Smoke Haze

It had to happen. The forest fire smoke has arrived. At times the sunlight could not penetrate it. Other times the sunlight came through the haze and delivered a beautiful golden orange light. It felt very Fall-like yesterday because of the smoke haze. 

Watching some gardening videos, I was chuffed to hear a master gardener say that watering in the morning during a hot, dry Summer is the right thing to do. He said it gives water to the plant to sustain the heat of the day, whereas evening watering can often lead to root rot and leaf mould. 

I watered everywhere in the early morning, and then Her Highness and I went walking. We came home and had lunch at 11:00, and then I got busy doing some garden chores before we went into the village to order a prescription refill and do some shopping.

When we finished shopping, Her Highness and I went walking at Rollo Park, and then we came home under a golden orange sun so that she could rest prior to having her dinner while I enjoyed a lovely long soak in the spa. 

I video called Beth and she and her friend Judy were at Kits Beach in Vancouver enjoying a stroll. They have thicker smoke over there, so it looked dark and cloudy. Although we, too, have smoky skies, we are getting sunshine through the light smoke.

After our call, I had a spa while Sheba napped until dinnertime. I thoroughly enjoyed our unchanged evening routine. I’m in great shape. I have no worries and I feel no pressure to do anything. I’m going to enjoy Beth’s visit, getting out together and going to restaurants for meals. And I’m looking forward to driving her to Courtenay and driving home on the slow coastal route instead of the highway. Plus, we’re meeting our beloved friend, Marsha, and we’re going to the White Spot. Yum! Burgers!

I was urged to rise this morning at 4:30 by the kids. It was very dark, but moonlight lit my way to the garden gate to let Sheba out for her morning walkabout. AT 6:00. I was drawn outside to look at the sky because it had become very dark, and the sky had become very densely overcast. It felt like a monster rainstorm was arriving, but the forecast is for a bright sunny day with temperatures reaching up to 30°!

It began getting lighter and the cloud was disbursing by 6:30., and by 7:00 there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It’s like Springtime with the weather changing so dramatically and so quickly. I shall, of course, be watering this morning, and I am Zooming with John and Bunny at 9:30. Her Highness and I will walk alone this morning. We will not be joining our friends. And I shall bake a blueberry galette to share with Beth, a Greek salad for us to have with a Croque Monsieur, and béchamel sauce. 

A gorgeous teeny weeny wild flower. 

The most beautiful life in the forest.

Another wild flower exploding in a forest meadow.

One of my fuchsias has abundant gorgeous flowers.

One branch of one of my apple trees, I have shored up many branches
that are struggling to support their fruit.

The plumbs are ripening!

Coralroot orchid about to bloom.

Fairy slipper orchid, post bloom.

The Arbutus trees are all shedding their paper thin bark.

The Arbutus trees are magnificent! Theese ones are
stunning and their red bark is strikingly beautiful.

Bright yellow Dog Vomit Slime Mold.

A Productive Day @ Pinecone Park

Monday was a brilliantly sunny day all day, but the temperature didn’t hit the high notes. Yesterday peaked at 26°, but there was a cooling breeze blowing all day and it made working in the yard very comfortable. 

I took Sheba to Ricki Ave. trail in the morning, and she wasn’t having it. She refused to walk. So, we went to Rollo Park where she hopped out of the car on arrival and eagerly took to walking the trail there. She seems to want shorter walks, so the Elder Cedar trail, plus Rollo Park and the trail at trailhead #6 are the routes she likes. 

Her disinclination to walk on the long trails may be due to pain in her legs or her feet. I thought it was her distaste for a couple of the dogs in our pack, but we were alone this morning when he balked at Ricki Ave. This may mean we must drop out of our walking group. Time will tell. IF I drop out of the group, I’ll hardly ever socialize unless I go back to entertaining one or two people at a time.

I cleaned the pump in the fountain, I added chicken wire to the fence around the edible garden to protect the wild strawberries from deer, and I cleaned up the courtyard, and we went shopping, but the biggest job of the day was watering all the garden beds thoroughly. I got a lot done yesterday and earned my time on the couch in the evening.

When I finished with working in the yard, I took Her Highness to Elder Cedar to walk, and she was happy to walk there. I was glad to see her so willing to walk. At one point, I came upon a woman I know, and we stopped to chat and Sheba lay down on the trail. She has never done that before. It convinced me that she is dealing with mobility issues.

We came home and she rested while I had a spa, and then we all had dinner and I got on the chaise to watch a movie. How I love our evenings together!

After I watched a doc about a high school choir master, I went for a walkabout in the backyard. I realized quickly that I’d have to water everywhere again today and, probably, every day this week. It’s warm, it’s dry and direct sunlight is burning hot. I water early in the morning. I should water in the evenings, but I’m not prepared to be doing ‘work’ at night. However, watering in the morning means the water is gone by mid-day, especially in the beds above a mass of tree roots.

Last night I managed to find a used copy of John of John, the new Douglas Stewart novel, and I got it. I can hardly wait to read it! I was riveted to every page of Shuggie Bain (2020). My God, I loved that book! I must stock my shelves for the cold and wet months.

Today: watering and puttering around the yard. It may get quite hot in the afternoon, so I might be reading indoors.

My Day was Good!

Sunday was terrific! It began with rather iffy weather, but by the time Sheba and I left to go to Silva Bay for fish tacos, the sky had cleared and the warm sunshine felt wonderfully welcome. 

Early in the day, Sheba and I had our morning walk. I use every walk as an opportunity to observe her and evaluate her comfort. I’m concerned that long walks are not good for her. She lags behind as we walk and I worry that she has pain in her back legs. We are scheduled to walk with our friends this morning, but I doubt that we will do the long walk.

It was My Day yesterday, so there was little work and lots of reading and napping. The one chore of the day was adding chicken wire to the fence around my edible garden. A deer had decimated one Clematis and many of my strawberry plants, so I added chicken wire to prevent them from getting at the plants that use the fence for support. I’ve more to do today: I must protect the wild strawberries on another fence.

When we went to Silva Bay, I was first in line at the food truck. I got my tacos and went to a table in the sunshine to eat and soon, Stacy came by with Tosca who has really grown in the two weeks since I last saw her. Tosca is Stacey’s new Great Dane puppy. She is gorgeous and loving and I am, of course, smitten.

Stace didn’t stay long but we had a nice short visit, but shortly after she left, Bonnie and Sue arrived with their daughter Darcy. I really enjoy Bonnie and Sue’s company. I am thrilled that they are moving here and not far from me. They are putting in an offer on a house on North Road and listing their home in Kelowna right away.

Fuck! It’s going to get hot starting tomorrow. The rest of the week is likely to be in the high twenties and around 30° on Wednesday. Sigh. There’s be endless watering for me. I start again with endless watering today. I’ll also be tidying up the yard for Beth’s arrival.

I ❤️ Books!

Saturday began gloriously sunny after Friday night’s heavy rain showers. I had a lovely morning soak, and I cut down the dying Raspberry canes before Sheba and I went for our morning walk. She was reluctant to walk. I reckon something is up with her back legs. They tremble often, and she very clearly only likes to walk where she knows that the walk will be short.

I read in the sun for a while, and I puttered in the garden until 13:30 when the sky became overcast and it felt like it would rain. It got dark, so Her Highness and I went to Rollo Park for our afternoon walk to get another walk in before it rained. And when we got home, I lit a small fire because I love a light fire on a cloudy Summer day. And the cats really loved it.

More reading filled my afternoon. I am constantly amazed by the literary skills of so many Irish writers. I am really loving Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann. And the best part, it’s slightly more than five hundred pages long!

As usual, dinner was early. All were fed and then I got my dinner prepared and sat down to watch Bleak House. I’ve been on a rather joyous classical journey when it comes to choosing films to watch. I watched and loved Sense and Sensibility, Jane Eyre and Emma (not the version with the supremely untalented actor Gwyneth Paltro).

•

People say that they do not want to grow up to be like their parents.

I ridiculed Don when he was gifted a trip to Paris by a business associate. Don was given a pass to a two-day conference on boating—he was a boating-focused journalist—and up to ten days in a really nice Parisienne Hotel. Don flew in, went to the conference, and come home immediately. 

My memory of this incident has stayed with me. It’s stayed alive in my head as proof of Don’s limited in sense of adventure, in love of life, of curiosity, of learning, of interest. And now, look at me. I’m him.

Actually … it’s more accurate to say is me ‘as defined by my psycho-neurological condition.’

•

Today, My Day, has dawned bright, sunny and quite cool. It was 12° when I rose this morning. We shall spot water and then we’ll be going to Silva Bay for fish tacos from the food truck, and I’ll do some yard work so that the place looks nice and tidy for Beth’s arrival on Thursday.