shadow play

This afternoon's moment of shapely shadows playing on white curtain, recalling yesterday's fleeting, precious ephemeral instant: a hummingbird's shadow, too quick to be captured with camera, as he feeds at the hanging red ivy geraniums.... [Continue Reading...]

scatterings

...more scan play with dried flowers, this one a dipladenia This morning's wake up call was the sound of slamming doors echoing through the house. A pleasant coolness felt almost chilly after the week's heat wave. All morning the... [Continue Reading...]

heat

I know I shouldn't complain after our cool spring but I am much too hot! It was 30C (86F) here yesterday and today will be hotter, and it's humid too. I know those in eastern Canada and US are... [Continue Reading...]

garden delights

I'm continuing to enjoy a relaxing extra long weekend at home, especially observing the ever evolving cycles of blossoming and going-to-seed in the garden, messy in places still but with many rewarding delights for the senses. Another delight is... [Continue Reading...]

June's end

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looking out

sitting here with no words to offer but a bit of my view over the back yard...... [Continue Reading...]

summer

the tomatoes are growing, golden nuggets almost ready the first cucumber was delicious, many more awaiting little baby peppers are appearing like magic local sweet strawberries and raspberries for dessert a huge full strawberry moon tonight it must be... [Continue Reading...]

Happy May Day

The first of May is historically and culturally more important in Europe than in North America, rooted in ancient pagan celebrations of spring sometimes mixed with some modern political overtones. I briefly indulge in some fond memories of some... [Continue Reading...]

hellos and goodbyes

Much greeting and hugging and then goodbyes have been a large part of our holidays as our family swelled from seven for Christmas Eve to nine on the 27th, then twelve for just a day on the 28th and... [Continue Reading...]

lights of the season

enjoying the days of sunlight and frost fires and warm candlelight in foggy nights these last days of the year... [Continue Reading...]

Winter Stories 2009

Every Christmas since 2003, our granddaughter Lael, now 9, has told a winter story that her daddy has animated and put on her website as their holiday greeting to their friends and family. And each year since I started... [Continue Reading...]

home fires burning

Thanks to Erika for posting my video onto her Flickr account! The past few days we've been without home heating, that is, a central heating system we take for granted in most homes in the developed world. Ours is... [Continue Reading...]

autumn at home

surprise sunrise scene in the kitchen lovely blossoms still blooming madly but producing only plum sized squash babies from volunteers that appeared late in the summer and have grown like Jack-in-the-beanstalks in the new planting bed the best fall... [Continue Reading...]

transitions

Detail of a totem in Thunderbird Park, Victoria Though there have been many exhilarating days, I've often been feeling exhausted this month due to sleeping poorly. I realize that's because I'm going through a time of transition in many... [Continue Reading...]

summer is...

        fresh picked red currants sweetened by sunshine, precious last ones saved for granddaughters' picking pleasure a record heat wave sprinkler swirls sparkling water to delight garden and jumping children a new roof overheated workers start early, quit early... [Continue Reading...]

heat wave whine

too hot to plant my garden (I'm way behind because of the trip) too much weeding and watering to do too hot to sleep, too hot to think, too hot to write We've had only one partial day of... [Continue Reading...]

spring and birthdays

'Tis the first day of spring and I'm longing for the weather to match! A very cold winter not easing up for spring means this year the garden is unusually late for normally balmy Vancouver. Blame the depressing weather if... [Continue Reading...]

thaw

        yesterday: rain, melting snow, flooded streets this morning, sunshine; this afternoon, more rain? heavy clumps of snow falling off trees and roof edges         still deep white yards, snowbanks, tracks on roads tilting snowmen, carrot noses pointed... [Continue Reading...]

Lael's Winter Story 2008

    Once again, we wish to share our pride and delight with what has become an annual tradition: a gift from our now eight-year old granddaughter and her family, Lael's Winter Story 2008. Lael made up the story and... [Continue Reading...]

white and bright

at 5:00 pm Sunday, December 21st, 2008 It's almost midnight on winter solstice day and it's been snowing almost steadily for 24 hours and it is still coming down. What an incredibly beautiful winter wonderland it is out there.... [Continue Reading...]

solstice time

At [10:04 a.m. Pacific Time] on Sunday Dec. 21, 2008, the northern hemisphere begins its tilt back toward the sun, marking the winter solstice in this part of the world and slowly leading to longer days. This may be... [Continue Reading...]

snow and ice

        Well, more snow came down on Wednesday and it has stayed. Here, in the usually balmiest corner of Canada, we are experiencing zub-sero temperatures. Instead of the rain quickly washing it all away as usual there's lots more... [Continue Reading...]

weather report

    Though many areas around Metro Vancouver received a lot of snow on the weekend, our little microclimate prevented us from getting more than a dusting and even that was blown away by the high winds. Funny how the... [Continue Reading...]

snowy morning

        First snow at sea level arrived this morning, beautiful, mesmerizing thick fluffy flakes falling for two or three hours but still too wet to build up very much, then quickly washed away by rain. The local mountains have... [Continue Reading...]

homey day

        a lazy Saturday indoors a drizzly misty rain outdoors lingering long after breakfast reading snippets from the weekend paper to each other a little tidying and watering plants a soothing massage on sore legs and aching knee a... [Continue Reading...]

splendid September

    (scan of maple leaf found in old telephone book)     After a very wet and cool second-half-of-August, we have had non-stop sunny days, and hot ones this week too! I love the contrasts of the cooler nights and... [Continue Reading...]

delinquent

    As I mentioned before, I have been catching up with some printmaking the past two weeks. I completed the two editions as planned, then documented and photographed them. I have yet to process the images and post them... [Continue Reading...]

summer's here

Today is the Victoria Day holiday and what a busy long weekend it has been. My husband took Friday off work and we've been working hard in the garden for three days in a row. Three gorgeous sunny days, the... [Continue Reading...]

outside, inside

looking at spring, outside the patio door
inside the solarium, waiting to summer outside

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snow in April

We were shocked last night to receive hail and dry pellets of snow, then wet snow for about four or five hours. A few stunning flashes of lightning highlit the whiteness into a ghostlike eery world. Then it all... [Continue Reading...]

urban wildlife

        I had some excitement at the home front this afternoon. I was in the kitchen about to prepare some vegetables when I spotted some kind of bushy furry creature crawling along the garage roof. I couldn't believe my... [Continue Reading...]

end of March

    I was going to repeat the old cliché about March coming in like a lamb and going out like a lion (or vice-versa). The last two or three weeks have been unusually cold here, with locally variable and sometimes... [Continue Reading...]

special long weekend

    Yesterday came the spring equinox Last night the full Lenten moon, (did you keep me awake, Moon?) Today son-in-law J's birthday, a make-your-own-pizza party! and cake! Sunday is Easter, so early this year An egg hunt for the... [Continue Reading...]

and more snow

        snowing all night, snowing this morning schools and colleges closed, commuting chaos garden under heavy white blanket, tree branches weighed down silence punctuated with soft thuds, scrape of shovel glad I can stay home today, like the happy... [Continue Reading...]

ice and snow

a weekend of snow, rain, ice and snow again
so beautiful and bright
and more snow coming tonight!

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winter sun and frost

We have had several days of sunshine at long last. As often happens here when the cloud cover is gone, it gets quite cold. At night it's been as cold as -5C (23F) so there's frost on the skylights in... [Continue Reading...]

lingering lazy days

My, have I been lazy this past week, not even blogging! The preparations and the holidays themselves seem to have tired me out a bit. I'm enjoying these quiet days to replenish body and soul. It's now Twelfth Night,... [Continue Reading...]

old year, new year

    On this last day of 2007, I feel some sadness in saying goodbye to another year. Changing the annual calendars is such an adrupt marker of the passage of time and of aging, inducing a twinge of melancholy... [Continue Reading...]

Boxing Day walk

Reminisces...
two lovely days with dear friends
hours of chatting, eating, laughing
long walks in our neighbourhood

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Happy Boxing Day

Christmas Day was almost a white one when it started to snow in the afternoon as we headed over to one daughter's place for a nice meal and play with the granddaughters. The snowfall was beautiful to watch....

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winter story 2007

    Our granddaughter Lael's annual Winter Story has become her family's traditional Christmas greeting to all their family and friends. As always, Lael (now 7 years) does the delightful drawings and tells the story. Her father creates them into... [Continue Reading...]

good tidings

The countdown is quickening,
the house is decorated and clean (almost),
the baking nearly done
except for the plum tarts
(the filling is made, the dough is chilling)...

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Looking back: Jule favourites

Deep in the archives of three years ago is this favourite Christmas season post of mine and reposted here almost fully: My favourite things about Christmas are the things that appeal to the romantic and the child in me.... [Continue Reading...]

a stimulating weekend

On Friday, November 16th, our youngest grand-daugther had her second birthday. November 16th is a significant date for me and as this blog is kind of a diary as well, I enjoyed looking up past posts on this date.... [Continue Reading...]