Friday Favourites: Parties, Flowers, and Tastes of Summer

 

For my mother's 90th birthday party, 60 of her friends and family gathered. We set the tables with china plates and teacups - hers, mine, my sister's and sister-in-law's. My sister and I bought various plates to make the three-tiered stands and Tim drilled the holes. The hardware is available online. They made the tables look very elegant when they were filled with all the party treats. 

After the party hullabaloo this has been a much more relaxed week at home. Beautiful warm temperatures. My roses are having another bloom of flowers although the foliage is looking a bit tired. Above is Boscobel, fragrant and pretty. 

I've been filling vases throughout the house with flowers from the garden. Such a delightful occupation in the cool mornings. I've also been walking before breakfast and enjoy seeing everyone's front gardens. Dahlias are having their moment - many of the plants are taller than I am with blooms of all shapes and colours. 

I'm always fascinated by the changes in hydrangea blooms. One bush has changed completely from deep blue to green. Still very pretty. Another is blue now and changing to pink. 

All summer I wait for the tomatoes to ripen. They are coming on fast now. One meal I enjoy is freshly baked focaccia bread with basil pesto and tomatoes. It's the perfect summer feast, simple and so tasty. I took this photo after the meal and only one teaspoon of pesto remained. A slice of fresh mozzarella cheese is also a nice addition. The tomatoes are so sweet and meaty. Yum! 

As the lowering sun shone through the window this evening, I caught it illuminating a bouquet of roses. The light is fading so much more quickly these days, and early mornings are darker longer. Our province has decided to no longer make the change in time, so we will be staying on Daylight Saving Time come autumn. We'll see what happens. Mornings will be dark for a long while. 

A rather quick post today. I wrote another post on Substack earlier this week entitled "Writing to Know What I Think," a more reflective piece. 

Wishing you a weekend filled with loveliness. 

Friday Favourites: Out at Sea, Home Pursuits

 

On a sunny Saturday morning, we launched the boat and set our course to Portland Island. Five of us walked the trail around the western portion of the island before having a picnic lunch and returning to the dock. The trip takes just over an hour. The sea was calm and reflected the beautiful blue of the sky, but the brown grass tells the tale of too little rain. Our soil is not deep, just a thin layer on top of rock that doesn't hold moisture. 

Across the water, snowcapped Mount Baker, in the country to the south of us, shimmers in the light. We've had a few smoky days, but the winds push much of the smoke out to sea. Another terrible fire began in the interior and leapt from tree to tree with astonishing speed. 

I listened to an interview with a man with a wife and two young children who told of seeing the fire grow as he drove home from work to find his family packing what they could. They left within 15 or 20 minutes and he said that by the time he left the house, flames were at the back door. Their house, along with many others, lies now in ashes. We are so thankful for firefighters from Mexico, New Zealand, and Australia who have come to help, along with teams from other parts of Canada. 

On the way home from our boating/hiking excursion, our daughter and her family sat on the bow enjoying the lovely day. 

On another day I took Iris and Cora to the beach for a walk. There was much to explore as the tide was very low. Stranded crabs, pretty seashells, bull kelp, and more. I love their enthusiasm. 

I spent a bit of time in the bookstore choosing cards for various occasions. I also found a book of Cottage-themed stickers that popped itself into my basket and will be fun to use on envelopes and cards. 

You might notice the watercolour of pink flowers in a jug at the centre of the picture. While we were in Alberta in July, we had the delight of meeting for breakfast with Brenda Leyland of It's A Beautiful Life blog, and her husband. Our visit was all too short. Brenda is warm and lovely, just as you might gather from her blog. The card is from Brenda, along with a gift bag of just the sort of treasures I love. 

Here's a photo of the two of us just before we said goodbye. Brenda and I are both members of the same Canadian writers group, as well. And we discovered some time ago that we attended the same college and lived on the same floor in the dormitory. I was one year ahead of her, and we don't have any clear recollections of each other. But how fun! I hope we can meet again.

After our picnic lunch on Portland Island last Saturday, I filled a container with a few blackberries and made a batch of Peach-Blackberry Jam this week. The scent of hot fruit cooking is definitely a summer scent. I have six half-pints and four quarter-pints tucked away for the months to come. I don't eat a lot of jam, but Tim enjoys it. Sometimes in the evening I'll have a small bowl of yogurt with a teaspoon or two of jam stirred in. 

Our weekend will be a busy one with my mother's party. It will be good to see lots of family - aunts and uncles, cousins, and friends. It's good to celebrate life!

Wishing you a beautiful weekend.

Friday Favourites: Garden, Looking to the Skies, and Baking

 

In August the garden becomes unruly. Tomato plants sprawl, zucchini crawls into bed with the pole beans, and winter squash plants climb up any nearby plant, most recently, a rose bush. I've been busy with other things this week and am feeling helpless when I look at the garden. But we're picking a few raspberries from canes planted just a few months ago, and the last of the blueberries. I clip flowers regularly. Today Cosmos fill the vase on the dining room table - pink and green and airy. 

Earlier this week we joined about 30,000 other people on a long stretch of waterfront. We went early and staked out a spot with a picnic blanket and two portable chairs as a few others were joining us later. It's good that we went when we did. Books and people-watching kept us occupied until it was time for the show. 

The Snowbirds are the official aerobatic team of the Canadian Armed Forces and perform at various events across the country, and internationally. It gives me thrills to see the team fly with precision and do some daring moves. In some formations the planes are just four feet apart. Yikes! This is one of the final shows for these aircraft which are soon to be retired. The show was about 45 minutes long, and there were plenty of oohs and aahs from the crowd.

Bees keep busy among the garden. They really like the oregano flowers and the dahlias. 

Rosamunde Pilcher is a favourite author of mine. She wrote four large novels and more smaller ones. Winter Solstice is one I dip into every December; the others are Coming Home, The Shell Seekers, and September. Coming Home was purchased as a hardcover many years ago, but the others are paperbacks and showing signs of wear. It was a bit of serendipity for me to find hard covers of Winter Solstice and September in a used bookstore. I was very pleased with my finds. Now to watch for The Shell Seekers. 

My two young granddaughters spent time with their other grandmother and helped polish her silver. They had a grand time and asked if I had some silver to polish. I said I had a few pieces, but I didn't have any polish. 

Young Cora told me, "Nana, you go to the store and you look for the Silvo brand. Silvo is the one you want." 

She was so earnest and serious that I've laughed every time I think about it. 

Rats have been terrible this year. Many people are complaining. I had one nicely ripening tomato and found it half chewed this morning. We've installed a camera and see the creature come into the garden at night, avoiding the baited trap (although we've caught a few others). In an attempt to save some tomatoes, I slipped sheer gift bags over them. I don't have enough bags for all, and I'm hoping to pick tomatoes when they are just turning red and let them ripen indoors to avoid letting the rats at them. 

Peaches from the Okanagan are something I wait for every August, and here they are! Juicy and sweet. I like them with my overnight oats for breakfast, and any time of day for a snack. Delectable! If I get out to pick some wild blackberries there will be Peach Blackberry Jam. 

What's been keeping me busy this week is lots of baking. Next weekend we're celebrating my mother's 90th birthday with a tea. I've made madeleines, tart shells to fill with fruit and lemon curd, chocolate truffles, and mini cupcakes, plus mini quiches and cheese scones. Everything is tucked away in the freezer for now. My sister is also baking the gluten free items for family with celiac disease. 

Tomorrow we're going for a hike with our eldest daughter and her family. Hopefully the smoke isn't too bad. It's been hazy with a faint scent for a few days. 

Wishing you moments of beauty and grace. 

Six Places on Saturday

 

It seems that the longer I go without blogging, the harder it is to get back into the rhythm. But finally, here I am. 

1. We took a trip that began with a family camping trip on the Island. There was some swimming, a little walking, and a whole lot of sitting around the campfire (the fire ban had been lifted - it's now in effect again), and eating. One day we made doughnuts. It's become tradition and our grandson says it's the only reason to go camping. I prepare and cut out the dough, the guys get the fryer going to cook the doughnuts, and the grandchildren glaze and decorate them with lots of guidance from Auntie Katie. My favourite are always the ones with the red raspberry glaze made vibrant by just natural juice and so tart and flavourful. 

After a few days we all packed up. The majority of our crew of 13 returned home while Tim and I caught a ferry and began driving. Once through the Fraser Valley (Vancouver area) with all its busy traffic, we went up and across the Coastal Mountain range into the interior plateau and then wound our way north following the North Thompson River. It's a beautiful drive with scenery that changes frequently. 

2. My heart is always gladdened by the sight of Mount Robson, above. We arrived in the evening as the light was fading, but the mountain rose up in front of us on the highway against a clear sky. We stopped and camped there in the park.

The only bear seen on our trip was feeding alongside the road and headed off into the forest as we approached. 

When Tim and I were much younger, and before we went to Ecuador, we sponsored our church youth group. Twice we took the group to Mount Robson for a multi-day hike up to Berg Lake at the foot of the glacier. It was a lot of fun with gorgeous scenery along the way. 

3. While we were certainly not prepared for a multi-day hike, we decided to go as far as Kinney Lake, about 4.5 kilometres. The lake is glacier fed, hence the beautiful milky green colour. And it's COLD! No swimming for us. I think this lake is equally as lovely as the more famed Lake Louise. And the benefit of this lake is that it is not crowded with tourists. 

After descending the 4.5 km return, we hopped into our SUV and pulled our little camping trailer through the Icefields Parkway (glaciers and mountains and waterfalls) to the prairie lands of Alberta. Canola fields are in bloom and make a lovely sight undulating across the landscape. 

4. We spent five days at Tim's brother's place, attending a wedding and catching up with family. And oh the mosquitoes! They were TERRIBLE! Add those pesky critters to the intense heat and humidity - I was thinking with longing about my island home with its cool breezes. The last day or two the heat broke and made things much more pleasant. 

5. Heading south once more we stopped at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. There is an excellent interpretive site explaining how the indigenous peoples used to hunt and preserve buffalo for survival. 

6. We looped back into the mountains for a few days of camping at Fort Steele. Swimming, kayaking, and exploring some of our province's history filled our days. 

The Fort Steele heritage site contains an old print shop with a very enthusiastic and informed interpreter. I was taken by the words on the above mini-poster printed in the shop. Books are a great way to travel back in time, or to the future, or indeed anywhere. I read 8 books during our vacation. Ah, bliss!

Finally, it was time to return home. Up again through the Rocky Mountains, across the plateau, and through the coastal range. Wildfire smoke was intermittent throughout our trip and dulled the landscape. The layered landscape still drew my eye and filled my heart and mind. I do love mountains. 

We stopped overnight for dinner with my parents before catching a very early morning ferry home. After pulling into the driveway, I filled my arms with stuff to go inside and dropped it on the kitchen countertop before immediately heading to the garden. It was a jungle! Later in the day I clipped a few bouquets for the house. 

And that was July! I have a few more stories to share from our trip later, including meeting up with one very special fellow blogger. That will have to wait! 

I look forward to catching up with your blogs in the next few days.