Roamin' In The Gloamin'

Oberon is a Roamin' in the Gloamin'

Roamin' in the gloamin' wi' ma lassie by ma side,
When the sun has gone to rest, that's the time that I like best,
O, it's lovely roamin' in the gloamin'!
—Lauder, Sir Harry (Hugh MacLennan)

"...The stillness and freshness of the air the mysterious blackness of the hills the startling white flashes of the little pools looking as though they had absorbed light from somewhere and were loath to part with it.."

..."faded Gradually was darkness spreading over everything and as the darkness spread the stillness and sweetness of the gloaming made itself felt.

Auld Lang Syne: Selections from the Papers of the "Pen and Pencil Club."

By Pen and Pencil Club, Pen and Pencil Club, Auld lang syne

Published by printed for private circulation, 1877

Original from Oxford University

Digitized 25 Jun 2007

176 pages

Oh, to be out roamin' in the gloamin'

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

Amongst the hundredfold things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving is that my lassie Oberon is on the mend and in 3 more months, after being on limited off-leash exercise, she will be finally back to her full activity metal plates, pins, screws and all.

Photographing Ghosts In The Garden

Monotropa uniflora

Photographing Ghosts in the Garden is creepy if you consider the subject in the lens is found only in dark woodlands and is known by such morbid names as:

Convulsion Root
Corpse plant
Death plant
Fairy smoke
Ghost flower

Here, on the Island, we mostly call it Indian Pipe (in reference to its pipe-like shape). And far from creepy, I find it a fascinating and cheeky little plant whose ménage à trois existence between trees, fungus and itself is more than a a little beguiling. A botanist's description of the plant as "a waxy white saprophyte of deep forest shade" is ooooh so hauntingly lovely! It evokes a film noir femme fatale as spoken by a hard boiled detective like Bogie or Mitchum as Marlowe...

"... she 'was a waxy white saprophyte of deep forest shade' that haunted the mind of every man in the room. She was a flower alright, a ghost flower, and that spelled corpse plant to the man who did her wrong. And that ain't no fairy smoke to a tough gumshoe like me."

Squishing Aphids

This is H.R. Mount Fuji-Toad (don't ask)

He(?) is the latest addition to the aphid/mosquito eating gold fish

I squish aphids or shake 'em into the fish pond

A magic concoction of dish soap, chili pepper and a sprinkling of aphids in the blender was made into a spray for my plants with aphids. This was always followed by blending up a strawberry daiquiri for myself - I figured the alcohol in the strawberry daiquiris would disinfect the blender - hiccup.
Hmm I wonder if Saskatoon berries would make a tasty daiquiri stay tuned for that one when the berries are ready for picking.

Ladybugs To The Rescue

I am proud to say the Town of Langford (where I live) is attacking aphids with Ladybugs and not pesticides - Hurray! "Hughes expects the initial ladybug batch to last a few weeks, depending on predation from birds and wasps. It’s a relatively cheap method of pest control, with 35,000 ladybugs going for $87."

I would like to try the ladybug/ladybird (depending where you hail from) solution, too.

Daiquiri sipping deck view from the Garden Brae

This year I have not been watering the garden so as to study what grows well without using up water. Even here, on the West Coast, we have watering restrictions. Less water has created more stressed plants with aphids. Which equated alot more blender potions and therefore a lot more daiquiris...

View of Douglas-fir above said daiquiri sipping head on sundeck

the hyphen is because the Douglas-fir is not a truly a fir tree

... A lot more daiquiris resulted in an episode of stumbling boisterous tree hugging inspired by reading Beverly Nichols' Merry Hall whereby he states the interesting contradiction that dead wood feels warm while live wood feels cold. This experiment must be carried out on warm evening. Hence, dear, gentle neighbours who may have witnessed/heard my groping and stroking of trees in the night, be not alarmed. I am not crazy - but merely a tipsy gardener.

The moral of this story is: Squishing aphids with my fingers and feeding them to the gold fish is now my weapon of choice - sans-blender concoctions pour moi.

It's A Question of Beauty

Slug - My Garden

If you truly love Nature, you will find beauty everywhere- Vincent Van Gogh

Calypso Orchid - Mill Hill

There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion.
- Francis Bacon

Trillium - Mill Hill

Apple Blossom - Glendale Gardens

Beauty is not caused. It is.
- Emily Dickinson

Sins of A Gardener

Hermits Wanted

Do People Piss You Off?

Want To Get Away From It All?

Like to Read - A Lot?

Then we have a job for you!

Hermits wanted for ornamentation of gentleman's estate. You must never be seen. If you have to poke your head out of your grotto/cave home, it better have a long, long beard on it and be stroked by your long, long fingernails. You will be paid a small fortune, but not until you complete 5 years of service as a garden ancient - an ornamental hermit . If you don't last the five years you forfeit all earnings.

Yes, it was quite the fad in the 18th century to have a live ornamental hermit installed in your garden estate. The most famous employer of one of these decorative solitudinarians was Charles Hamilton. (Hmmm I wonder if good old Chuck is sitting in my family tree somewhere?)