New Photo Cards at the Gift Shop!

New photographic greeting cards at my gift shop (Ann's Photography) featuring the best photos from this blog!

Poor Lila, Celebrations don't become her

In case you didn't know, the Queen is visiting our shores, in time to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Navy. So even from home, when the wind is right, you can clearly hear ships blaring their horns, etc. in celebration. At the end of our playtime today, there was a 21 gun salute, I assume for Her Majesty. Poor Lila, though, thought it was thunder, and even though I counted for her and told her when it was all over and tried to make it fun, she would have none of it and ran down the hill to go inside. Silly, poor dear. Oh well, the people are enjoying it more than she did, I'm sure. :)

(The Queen also arrived in time to mark the 400th anniversary of Grand Chief Henri Membertou’s (of the Mi’kmaq, our indigenous people) baptism into the Catholic Church/peace with the French in 1610.)

July 1st is just around the corner...I hope Lila braces herself for all the fireworks!

Mom & Baby Pheasants - In the City??!!

SOOO exciting!!! I've NEVER seen a pheasant in the city proper before (I've heard the males in the woods since we moved here, off and on, but never at all when I was growing up a short distance from here). For a mommy to bring her 3 or 4 little babies to our yard to peck around amongst the clover is just truly a thrill. The babies were well-hidden, we only got a look at them when they got to the trodden-down path in the middle of the lawn. She kept a watchful eye on everyone while keeping herself well-hidden too! The babies were less than 1/4 her size, so they're very young still.

I'm still squealing with glee, and it happened an hour ago! :D

Moments Ago....

Exciting developments in our clover-covered backyard!! We usually get small white butterflies (the little white butterflies that frequent fields), and when I was growing up near here, we would get the occasional sighting of an Admiral. But this is the first time I've seen a swallowtail butterfly in the city proper, ever! And as I was heading in, I saw we had TWO! So the clover has already been a great feeding ground for local bees, but now we've started to attract bonus wildlife! Huzzah! Very exciting! I didn't get too close to him, I didn't want to bug him and discourage him from his clover feast.








And, our backyard bush, after watching the buds get bigger and bigger, finally burst forth in bloom today! It's covered in these dainty flowers - not a great scent though, but they're lovely to look at. :)

Oh yeah, it's summer...

Well, almost! :) It's going to be a gorgeous day here, the sun is already really hot. Earlier this morning, I caught a bee doing his bee-business while the weather was a little cooler...



This'll be good growing weather for my little garden...

heh heh heh...sorry, distracted by Kuroi (Pretty Kitty)...he's trying out the new water bowl that was outside (the girls just don't drink that much outside, but they're going through lots indoors, so now we have two indoors), and his ears are revolving in a most peculiar way - not twitching, but actually revolving slowly, as he pauses after his first drink - you can see the wheels turning in his mind "is this water good?". He's gone back for more, so I think he's approving...he's a dear little man.

Anyway...the sun will be good for my garden, and all the plants out there - it's been rainy or cloudy for a long time now, and they need the S-U-N! And for the record, if you can at all manage it, having a backyard with a ton of clover in it is AWESOME. I can't tell you how amazing the scent is out there...nothing overpowering, but a lovely delicate perfume on the air. Just magnificent. And good for the bees. :)

Country Farms Meet City Cooking

Great picture! © 2009 CNN GO

Interesting read on CNN GO today, on how a restaurant in Tokyo is making eating regional cuisine a well-rounded experience - city chefs are paired with a regional farm and create delicious seasonal dishes, and diners get to experience a multi-media presentation as they dine, about the farm and growing methods used to get the food to their table.

Read more on CNNGO: http://www.cnngo.com/tokyo/eat/tokyo-local-restaurant-275938

BeanDreams: the Peas Continue!

Even though we're going through a bit of a cloudy/rainy spell, weather-wise, the peas are really enjoying the cold temperatures!

This was May 29:



And this was today, June 4:



I think I'm gonna need MUCH taller stakes for them to hang on to than the short little border ones I have there now... :D

My scallions have sprouted, but aren't doing much so far, not really photo worthy yet. And the poor tomatoes all but died when I transplanted them. The outdoors was too harsh for them after a cosy-ish winter indoors. They might still make a comeback...maybe? Only time will tell!

I'm still waiting to plant the peppers, it's just been so rainy it's hard to get a chance to get out there. But the weather should warm up and sunny-up soon, and I'll have a chance to transplant them and they can spread their roots and thrive.

Rainy Day Clover

My goodness, the clover smells divine...even on a rainy day like this. :)