Tag Archives: sci-fi

Ducks gather at Rithet’s Bog

By | | , , , , ,
Leave a comment

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?

Stuff on my desk

By | | , , , ,
2 Comments

It has been very hectic around my house this week. My desk isn’t usually this chaotic. Items on my desk today- kleenex (just threw it away, but this cold won’t leave), stapler (to keep my files organized), note from library (to take my 5 year old grandson to the Lego event), yellow pad (to keep me organized, of course), small notepad (details of the next book), pens (always need one handy), broken cup (place to keep the pens), calculator (duh), mouse (doesn’t work that well without a mouse pad), printer (yes, always need that), sticky notes (use tons of these).

What have you got on your desk?

Johnny Cash – Five Feet High and Rising

Chat

By | | , , , ,
2 Comments

We had a dump of rain and the water dug a furrow down our driveway. We’ll have to repair it soon before it grows bigger, as these things tend to do. The pop up stream grew as well, here it was a few days ago.

This is what it looks like now

My cold is finally giving up, and I will soon emerge in good shape. Can’t wait.  We head over to Vancouver this week for some meetings and to get together with long-time friends. I’m looking forward to it. Hope you are well too, and doing fine.

Welcome to the New Year

Chat

By | | , , ,
2 Comments

We have had a dump of snow, huge for this part of the world. My patio table looked like it had a cake on it.

Then the snow melted and the rain began. The combination of melted snow and rain water started the small creeks running madly.

I call these the pop-up creeks, only active in the winter when heavy rains fill them up.

Now I have a cold, my sinuses ache and my teeth ache. I’ve used up boxes of Kleenex. But the good news is, it will likely improve after today and I’ll be on the mend! 🙂

 

Putting the Garden to bed

By | | , , ,
Leave a comment

I’ve finished putting my garden to bed. It involved digging out all the tomato plants, the cucumbers and squash plants and throwing them in the compost bin. Next was the pruning, all the shrubs and bushes, the pear tree which refuses to give us any fruit.

Then we started to dig–the Dahlias will rot in our soil if I don’t dig them out.

I dig them up, use the hose to wash the dirt off, and stack them on the patio out of the rain to dry before packing them into tote boxes covered in shredded newspaper. This picture shows about 75 clumps of bulbs. They certainly expand in numbers and I usually cut the bigger bunches into pieces when replanting in the spring. I’m no expert. I know many people take them all apart, pick the best bulbs and dump the rest, but this works for me.

When I first planted dahlias, it was because roses don’t survive here. I refused to dig the dahlias up, way too much work. But as the crop failed due to rot through the winter, I decided it was worthwhile. The dahlias bloom from July to October, certainly worth my while to plan each year. 🙂

What do you do with your garden in the fall?

The Last War series is still on sale, Book One and Two at 99 cents each,

GET IT NOW!: Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon IN   | BN | Apple | Kobo