The Garden at Porcupine Hollow

The garden (I use the term very loosely) at Porcupine Hollow is really a blank canvas.  That is a quaint way of saying there is no garden there.  What it is is a former pasture that nature is slowly reclaiming.  Nature, with a little help from the former owners in the form of  3000 trees that were planted about 15-20 yrs ago is slowly changing the face of the abandoned fields.  The land is now home to rabbits, squirrels, deer and porcupines....one particularly obnoxious porky has set up housekeeping in the pole barn and has aquired a taste for black rubber hoses, but that is a whole other story.
Gardenwise there is one patch of spring flowers by the side of the laneway and that is it.  Everything else is courtesy of Mother Nature.  The challenge I suppose is to naturalize all the plantings with lots of native woodland plants and hopefully a few of my favourites that the deer won't find to their liking.

Here they are...one patch.

But a prettier grouping isn't to be found in these parts.

And to think they have bloomed here all these years without anyone around to marvel at their beauty.

Short and Sweet

Last spring I completely missed the delicate but fleeting show performed by these spring beauties.  I'm not even sure how it happened but last year I completely forgot to go looking for my Bloodroot until it was too late.  I vowed that wouldn't happen again and now I have their digital images saved forever.

Sanguinaria canadensis

The original plant was given to me by a gardening friend who has since moved away.  I am reminded of her friendship and generosity every spring when I look to see if the Bloodroot is up. Valerie was a heart friend and kindred spirit always willing to make holes in her garden just so she could share a shovel full of this plant or that.

This is one plant I must transplant down to Porcupine Hollow.  (One of many that will make the move with me) 

The garden at Porcupine Hollow will be a new garden filled with old friends.

What a difference a day makes.

A walk-around inspection of my garden revealed these emerging rhubarb leaves.

The very next day revealed this.

I always judge the arrival of spring by rhubarb sightings.

It's a ritual I inherited from my Dad.  He would always announce that spring was really here because his rhubarb was up.  I hate to disturb my patch but this year I must take a clump of rhubarb root down to Porcupine Hollow.  Hopefully the deer won't decide to make a salad of spring greens of it.

A walking tour of my front garden revealed these wee treasures.

I planted these along the sunny banked side of the driveway.  The warm location gives everything planted here a headstart.

A cheery sight and I'm glad I snapped a picture since they didn't last long.

Until the next garden tour....have a great day!

Easter Weekend Quack Grass Round-up

It has certainly been a while since my last posting.  I have missed my little blog and the time I have had to play on the computer has been used to read and catch up with all the bloggers I love to follow.  It's time to get a move on and let you know I haven't been completely idle all this while.
About the third week of March or thereabouts I started some seeds indoors.  I planted leeks and onions first, followed shortly behind with an assortment of hot peppers.

Being the thrifty/green gardener that I am, I saved,  rinsed out and cut down all the Timmy coffee cups we used at a work related seminar.   Turns out they make pretty good seedling pots.

Because the weather was spectacular over the weekend I decided there was no better time than the present to declare war on the quack grass that has plagued my veg garden these past few years.  So I tackled this. (see photo above)

Friday afternoon had it looking pretty much like this.

And Finally.....

I transformed it into this.

Using just a few favourite tools and a powerful determination to be rid of the dreaded grass roots if only for a a few weeks I kept at it for 2 full days.

Of course I have no feeling in my fingers and every muscle from the shoulders down is protesting my over zealous assault on all perenial weeds....but man it's a great feeling to be back in the dirt again!

A Happy Birthday Girl

Sierra is living proof that you never get too old for a pirate ship birthday cake and a "Birthday Girl" button.

Okay everybody...CHEESE!

Can you believe I didn't even notice the mirror frame behind Mike's head when I snapped this one.  It looks as if he has horns.  (or angel wings...hahaha)

Kait and Garmin

Garm is growing like a weed.  He is a snuggly boy in the evening when I'm watching TV.  Puppyhood passes so quickly, so we are trying to take lots of pics and enjoy him while he is still a little fluff ball.

As for my resolutions....ack...I have been faithful to many of them.  I have fallen off the wagon on the "cooking from scratch" front.  I just seem too tired by the end of the day or something.  Anyway, that is one to work on. No excuses today though as it is Saturday and I'm home all day.  A good opportunity to experiment with a new recipe and since it is a balmy -23 degrees here I think a pot of homemade soup might be the order of the day.

  I have been better about leaving work for my time off but I could improve a little there too.  As for getting out for more exercise...well...I try to take a page from Cesars book but hey get real...he lives in Calif. for Pete's Sake!!!!  I would be taking merry treks every day too if I didn't have to contend with "wind chill/frost bite" warnings.  It was -29 here yesterday and I was just lucky that the truck groaned to a start yesterday morning!  But happily we are starting to notice the days are getting longer...it's no longer pitch black dark at 5pm but rather dusk. 

Goodbye January...coldest of the months!!

Out With the Old and In With the New ~ My Promises for Change

a new year approaches

not unlike the last I think

one day fading into night and into day again

4:45 alarm shrieks on the bedside table

6:00 bleary eyed lock fumbling

multi-task no time for lunch for this one woman complaint dept.

6:00 home at last and so it goes one day fading into night

a new year approaches

different than the last

as one day fades into night so do opportunities come and go

risk

take a chance

go out on a limb

find the courage to make it different

So there you have my lament for the year past and my resolution for 2010.  Resolutions are hard things to uphold nevermind lay down...but maybe a gridwork of thoughts would be better.  After all is said and done if I don't have any aspirations for 2010 then it might just be a cc of 2009 and I will see it come to a close with these same regrets.  So here goes...my frame to build a year on....

1.  Start a hooked rug.  Stop procrastinating and saying I don't have enough time...set aside the time and do it.

2.  Place a seed order and start my own seedlings indoors instead of finding myself in the middle of May kicking my fanny that I didn't do it yet again.

3.  Finish reading Nikon D60 for Dummies and really experiment with photography in the way I want to. 

4.  Read all the books I bought in 2009.

5.  Enroll Garmin in Puppy School.

6. Do a little weeding every day.  It can actually be a relaxing and enjoyable activity if I keep on top of it.

7.  Join the local photography club.

8.  Bake more. (from scratch)

9.  Stop being critical of others...when I find myself going down that road grab my rug hook or start weeding.

10.  (This is the key to all of the above.)  I vow, with this blog as my witness to stop going the extra mile at work.  I am on salary...my hours are split shift 6-10:30 and 2-5:30....working 6am 'til 5:30pm only serves to make me bitter and unproductive at home.  Points 1-9 will never transpire if I continue to work crazy hours...no one appreciates it anyway...it is just a job not a career...I am 50 and not getting any younger...I must take care of me because no one else will.

So there you have it...my poem, my rant, my to-do list. OK 2010 lets Gitt-er-done!

Garmin

It is official....my name is Garmin.

Even if my mom thought it was too soon to get another lab I dazzled her with my good looks and puppy charm and well...what more can I say.  I am "The Cuteness".

Meet The New Addition

I am going to show off my Christmas present.

Santa brought a wee Labrador puppy on Christmas morning.

His momma is a Yellow and his poppa is a Chocolate.

His name is Garmin and he's just 6 wks old.

Really a bit too young...but his mother stopped feeding the puppies at 5 wks and my husband had already picked him out...so home he came.  He spent the week with friends so he was a surprise for me on Christmas morning.  I had no idea my Santa was bringing me a pup and the moment I saw him was both happy and sad.  He will never replace my Hunter but he will weave his way into the fabric of Porcupine Hollow and be a play mate for Willow.

Willow has accepted him and is letting him nap on her bed.  She is such a good girl.

Garmin is hubby's choice for a name....I like Ruger and the girls are undecided. 

For now he's "the pup"....

Lean on Me

It has been very quiet around here without Hunter.  I haven't been feeling up to blogging or taking pictures since losing my sweet boy.  Poor Willow is very clingy and confused...I don't know if dogs grieve but I'm sure that she is. 
Wee Remington tried his best to entice her into a game of tag around the kitchen table the other night...but to no avail. 

Sometimes a dog just needs an ear to listen, a shoulder to lean on and a toasty woodstove to curl up beside.

It's all good.

Told ya I should be a therapy dog!

Therapy work is rewarding....but sooooo very draining.

I have to work today....but tomorrow we will head out to Porcupine Hollow on our snowshoes and honour Hunter by doing what we all loved so much and take a long trek through the woods taking pics in the snow and chasing squirrels and anything else that may cross our path.

Hunter

A silly moment when he let my grown kids dress him up.

I am thankful that he owned me for 10 yrs.  That he only knew one home.  That he left this world with Willow and his girls by his side.

SUNDAY STILLS: FUR/FINS/FEATHERS

The challenge this week is about capturing fins, fur and feathers.  Pretty tough for those of us without aquariums and crystal clear fish ponds.  I was going to haul a frozen salmon out of the freezer for my "fin" portion but came up with another idea last minute.....so here we go...

Red-breasted Nuthatch

This little guy doesn't know what to make of the dame with the camera...he was skittish but his peanut craving finally got the better of him.

Chickadee enjoying the seed pie.

A whole fish just for me?

Hey...wait a minute...that's not a real fish.

That's better...but I had to rely on summertime photos to meet the requirements.

Two of my girls doing what they do best...out fishing their father.

For more great photos check out http://www.sundaystills.wordpress.com/