So much has happened I

First of all, I have managed to capture, on film, some quite rare creatures. Not rare in the sense that they are uncommon but rare in the sense that a) I have rarely seen them, if at all and b) I was able to get decent photos of most of them.
First up, the chipmunk. A shy and tiny creature, I had the opportunity to get quite a few snaps of a couple of different chipmunks recently. Maybe it is a seasonal thing but anyway, this one is the best. Taken on the mountain, the fellah had no problem with me or my annoyingly noisy camera; brilliant.















Next, the jaw-dropping sight of a cardinal in the garden had me running for the (annoyingly noisy) camera. Though cardinals are supposedly abundant all over the east coast, I had never seen one anywhere, until the morning this lad flew in to snack on some bird seed I'd put out. The name, I assume, comes from the plumage colour, acentuated by the little red crest on top. Very impressed at this event was I.














Below is a very large moth that I believe may be a Semioscopis merriccella, whatever that might be in english. As he flew past, his underwings had a distinct flash of orange but in repose, you can't see this. He stopped for a rest on the deck and didn't object to the camera or even the flash. Obviously well used to celebrity...













Finally, here's a picture of a raccoon's behind, up the tree in the back garden. The photo was taken around midnight. I tried and failed to get a better shot, so apologies for that. To see a raccoon is definitely an exciting event. They don't care a whit about how much noise they make or about anyone being there to witness their mischief. What's immediately worrying about seeing a raccoon in your backyard is the thought of why they might be there. As scavengers extraordinaire, they are decidely unwelcome, though most attractive in appearance. A bit like meeting a dark, handsome stranger- alarm bells should be ringing... I had to conclude that as I had lately been putting out an unprecedented amount of leftover edibles for the birds, he had become attracted to the largesse. This generosity has now stopped completely, needless to say. The birds don't really need it at this time of year, so into the bin it goes. There have been no reported sightings since then...











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So much has happened II

Trip to the Botanic Gardens. Oddly, I had never been there in the summer before. Quite gorgeous as you can imagine. The first shot is of Alan sleeping under a Russian Olive tree in the Rose Garden. A Russian Olive...who knew?












The shot of the poppies was taken in a scutty old part of the gardens. They have done a "decorative vegetable garden" (not). I think the designer may have lacked a certain flair because there was nothing very exciting about it. Except for the poppies between the runner beans/raspberry canes/whatever; I wasn't really paying attention...














Now I DID read the name of this tree and try and remember it but to no avail. However, it had flowers not unlike those on a chestnut tree. The flowers were larger, were clumped differently and smelt amazing. I just like the effect of the light and shade in this shot though.















Below is a picture of Dr. Blueberry in the wonderful 'Alpine Garden'. Dr. Blueberry came with Alan and I for the trip, having promised to be good. He has an extraordinary interest in botany, though his phD is actually in philosophy.



















Dr. Blueberry in the Roses; one of my favourite shots of the day....














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So much has happened III

Finally and most mundanely, the garden, which is very much a hit-and-miss affair is actually coming into its own. See Lillies (front 'garden') and Clematis (back garden) which are happily blooming now. Both of which, I hasten to add, were planted by the previous owners. And fair play, they look great. The front garden smells brilliant at night. There are the lillies, some carnations I bought in bud last week and the Night Scented Stock I sowed in the spring. The stock is really straggly and a bit of a non-event visually but it smells divine in the evening.
Some Brown-Eyed Susans and Indian Blanket flowers are just starting to think about blooming so I'll hold off on a full picture for the moment. The sunflowers are really getting into stride and are getting really tall. More on this later...

It's all fun and games until....

Yesterday was bath day. An exciting event that brings with it a certain amount of tension. I'm not as young as I used to be so every trip to the washing machine brings with it an element of danger. Bravely, I climbed in and set the machine to 'delicates' (well I am a very sensitive bear). I decided to put the cycle on 'hot'however; a bold and daring move.
Half and hour later I was fished out, seams intact, white parts stunning but sadly, one thing more. My eye popped off during the final spin. I felt it happen but was powerless to stop it. It's a bit like being capsized during white water rafting; you concentrate on surviving and getting your head above water. After all, what's an eye between friends?









But worry not! Luckily the top eye surgeon in Ireland happens to be visiting us right now and she was able to perform emergency surgery. I had to spend the day eyeless to dry out a bit before the operation. In the evening, I was put under and within, I believe, 10 minutes, Ace Surgeon Helme has reattached my eye to the back.
All this drama out in the makeshift operating theatre formerly known as the front balcony. I'm fine now, thanks for asking, eyesight fully restored. Amazing the optic nerve wasn't damaged. Photos were taken for some book Ace Surgeon Helme is bringing out, on unusual eye surgeries. Fame at last....

We missed it...

Hi Hi! Not too much to report. My friends are over visiting, Alan is in the Caribbean and the weather is warm and muggy...phew. So, haven't had many photo ops the last week. Hope to go to Angrignon Farm on Friday though, hopefully that will engender some snaps. Maybe I can get one of a tractor.....
Meanwhile, here is a blurry-ish picture of the park opposite our house, taken actually last May. Until we moved into our house (July '05), Alan spent many an hour strolling casually down the street, at all hours of the day and night. I would always be embarrassed and cross over but Alan would walk right past the house and have a good gawk. So naturally, in the course of this gruelling stakeout, we caught the park in bloom one day and took some shots.






Sad to say but while we were on holiday this year, we missed the very brief flowering of these trees. When we came back, there was just a few pink petals on the ground. Oh well, maybe next year.....

Introducing Diana and Hercules

At the start of June, when everything is seeding like mad, a common sight is to everywhere see, drifts of what looks like dandelion clocks. Not only that, but in the late afternoon and evening, this stuff just falls out of the sky. I can (relatively) safely say that it is not dandelion clocks, since it is much, much softer. However, I have no clue what can produce that many airborne seeds to give the impression that it is snowing in the city. The picture below, of the back lane, illustrates the effect. When I took the picture, the seeds were still falling heavily but unfortunately the camera just couldn't pick it up.













Meanwhile, in other June news, I have bought two vines to cover the teepee. I would have bought only one except that the vine I finally chose requires a male and a female in order to produce berries. Berries being good for the you-know-whos, in the winter.
The vines are American Bittersweet, a hardy, indigenous vine which has latterly been threatened by the imported Chinese Bittersweet, which has 'gone native' so to speak.
American Bittersweet is supposedly quite ferocious once it gets going and can grow up to 20 metres in height. Oo-er; the teepee is only about 6 feet! Still, the vines will accept any heavy pruning so hopefully I can keep it in check.
I mostly bought them because a) they are threatened natives and b) the female should produce lots of berries for the birds, in winter.
After much research, I was finally able to locate a place that still had some Bittersweet in stock. Note that, due to the size of the garden, I had to buy mature-ish plants that had already been sexed. I just don't have the space to buy a mixed lot of 10, I'm afraid, no matter how much of a bargain that might be.
The nursery was Galetta Nurseries, just out beyond Ottawa.
Alan, who left for the Cayman Islands last Sunday, very kindly devoted his last day in Montreal (ie- Saturday) to hiring a car and driving me to the Nursery where they were holding a pair of Bittersweet for me. He hired a convertible (extra $50!) but due to Murphy's Law, the weather proved to be inclement, to say the least. It was teeming rain so hard that we could hardly see 10ft in front of us. Also, by some truly bizarre twist of fate, Alan had forgotten to bring a coat, so once we got there, he got completely soaked while following me around.
The nursery was great. It is small, but they have loads of great plants, all in tip-top condition. The range was infinitely better than the usual trail of annuals and shrubs found in Home Depot and the like. Well, that's city life for you, I suppose.
Anyway, see below for photos of the two vines, in situ since Sunday afternoon. First up is Hercules, the male vine. He really is a gorgeous green right now, though I suspect he might turn darker when older. I had to pull up a bit of the deck to put him in. This involved TWO trips to the hardware (Grrr!) to get the right tools. Once the deck was up, there proved to be about 1.5 feet of fine, fine builder's gravel. Scooped it out with my paws only to find supporting blocks, laid underneath the deck. Sigh! I kept digging until I had a hole large enough for the vine that was actually on the real earth. I am a bit worried about this. Bittersweet likes poor soil but come on, 100% gravel?! Plus his roots will need to grow and once established, he will have to fight through more gravel to get to the true earth on either side. Ho-Hum. I backfilled the hole with a mix of peat moss (too rich), really heavy topsoil (too rich) and some of the builder's gravel (entirely inappropriate). Oh, and he also has to grow another 2 feet before he gets any sunshine, something he needs apparantly. However, I am oddly optimistic. Or naive, perhaps.















So here is Diana. I think she is a bit older than himself since her roots were better developed and she is a bit darker. I dunno. Her planting story is equally dodgy and I confess I am less certain if she will dig her new site (ho ho).
Where she and the teepee are (a large planter) is actually heavy, heavy topsoil on top of plastic sheets. Don't ask me, I have no idea why this is the case, I didn't design it. It seems especially weird since, when I dug down and ripped a hole in the plastic, I found perfectly respectable, sandy-ish earth underneath. So a small hole was dug into this real earth and in she popped. What I am not happy with is the back fill. It HAD to be the really rich soil, though I mixed in some of the builder's gravel with it (In for a penny...). So, I suspect that the subsoil (ie- under the plastic) should be OK, the stuff on top, which currently covers most of Diana's roots, is all wrong. Plus, the sandy soil is bound to be a different ph or whatever, to the topsoil. I dunno. I suppose if she is as hardy as she is supposed to be, she'll pull through and the worms will do the rest. Though she probably won't get enough sun either, groan...pesky birds...











p.s.- Thanks to the Commenter (SH) who identified my caterpillar (29th May) as likely being a Forest Tent Caterpillar