked properly cared for.
This little pony is waiting to give a someone a short ride.

In another area, there was a Western horse show going on. I didn't get any pics because they were doing barrel racing and for that you would need video! I believe that there are still classes for the heavy horses , but not on Saturday when I was there.

The Fair

2011-08-08T05:29:00.000-07:00

Most years, we go to the Williamstown Fair and I've never brought my camera. So this year, I was determined to get some pictures of this great fair - in my opinion, the best in the area. What makes the fair so successful is the range of exhibits, and activities available for people young and old. It still holds to its agricultural roots though, and the livestock categories are a very important part of the fair. This wonderful picture is on the side of one of the cattle shelters.

It was pretty hot on fair day so a lot of the cow were lying down when they had the chance. I like the way these Ayeshires are all lined up. It's quite a job to keep the cows show-ready, and you see their owners shampooing and clipping and brushing to get those big white patches sparkling clean.

This class was for young children with calves. Some of the children were only 5 or 6 years old and were accompanied by a teen or adult. The little calves weren't too sure about the whole affair and took a fair bit of coaxing to walk around the ring. Someone had the foresight to plant trees all around the cow ring so there is always a shady spot to sit and watch the show. Winning in the show ring with your cow can really increase the worth of the cow, and winning at a local show is the first step to being allowed to compete at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto where a first place can lead the way to international interest in your cow or bull. Some of the children get very involved in the showing and I know a couple of teens who were able to go to the Royal with their cows and placed very well. Glengarry cows are very well respected around the world. Champion cows will have their pictures taken professionally, and their photos and bios posted on the farm's website. Buyers from Europe, the US, even Russia, buy our local cows.

I wanted to show as many pics as possible of the fair so I'll keep featuring different aspects of the fair in the coming days. But I thought the cows should come first, since they are so important to our local community.

Fake painting

2011-08-04T07:29:00.001-07:00

I've been trying out different Gimp effects. This one turns the photo into a painting, sort of anyway. I like the effect with this orange lily.

Gimp tutorial part 4

2011-08-03T06:03:00.001-07:00

The last part of this tutorial is about the drop shadow for the letters. First go to Layers and click on Duplicate layer. Your dialog box will look like the one above. Now go to Layers again, cursor down to Mask and across right to Apply layer mask. The dialog box now looks like the one below. One the top layer, there is a transparent layer with plasma coloured letters.(The grey checkerboard pattern represents a transparency). Check the Lock box beside the small grey checkered square in the top half of the dialog box.

Now go to the tool box on the left of the screen and choose the paint brush. Check that the colour selection is black or whatever colour you want the shadow to be. Use the paintbrush to colour over the lettering which is plasma coloured. The paint should only be colouring over the letters and should not appear anywhere else. You don't need to be careful -it should automatically only be colouring the letters as you colour that area. The pic below shows the letters half-coloured in. Next, go to Layers, down to Transform and over to Offset at the bottom of the column. A box will open up giving you options for how much of an offset you want. I used 8 pixels in both x and y directions (x is horizontal, y is vertical). Click OK.

The pic above shows the offset. Finally move the plasma layer back to the top . Go to Layers and click on Merge layer twice until the dialog has only two layers and then save your file. It will want to export the file , that's OK. Save as .jpg or .xcf

The final product.

Gimp tutorial 2.6 part 3

2011-08-01T16:42:00.000-07:00

At the end of part 2, we had just finished the Bumpmap. Now we are adding a Layer mask -white. This will make a white box appear next to the plasma box in the layers dialog box.
Click on the small black (with white letters) rectangle line so that it is highlighted in blue. Then click on the green up arrow. The background should be on top as in the above pic.

Go to Edit and click Copy.Now highlight the plasma layer in blue and click the up arrow so that it is on top. Go to Edit and click Paste. The dialog box will be like the one below. Notice that there is a floating selection on top. That is what you just pasted. Remember it is not a layer by itself, so go to Layers and click on Anchor Layer.
Now the dialog box looks like the above pic.
Next step, add a new layer - white. Go to the tool bar on the left and choose a colour that you want for the background . I chose sort of a greeny-yellow. With the bucket tool, fill the new layer( which will become the background) with your selected colour. The dialog box will look like the one below.

Move the middle (plasma) layer to the top using the green up arrow.
And presto, you will see your letters on the background.This is the end of part 3. In part 4, we finish by making the drop-shadow.

GIMP tutorial part 2

2011-07-31T15:31:00.001-07:00

OK. At the end of part 1, we had a black word on a white background. We want to change that to a white word on a black background. Go to the Colors heading at the top of the page, and find Invert in the drop-down menu. Click Invert and now you will have white letters on black. Now go to Filters at the top of the page and pick Blur from the drop-down menu. Go right to Gaussian blur and click on it.

Above is the Gaussian blur box. I just used the default setting so all I had to do was click OK. The white letters will now be slightly blurry.
Open a new layer and make sure that you click the white box.

In the Filters option, select render > clouds > plasma as shown below.

This box will show up. I again used the default and clicked OK. Now I have a layer that is coloured in with the plasma design. Next, we will do the bumpmap. I stumbled quite a bit with this part so I hope my explanation is clear.

Using the Filter option, go down to Map and over to Bumpmap as shown below. Click Bumpmap.

Above is the bumpmap box. Notice the plasma in the large box - that will be the background.
At the top right next to the word bumpmap, there is a shallow box that is plasma coloured. Cursor over that and then you will also see, in a drop-down menu, the white letters on black. That is what you want to select, so click on it and then you will see what's shown below.

Again I just chose the default settings and clicked OK.

And this is what you get. Not that hard when you know what to do. So that will be the end of part 2. More with layers in part 3 , next time. Still quite a few steps to go.