Theme & Variations

The theme, which I started in a previous post, is a day in a country garden; the variations are minor: on this visit, I read more and walked less -- it was too hot for physical movement beyond turning the page. Normally on a long weekend I'd welcome the sunshine, but this year I would have been thrilled with a heavy downpour. Many forest fires are burning in the province today. My thoughts and prayers are with the evacuees and the fire-fighters.

You might sense my niggling feeling of unease behind some of the photos. The summer has been too hot and dry and concerns about climate change temper my happiness about the kitchen garden harvest.

"Winter" and lavender greet me as I pull into my mom's driveway.

"Gardening at the Dragon's Gate", THE book on my summer reading list. Make that life-enriching reading list.

Cool as a cucumber in the shade: 'Green Fingers', a Persian Baby Cucumber suitable for containers. We let it grow to more than 15 cm (6 inches) before munching its chilled, crisp, crunchiness yesterday. Very refreshing.

A small summer harvest -- I'll be consulting my food network (you know who you are) on how to make the most of the flavour and freshness.

Heirloom Sweet Pea 'Cupani's Original'
"An especially strong blooming strain of the first cultivated sweet pea. Perfumed, heat-tolerant and beautifully bi-colored in deep maroon-purple and orchid-violet" (Source: Renee's Garden Seeds)

Almost dusk. I wish I could say this is a completely smog-free sunset but I'm not sure.

I don't want to end this post on a low note. Despite immediate and long-term concerns threats on my mind this BC Day long weekend, I'm still grateful for the beauty, bounty and life's lessons Nature provides in exchange for a little bit of sowing, watering, feeding and TLC.

22 Hours in A Country Garden

Subtract eight hours for restful sleep & you're left with 14 glorious hours to see, hear, touch, smell, taste & simply absorb all kinds of beauty & goodness.

 

Images (top to bottom):
1. View north from the balcony: neighbouring farm, mountains, sky -- heaven.
2. The tenant in the balcony birdhouse. 
3. A butterfly thermometer -- earlier in the day the dial was past 90 (degrees F). 
4. Antique 'Cupani's Original' Sweet Peas.  5. First harvest of sugar snap peas.
6. Yellow 'Flashback' Calendula. 7. Apricot 'Flashback' Calendula.

It's now midweek, I'm back at work, & already planning the next visit to my favourite bed & breakfast, which I'm determined to stretch to at least 44 hours  -- there's a long weekend coming up soon.

Do you have a country garden or do you visit one regularly? Please share your stories & links to images in the comments.