Blogtober Eleven: Here and There

 

It often seems to me that I get busy with doing household chores without making the time to do the things I'd really like to. This morning I set aside a couple of hours at my sewing machine. How enjoyable it was to stitch two pencil cases, a simple task, but I was pleased with the result. Then, I cut out fabric for a blouse I'm planning to make. And you know what? All the household chores that needed doing were completed, too. I think it's important to set aside time for doing whatever it is that fulfills you, like being creative. 

Cora arrived mid-morning. I read a stack of books to her - she chooses them and I oblige. She and her sister love being read to. With Iris beginning kindergarten this year, I'm realizing how short the time is to enjoy these two young girls. Once they go to school, things change. I very much enjoy times with the older grands, but they are busy with so many activities and we have to schedule times with them. 

After lunch we went for a walk around Swan Lake. It was longer than I'd remembered, but my little companion chattered happily all the way. Of course we had to stop for games of hide and seek, for looking in puddles, and for touching mossy rocks and trees.

Blackberry leaves so gorgeously coloured. There were a few ripe berries that I picked and she ate, saying they were sweet and just a little bit sour. 

She picked a bouquet of flowers, adding to it along the way, planning to give it to her mother. Then she threw it into the lake, regretted her action, and wanted me to get it back for her. Nope. Not going to happen. 

Our two-hour walk ended with one tired little girl and one tired Nana. But oh what fun we had! I snapped a few photos to share. Old Man's Beard (usnea) is especially photogenic. These golden days won't last forever and I'm soaking them in as much as possible. 

Blogtober Ten: Stitching and Cake

 

The stitching I'm working on is a simple kit, but it's taking me a long time to finish it. I have another in a similar style and I will give them to the two youngest granddaughters when they are done. Perhaps I should set a deadline for myself - maybe Christmas. I've realized that I don't do as much handwork as I once did. I'd like to get back to it.

The days are filled with sunshine and the dahlias keep blooming. Things are a bit of a tangle in the garden and it's time to get serious about the fall clean-up. It's hard to tear things apart when everything is still green and lush. I have had more success with leaving dahlia tubers in the ground and mulching them well than pulling them and storing them. I like to mark them with a stick once the first frost arrives and I cut them way back, so I know where they will grow come spring. 

I bought spring bulbs and hope to plant them early next week. I like to do it after our Canadian Thanksgiving. We'll be having the family over for turkey with all the trimmings. Preparations have begun - today I cut the bread for the dressing and shopped for potatoes, sweet potatoes, and more. The cranberry sauce is made. Working ahead alleviates a lot of last minute panic. 

Friends came for coffee this evening. I made my standard Apple Cake from a recipe given me by another friend many years ago. I'm not a big fan of ice cream and prefer my cake with whipped cream. There's not much left of the cake now that everyone has gone home. 

Tomorrow will be a day with the youngest granddaughter. I wonder what we will get up to. It's always an adventure. 

Blogtober Nine: A bit of This and That

 

It was interesting to read Barbara's comment about chrysanthemums being a funeral flower in France. It was the same in Ecuador. In the small jungle town where we first lived, there were no florist shops or flower stands at the market, but the funeral home had flowers and Tim occasionally bought some there for me. 

Today was much sunnier. The autumn crocuses (colchicum autumnale) are blooming now. They are known as "naked ladies" because they bloom without any leaves. I wonder who comes up with these names? 

I find the allium bulbs so sculptural, and cut four of them for a tall vase that's outside on the patio. 

A bouquet of sunflowers from a friend is a cheery sight on the dining room table. 

I was hoping that one coat of paint would be enough on the bathroom, but this morning's light revealed a few skimpy patches that needed to be re-rolled. That's done now, and I've tidied up the drop cloths and painting paraphernalia. We'll wait a day or two before re-hanging the towel bars and mirror to let the paint harden. I always get impatient to put it all back together, but it is best to wait. 

Our son gave me a large bowl of tomatoes from his garden. I made Crispy Baked Tomatoes for dinner one night. The tomatoes are unbaked in the photo above. Today I roasted a large pan of tomatoes and froze them. They make wonderful soup, or are good on a pastry crust for a simple tart. There are still more tomatoes to use up, so there might be some sauce in the making. I confess that I'm ready for the garden produce to take a break! 

We're thinking of Florida this evening and watched a bit of coverage of Hurricane Milton just coming ashore. We have friends in the area and so hope that they are out of harm's way. Weather can be truly dreadful. 

Blogtober Eight: A Dreich Day

 

Lerwick on the Shetland Islands, Scotland. Misty skies that turned to a downpour marked our wanderings through the town. In my reading of novels set in Scotland, I'd come across the word "dreich." It seemed to me that this was such a day, but I wanted to make certain. As I lined up to return to the ship, I asked one of the port workers if this was a dreich day. A big grin split his face and he agreed that it was indeed dreich. He thought it great fun that this Canadian would use a local word.  

Today has been another dreich (wet, overcast, gloomy). Little Cora came for the morning and we walked to the park thinking to beat the rain. Alas, we came home with wet jackets and frizzy hair. After taking her to preschool, I changed my clothes and painted a bathroom. We've replaced all of the windows in the house over the past 18 months and a few rooms still need paint. It's good to be nearing the very end of this major house renovation, done in very large part by my husband. I come up with the ideas; he makes them real. Teamwork of the uneven sort. 

On a sunny day I snapped this photo of the naturalized lawn now bright with cyclamen. 

The grocery store has a large flower display area outside the store. It's so full of colour just now - those pots of mums for porches and patios. 

At our family birthday party a couple of weeks ago, we all visited a corn maze, tramping this way and that, turning around at dead ends, and playing a bit of hide and seek. In the middle was a pile of hay bales and pumpkins for picture taking. Here are our five darlings; 4 girls and a boy, all dearly loved and growing up so quickly!

Blogtober Seven: Apples and Sunshine

 

As L. M. Montgomery's Anne said, "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers!" What beautiful days we are having. Cool mornings when I wish for gloves when I walk, and sunny afternoons that have me shrugging off my sweater. 

We did some grandchild care over the weekend, but for the eldest, a teenager, this time. Her parents went out of town and she wanted to attend a youth event, so she spent the night with us. There was some driving around on Sunday, including taking her to a volunteer job where she works with miniature ponies. While waiting for her, I walked along the shore of Elk Lake. Golden leaves, blue water, all lovely.

Just off the path I spied this interesting bench made of bits of driftwood, thin saplings and a couple of old boards. Very creative, and a good place to sit and watch the light move across the water. I wonder who had the idea to make such a thing in that spot.

Roses continue to produce bloom after bloom although they don't last long. I cut a couple of Lichfield Angel flowers to float in water. The tall brandy snifter was given to me by my mother-in-law just after we were married. She brought it to me with a rose from her own garden floating in it. Isn't it interesting how objects can evoke memories of the past?

I spied a nice handful of strawberries in the garden. Tim and I shared them. Sweet and juicy. It's a toss up who will get to the berries first, me or the squirrels. 

Apples are the thing just now. So many wonderful things to make with them. Tonight for dinner I made Invisible Apple Cake. The invisible part is the cake; it's mostly apples held together by the barest hint of batter. Good with a white chocolate cream sauce, or perhaps yogurt or ice cream. These are the days for Apple Crisp, Apple Pie, Baked Apples, and apples cut into eighths on a plate and eaten out of hand. I like them sliced into a green salad, too. Or a kale salad. 

It's good that I enjoyed the sunshine today because tomorrow rain is in the forecast. We need the moisture as well as the sunshine. 

Thanks to all those who are reading along with Blogtober. I do appreciate the comments. 

Blogtober Six : Reading

 

With the turn of the calendar to October came autumn weather. It's been chilly enough to light the fires. Two gas fireplaces provide all of our heat for the winter and they are set to come on at a certain temperature. We don't heat the upstairs of our home as we like a cool bedroom and there is enough heat rising to keep us comfortable. It was very cozy to come downstairs on these first days of October to warmth and glowing fires. 

I dislike reading on electronic devices and when we travel, I find it difficult to take enough books to keep me going for a few weeks. I'll read Tim's books, but that's rarely enough. On our Iceland/Scotland cruise in June, I frequented the book exchange on the ship and found the top three books that I enjoyed so much I brought them home with me. (I left more books than I took.)

Jane Smiley is a new author to me, but she has written many books, some for young adults and others for adults. Perestroika in Paris is a YA book, full of engaging characters. It's a wonderful story of unlikely friendship set in that beautiful city. 

Mystery readers will be familiar with Josephine Tey. I was happy to find a story I had not yet read. The Windsor Knot by S. J. Bennett is one of three novels featuring the late Queen Elizabeth II as an unlikely and in-the-background mystery detective. I loved it and have read the other two books and hope to add them to my collection. 

The Morville Hours by Katherine Swift is one of those books that follow the pattern of a year in a garden. Swift adds to the charm by weaving the Medieval Book of Hours into the rhythm of the garden she created at Morville House in Shopshire over a period of 20 years. It's a book I'll refer to again and again. 

The Lost Art of Mixing and The Rose Arbor are two fiction novels with lovely stories that demand little, good choices for easy reading. And the Louisa May Alcott volume contains three of her stories, Little Women, Good Wives, and Little Men. My childhood books of Alcott's are tattered and I was pleased to find this hardcover version. 

A few more glimpses of Butchart Gardens in the photos. 

The dancing water fountain is always fun to watch. 

This old chimney is a remnant of the days when the Butchart family business was making Portland cement. It's beginning to crumble, but still stands tall in the distance. 

Through an opening in the Japanese Garden is a small cove where boaters come and go. 

What have you enjoyed reading lately? Do you read digital or print books? Which do you prefer?

Blogtober Five: Saturday in October

 

Hiking or walking? When I put one foot in front of another in my neighbourhood I call it walking, even if I'm going through the woods. Hiking takes more effort and the terrain is rougher. Today's outing was definitely a hike. Up and down, clambering over rocks, huffing and puffing at the steep climbs. Several hours out in the woods on an October afternoon was most lovely. 

Trees here are mostly coniferous; cedar, hemlock, and fir, with some deciduous golden maples whose leaves turn yellow and brown rather than red. 

We arrive at McKenzie Bight, a shallow curve along the shoreline. The streams are dry, but will soon fill as the autumn rains come. Gentle waves lap at the shoreline, clouds dull the sky, and not a bird in sight. A crow caws loud and insistent from the top of a tree, but we never catch a glimpse.

A cluster of barnacles clings to a rock, visible at low tide. Tiny black snails perch among the rough barnacles. 

Mountains march right down to the shoreline along much of our coast. 

Native arbutus trees (arbutus menziesii) grow within 8 kilometres (5 miles) of the ocean. The tree's distinctive peeling bark has earned it the name of "crazy lady tree" because only a crazy lady would take off her clothes in the winter time.

Our hike took about three hours - I did a bit of housekeeping, made soup, and read for the remainder of the day. Mellow. 

Bright rosehips against the forest, anchored on both sides by cobwebs. One thing I really dislike is walking into a cobweb. The feel of it on my face has me brushing frantically. This week I walked with my youngest grandchild, 3 1/2. She wanted to play hide and seek, so off she went into the woods. I kept an eye out while pretending to not watch her, so she didn't go too far. When I heard a sharp scream I asked what was wrong. Nothing. Not a peep. She stood there, frozen, completely silent, wide-eyed. Then I noticed the cobweb, with a little bug on it, across her cheek. When I brushed it away, she relaxed, but thought we should stay on the path. 

Evening now. Lamps are glowing. A bouquet of sunflowers sits on the table. Time to get out some stitching and later watch Midsomer Murders. 

Thank you to those who are following along with Blogtober. It's a fun challenge, and it's never to late to join in!

Blogtober Four: Fun Questions

 

Hawthorne berries grow in the bog where we walk. They are plentiful this year, food for the many birds who live there. 

Although this photo is an old one, I made pesto with the last of the basil and put five jars into the freezer. A friend of mine made a green bean dish with pesto that was delicious. Lightly cook the green beans, then chill them. Dress them with pesto enough to coat. Add halved cherries tomatoes. Easy and scrumptious. 

Gingko leaves are such a pretty shape, like elegant fans, and I love the way they yellow gradually. 

I read these fun questions at Sara's blog and thought you all might enjoy answering them as well - either here in the comments or on your own blog. There were eleven questions in all and I've eliminated a few of them.

Have you ever...

1. wanted to go back in time?

When I was younger I wanted to go back to a time when I could swish around in long dresses. I thought it would be fun to be a medieval princess, but I no longer think that and am very happy to be living now. And I would more likely have been a medieval peasant which wouldn't have been pleasurable at all.

2. thought about moving abroad?

I lived abroad for 21 years, in South America, and while I wouldn't trade that experience for anything, I love living in Canada now. 

3. been lost in the mall?

I might have been twisted around in some malls, but I look for the mall map and soon find my way.

4. wonder how your life would be different if you had studied more in school?

I studied pretty well in school, especially in the classes I enjoyed like Literature and French. Sciences were not so easy. I don't think my life would be any different if I had studied Physics or Chemistry with more effort. 

5. crashed your car?

There have been a couple of minor accidents, but no crashes, for which I am very thankful. 

6. skipped classes at school?

Oh dear. I have to confess that I did skip some classes in high school. And they were French classes. I loved French, but in Grade 12 I had a teacher that I didn't really like. He called my father one day and I was caught out. No more skipping!

Blogtober Three: Cozy

 

There is something so cheerful about a round orange pumpkin. I grew five of them this year, but only one butternut squash. It was an odd year in the garden, and I'm thankful that I don't have to rely entirely on what I grow or I would become extremely thin. 

The pumpkins will become soup and possibly pie. One will be a jack-o-lantern at the end of the month. For now they sit outside on the back step, on a table on the front porch, adding to the autumnal feel in the air. I'll keep a watch out for frost and bring them in, for it would be a shame to lose them. 

Teacher Daughter's classes are in the afternoons this semester, so we've been walking or getting together for coffee once a week in the mornings. It's so lovely to walk just now. Leaves are showing colour and the temperature is just right. 

Lucy of Attic 24 crochets beautiful blankets. I've admired them for years, but I'm so slow at crocheting that I've never stitched one. But never say never. Her post for today talked about getting out the stack of blankets for coziness. I pulled some of my lap quilts and made a stack of them. I think it might be time to begin another. I like the scrappy look with lots of different fabrics. 

In autumn I pull out one of the first quilting projects I did - a table square with maple leaves. When we lived in the tropics it reminded me of faraway fall at home in Canada.

Today I worked outside, sweeping the patio and emptying some pots of their summer flowers. The petunias are looking very leggy, but are so cheerful that I can't bring myself to pull them just now. Probably next week. I find that when I go outside to work in the garden, I don't want to come inside. There's always more weeds to pull or pots to clean. Rain is coming tomorrow, so it was good to spend time outdoors today. 

Blogtober Two: Avian Conversations

 

The crow in this photo, taken at the ocean the other day, reminded me of a conversation with a raven we had while in the mountains last month. 

Four of us were eating dinner outdoors. A large raven strutted through our campsite talking a mile a minute. We couldn't understand a word he said, but his querulous tone let us know that he was not pleased that we were being fed and he was going without. 

He flew up and landed on the other picnic table, scolding us all the while. My brother-in-law got up to shoo the raven off the table. In response the raven picked up a roll of paper towel and flew off into the forest. He dropped the roll and alighted in a tree.

More chatter. When my brother-in-law tried shooing him away, the raven hid behind the tree, peeking his head out and chortling. Seriously. He was laughing at my BIL's frustration with the paper towel roll now in the midst of the forest. Soon we all laughed with him.

Our campsite was on the rocky point in the left of this photo, hidden by trees. If you look past the point you might notice a white rectangle. That's a train. It went by several times during the nights, rattling and shaking our camping trailer and sounding like it was coming right through the window. After the second night, we barely heard it. I found the train's whistle quite haunting and melodic, not shrill at all. If you camp in the mountains in BC or Alberta, you can almost be guaranteed to have trains nearby. 

While out kayaking, the train's whistled echoed across the water. Utterly beautiful. 

The conversation with the Great Blue Heron was of a different sort - mostly silent. Poised and watchful, his head turned to keep me in view as I paddled by. "Don't come too close," he seemed to say, picking up his feet to shift a little. 

Soon it was, "I've had enough, you are too close," and he lifted his ungainly body with powerful wings, legs dangling, and flew off in a blur to land in a tall tree. 

I'm not very athletic and dislike team sports. But kayaking, hiking, and swimming suit me. I like being able to dawdle and take the time to really look at where I am. We kayaked up to these falls on one of the little rivers feeding Kinbasket Lake. 

That was last month. Autumn has arrived here, and there, too. Soon ice and snow will line the edges of the little river, and perhaps it will freeze over. 

Here on Vancouver Island the air is cool with whispers of autumn even as the sun beats down. It was a puttery day of writing, buying a few groceries, discarding vases of dahlias and zinnias, going to the library, and making dinner. One of those ordinary days that make up much of life. 

Thanks for reading along with Blogtober!

Blogtober One: Butchart Gardens

 

I heard today that a Conde Nast reader's poll named Victoria as the Number One small city in the world. It is located in a most beautiful place with lots of wonderful things to explore. I don't know that I would have voted for it, though. It does have a reputation as the most British town in Canada, something I've heard from more than one British citizen. 

One of Victoria's biggest attractions is Butchart Gardens. I walked there today with a friend. A bit of drizzle happened, but the gardens supply clear umbrellas, and we stayed dry. The above view of the Sunken Garden is the most photographed of all spots. It is a stunning view. 

The dahlia walk is full of blooms of all shapes and colours. Elsewhere autumn hues are showing. There is a display of squashes - that one in left column middle looks like a starfish! 

Another display featured an old Ford tractor, perhaps used in the past on the garden property. There were also some enormous cabbages - coleslaw for fifty, I thought when I saw them. 

The rain stopped as we walked, but it was still enjoyable to have a chat over a hot drink in the cafe. 

I'm joining Barbara over at Coastal Ripples with Blogtober, attempting to post once a day for the entire month. We will see how it goes. 

Have you visited Butchart Gardens? In which season? There were plenty of tourists there today, even in the drizzle.