Living Colour

Autumn falls on us

The first frost glistened

On still green leaves this morning

Farewell, sweet summer

The waves were calling. I finally answered.

We had been away from the ocean for far too long. So, when the opportunity presented itself, we got in the car and we drove to Nova Scotia.





I wonder where the winds will blow us next.

The Thistle Stop Café

Every year, I do battle with the Bull thistles which invade my lawn and vegetable garden. I am firmly opposed to using any type of chemical warfare, so I engage in hand-to-hand combat with this handy tool from those clever Scandavians at Fiskars. I have pulled over a hundred thistle plants out of the wet spring ground in a single morning - a deeply satisfying activity, often accompanied by a most ungracious and unladylike whoop of victory. The newly displaced young thistles, tap roots and all, are unceremoniously dumped in the "back forty" - the unmowed sections of our property.

My skirmishes with the Bull thistle tend to result in mere pyrrhic victories. More thistles spring up in their place, while the displaced thisles take hold in the tall grasses. There is now a thistle of epic proportions - at least 2 metres high and 1.5 metres across - at the edge of the cut section of the grass. And what a magnificent thistle it is! Its prickly stems and roots give way to delicate purple flowers, rich in a nectar that the goldfinches, butterflies, and other pollinators absolutely love.

So, dear thistle, the symbol of my ancestors, I accept and embrace you in all of your prickly, tenacious glory. Just stay out of my garden, okay?

Tiger Swallowtail



Monarch


Bumblebee moth and Bumblebee


Bumblebees share a table

Fragile and strong

Evening visitor

What are you barking at, Lady Chocolate?

Oh! A visitor! I see!

Well, hello there, Bambi! Welcome! There's plenty of grass and dandelions for you, but please, please, don't eat the daisies!

Oh, you poor deer! The deer flies bother me, too.

Well, thanks for stopping by! Come back any time!

Gandalf was most definitely not impressed.

Born on the 4th of July

Today, we watched a Monach Butterfly emerge from its chrysalis.

Happy Independence Day.

As Canadian as possible under the circumstances, circa 2011

Canada Day did not find us revelling on Parliament Hill with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. In quintessentially Canadian fashion, I was plying my nursing skills in an American hospital. And I did so in style.

Pattern: Spring Forward, Knitty Summer 2008
Yarn: Dyeversion Bamboo Sock yarn in Candy Apple Colourway.

Hand knit by yours truly.

I believe I won the Dominion Day Sartorial Throwdown. Take that, Kate!

After the storm

They're back!

The tree swallows manage to arrive at the bluebird nesting boxes before the bluebirds ever get a chance to establish a home Chez Miniature Rose. I love them all anyway!

Solstice chez Miniature Rose

Give that boy an A+ in science already

My major outdoor project this spring involved planting a Three Sisters Garden. It is coming along nicely.

I was explaining history and theory behind this type of garden to my 13 year old, home schooled son - how the beans put nitrogen into the soil, which feeds the corn, while the corn stalks provide a trellis for the beans and the squash provides ground cover - when Sweet William gently stopped me and said, "You mean, the plants have a symbiotic relationship."

Ummm .. yeah. I was schooled by the home schooled kid. Class dismissed!

Swan Lake, the non-crazy version

Hello! You look like a friendly human!

Have you any bread for me?

Lettuce? Seriously? Do I look like I need to be on a low-carb diet?

Well, the people at the next dock have Wonderbread, so I'm outta here! Laters!

This weekend has been for the birds

Did you hear the one about the Registered Nurse who received her layoff notice on National Nurses Day? It's actually a pretty funny story, if one enjoys that whole theater of the absurd thing and can avoid choking on the irony.

As my Mommy would say, it will all come out in the wash. I'm not laughing just yet, but I am feeling better after spending Mother's Day with my Mommy, drinking coffee and watching the birds.

Love you, Mommy!

Springing along on the Nature Trail

Something in the genus Hieracium.

Pussywillows

Mourning cloak butterfly

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard checking out the local selection of duckweed.

(Sorry, Mom!) I think I might be a Parseltongue.

No sooner did I wonder aloud if the garter snakes might be awake,

did two of them start rustling through the grass.

Happy Spring!