Saturday, July 26, 2014

The good, more good and the ugly



Lots of goodness in the garden these days. The blueberries are winding down, but there are still enough to pick a batch every few days for topping breakfast granola. 

Last night we drove to Chemainus for dinner followed by musical theatre. Les Misérables. It was so very, very good. Such a wonderful story of the power of grace and love. "To love another person is to see the face of God." I'm still thinking about the story and the soaring voices. 
 

White phlox is blooming, standing tall and fragrant against the cedar hedge. White and green loveliness. A couple of weeks ago I lost my watch (my regular one) while gardening. I dug through the compost bin, through the recycle bin (where the weeds go) and looked in the garden beds. No luck. 

Today I noticed something shiny in the grass in front of the compost bin. I was watering at the time and turned the hose on the shiny, thinking it might be a slug. Nope. It was my watch, still keeping perfect time. Can't think how it survived a lawn mowing, two days of rain, and perhaps being stepped on. Remember the old Timex watch commercials where the watch was subjected to all kinds of rough treatment? This could be a real advertisement, except it's not a Timex.
 

I spent a couple of hours in the garden this morning, too, weeding, pruning, admiring. The tomatoes are looking good - still a few more weeks until we eat one, although there is a stem of cherry tomatoes reddening nicely. Every year the tomato plants reach out to one another until I can't tell where one plant begins and the other ends. I read recently that tomatoes like to be crowded, so I'm off the hook. I'll let them sprawl all over each other, in spite of trying to control them with tomato cages.
 

These hydrangeas are the very opposite of ugly. But I can't show you a picture of the ugly because I don't have one. You wouldn't want to see it anyway. Our city is a seaport. Seaport equals rat population. They've been awful this year. In the past two weeks we've trapped and killed 4 of them. Ugh. And we think that someone in the neighbourhood is poisoning them because there's a terrible smell coming from the woodpile, which means that a rat has probably crawled in there to die. Ugh, ugh, ugh. 

I never told you about our Christmas Day Rat Massacre, either. Usually the rats stay down by the compost bins. On Christmas Day I noticed a rat on the deck/patio. Tim set the trap (peanut butter does the trick) and one took the bait within 20 minutes. He reset the trap. Three more times within the space of 2 hours. Four rats. Ugh, ugh, ugh. 
 

I can't leave you with the ugly, so here's a pretty surprise. Our clematis did poorly during the two years the house was rented. So I pulled it up and discarded it. The hydrangea bush is in front of where the clematis formerly grew. Today I noticed, among the hydrangea blossoms, some lovely big, purple clematis flowers. I'll try and detangle it from the hydrangea bush in the fall. 

What's good around your place?

24 comments:

  1. Your date night sounds lovely and I have heard that the theatre production of Les Miserables is very good.
    We have a similar issue with rats here in our area of town. It is very unsettling...they make my skin crawl...
    ugh is about how I feel on the situation. Thank goodness that Tim is an expert trapper.

    Your flowers on the other hand are very cheery and gorgeous!

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  2. The blueberries photo is so pretty...makes me grin. I have blueberries, but I don't think I'll be seeing any this year.

    Rats are nasty and I'm sorry that you are dealing with this current bout. Hope they are all dispatched now and that they don't come back.

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  3. Your garden bounty looks gorgeous. Oh, I have GOT to find some room for hydrangeas in our tiny flower beds next year. Thanks for not sharing a photo of a rat, LOL.

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  4. I would absolutely love to see that musical! I haven't been to the theater in years! I'll have to think about that! Love your beautiful flowers! Everything is green and lush here in Florida. Enjoy your weekend! Hugs, Diane

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  5. Enjoyed seeing all the goodness around your place. Oye, the rats. Glad you had luck with that peanut butter. Funny story about the watch. So good that they keep on working despite some hard treatment!
    Have a great Sunday.

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  6. Such beauty you have on your property! And, oh, the music of Les Misérables is breathtaking!

    Rats. "Ugh" is right. When my son was a teenager, he borrowed a live trap from his grandfather...just to see what he would get. Amazingly, he caught several rats out in the barn. We had never seen any and didn't know they were anywhere near. (We shouldn't have been surprised, as we have quite a bit of farmland around us.) Ryan would let the rat out of the trap and his black Lab would make quick work of ending their lives. Ugh.
    (No teenage boys any more...no live traps...no dog. I don't even want to know if there are rats.)

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  7. Your phlox and hydrangeas are gorgeous! Yuck to the rats--we have had skunks, gophers, mice, snakes and other critters but so far I have been fortunate NOT to see a rat!
    We currently have blueberries with more on the way, figs, tomatoes and blackberries. I think we have plums too but I have not been in the garden much this year due to a variety of reasons.
    Have a great Sunday!
    Blessings, Aimee

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  8. Loved seeing your garden.
    Ugh! rats! No fun! No rats here, but one place we once lived in had so many mice we didn't even need to put bait in the traps. We just placed the trap in their trail and caught 13 in one week. Glad I don't have that problem anymore. Oh our fig and plum trees have more fruit than we have ever seen on them this year. So excited!

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  9. Everything seems to be blooming well. We had some problems with our tomatoes, and I don't think we will be able to harvest them this summer.

    Mersad
    Mersad Donko Photography

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  10. Oh my RATS!!!! Ugh...sorry, and I am sorry for you. Hate hate hate them...the mice this year are terrors...we had to move the BBQ off of the back porch into the garage.

    But the blueberries, and the clematis, the found watch all make up for the rats, shudder, lol.

    Jen

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  11. Beautiful photos and perhaps it is as well you don't have any photos of the rats.

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  12. We've been rat-trapping lately as well. Ours are down in the crawlspace/basement, and poor Paul is at his wit's end trying to figure out how they're getting in. He blocks one teeny-tiny hole and they must find another. . . .Ugh indeed.

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  13. Such gorgeous photos, Lorrie! You definitely have a green thumb, according to all the bounty blooming and ripening in your yard. Love soaking in the beauty of all you share.

    Totally despise rats. I remember having to deal with them on the farm. Horrible little beasties, they are. Hope you keep ahead of them!

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  14. Lots of "good stuff", Loved the Hydrangea blooms. Now the rats, good thing you didn't get pictures. Although my granddaughter did have 2 pet rats (yes, pets) until they passed away. They weren't that bad.

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  15. Les Miserables is my favorite stage show and I've seen it performed several times. Glad you enjoyed your evening at the theatre Lorrie.

    Yes, thanks for not sharing your 'big mice' with us - those I can live without! Aren't you scared of them getting too close?

    Your watch must be a Timex in disguise- that's amazing it's still ticking.

    Phlox are lovely - so fresh looking. Your garden flowers are so pretty - mine are disappointing this year.

    Happy week ahead, Mary

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  16. Lovely photographs and ugh, ugh, ugh about the rats! That is one tough wrist watch, glad that you found it. The good around here is that the sun is shining again and the heat is on, thank goodness! Enjoy the last of the blueberries and those cherry tomatoes when they ripen.

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  17. Rats…ugh. Sorry your dealing with that.

    I'm anticipating beauty on my hydrangea again next year. Your blooms are stunning! Do you ever dry them? They are lovely!

    Deanna

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  18. Oh rats! I do admire the hydrangea. I see them growing here, but for the life of me can't get one started. Your flowers are beautiful, too.

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  19. Your blueberries look so delicious, perfect for freezing for the winter months. Rats are awful creatures. At work we had a bat survey in the roof voids and they found fresh rat droppings and a large rat skeleton. Pest control have been called but the thought that they have been scurrying above my head makes me feel quite ill! Have a great week catching the little blighters!! xx

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  20. I am glad that you only told us about the ugly :) So much lovely blooms in this post ! :)

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  21. What a story about your watch! And then the crowded tomatoes and full blooming hydrangea and clematis that won't die . . . you surely have a green thumb.

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  22. I love Les Miserable too Lorrie, the story, the characters and the singing - stirring stuff!

    What gorgeous blues - your hydrangea has such vivid blue flowers and the clematis is so pretty could you transplant it in Autumn and plant it beneath a tree?

    We caught rats a couple of years ago, our neighbour in the front townhouse had let his garden get overgrown. When I was weeding my garden one day I saw one running along the top of our fence.... I dropped everything and ran inside!!

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  23. Thankfully we have a rat hunter named Isabelle who is awfully good at her job!

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  24. Beautiful colours and Les Mis my favourite. 'Bring Him Home' is so emotive to me as it's a call for my son know God in his life again.

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