The Flowers of Winter…

Spring seemed to be just around the corner. I could feel it in the air.

Twenty Seventeen…

Another year has come and gone; another year in the lives of a couple of west coast island dwellers…

Merry Christmas…

Here on the Pacific west coast, autumn is coming to an end and winter will soon be upon us. So far the weather has been the complete opposite to what we experienced this time last year, green and mild, not frozen and white. That leaves me feeling pretty jolly for the most part.

Bored in Paradise…

November has never been my favourite time of year. The rapidly shortening days combine with deteriorating weather systems to create a cloud of doom that shrouds my days.

Wild Mushroom Hunting…

In between the wild autumn storms that have been blowing up the coast where we live, the sun has been shining at regular intervals, bright and warm, making the colourful big leaf maples glow and pop against the evergreen rainforest.

Fall Harvest…

The harvest continues as the warm autumn sun continues to shine in between a few rainy days. I’ve taken advantage of the dry days to plant one or two overwintering crops; the little Egyptian “walking” onions and over a hundred cloves of garlic for next summer’s harvest, both  gifts of gardening friends. 

Bountiful Berries…

I have been up to my eyeballs in berries all summer long. The berry season began early in June with the first red currants of the season.

Waterfalls and a Whale….

It is a rare occasion when C. and I have time off together during the summer season, but right at the end of June, already a month ago,  we did have a whole week to call our own. Our summer jobs, at home and away, had been keeping us busy. The vegetable garden was more or less planted, and beginning to grow well. The grass in the yard around the house and in the orchard had been cut, raked and collected to be used as mulch in the garden.

Sweet Scent of Spring…

Boat gets ready for fishing…

Grass needs cutting…

Garden needs planting…

Mom comes to visit…

R. & F. come to visit…

Spring is the busiest time of year on the island. All winter long nothing much seems to happen. When spring arrives, suddenly, an overwhelming number of activities vie for our attention. The garden needs planting. The grass needs cutting. People come to visit. C. gets busy preparing his boat  for the salmon fishing season.

Oh, Rubarb….

Although spring is officially here, the weather continues to be cold and wet. The vegetables are getting planted, both seeds and starts, in dribs and drabs, slowly but surely. The heat-loving tomatoes, peppers, squash and basil are still indoors, under the fluorescent lights, getting bigger and bigger, just waiting for warmer temperatures outdoors, so they can get into their permanent locations under the cloches in the vegetable garden.