Friday Favourites: Garden Delights and Blue and White

 

It's Friday evening and it's good to relax after a busy day. I did laundry, a little gardening, and preparations for a short trip we're taking. The morning was cloudy and dull, but the sun broke through in patches in the afternoon. Clouds have moved in once again and the twilight is darker than on a sunnier day. 

The daisies and hydrangeas are having a party in my garden. I think the cooler temperatures we've been having are making things grow very well. The daisies are almost as tall as I am. All of the hydrangeas have intense colour this year. I can't help thinking of many blogging friends in other parts of the world who are suffering under such dreadful heat. 

One of the little luxuries of summer is creating meals from what's ripe in the garden. A salad of lettuce, fresh peas, a few radishes, and some sliced strawberries all sprinkled with a few nasturtium petals was a treat for the eyes and the taste buds. 

On another day I was surprised to see this perfectly formed cauliflower just begging to be cut. None of the other plants are showing such promise. I steamed the cauliflower whole, sauteed some freshly picked zucchini, lightly steamed fresh peas, and drizzled garlic butter over them all. Delicious! 

I've always been a fan of blue and white. The design on these teacups, given to me by a friend, is so pleasing to my eye. There's a lot of blue in my home. A few months ago one of my neighbours asked me, "What will you do when you tire of blue?" I don't think that will ever happen - it's been my favourite colour since childhood. 

Blue and white in the garden, too, although I have lots of other colours as well. Roses and dahlias in many shades, and all the green to add life and freshness. 

This week while out shopping I walked by a store selling phones, and was surprised to see a Foosball game set up in the centre of the store. Two employees were playing. Usually, if there are no customers, people are on their own phones, reading or scrolling. So it was a pleasant surprise to see these two engaged in a friendly competition and not engaged with technology. 

I've been reading about more people wanting an "analogue" life rather than a digital one. There is certainly much richness in the physical aspects of life - gardening, cooking, sewing, etc., that I would not want to give up just to spend time on my computer or my phone, and perhaps others are discovering that richness for themselves. 

One last blue hydrangea to wish you a beautiful weekend. I hope the heat waves soon end for those enduring them in Europe and eastern North America. 

I'll leave you with a short poem I read on Gretchen Joanna's blog and copied into my journal. 

How did the rose

Ever open its heart

And give to the world

all its beauty?

It felt the encouragement of light

Against its being.

Otherwise, we all remain

too frightened.

Hafiz (c1320-1389)

Friday Favourites: Here and There with Rain and Sun

 

Our front garden is awash with colour these days. Driving or walking up to the house makes me smile inside. Hydrangeas are at their best, and the roses are flourishing (and need to be dead-headed). There's lavender and daisies in the opposite corner. 

This morning is cool and damp after yesterday's almost steady drizzle. Oh where, oh where is summer? I don't want to complain too much because I know that some of my readers are suffering with intense heat. Such strange weather across the globe. 

We took the boat out for two nights this week, to Mayne Island, one of the Gulf Islands the ferry boats pass en route from the mainland to Vancouver Island. There are a couple of small villages and several marinas. 

We anchored in Horton Bay and took the dinghy to shore for a long walk across the island. Eight kilometres there and eight kilometres back.

There were fun and lovely sights to see along the way. The Briary sells gourmet preserves, made locally, from the cutest little stand full of whimsy. It looked like a fairy house in the forest. 

There are a number of farms on the island with golden fields recently cut. One farmer passed us in his tractor with a bale of silage stuck to the front. We joked that it looked like a marshmallow on a giant stick, ready for roasting. 

Cattle grazed peacefully in fields of dappled sunlight and shade. I always enjoy seeing a zig zag split rail fence and there are many throughout our province. 

Along our walk we caught glimpses of the water, here a bay with light filtering through the trees. 

At last we reached the goal of our long walk - Mayne Island Lighthouse. Here is where boats enter Active Pass a narrow-ish passage of water with lots of treacherous currents, and one of the busiest waterways of Canada's West Coast. A lighthouse here has guided ships since 1885. The light is now automated and the house closed up. 

We purchased sandwiches in the village store at Miners Bay and ate them while enjoying the expansive view. Bald Eagles, Kingfishers, Starlings and more entertained us along with the waves lapping the rocky shore. 

Another view of Active Pass, with two large ferries passing each other, and one smaller ferry ahead. A lovely sight on Canada Day. 

We walked back across the island to our little boat and I was happy to take off my shoes and wriggle my toes. Thankfully it was a cool day. That night we moved our boat to another island to be closer to home for the next day in order to catch the proper tide for taking the boat out of the water. 

It was an unsettled night with the boat sloshing about in the waves and neither of us slept well, so we got up at 5 am and headed home. I'm glad we left earlier than planned for the wind picked up and it was a rocky trip home, with the wind increasing throughout the day, and rain beginning mid-morning. 

The Boscobel Rose by David Austin is one of my favourites, a steady bloomer with a deliciously sweet scent. 

This morning is a wee bit brighter with no rain, but lots of puffy clouds allow for only small patches of blue. Hopefully the blue will prevail as the day goes on. 

I plan to sew this morning, pick blueberries once they dry a little, and generally putter here at home. Deadheading the roses is also on my mental list. And I hope to send out the invitations for my mother's 90th birthday party in August.