Building New Gardens

Garlic cloves under a warm blanket of straw….

I remember going to the grocery store, when I was first married, and buying a head of lettuce. This, oddly enough, was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.

Unti then, for me, lettuce was something that you gathered from the garden and was eaten, in season, from early spring til late summer. Winter foods included kale, root vegetables and green beans from the freezer. Lots and lots of green beans.

I haven’t had a real vegetable garden in more than 20 years, and with a property with very poor soil; we live on a road with several gravel pits, we decided, this time around, to go with raised garden beds.

Our plan was to build two, 8 feet by 4 foot beds. Due to covid19, our local lumber supplier had a shortage of lumber and so, for the same price, we now have two 10 feet by 5 foot garden beds.

After constructing the bed frames we covered the ground with cardboard, then added a layer of old, decaying wood. On top of this we spread a ton of last year’s leaves. Topsoil, from different parts of our acreage then topped up the beds. A large bucket of old horse manure, from our wonderful neighbour @Hawks Landing, was blended into this top layer.

Today, our first crop of locally grown garlic cloves, carefully spaced to break my habit of planting things too close together resulting in very little produce, entered the ground. A blanket of straw from our favourite farmers market, Harris Farms, will keep these little bulbs warm and comfortable during our snowy winter months.

Our hope is that, next summer, we will be able to provide ourselves with fresh produce, with extra for our local Food Bank.

We’re planning on growing a variety of vegetables, but no green beans!

Reading my Writings….

Reading my own writings, #54 on My List of 65 Things to do After Turning 65.

Last night, at Stage Three Saturday Night, a wonderful little song circle that has evolved from the temporarily closure, due to covid19, of Good Vibes Coffeehouse, I read some of my own writing.

Some of my poetry from the mid 70’s.

Seasons

The leaf, it lays there 
all shriveled and dead.

Upon it, snow
will make it's bed.

Come spring, it will be
nothing but dirt.

And a flower, will sprout
and the sun will come out.

Pink

Some people think
That I am just a dink.
On a rink, wearing pink.
With dirty dishes in the sink.

But in a blink
I could make a stink.
And call them a fink.
Because that's what I think.

As I  wear my mink
Down by the rink.
Neither of them
The colour pink.

I Do Not Know 

I do not know
who you are.
I do not know
where you've been. 
I do not know
what you've done.
I do not know.
what you've become 
I do not know
how you are.
I do not know 
how you got so far.
So far, so far, so far
away from me.
I do not know 
why you came.

One Single Day

The dark crevices of my mind
were waiting, waiting 
for me to step inside.
To be devoured, or to be saved.
Calling to me,
'Enter, Enter'

I stepped forth into a nothingness. 
A nothingness that knew everything. 
Voices began to call out
from every corner of the darkness.
Old memories sprang up 
as brilliant as rainbows, 
and disappeared, as quickly 
as they had arrived. 

A day from the past came to be
Like a movie.
It showed everything that had occurred 
Then spun quickly, into reverse
and stopped, at the very beginning. 
Slowly, it began to move forward. 
But different than before.

Journeying into Shibui Art

Earlier this summer, my sister invited me to join her and an inspirational artist group called Shibui Found Image Art Live. I finished my first piece this week.

The concept is to find what is there, much like finding something in the clouds, it is solving a puzzle. Once you find what is there you follow the lead of the images to create Shibui’s stories; by creating what the foundation suggest. Peji Nunes

With a sheet of watercolor paper, and a new colour palette, I began my journey to become a Shibuist. Applying all of the colours on my palette to my paper, I watched the colours mingle and flow, blending to create their own colour combinations.

When the paper was dry, I began searching for and finding faces of all shapes and sizes.

The more colour I added to the paper, the more faces appeared.

It’s a happy, peaceful feeling, finding all of these little faces.

My husband likened the finished product to Alice in Wonderful.

I’m hoping a story line will develop as more pages are created.

People who create Shibui Found Image Art are called Shibuiest. Pejic Nunes.

Pickling Purple Prickly Peppers…

Pickling has been a passion for probably a proportionate period of my person. Pickling with personable, pleasant, people, adds plenty of pop to the process making the preparation more pleasurable and ‘pesto’ a packed pantry!

Packing cauliflower, perhaps picked at pre-dawn, into prepared pickling syrup is not only probable but profitable as a flavourful favourite feast for a fabulous friend.

Processing proper peppers, red and green, with purple onions and pointy celery, sprinkled with pure pickling salt and boiled in a pretty potful of brine, packed into pretty pints provides for a properly prepared platter for a private BBQ parade.

Butterflies and Dragonflies

Just when a Caterpillar thought it’s life was over, it became a butterfly.

Symbolism in Native American Culture.
The dragonfly spiritually embodies the stripping away of negativity that holds us back, helping us to achieve our dreams and goals. Dragonflies are the keepers of dreams, the energy within that sees all of our true potential and ability. Dragonflies inspire spiritually and creatively, they help us on the path of discovery and enlightenment. They remind us that anything is possible.

I was finally able to take part in a social distancing gathering with my peers of twenty years.

The dragonfly and the butterfly symbolize the people we are and the work we have done.

All of these things, we gave to the people we worked with.

I am very thankful to have been a part of this compassionate, caring, inspiring group of women.

The Butterfly symbolism works as a representation of resurrection, change, hope, endurance, and courage to embrace the transformation to make life better.

Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit

My father, born in the Netherlands in the early 1900’s’ talked about, and would on occasion demonstrate this method of sowing seeds.

Van Gogh lived, for a few years, in the same province that my parents grew up in. Living very close to where my father’s family was located. I’ve always loved The Potato Eaters. Maybe it’s because I share the same maiden name as the women in the painting.

Two Portraits…. My daughter’s Van Gogh stage coincided with my return to my first, full time position since before she was born. Her painting adorned my desk for more than 20 years.

Totally immersed in 600,000 cubic feet of colour….

Lavender Fields and Sun Flowers….

Tall, smiling, bright yellow sun flowers…

When life with covid19 is bringing you down, and you are needing something beautiful and refreshing to fill that void, finding that something in nature is the perfect thing to do.

We found a lovely, little reprieve with a trip to a newly discovered local lavender farm @SouthBayFields LavenderFarms.

It was a very relaxing hour or so of meandering amongst rows of different lavender, from pale mauves to deep purples. With tall, smiling, bright yellow sunflowers bringing that much needed perfect break.

There were enough people present to meet that much needed human contact, but few enough that masks could be removed allowing in the wonderful, fresh scents of the farm.

This was a fee free afternoon, but we did make a purchase at the little tent which included some lavender oil. The lavendar oil will complement my homemade bug deterent made with @doTERRA citronella and lemongrass oils.

Reflecting on Canada Day….

Our usual small town Canada Day celebrations included a BBQ, and fireworks. This year, instead of the normal events, our wonderful volunteer firemen drove through town playing ‘O Canada’. Love small towns.

My parents emigrated from the Netherlands in the early 1950’s. I was born, here in Canada, a couple of years later.

I remember speaking Dutch as a small child and being told by one of my aunts to speak English instead. I can still hear her voice saying, “speak English, we came to Canada to be Canadians.” I remember this clearly and it made me proud to be in Canada, proud to be a Canadian.

Reflecting back I wish I had held on, a little tighter, to being a Dutch Canadian. Not just that having a second language would be so beneficial in today’s global society, but also to better understand WHY so many Dutch people and other Europeans came to Canada for a better life.

I know the reasons why. I know what happened in Europe, and particularly the Netherlands, in the decades prior to my family’s move to Canada.

What I am just beginning to understand, now, is the effect these long ago years continue to have on my family.

My favourite Soul Sister craft. We scored some free pallets. Pulled them apart. Hammered out the nails. Straighten the salvagable nails. Cut planks into desired lengths. Hammered them back together. Painted everything white. Then adorned them with our beautiful Canada Flag!

The Colour of Covid19

The Colour of Covid19
With social isolation, and lots of yarn bits from my Christmas socks, I thought I’d see what happened when I mixed them all together. And out popped the colorful creation of a sleeveless sweater.

With the unnecessary death of a black person in the United States, colour has brought out a lot of the ugliness in today’s society. It has also stirred up a huge desire for positive change in the hearts of many people.

Just as different colours of yarn combined together form something beautiful, peoples of all nations, with hearts and minds caring for one another have the ability to create something beautiful.

I’m not sure what I going to do with my sweater of many colours. Maybe add some sleeves? Some fancy stitches and flowers? Maybe wear it to a music festival?

As for the issues around racial discrimination and white privilege? I’ve come to realize how much work I need to, how much more educated and informed I need to become in order to make a difference.

I would love to see a day where all peoples, all created in God’s image, blend into something beautiful.

Forage for the Health of it….

Forage for the health of it! For the mental health of it. For the physical health of it. To enjoy the great outdoors. To self-educate. To embrace the gifts the world is offering you. To experiment with different tastes, textures, and tonics. To pick a salad, or a cup of loose leaf tea.

Lilac sugar, just for the sweetness of it!

A few need to knows. How to prevent bug bites. How to identify poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac. How to identify plants poisonous to human beings.