Spring it be

Paul pointed it out and now the plant in front of our house will forever be the "Yoda plant".*

*Also because I never remember its real (botanical) name (possibly viburnum lantana).  

It's a jungle out there.

Look!  A flower!  One of the dollar store daffodil bulbs bloomed!

I've had so little luck with daffodils; this one I planted last year and ignored seemed like a long shot -- but woot!  Like last time, 1 out of 5, another little yellow one (under 30 cm tall).  Hopefully it comes back (last year's didn't).

Look, it even attracted a bee!

Um... oh.

That's a little bee, and a little white spider eating it.  I showed it to James.  He's fascinated (possibly the same white spider we saw on the porch the other day?).

It's a bug eat bug world, I know, but I'm still a little disgusted.

I generally try to stop James from killing bugs*.  But today I saw a red lily beetle and immediately plucked it up and stomped on it.  James looked at me questioningly: Ladybug?  "Nope, this one eats Mama's flowers, so we don't like it.  We like ladybugs."  I wonder if he's confused.  I feel slightly hypocritical...

* Mosquitoes, though, definitely get them before they get you.













A couple of days later: the bloom's faded, but the spider's still there.

2019-06-12 - Update: After looking at a bunch of spider photos (Why?!  Why did I do that?!), I think this one is possibly a small female goldenrod crab spider.  Shivers.

Old MacDonald had a Ma-Ma...

"Ol' Ma-Dawno ha Ma-ma.  E-I-E-I-O!  With a fa-fa dere, fa-fa dere, fa-fa dere, fa-fa dere..."

(James's rendition of Old MacDonald had a Farm)

Yes!  Despite my neglect, the garden is in bloom -- thanks to perennials.

Right: The other lilies have faded, but this tiger lily (though plagued by lily beetles) just opened.

Below: Surprise sunflowers!  OK, I did have to plant these, but since I "found" (collected) these seeds on walks around the neighbourhood from dried out flowers, I didn't really know what they'd look like.  And it's always a miracle that seeds work.

1. This dwarf, branching, pale yellows with dark centers are currently my all-time favourite (of the ones I've grown).  (Is there such thing as a "dwarf Lemon Queen"?).  Behind it are some Scarlet Runner beans.

2. This little / medium one has gorgeous golden-almost-orange petals and a light center.  Look at all that bee-attracting pollen.

Below: Monkshood and hydrangea that seem to be thriving in only partial sun... my only guess is that they're not dried out as fast and have some protection from the side of the house. 

The same hydrangea are in front of the house and yesterday James picked one flower (from the cluster) and said "Bay Popo".  Aw, he wanted to give it to her.























But the flower he loves and he keeps for himself is this one (below). Good thing (:P) we have lots of them (that's partially why there's no full pictures of our whole yard).

Great Crepes! Earth Day

Chris, who's this who got married in 2017?  And, who's the kid?  :P

So, we managed to honour the Earth in one way today: we took a walk outside!

But not before having a nice big breakfast brunch.

James and I were spoiled with freshly whipped up crepes (Chris, Claudia, and Steph slaving at the hobs).  Though truth be told - James and I were pretty happy with just eating all those delicious fillings.

(Below:
1. Crepe Pig
2. Cucumbers are hard
3. Chocolate sauce? Yes.)

Chris (still planning out hosting Sunday Brunches) got us to brainstorming about other food ideas.  Crepes were certainly scalable, but I'm partial to a pancake.  Both, seemed to be similar, but not quite as awesome as his favourite Sri Lankan street food: hoppers (a version here).  Though I suspect (like crepes) it's almost all down to the delicious fillings.

(Below: Stare down!)

Eating in Sri Lanka takes us into stories about being the only white person in the whole room.  I've not experienced it.  I half wonder if it's the other side of the coin of how I felt when I was in Hong Kong...

(Right: See it's a chair and a drum!)

Chris had laughed at me when I bundled James (and myself) up for the walk in "the woods".  But see there (below): icebergs!  Vindicated!

 (Below: BASH, BASH!)

(Above Left: Nothing happier than a boy with a stick.  / Above Right: Anyone home?) 

(Below: Our beautiful hosts)

And since we were in the neighbourhood, we drop in on Celina and Theresa.  They were studying and cleaning up, and definitely up for a giggle break.

(Above: The sleepy Shaolin monk that I think looks a lot like *someone*)

I drop off James for his nap and head home for my own cleaning session.

Life can be really nice.

Dionne's Herb Garden

James and I went to the garden club meeting.  I was a little worried since there were so many mosquitoes about, but James was good, settling down under the mosquito netting, and I used Dionne's herbal mosquito repellent.  Onward for the tour! 


Amongst the towers of sunflowers (they help take the metals out of the soil) there was milk thistle, Campanula (can cut down and it just spreads and spreads), Skullcap, and California poppies. 

Members (Erica) seemed most interested in the ones that had calming and sleeping benefits.

Once dark, we headed inside for the meeting and enjoyed lilac cordial with pretty floating ice cubes of calendula and violas (all homemade from flowers in her garden).


We talked about:

- Building bee hotels in the future
- the plant exchanges happening on the weekend

- The Open Farm Days at Northlands - Margaret continues to recommend the tours.  Hopefully it'll still be around next year for others in the club to partake.

Checkin' out the Crib and Garden Blooms

Life is good.  I'm bouncing in my bouncer.  

I get a bottle from my PoPo.

But what's this?  

I'm not sure what I think about this.

Meanwhile, outside: 

- Some poppies are popping:

The hydrangeas are starting to bloom (and there's a few nasturtiums in the back): 

 

And, wow, the pink lilies are out in full force.

In, then Out for a Walk

We finally took an "after-dinner walk"!  Paul and I imagined as parents we'd be doing this all the time with the baby, but in reality, I'd be too tired, or it would seem too exhausting to get James all bundled up and ready.  Not today though -- we ventured out!  

We saw a neighbour's "Fence Post for Fort Mac" display.  And a dish of water available for pets to have a break.

The path Paul wanted to take was over a bridge!  Agh!  But... um, no, I was fine.  Has becoming a mom rewired my brain so I'm not so scared of bridges?  Or am I just too tired to even know I'm scared?  :P




Below: The view from the bridge. 

We walked to the Concordia College and the Concordia Lutheran Seminary.  He looked at the buildings, I looked at the flowers (below: Did you know Canna lilies have such spiky seed pods?), James slept peacefully in the stroller. 

Even though Paul was doing all the stroller pushing I was getting too tired, the strong winds probably also took a toll.  Anyway, it proves I don't have all my strength back yet.  Tired, but I'm glad we went out. 

(Right: No bicycles, no men with hats)

(Below: Onion flower buds).