Kate smudges in earth, paint and life

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  • Glimmers

    This is the word that kept coming to mind yesterday. The sun was bright and the snow glimmered. I love looking out my kitchen window and watching the play of light and shadow on my garden.

    I thought of my plants and how surely the sudden change in temperature must have reached them. Glimmers of knowledge – do they sense the lengthening of the day?

    Are they awakening and beginning to plan for the upcoming spring? Is their excitement as great as mine?

    Glimmers of spring with temperatures going above freezing, for the first time this year. And that’s when I noticed that my Amaryllis has formed a new bud. How had I missed that? No matter, I am so going to enjoy having another set of blooms.

  • What I’m thinking today – not about gardening


    O Sun behind all suns
    O Soul within all souls
    grant me the grace of the dawn’s glory
    grant me the strength of the sun’s ray
    that I may be in my own soul
    and part of the world’s healing this day.

    (from Celtic Benediction, J. Newell.
    Photograph of one of my front garden Sea Hollies, 17.07.07)

  • Flower Confidential – What I’ve Learned

    This chilly evening, I am entertaining a delightful fantasy of moving over to the Plant Conservatory. I’d love to live among the orchids and tropical plants until spring arrives. Since that isn’t within the realm of possibility, I delved instead into a fascinating and totally absorbing read, Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers.

    With Valentine’s Day fast approaching and with over-flowing buckets of colourful, cut flowers appearing in stores, I couldn’t have chosen a better time to read this book by Amy Stewart (also of GardenRant blogging fame).


    Until now, I’ve never given much thought to the cut-flower industry. In retrospect, that surprised me, considering my love of flowers. The only times I’ve ever really thought about where cut flowers came from is when I’ve been confronted with unnaturally-coloured blooms that jar my senses, or conversely when I happen upon a gorgeous flower.

    Truth be told, I think I have always harboured a romantic vision of field upon rolling field covered in brilliant blooms and swarming with bees. Until now, that view has never been challenged. But now, after my reading of Flower Confidential, my romantic blinkers have been decidedly removed (mind you, I will always dream of seeing lavender fields in Provence).

    What I understand now, beyond the shadow of a doubt, is that the cut-flower industry is truly big business. Whether or not flowers are grown in the United States, Ecuador, Holland or Kenya, large-scale grow operations drive the cut-flower business. From California to Holland and then onto Ecuador, Amy Stewart takes us along on her quest to understand how the cut-flower industry functions.

    Unlike some books, which are filled with statistics and tend to inspire yawning, Flower Confidential was a fascinating read. Amy Stewart leaves no paving stone unturned, as she tours us through several large grow operations. We are introduced to quirky flower breeders, plant scientists and the owners of several of the world’s largest grow operations. During this tour, it suddenly dawned on me that I had begun to think of flowers in the same way I did apples or other perishable commodities.


    Further, I was drawn into a world of cost efficiencies which are of critical concern to a grower ‘s survival. At the same time, I learned that Ecuador and Kenya have emerged as major cut-flower exporting countries. In addition to perfect climatic conditions in both countries, labour costs are also cheaper and there are fewer restrictions on land use, fertiliser and pesticides. These are issues which Amy Stewart could have been explored further inmy view.

    Today, I was reminded of how important the cut-flower industry is to a country such as Kenya. You can read about this at the interesting blog, From Sin City to Slaterville. With the recent     political troubles and resulting inter-tribal warfare, the Kenyan cut-flower growing operations have been adversely affected. Consequently, there are likely to be fewer cut flowers available to supply the European demand tomorrow thisValentine’s Day.

    Throughout Flower Confidential, I was enchanted with Amy Stewart’s ability to weave history with science. By the book’s end, a clear picture had emerged of how the cut-flower industry has evolved to its present state.

    While I would have appreciated reading more about the development of cut-flower industry in other developing countries, maybe Amy Stewart will tackle this in another book.

    All in all, I’d recommend this book to anyone who ever has wondered where their cut flowers have come from. If nothing else, you will learn several interesting and practical things to keep in mind when dealing with cut flowers!

    And because it has been snowing all day, I thought I would include an orchid photograph taken this past weekend.

  • Little House of Exotica on the Prairies

    With the wind howling and a blizzard settling in this afternoon, I sat happily ensconced in our city’s little-known plant conservatory. My watercolour teacher decided it was the perfect place to hold a painting workshop this weekend.

    Why I have never discovered the City of Regina’s Plant Conservatory is beyond me. This is certainly one sure-fire way of beating back the winter blues with the added bonus of hydrating my skin.

    The Conservatory has an incredible collection of Orchids, Palm trees, Succulents and other flowering plants. Today there were numerous massive Amaryllises in bloom.

    Then I discovered a Scarlet Sage and suddenly all was perfect with the world. (pic above)

    Our class is small and fit into the Conservatory’s atmosphere perfectly. While we were there, a kindergarten class arrived for a tour, story-time and planting seeds. Before they started their tour, the kids all gathered around our teacher and were mesmerised watching her paint.

    The class had just left, when suddenly we heard the words, “Will you marry me?” We all turned to see a young guy on one knee proposing to a woman. Would she or wouldn’t she? We watched as she burst into tears and yelled, “Yes, finally”.

    Whew … we went back to our paintings and were soon lost in mixing our paints and working on our watercolour washes.

    I took lots of photographs and am pretty certain these are the two Orchids (pictured above) I will work on tomorrow.

    It was a good day – starting with my weekly fiddle lesson. I’m wanting to learn more tunes by ear and rely less on music. My teacher gave me some good tips which will help. I am also wanting to get more fiddling and painting in and spend less time on the computer.

    One of these days, perhaps I’ll be able to figure out a way to play my fiddle among the incredible plant specimens at the Conservatory. In any event, I know with certainty, that I will be making frequent forays back to this ‘little house of exotica on the prairies’.

  • Almost spring-like – if only in my mind

    Sure spring is still a long way off, but I discovered something useful today. Warmer temperatures and sunshine are perfect antidotes to the lethargic feelings that have taken hold of me these past weeks. There’s something about an azure-coloured sky that puts a spring back in my step and makes me want to look skyward rather than at my feet plodding through drifts of snow.
    As Lytton and I made our way to the park, the sun was shining so brightly that it almost hurt to look out at the snow-covered grass leading down to the river.

    Although I felt like donning my spring jacket, reason prevailed and I bundled up. Lytton put his head down and refused to wear his winter scarf. Instead he opted for his trusty, faded blue bandanna (see pic above – this one’s for you, Anne).

    By the time we reached the river’s edge, the wind had picked up and my scarf came in handy. (That is one of the few things I am truly enjoying about this winter – I have great fun deciding which scarf I should wear. Since I don’t seem to be able to stop knitting scarves, much to the delight of my local wool store owner, I am building a rather colourful scarf collection.)

    The riverbank and adjacent park are my favourite places in Regina no matter the season. There’s always something going on, be it rebel beavers, birds gorging on chokecherries and Saskatoon berries, graffiti artists, dogs greeting each other or kids playing soccer. In winter, the river becomes a shortcut and is well-travelled by those living on the other side of the river. (see pic above)

    Lytton loves to run about, checking out many of the same spots on each visit. I watch for signs of spring, but the only ones I saw today, were the brighter colours of the Dogwoods and the Willows. (Dogwood pic above)

    The Rosehips have stayed all winter long. Not surprisingly, there were no birds in sight today. They will be back though and the rosehips will be no longer….

  • So I remember

    With the bitterly-cold weather this past while, I am longing for spring with an intensity that I’m hard-pressed to define. Maybe this time of year brings a form of amnesia and I experience these feelings every February. A visceral longing overtakes me and I so want to step into my garden clogs, open the screen door and once again, feel the earth beneath my feet.


    The snow drifts seem impossibly high these days. It is hard to imagine them disappearing as quickly as they do each spring. For me, these are the magical moments of spring – the sudden melting of the snow, the puddles in the park and those lovely bits of green popping up in the garden.

    No matter that spring is several months off for us in Regina. I have no difficulty at all conjuring up spring flowers in my mind’s eye. I easily picture the profusion of Liverlilies (Hepatica nobilis, pictured above) that, last year, took me by surprise as they bloomed for weeks on end.

    I remember, through photographs and now my blog, what my garden has been like these past years. Every photograph brings back a memory of what I was thinking and feeling at that moment when the picture was taken.

    If I close my eyes, it’s as if I can breathe in warm air and the delicate scents that pervaded the garden. I remember my incredible excitement when the Meadowrue (Thalictrum rochebrunianum, pictured above) bloomed. With its late appearance last spring, I was certain it was lost.

    Isn’t it truly our memories that keep us nurturing our gardens from one season to the next? As with children, we get to know our plants intimately and can sense when something just isn’t right.

    If asked, any gardener that I’ve ever met, can tell you about their experiences with each of their plants. They can debate the merits of plant placement and colour combinations endlessly. Plants that need replacement are thought about hard and long as are potential new plant acquisitions.

    More than anything though, gardeners remember the joy their plants brought. Similarly, they are good-natured and are philosophical about their plant failures.

    Sometimes I remember my garden in Ottawa. I said goodbye to it nearly seven years ago. It amazes me to realise that I can still remember exactly what was planted where. For several years after leaving, I fretted about some of the plants and wondered if they were receiving the care they needed.

    It was hard letting go of that garden because it was the first garden I created on my own. I grew all my favourite shrubs and perennials and interspersed them with raspberries, currants, strawberries, rhubarb, herbs and vegetables. Vines took over fences and climbed up walls. Trees sheltered some areas from too much sunlight. Stenciled flowerpots spilled over with flowers and herbs. Interspersed with my plant memories are those of my son playing alongside of me from the time he could walk until he was eight-years-old.


    And more than anything this is what I cherish – the special people and animals that will forever remain in my store of garden memories.

    On an entirely different note, one of the things that I am enjoying through this winter is reading all of the garden blogs that I have encountered – no matter the climate, each of them brings me a smile and a feeling that we are all in this toget    her.

    Blotanical.com anyone?

  • Beachy’s Cape Cod Cupboard Craft Challenge #2

    During these blustery, cold days, I have had much fun working on several beeswax collages.

    I finished the above collage just in time to meet the deadline for Beachy’s Cape Cod Cupboard Craft Challenge # 2. The only requirement for this challenge was to incorporate the photograph (pictured above) into a craft project of our choice.

    For the process involved in creating a beeswax collage, you might like to check out my post, Minding my own beeswax.

    If you are interested in checking out the creations of all craft challenge participants, just visit Beachy’s Cape Cod Cupboard‘s blog and scroll through the comments.

    On a night like this, where the temperature is currently -36c (or -47c with the wind chill), I am dreaming of warmer times and am keeping busy producing way too many collages and reading lots of garden blogs.

  • Blizzard

    berries
    suspended
    like bright beacons

    withstanding
    bitter winds

    through the snow
    beckoning
    hungry, weary birds

    (by Kate)

  • Amaryllis and Blotanical – my newest find!

    The Amaryllis (aka Hippeastrum) that I have kept close tabs on for weeks finally opened yesterday. By this morning, two blooms were open and I was thrilled. Better than that, the temperatures here were above freezing for the first time in weeks. The snow was soft and Lytton, the dog, spent much of the day outdoors.

    Most Sunday mornings find me curled up in my reading chair skimming various newspapers online – one of my favourite places to visit is the gardening section of the UK Telegraph.

    This morning I had fun checking out the various orchids featured there. Ever since receiving an orchid for my birthday, I’m scheming to obtain another one. The blooms on mine have lasted for over six weeks now. Can I pretend it’s my birthday again?

    I didn’t spend quite the same amount of time as I usually do reading online newspapers since I just had to head over to the website, Blotanical.

    What, you may well ask, is Blotanical? It is definitely worthwhile stopping in for a visit. You will discover a wealth of gardening blogs, all listed in one place. There are several search features on Blotanical, giving one the ability to search for garden bloggers anywhere in the world.

    The brainchild behind this undertaking is Stuart Robinson of Busselton, Western Australia. You might also enjoy visiting Stuart’s blog, Gardening Tips ‘n Ideas.

    One of my favourite features on Blotanical is the way in which each garden blogger collect points. Over the weekend, I logged onto Blotanical whenever I had a spare moment. I read a ton of blog posts, wrote messages and visited many blogs. I collected lots of points for each of these activities and, much to my amazement, I became a ‘patron blotanical’. Cool, huh?

    So back I go to see if there are any new garden blog posts to read. I feel as if a whole new old world is awaiting me.

    Just click on the banner below and have some fun!

  • Lytton and his meme of five

    Quite some time ago, Lytton, my dog, was tagged by Yolanda Elizabet’s Bliss Team to participate in a cat meme. Lytton was most delighted and decided that the Bliss team had bestowed this honour on him because they knew he’d had been taught to respect and to admire all felines. Hazel, our departed, and much-missed friend, taught Lytton well. (Lytton & Hazel pictured above).

    Lytton was keen to answer the following questions in his own words, so I dutifully did the transcription for him.

    I. What are your five favourite songs?

    a) My favourite song of all time is, of course, Who Let the Dogs Out? by the Baha Men. Benoît, my big brother, used to sing it to me constantly until my mum told him to stop.

    b) Ho    wling at the Moon, by The Ramones, is also a good song. Mostly I don’t howl at the moon, but I love to howl along with sirens. Even if I hear a siren in the middle of the night, I enjoy howling along to it. That doesn’t always go over so well with my mum since I sleep on her bed.

    c) Both my mum and I love Bron -Yr-Aur stomp, when we are in a Led Zeppelin mood. How could I not love these lyrics?

    So of one thing I am sure, It’s a friendship so pure,
    Angels singing all around my door, so fine.
    Yeah, ain’t but one thing to do
    Spend my natural life with you,
    You’re the finest dog I knew, so fine.

    d) I love listening to The Snowy Path, a slip jig by the wonderful Irish group, Altan. My mum learned to play it on the fiddle and so I have listened and listened to her playing it. When we are having a snowstorm, she always plays it for me.

    Speaking of snowy paths, check out my new alpaca green and orange scarf that my mum made for me. I wore it this afternoon when we went to the park. (see pic above)

    e) I also like listening to Eva Cassidy sing, especially Fields of Gold. My favourite thing to do is run across fields in the autumn just after the harvest. I once chased a fox but it ran faster than I did.

    You’ll remember me when the west wind moves
     Among the fields of barley
    You can tell the sun in his jealous sky
    When we walked in fields of gold

    II) What are your five of your favourite toys?

    a) By far my favourite toy is Berry Bolanski (pictured here with blue bandanna). When I was younger, I chewed off Berry’s nose. That’s when Benoît gave Berry to me. I carry Berry all over the place and usually he sleeps with me.

    b) When I was a puppy, Benoît used to put biscuits in Lyle, Lyle Crocodile’s mouth. When I sat down, then I got the biscuits. Lyle, Lyle often hangs out with Berry and me.

    c) Since I love to chase and retrieve things, I have a good collection of gummed-up tennis balls. I’ve also got some golf balls and softballs that I found in the river near our house. There is a golf course on one side of the river and baseball diamonds on the other.

    d) My grandparents brought me a thick rope that I haven’t managed to chew through yet. Benoît is my favourite tug-of-rope partner.

    e) Platy the Platypus is another toy that I play with when Berry or Lyle are in another room. As you can see from the photograph, I’ve treated Platy with care. He just has one tiny rip in his nose.

    III. What are five things you love to eat?
    a) Since I’m a Labrador, I love to eat meat. Any kind of meat will do. If I think there is any possibility of a meat treat, I will be on my best behaviour.

    b) Although I am not given more than tiny bits of milk chocolate, I have often snuck chocolate off the kitchen counter or from the places where my mum hides it. I ate an entire big chocolate bunny when I was two-years-old. I still remember that fondly.

    c) After I come home from the park, I can’t wait to taste crunchy peanut butter plopped on my dog biscuits. For some reason, my mum thinks it’s real funny when I’m licking peanut butter off the roof of my mouth. Clearly she doesn’t have enough to do!!

    d) One of my best food memories is of eating a big piece of Benoît’s angel food birthday cake. Every time my grandma makes this cake, I get to have a taste too.

    e) I don’t know why I love licking out yogurt containers so much. Any flavour is fine with me. When I’m finished with the yogurt container, I have to get the yogurt wiped off the top of my nose. I also put lots of holes in the plastic containers since I’m a bit over-enthusiastic in making sure there isn’t any yogurt left.

    IV. What are five of your favourite activities?

    a) More than anything, I love to swim. In the photograph above, I am at Mission Lake. I love going to the cottage as soon as the ice leaves the lake. Swimming in the river near my house is also good, although sometimes during the summer, I don’t smell very good after I’ve had a good swim.

    b) Since I am now seven-years-old, I’m often found napping during the day at my mum’s feet or on the couch. At night, I sleep tucked in close to my mum.

    c) These days, I love rolling in the snow. No one is too happy when I come inside covered in snow and then shake it off.

    d) I love sitting up on couch and having someone rub my tummy or scratch behind my ears. Ah, there are not many things in life that can be better than that.

    e) Every day, I look forward to running in the park. I have all my favourite spots where I sniff and check out who else has been visiting. Sometimes my mum gets annoyed when I take ages to make my tour. But really, it wouldn’t be very friendly if I didn’t leave my own greeting, in turn, for all of my dog friends.

    V) What are five of your bad habits?

    It’s a relief that I only have to list five, since I have quite a few more than that.

    a) Sometimes I forget that I’m supposed to be an adult dog and I greet people at the door a little too enthusiastically. I don’t think so, but my mum does.

    b) As soon as my mum and brother leave, I do a tour of the kitchen to see if they’ve left anything edible on the counter. They usually put their food out of my reach, but from time to time, they forget. That’s when I have fun and stock up on human food.

    c) Licking my mum and big brother until I wake them up is great fun. I don’t know why they complain when I wake them up because all I’m trying to do is show them how much I love them (and also let them know that I’m hungry). I have absolutely no intention of stopping this either.

    d) I like to play tricks on my mum when I’m in the park. When it’s time to go home, I often hide behind a tree and hope that my mum can’t see me. That’s what I’m doing in the picture above. Hmmm, I wonder why my mum can always find me.

    e) Sometimes I pretend that I can’t hear my mum calling me. That is probably my longest bad habit, along with hiding behind trees.

    Since I had lots of fun telling you all about me, I hope that some of my dog friends will also tell us more about them.

    There’s Moose at Clare’s Sunflower Sky, and Maisie Rose at AbbyCreekArt.

    Tucker can be found at Ledge and Gardens while Garm & Thea are always up to something at My Examined Life.

    Chloe and Bella are two bundles of energy at Mary’s View and Luna holds down the fort at Greenbow Gardens.

    Because I like cats and I really miss Hazel bossing me around, I also want to tag Kylee’s eight cats at Our Little Acre. Simba, the resident dog, might also want to speak up. I think they probably get up to lots of mischief.

    And now it’s time for a final treat before bed. Thanks for reading about me.

    Love Lytton oxoxo