Dove Love

We have a family of mourning doves (a.k.a. turtle doves) living in our yard. The mommy and daddy, seen above perched on our old garage, coo dolefully every morning. Just yesterday, to my surprise, I spotted these two babies hiding under a shrub in the back yard... Under a shrub, I say!

I must have gone past them 6 or 7 times before even noticing them. And then they didn't budge when I inspected them more closely. They were the sweetest and most trusting little things!

I took their picture and left them alone so as not to scare them off. But this morning the babies are no longer there. They've been moved. However, the mommy and daddy are still hanging about so I know the babes cannot be far off.

I just pray they are safe.

Isn't wildlife beautiful?

♥M

Pink in the Garden

Today I'm seeing the garden through pink-coloured glasses. Above, there is the sweet astilbe. And below, the spikey yet compact speedwell known as "Giles Van Hees".

No garden is complete without some form of hens and chicks, in my opinion, plus it possesses a most intriguing pale pink flower.

And then we have the self-seeding mallow. This one grows without any help or encouragement - perfect the lazy gardener. For example, me.

And finally my beloved purple coneflower who attracts birds, bees, and butterflies alike, and needs zero attention.

I don't consider myself to be a girlie-girl but I certainly don't mind seeing these beauties in the garden. Nope, bring on the pink, I say.

♥M

When Black Is Good

But for now, they're an interesting shade of... What would you call that colour? Salmon?

Once they turn black, we're going to have us one dandy treat... I'm quite looking forward to it!

♥M

Our Resident Robin

This year we are sharing our back yard with a mama robin and her nest of eggs. I've never experienced living side by side with a robin before. I think it's pretty darn special. It's mostly a matter of mutual ignoring from what I can see. She ignores us fervently; we do our very best to ignore her back.

I had no idea she even existed until Lo pointed her out to me a few weeks ago. I don't know how I missed her. Her nest is built quite precariously on our trellis a foot away from the patio table. It is about 6 feet off the ground, too high for anyone to easily see inside. Lo took it upon himself to take a little "egg inventory" the other day with the step ladder and binoculars. It turns out there are two very blue eggs in there. From all accounts, she has the patience of a saint. She sits on her eggs many hours every day leaving only to get a lickety-split meal of worms from the garden before getting back to work. It's pretty cute how still and focussed she seems to be while sitting there.

I'm getting a little worried though. The incubation period seems to be lasting quite a while. It's supposed to range from between 9 to 15 days for robins. I think it's stretched beyond that... All we can do is wait I guess... And hope.

In the meantime I drew up two robin outlines, and The Boy and I sat quietly colouring them in.

It's a good way to keep busy while patiently waiting for little ones to hatch... Come on birdies, you can do it!

♥M

Peppermint Iced Tea with The Injured Boy

Yesterday, The Boy broke his pinky finger playing some new-fangled version of basketball in gym class. This is the second time he's broken a bone at school. He's in Grade 2! I'm none too impressed with those stats to be honest.

So today we ran around from health office to x-ray clinic to doctor's office trying to figure out what, if anything, they could do about it. Is there nothing to be done for a tiny mangled finger? Because it does NOT look healthy, poor thing. In the meantime, I was very aware of trying to keep him from breaking anything else. Running was strictly prohibited. There was no jumping of ANY kind. Zero throwing of balls. Breathing was acceptable. And some talking.  I allowed eating, and careful walking.  He spent a lot of time reading; that was okay.

But the absolute most excitement I permitted was making freshly-picked peppermint iced tea. It was our first time making it. We followed Stefano Faita's (host of CBC's In The Kitchen) recipe (found HERE) to the letter.

The Boy refused to try it. But I had some and so did Lo. It had a quiet taste, our tea. We quite enjoyed it. But the best part? No bones were broken during the making of it.

Hallelujah for that.

♥M

The Boy's Tree Fort Project: Part 1

For posterity's sake, I'm going to be recording The Boy's Tree Fort Project here on the blog. The tree fort has been on my guys' list for some time. Here is the start they've made.

To begin, The Boy sat down with his pen and paper and wrote out a list of things he wanted as part of his dream tree fort. After some discussion between he and Lo, a few tweaks were made to the list... Here's what they agreed on.

The Boy subsequently sketched out some impressions of what the innards and out-ards of the fort might look like. Here are those sketches.

A few weekends ago they cleared the site of an old ornamental well which we'd previously (about 4 years ago) transformed into a covered bench for The Boy (see the final photo). I also dug out many plants from around the well. They are now in storage awaiting a new home.

This past weekend, Lo and The Boy began the tree fort work in earnest.

They dug 4 beautiful holes, 4 feet deep to reach below the frost line, and installed a concrete pillar in each hole. On top of each pillar is a metal bracket. Eventually, beams will span the width of the pillars and be held in place within these brackets. But that's a story for another day... For now, we have 4 lovely new pillars that will cure until next weekend when (hopefully) the next chapter will begin!

I have to say. It's pretty neat to stand back and watch them build this thing together. Lo is very patient with The Boy, explaining the purpose of every step, answering The Boy's questions, and encouraging him to take up the tools and be part of the process as much as possible.

I always feel so lucky to have such a fine daddy for my little one. They make my heart go pitter-pat just watching them together.

♥M

My Garden: Not for the Faint of Heart

Japanese Blood Grass

My approach to gardening may seem unconventional. But it works for me.

I start a plant from seed, or I purchase a plant from the plant store. I dig a hole in the ground. I hoyk the plant in there with some of my homemade compost. I give the plant a shot of water for a couple days. If it survives, awesome. If not, fine.

Gaillardia

I'm not a coddler. I don't baby the garden beds. I'm ruthless. There is no plant in my garden that I value for its rarity. The plants I have are work-horses man. They are hardy. They are robust. I don't have time for cream puffs. In fact, I have point-blank written-off some so-called easy-to-grow varieties, and I refuse to look back. Some examples?

• Bee balm: Cannot grow it to save my life.
• Silver mound: Doesn't like me. The feeling is mutual.
• Thyme (Thymus vulgaris): I have undying love for this species, but I have no "thyme" for this most basic variety. Pun intended.

Variegated Lemon Thyme with Self-Seeded Feverfew

All self-seeders are welcome in my garden. If I don't have to do the work myself, all the better. I love how plants just appear in the most wonderous and unlikely places. Not to mention that I do not have a problem yanking out the ones that, frankly, just didn't have a clue.

Lavender with Self-Seeded Feverfew

All volunteers are also welcome. I have several unknown plant varieties in the garden that have quietly blown in on the winds, that have started on their own and grown into beautiful specimens with zero love from me. That is my kind of plant.

Volunteer (Self-Seeded Unknown)

And furthermore, bring on the invasives. Do you ever get the feeling that the world is walking all over you? Take control by fiercely hacking away at an overgrown and oppressive invasive plant. This therapy is unparalleled. Your spirit will be lifted. Your garden will thank you. Sure, the invasive itself will come back undaunted, but you'll get to show it who's boss all over again.

Explorer Rose "John Cabot"

It's a dogwood-eat-dogwood world out there. If you're gonna survive, you gotta be tough.

Have yourself a great day, and I'll see you soon!

This post is linked to Amy's Bloggers' Garden Tour.

A Peak at the Garden

The garden is in bloom! I have been slowly picking away at it, pulling the weeds, cutting out the dead wood, raking away still more dead leaves, shaping shrubs, all those little chores that keep it from taking over the neighbourhood. Here are a few of my favourites right now! Above are mini-tulips growing out of the creeping thyme, next is the bleeding heart, and last are some large tulips that perk up a dark corner.

I will be away for a few days celebrating my eldest child's university graduation and so will be taking a blog break! I will return next week. See you then!

A Peak at the Garden

Spent some time in the garden today. It desperately needs some TLC. Mama's been neglectful. Luckily, some things are flourishing in spite of me...