Category Archives: Garden

Merry Christmas, wreaths, garlands, swags

By | | , , ,
2 Comments

IMG_0625

Do you make your own Christmas wreaths and garlands? I went out to cut branches for my Christmas swags for either side of the door, and came back with the following –

  • red cedar (you can tell by the colour of the stems and bark)
  • balsam fir, with the delightful light green tips to the branches
  • fir, with fuzzier needle formation
  • salal, which gives great berries but stays green all year
  • hawthorne, for the beautiful red berries
  • broom, which is a weed, but adds a lovely straight sweeping component

This is what I came up with for my front door. What do you do for your Christmas greenery? Merry Christmas everyone!

 

Hot and Dry – wildfires in BC

By | | , , , ,
Leave a comment

Red dahlias

We have had an incredible summer of heat and dryness in British Columbia. Yes, we’ve had wildfires, some from nature, some manmade. Our rivers are low, the salmon are suffering as they swim upstream to spawn. The forests show the effect of lack of rain –the cedars especially seem able to let whole branches go brown and drop to the ground so the rest of the tree continues to survive.

My garden is struggling. The tomatoes on the deck are too hot, even with lots of water, and the fruit starts to rot even as it ripens. Those growing in the upper garden are coming more slowly and most seem to survive long enough to turn a lovely red. I have a huge zuchini plant which gave me one fruit, about 20 inches long and weighing 5 pounds. Everything seems to be out of whack!

The dahlias? Only the red pompoms are blooming. It is so weird. I have 16 different varieties. I don’t know them by name but by description, yet other than red pompoms, I have 1 white, 1 adobe, 1 yellow (with stems so short I can’t cut them and put them in vases). Does this mean only the red ones like this heat? Hard to tell.

How are you surviving the hot weather? I”m not writing and not at work, so I’m going to cool off with a swim in the lake. 🙂

Crabapple blossoms show promise for great harvest

By | | , ,
6 Comments

Crabapple blossoms (To follow, click on link at the bottom right)

The crabapple tree is loaded with blossom this year. It looks very promising for a great harvest. Now if only the apples stay on the tree long enough to be ready for picking in the fall. I have had to fight the squirrels for them every year for a while now. The first year, I had checked the apples and decided they needed another few weeks. But three days later, there wasn’t an apple left on the tree.

I make crabapple jelly for toast. Spicy crabapple jelly for dotting on cheese and crackers. Crabapple butter which is delightful with chicken or pork. Crabapple sauce, just because we like it.

And the good thing is – I don’t have to do any of that for months yet. There is still time to finish the cover for the first book of my new series, The Last War. I’m so excited.

Let’s hope it’s a good harvest this year.

Productivity – How to Get More Words on the Page

By | | , , , , ,
14 Comments

DeskIMG_0389(To follow my blog, click on the ‘Follow’ button in the lower right)

Like anyone else who writes novels, I sometimes have trouble making progress on my manuscript. ‘Sometimes’ might not be the right word, often is more apropos. (I have a need to be honest here.)

There are interruptions. I have a job, and it’s important to me, given it’s a business that I am part owner of and have invested rather heavily in. (I know, that sentence ended in a preposition. Forgive me.)

Other interruptions include family – what are they thinking? That I want to spend time with them? Well, actually, I do.

Then there are health issues that can come at me suddenly, like a thief in the night, robbing me of my equilibrium and concentration.

Nonetheless, I need to write. What to do?

There are lots of ideas out there

  • get your seat in the chair
  • put on the timer and write till it tells you to stop
  • get a software programme that counts your words and measures your output
  • wear noise muffling earphones
  • move into the trailer or the barn in the yard until the MS is finished
  • set a deadline

There are more ideas. Check out this blog  http://novelexperience.info/improved-writing-productivity-100/   for some good ideas on increasing your productivity.

And yet, when it comes right down to it, sometimes you have to cut yourself some slack. Maybe it’s okay to pour a cup of tea and sit out on the patio, watching the plants push up through the dirt, signalling spring is on the way. I’ll settle for that today.

Digging Dahlias

By | | ,
Leave a comment

This week I have been digging up my dahlias, cutting the stems off, washing the tubers and tying tags on them so I know what kind it is, what colour, how tall it will grow. It’s a big job. I have discovered (through trial and error) that a lot of plants I am used to growing in my garden won’t thrive here. Roses for instance – they die within a couple of years. I used to grow a lot of roses but not anymore.

When I first began growing dahlias I was told that I would have to dig them up in the fall, store them over the winter and plant them again in the spring. Being of a somewhat stubborn nature, I decided not to do that. No plant was worth that much work.

Then they all died, one by one. It is too wet and cold in my garden for them to last more than a year or two. Resignedly I realized I would have to do the work. The result? A beautiful garden that blooms from mid July to the end of October.

Don’t you think it’s a bit like writing? If you think you can get by with the shortcuts – such as no plot, quick edits, ignoring the learning curve ­ you can end up with a book that doesn’t flourish. But if you pay attention to the detail, provide what is needed, do the work, you’ll end up with a good piece of writing. I think it’s worth the effort