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.

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.

The Mighty Saskatoon - Notorious & Nutritious

Kwakwaka’wakw Pole Carvings
Carver: Tony Hunt

Native Plant Wisdom
The Saskatoon Berry (Amelanchier alnifolia)

First Nations People identified 9 varieties based on taste, growth times, seediness, size and colour.

The varieties were dried like raisins for winter eating, cooked to the consistency of jam, made into juices for marinade to sweeten roots and foods like black tree lichen, and, ofcourse, eaten fresh.

Saskatoon Berry Bush was used as medicine by steeping the twigs and stems to be given to women after childbirth and as a healing bath. Tonics were made to cure stomach ailments. Juice used to settle upset stomachs and used as ear drops.

The Saskatoon berry was the most used berry of the First Nations coastal and interior peoples. It was often used as a trade item. The hardwood was used to make combs, firedrills, arrows, tool handles, salmon spreaders, and fishnet reinforcements

Saskatoon Berry in flower at the Garden Brae

Saskatoon (Amelanchier alnifolia)
AKA: Serviceberry, Juneberry, Amelanchier (French) and Shadbush

Resembles a wild blueberry
(I don't have photo of the berry in my garden-yet)
Tastes like a blueberry and cherry with a hint of almond - Yummy!
Super Food! Super Healthy! The Super Saskatoon!
Better than blueberries for nutrients and antioxidants!!!

The Notorious & Nutritious - The Saskatoon

The Scandalous Saskatoon! Notorious International Scandal In June 2004, Britain banned Saskatoon berry products off its shelves over concerns about the safety of the berries since there was no history of people in Europe eating them

It has been all dog and no blog for a while...

Oberon broke her leg and had metal plate/pin orthopaedic surgery and is doing very well. Full speedy recovery expected.(Her people parents are recovering from the shock of seeing her hurt, too, but not as speedy!)
To make up for lack of posts, here are some of the fascinating Totem Poles which we are privileged to live with as one of the many special and unique qualities of living in the Pacific Northwest.

Royal British Columbia Museum

I took these pics at Thunderbird Park

Thunderbird is traditionally carved with outstretched wings, curved horns and a face in its chest.

Totem Poles
The figures on totem poles are crests that proclaim
ancestry, history, rights and privileges, names,
lands and responsibilities of the families that own them.
Types of Totem Poles include:
House Post hold up the main roof beams of the big house
Frontal Poles stand against the front of the house and usually contain the house’s doorway
Memorial Poles are raised in honour of the deceased and are usually commissioned by the person who inherited the dead person's name/privileges.
Mortuary Poles incorporated boxes of the person's remains
Welcome Figures greet visitors to a chief’s territory and traditionally stood on the beach facing out to sea so they could welcome people
who arrived by canoe

Thunderbird Park

Shiver Me Timbers

Sunny but windy - very windy

then cloudy, rainy and windy

So we left the weed pile behind...

...and put on our winter woollies and took a walk in the Inner Harbour.
It was just too windy up our way to work in the garden. (Yes that is some fine looking Pampas grass in the weeds - eager hubby pruned back the pampas grass and put it on the pile before you could say - Edward Scissor Hands

Quotes about our Victoria weather...
"Some summers you don't tan - you rust"
"If you don't like the weather - wait 3o minutes"
" Pacific West Coast"

Shiver Me Timbers

praying for nice weather

Sea Planes and Little Harbour Ferries not bothered by the gusty breezes

Cruise ships coming and going as quickly as the clouds

Ornamental Hermit for the 21st Century

A Hermit on "my" Hill? Sure, it would be great. He, or why not she, would have wireless Internet for their laptop and would also be kitted out with the latest and greatest camp gear from Canadian Tire. I mean, after all, workers' rights have improved a bit since the 18Th century. The Hermit could eat up some of the destructive invasive alien introduced critters that overrun the place - grey squirrels, eastern cotton tailed rabbits and American bullfrogs. And after eating hearty eliminating alien meals, the Hermit can get to work at the endless task of pulling broom (Cytisus scoparius). I hate that stuff and pull it every chance I get - about 20 a week - following a broom pull strategy. I dislike broom so much I won't even show a picture of it.

Would my Hermit be territorial? Would I be bailing him/her out of jail for warring in barroom brawls with the Skirt Mountain (AKA Bare (Bear) Mountain) Hermit? Well I am sure it would only occur every payday when Hermits gets tippled at one of the local pubs in the area. And since Hermit paydays are once every 5 years, I don't expect this to be a big problem.

http://www.hermitary.com/faqs.html

So, yes, a Hermit for my Garden Brae it is. Some nice, old, wisdomful ancient who talks to the wind in the forest, who is a wizard with a dowser for divining water (sure to come in handy with global warming on its way here) and who would dine on rabbit and deer to keep them from feasting on my flowers.

What has this all to do with Genius Loci in my garden design? Blogging it down is like keeping a journal on the discoveries and thoughts about what it is like to live here. The conclusions that emerge from the blogging will hopefully reveal the Genius Loci.

Genius Loci, Hermits and Homelessness

Homelessness - what has that to do with gardening and garden design? How does it connect to the Genius Loci of creating a timeless garden of beauty?

"Achieving a connection between culture and nature has become increasingly difficult in modern society. This difficulty extends from the vast gulf separating "nature" from the human visions of progress growing out of the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s. Brian Black, Department of American Studies"

The issue of homelessness definitely informs the Genius Loci of where I live. How will it inform my garden design? Is the spirit one of paranoia - high fences, gates, walls to keep "them" out? Somehow I feel the spirit of this locale is more one of understanding, respect, sharing. This is Lotus Land mild and moderate climate and gentle landscape that lulls you into days of wasteful dreamy do-nothingness of the laid back Lotus Eaters. So we will see how this plays out in my garden design.

Hermits in Lotus Land or Squatters in Mill Hill

Squatters were found living on the otherside of the hill I live on. Parks employees had the tough job of cleaning the debris from the sites. During all the hiking we do we have never seen the squatters, or park employees for that matter. But we stick to the trails to avoid damaging wild flowers. Here are some pictures of Mill Hill beauty (in case you are tired of ferns - I am not).Here in Lotus Land, the nickname of where I live (more on that in future blogs), it is one of the top 20 most expensive cities in the world to live. Rental vacancy hovers around 0% and has for decades. The climate and the people are generally mild (hence Lotus Land and us as Lotus Eaters -BC Bud may have something to with that, too) so the homeless population is large for such a small city.