Spring in the air?

I thought spring was in the air. I bought these at the grocery store, they are not from my garden. It isn’t that warm here. Aren’t they lovely?

But I was mistaken. Here is what happened on our deck tonight. The second time in a week

A dump of hail. Apparently spring is not in the air. What’s happening in your neck of the woods?

Birds at the Feeder and Merry Christmas to All

I finally got around to filling up the bird feeder and putting it out on the deck for those poor little fellows searching for something to eat.

Then this morning, I was delighted to see four little chickadees flitting about, obviously drawn to the chance of a feast. But were they checking out the seed in the bird feeder? No. They spent their time chasing each other. One bird sat on the top of the hook, waited for others to flit up to the feeder ledge, then dive-bombed them. It looked like fun, but no one was getting much to eat.

The best way to start The Last War series is with Book One, and guess what? Khandarken Rising, Book One is free for the next few weeks.

Major Dante Regiment must find a way to protect Beth, as the Emperor is not the only one causing chaos in Khandarken

The Emperor has been defeated. New countries have arisen from the ashes of the old Empire. The citizens swear they will never need to fight again.

Bethlehem Farmer is helping her brother Abram run Farmer Holdings in south Khandarken after their father died in the final battles. But when Abram takes a trip with Uncle Jade into the northern territory and disappears without a trace, suddenly things are not what they seem and no one can be trusted.

Major Dante Regiment is sent by his father, the General of Khandarken, to find out what the situation is at Farmer Holdings. What he sees shakes him to the core and fuels his grim determination to protect Bethlehem at all cost.

https://books2read.com/u/bQBBq6

Merry Christmas to you and yours! Wishing everyone a much better New Year in 2021.

Skunk Cabbage growing fast

Well, I’m back. My website was hacked a month ago, and it is finally functional again. I was afraid everything would be lost, but apparently not. Thank you to the people who managed to scrub it clean and make it work again. Hello to my readers. I have missed being in touch with you.

These are junior skunk cabbages, also known as Yellow Arum, just coming out of the ground. They grow in the ditches and hedges all around on Vancouver Island and are related to a similar plant in Asia. Below are the more mature plants, taken about 10 days later. I took these pictures while out on my bike rides, something I was able to do while social distancing. 🙂

See how big they are? They grow fast once spring hits. Do they have a scent? Oh, yes, they do. Thus the name – skunk cabbage.

How have you all been? Safe and healthy, I hope. I have managed a bit of writing, but very much miss my get-togethers with my writing groups, as well as being able to post updates here. Hopefully, things will be back to normal soon–the new normal–whatever that is going to look like.

Stay well, hang in there, Best wishes, Sylvie

Spring Has Sprung

Spring has sprung, the grass has riz,

I wonder where them flowers is?

My father quoted this every year in spring, usually when the snow was still in the process of melting on the ground, no flowers in sight. However, wonder no more. Here are some flowers from around my garden. Can you name them? (the answers are at the end of the post).

The first one is  of daffodils, of course. I thought I’d start you off easy. 🙂 Next is heather. This plant likes less water than most of my garden so it grows on the side of the stairs going up to the driveway, where the irrigation doesn’t reach it. The third one is mahonia, or oregon grape, an extremely prickly bush that grows wild in the pacific northwest. The berries have a strong, slightly unpleasant flavour, but if you mix them with blackberry and a bit of apple, they make the best jelly. Next is hellebores. I have about six such plants in my garden, each a different shade of rose to wine tones–one of the earliest plants in my garden. After that is the trillium, you knew that. I don’t know the name of the following plant, but love the look of the little green buds in the spring. Perhaps you can tell me what it is. The last plant is a cranberry bush. I had one planted when the garden was first developed, but it died last year. I was devastated. the blooms are beautiful, have a lovely scent, and  it is the first bush to flower in the spring, usually in late February. I searched everywhere, no one knew what it was, let alone had one to replace it. Then a tiny bush bloomed last spring, and i realized the dead bush had populated a new branch below it in the garden. It is still small, but I will put some good earth around its roots to encourage it to grow tall like it’s daddy did.

Ducks gather at Rithet’s Bog

Went for a nice walk yesterday, around Rithet’s Bog (named after Robert Patterson Rithet, a prominent businessman in Victoria, late 19th C, early 20th C). The ducks had abandoned the bog for some reason and gathered on the other side of the walking path that circles the marshy water.

Here are two beautiful males, the feathers on their heads are iridescent.

We didn’t encounter too many other walkers, most people isolating, I imagine. What we did notice was of the 8 or 10 we saw, most would not make eye contact. Perhaps they feared that eye contact would make them vulnerable to the pandemic. There were several, however, who like us, wished those they saw a good day as they passed. Very heartening.

Stay safe, keep well. How are you keeping busy as you isolate?