A new path

Early morning, and the fog lies heavily above the river in the valley below. The apple blossoms were out in profusion. The air warm - bees would be sampling the blossoms along with the flowers in my garden. The dogs were content to go and roll in the grasses that were growing in the pasture beyond the rock wall  along the edge of what I term the "side yard."

  Honeysuckle, lilac, tulips - all blooming more heavily than in previous years - the scent delicious as I walked around checking to see what was out, what needed weeding and what to do next.

Some days later, these beautiful iris along with the Montana Bluets began to bloom. More colour, more of Gaia's beauty.

A couple of weeks later, Sweet William - memories of my brother Bill - who though seldom sweet was certainly flamboyant as these glorious flowers are, competing with the Siberian Iris and Oriental poppies. And oh dear - the grass needs cutting!

The garden has been lush, verdant, and definitely it's showing off - could it be that it's giving me a spring to remember?

The past  two months have been turbulent in many ways, big decisions, lots of emotion, and then some illness making it difficult for me to write, or even want to write. But many people have been very kind and emailed to say "Where are you? and are you okay?"

Thank you for those thoughtful messages. So here's what's happening: I've decided to sell this property, and this has happened. A wonderful young couple will be moving in this fall. Where I will end up I don't know, but I may start another blog - about the process of finding a place to live.

There are many reasons for this new path I'm taking, most particularly that as I get older, it's less easy to manage this two acre property - maintain it at the least and continue to upgrade the buildings. The other reason is that my family lives more than three hours away. When I moved here it took only two hours to get here, but now, with traffic increasing, and no really efficient or sensible public transportation in this country, there are no trains to one of the most popular tourist areas in the province - it takes too long to come here or for me to go to the city easily and within a decent amount of time.

I'm looking forward to a new adventure, but I do wonder how the dogs and cats will deal with it. They'e only known this property and none do well with change - that alone will be an adventure! One I'm sure that will have its hilarious moments as well as difficult ones.

So I'm enjoying the beauty in my garden this year...

...the clematis - which has never had both kinds blooming at the same time, and all the others. I'm also enjoying all the creatures around the area, the calves, the young foals, and of course the antics of my four. So until tomorrow...have a wonderful day - and hope you can enjoy the beauty of spring here in the northern hemisphere, wherever you are and the luminescence of fall in the southern.

The next phase

One of the most beautiful times before the lush glory of summer is the staggered and phased-in opening of different flowers and bushes in my garden.

Some only last for a short while, depending on the heat of the sun. Some bloom off and on throughout the growing season.

Today to continue my celebration of spring I've posted one of the new grand openings in my garden...a deep pink honeysuckle that grows along the side of the deck.

There are many others which will grace these pages over the weekend - but for now - it's beautiful honeysuckle, which represents memories of my childhood. My father loved honeysuckle, and many other flowering shrubs. He inherited his love of nature and the outdoors from his father, and often told me how, when he was a child he used to see his father standing in his garden.

Perfectly still.

Just looking.

My grandfather would move slowly around his small space, enjoying the luxurious blossoms of shrubs, vines, bulbs, annuals and likely a few vegetables behind or alongside the small garage that opened onto a lane that ran between the homes on their street and the one behind.

My grandfather was a physician. He often accepted payment in the form of fresh chickens, vegetables, eggs and fruit and perhaps even flowers or shrubs for his services long before socialized medicine and government run health care in Canada, especially during the "Great Depression."

I remember him as loving beauty, literature and hockey - Canada's game (Go Canucks - just couldn't resist that).

Both men loved their gardens. My brothers and I inherited that love and the gene has passed along to our children.

There really is something peaceful and wondrous about standing, looking, drinking in nature's bounty and beauty on any day during the growing season.

May you enjoy nature's bounty and beauty today, whatever you're doing.