In the Garden

In the garden, some things are flourishing and others are doing poorly. The flowers in the front bed are just beginning to grow. It's taken them a long time to get a start and I don't expect anything impressive from them.

The ivy, begonias and nicotina that Brandon planted in the pot is flourishing.

The ivy has gone from a sprig to what you see in the photo above. The gerber daisy that was originally in the basket didn't make it. I noticed that the gerber daisies at the nursery are also doing poorly. They look like they are diseased and maybe they are.

The asparagus fern and begonias in the baskets on the porch railing are looking great.

The hollyhock is blooming for a second time. I picked all of the dead blossoms off when it died back, hoping that it would flower again and I wasn't disappointed.

The cabbage and carrots in the veggie garden are doing well. We've had a few baby carrots already. Dakota loves to eat them raw.

We have a lot of tomatoes coming. These are going to taste delicious. I love garden fresh tomatoes.

Brandon harvested the first one yesterday. It was a little green on one side, so I left it on the porch railing to ripen. It is going to taste wonderful.

It was a sunny, hot day here today. 29 degrees celsius, which is 84.2 F. It seemed a little hot to me, but that's because we've had temperatures in the high 60s and low 70s for most of the summer. I like cooler temperatures but was sure happy to see the sun the last three days.

Enjoy your weekend. This is the Civic holiday...some people have a long weekend while others have to work. Mainly government employees get Monday off...retail stores are open.

A Few Tidbits of Information

There are so many tidbits of information that are interesting. I ran across a few today.

* During the 1500s, rich people had plates made of pewter. They didn't realize that high acidic foods allowed the lead to leech into their food, causing sickness and death. Tomatoes are very high in acid and for over 400 years, they were thought to be poisonous because of this.

*When your mother told you to eat your carrots because they were good for your eyes, she was right. Why? Because carrots are high in Vitamin A, which is known to improve eyesight.

* Salt, our oldest preservative, was extremely rare in the past. So rare, in fact, that it was often used as pay. Imagine...earning a couple of tablespoons of salt for a hard-days work. Today, salt is so common that restaurants give it away for free, and packaged food contains so much that it's far too easy to eat too much salt.

* During the Middle Ages, people put lemon on fish because they thought the juice would dissolve fish bones swallowed accidentally. Lemon juice is still used on fish today.

* During the Klondike gold rush in Alaska, potatoes were worth their weight in gold. Miners actually traded gold for potatoes because they needed the Vitamin C.

* The colour of a chilli is no indication of its spiciness, but size usually is - the smaller the pepper, the hotter it is.

* The largest living organism ever found is a honey mushroom, Armillaria ostoyae. It covers 3.4 square miles of land in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon, and it's still growing.


It's very interesting the facts you can dig up if you take the time to look. Hope you have a great weekend.

Positive Day Post...Counting our Blessings

Tuesday hubby took Dakota to the dog park because he was getting a little too rambunctious. He tires himself out running and playing with the other dogs. When the boys found out that Dakota went to the dog park without them, they were quite disappointed. So today, which was a hot and sunny day, we all decided to go.

There were some beautiful dogs there. Jordan loves all kinds of dogs but is especially fond of Jack Russell Terriers. Though it isn't in this picture, there was one at the dog park

The husky is Kyla. She has a great temperament and reminds me very much of Meeko. She was sitting quietly watching something in the distance.

Here is Dakota, Kyla and a bulldog enjoying some canine fun. All of the dogs seemed to like each other. There are some dogs that Dakota isn't sure of and the bulldog was one of them. He is very hyper, but a nice dog.

Dakota is hiding between hubby's legs. The bulldog had been chasing him and he was a little skittish.

Jordan and Kyla. The bulldog had found an empty water bottle and was crushing it and tossing it around the park.

Jordan is watching all the dogs. When we first got there, only five dogs were in the park. By the time we left, there were about fifteen.

Jordan watching the bulldog case out Dakota's bottle of water. He actually stole it right off the bench. No harm done...it was empty by that time.

Jordan and Kyla. Jordan really enjoyed her company and she followed him around.

A German shepherd that is larger than Dakota and has lighter colouring. She is a year old and a very nice dog.

Dakota being chased. He really didn't like this dog pestering him and he growled and the hair stood up along his back. Kyla started toward them and the other dog ran away.

The border collie in the photo above was a beautiful dog. She had an even temperament but was also very hyper. Dakota wasn't sure of her and tried his best to stay out of her way.

All of the dogs we saw today were well cared for and they were all friendly.

The result of fun at the dog park...I have one pooped puppy who has slept pretty much the entire time since we got home just after 3 pm. He really needs to go every day. He is an active little guy and when he doesn't go, he wants way too much attention. When he gets his exercise, he is much better behaved and spends most of his time resting.

I'm glad it was sunny today. We all got some much needed exercise and sunshine. Our blessings? Fun, laughter, sunshine, beautiful dogs and spending time with family.

What's Been Happening Here

Not much has been happening here. The weather has been unseasonably cool for this area most days and we are still getting a lot of rain. On Sunday, we had torrential rains and at one point it was so bad I couldn't see across the street. Many streets were flooded, especially those that run under overpasses. Cars were marooned in water and basements and yards were flooded.

Melissa's backyard looked like a rice paddy and her basement flooded. They have only lived there a couple of months and didn't realize that the property adjoining theirs behind is elevated an entire foot more than theirs. This causes the water to pour out of the neighbour's yard into her yard. She had quite a mess to clean up. Luckily many of her friends were able to give a hand.

We live on a hill and at these times I'm very happy that we do. Though mowing the terraces is a hard job, rain doesn't run into our basement. However, the neighbour to the east gets all the run-off from up the hill because of the way her yard is sloped. She is in Nunavut and has a tenant. I sure hope he took care of her basement for her.

Not much else has been happening here. With the rainy weather, I haven't been getting out much with the boys and we are all bored to death. Hoping tomorrow is a nicer day.

I know I haven't been over to visit many of you but am hoping to stop by soon.

Memories of Mom and Dad.

On July 24th Mom and Dad would have been married 64 years. Unfortunately, Dad passed away suddenly in 1981, leaving Mom a widow at the age of 54. Since then, Mom has lived alone, nuturing and caring for her family. She's never went out with another man nor has she even considered it. Dad was her only love and I know from things she says that she still misses him dearly.

The above photo is not one of their wedding, but it is of them in their younger years. That is the suit that Dad bought especially for their big day and he wore it to weddings and funerals for years. It was also the one he wore for his burial.

Mom and Dad met when Mom was quite young. He was eleven years older than she was. They married when she was 17 and he was 26. He worked from dawn to dusk and sometimes wasn't home when we kids went to bed. He brought home the paycheck and gave it to Mom to care for the house. They never believed in credit, so it was her job to save for what was needed, buy the groceries, make sure we had clothes and pay the household bills.

I only remember Mom and Dad having one argument in the entire time he was with us. They got along well and had a good marriage. For years they struggled financially but in later years were able to turn the tiny four-room clapboard house that Dad bought for $200 into a ranch style that had six large rooms.

I hope you enjoyed walking down Memory Lane with me. One thing I know that I'm going to do and that's ask Mom for a copy of their wedding picture.