A Story - "The Candy Wrapper" - Short Bellflower, Yarrow, Carnations, Boxwood, Lettuce. North Beach Provincial Park

 A Story

"The Candy Wrapper

Out for their usual walk, Julie and her yellow Lab, Sweetie, were strolling down the wooded path that ran behind their housing development. It was always pleasant to smell the leaves, notice the wildflowers and hear the birds sing. Sweetie, always on the lookout for something edible, took a lunge to the right and grabbed a candy wrapper.

"Sweetie, drop it!" demanded Julie. Sweetie wasn't about to give up the treasure without an argument so she ignored her.  Julie leaned over and grabbed the dog's collar.  With her other hand, she pried open Sweetie's mouth and extracted the wrapper.  The dog sighed and started walking again.  Not wanting to leave the litter on the path, Julie stuffed it in her jacket pocket.

A few days later, Julie saw on the news that an assault against a woman had happened one evening on the path that they usually walked on. She shivered thinking about someone lurking about in the area that she enjoyed so much. 

The police asked the public for any information that could be helpful. Anything at all. Julie remembered that she had picked up the candy wrapper and that she had forgotten to put it in the garbage. With a tissue covering her fingers, she gingerly pulled wrapper out of the jacket pocket and looked at it. Surely the police wouldn't want it. But then again they said "anything".

At the police station, she handed over the baggie with the candy wrapper in it.  She explained the circumstances around finding it and that they would find her fingerprints and her dog's slobber on it. The policewoman looked skeptical but she took it anyway.  Another useless piece of nothing from the public trying to be helpful.

A month later, the police still weren't making any progress on the case.  A junior officer reviewed their paltry pieces of evidence.  Pictures of footprints that could belong to a thousand different people,  some hairs that probably belonged to a poodle,  some dirt that maybe came from elsewhere.  Then he picked up the bag with the candy wrapper. What?  He read the note that was attached.  Had anyone tested the wrapper for DNA? Apparently not.  He arranged to have it tested and the results were surprising. Julie and her dog's DNA showed up but also the DNA of a convicted violent criminal.  

With this new-found lead, the police were able to apprehend and eventually tie  him to the latest assault.

Sweetie was hailed as a heroine and had her picture featured in the local paper. Grateful citizens dropped off bags of fancy treats for her.  Julie was thankful that the crime was solved and that, for a time, the man was in prison. Sadly though, she never felt like walking on her favourite trail again."

This pretty little bellflower (campanula carpatica) is a variety I got from W H Perron near Montreal. I had a hard time sourcing this type of bellflower. I used to buy them as small plants at the local stores in the spring but this year I had to buy seeds and W H Perron was the only source I could find. They are a good seed company so that was fine. This variety, Rapido Blue, is replacing Blue Clips. I started the seeds inside in May and now they are finally blooming. Next year, they should bloom in July.  They are hardy to zone 3 but do not like being wet through the colder months.

I wanted a short mounding plant to go with the 4 miniature roses I planted out.  The roses are the usual grocery store variety which happens to be hardy. They have been blooming all summer.  The campanula will work well with the roses because it stays low and although the mound will get larger, it is not an aggressive plant. It should bloom for about six weeks in the summer.

I like the feathery leaves of yarrow and the fact that it is quite drought tolerant. This lovely variety is called Apple Blossom and I got it as a bare root plant from Veseys this spring. I am really pleased with it. It is shorter than most yarrow and the flowers start out as vibrant pink and slowly fade to almost white. Great plant. There is some pink agastache and sedum near it so it is my very pink section of the rock garden.

The Chabaud carnations that I started in February are blooming like crazy in a wild sort of way. Although each stem is quite stiff, it often flops at the base. They will enjoy the cooler temperatures and I should get flowers right up until frost, likely in October.

Such a lovely deep red with a rich cinnamon scent.  The more orangey red flowers don't have much scent.

I'm not a big fan of boxwood. This one came with the property. Now it's really not adding anything to the garden.  I was busy dog sitting for a couple of weeks and wasn't paying attention to the boxwood. It had been growing very nicely, full of dark green leaves, but now, obviously, some bug has stripped it. Perhaps boxwood mites? Fortunately, whatever attacked the boxwood hasn't gone after anything else. I'll leave it for now and see if it regrows next spring.

Every summer I try to do successive plantings of lettuce and every year I fail. The first planting always does very well but when I try to get seedlings going in late June, they never survive. This year, it was earwigs that ate them even though the lettuce was planted in a raised planter. Finally, in August I have managed to get some going.  The days are already getting shorter so I am not anticipating a great harvest in September but I least I will have a bit.  The onions are green onions that I bought at the grocery store. My daughter-in-law planted green onions from the store last year and found it handy to have the green leaves to pick if she just wanted a bit of onion flavour. I did the same this year. I'll pull the whole onion out when a frost is expected.

This is North Beach Provincial Park near Belleville, Ontario. It is on the shore of Lake Ontario. A really nice beach with lots of space and accessible parking. It's busy in July and on summer weekends but it is a large beach so it can accommodate quite a few people comfortably.  Only day use - no overnight camping.

A Story - "Muddy Waters " and Cedar Planter

A Story

Muddy Waters

When Laura's mother died, Laura had mixed emotions.  She felt she had lost her mother years before as dementia and frailty had taken over. There was something else as well. Her inheritance. 

 For quite a long time, Laura had been frustrated and annoyed at her husband. He didn't like to communicate, he didn't like to travel, he spent most Sundays watching sports.  Videos online said she deserved better. Why be miserable for her years of retirement? Her inheritance would give her the financial independence she needed to leave Lazy Len.

"Len, I'm not happy," she began. "I think I'll move into Mom's house."

"You want a divorce?" he answered sharply, more alert than usual.

"Well, a separation, I guess to start with."

Len studied her.

"You have been mopey lately.  Maybe time away would make you feel better."

That was it? He didn't care if she left? After 40 years this was all she got?

The next day, she began the process of moving into her mother's house. It was exciting to be stepping out on her own. She couldn't wait to be queen of her house.  Len didn't comment on the move.

Living  in the new house was glorious.  Laura decorated it in her style.  None of Len's mess got in the way.  She invited friends over for dinner and served the wine that she enjoyed.  She imagined that Len was probably eating frozen entrees.

One of her friends invited her to travel to Portugal with her.  They had a blast driving to small towns and sampling the local food.

The next year, her friend suggested they go to Portugal for two months.  She readily agreed. This time, however, the weather was rainy and they were stuck in their apartment for much of the time.  Her friend had an annoying habit of humming and expected Laura to do the cooking. Her friend, out of boredom, started online gambling and pressured Laura to join in. When Laura refused, it made for an uncomfortable tension. She decided not to travel with her friend again.

Back home, she saw Len once in a while at family gatherings. He even showed up with a girlfriend at one of them.  She wondered where they had met. Online dating? Laura didn't think she could brave that quagmire, but she wouldn't have minded finding someone. But looking around, no one seemed at all appealing. Where were the men that women like her deserved? She noticed her single friends weren't having much success either.

One morning, about three years after moving out, Laura lay in her bed and listened to the silence. It wasn't a peaceful silence, it was oppressive. She remembered how Len used to clang around in the kitchen making his breakfast and how the noise had bothered her. Now she missed it. Not that particular noise, but the noise that someone else living in the house makes. Had she made a mistake by moving out? Len wasn't a terrible person, just annoying and sometimes inconsiderate. She thought about what it would be like as she grew old. Lots of silence. Some people liked silence but she wondered if that was really what she wanted.

Living on her own had been refreshing at first, but now she wasn't so sure that she was any happier than when she lived with Len. 

When her daughter called to ask if Laura could stay with Len for a while after his hip surgery, she actually smiled.  She would test the waters.

My daughter gave me this cedar planter made by Cedarcraft, which is a US company, but this particular planter is made in Canada. It's 48" long and 22" wide.

Super easy to put together as the sides just slide into the dovetail slots of the posts.  No tools required.  I put it together very quickly. The top of the posts have black plastic covers to protect the posts from the rain.

A cute watering spout with a little floral float to tell you when you've watered enough.

The bottom of the planter is two plastic trays, one on top of the other.  The top tray has lots of holes so that excess water will drain into the lower one.

I'm excited to plant in the planter as soon as it warms up which probably won't be before early May. I plan on putting in herbs, a couple of lettuce plants and a bean plant.  I have a rabbit that frequents our yard so it will be great to have a waist height planter that he (she) can't access.