and Jim's latest project

About a year ago I sent some photos to some of you showing the evolution of our primary deck, our outdoor dining room really. The original daeck was a builder special, 12x12, and the first change was to double the size. Next came an open roof structure which we covered with reed mats for a couple of years, and then installed Suntuf panels which give us all weather protection. Last year Jim opened the front of the deck by removing a garden bed ( the lilac tree that committd suicide) and adding an apron onto the lawn.

If you live here you are very well aware that Jim gets pouty if I want to eat indoors anytime between April and October. Because not all our friends feel the same way about the great outdoors, (can you believe some people actually use their dining rooms all year round - maybe even you?) we have three gas heaters http://www.costco.ca/ for $179.99) and a pile of blankets and pashminas at the ready.

Jim is always willing to improve things and since we experienced the fabulous outdoor rooms in South Africa last year he has been hankering to close in the end wall, preferably both, to make the deck really seem like a room. The value-added is that a wall on the west end would mitigate the prevailing Pacific breezes (cold!). We managed to compromise on the vision and Jim has recently completed a skookum (a Pacific Northwest word that can have meanings from 'good,' to 'strong,' 'best,' 'powerful,' 'ultimate,' 'brave' and 'first rate.' Something can be skookum meaning 'really good' or 'right on! 'excellent!', or it can be skookum meaning 'tough' or 'durable'. When you are skookum, you've got a purpose and you're on solid ground, in good health/spirits etc. When used in reference to another person, e.g. "he's skookum", it's used in respect with connotations of trustworthiness, reliability and honesty as well as (possibly but not necessarily) strength and size -.Wikipedia) partial wall with a 12 foot long tiled counter top, built in fridge and scads of storage.

Another value-added is that the messy part of the garden, hose, bags of weeds and other debris is hidden behind the new wall-ette as well as making a hot spot for the tomatoes.

In other news, my sister Betsy has returned to Victoria after 6.5 years in the hinterland, (Quesnel). Despite loving to visit her in Q we are really happy to have her back in closer proximity where I can bully her and she can ignore me, both with greater ease.
So all is good!

How does my garden grow?

Even if you are mega gardeners, (Nancy, Alan, Miriam) you have to suffer through my minor success story, or skip this post. You might recall that back in March, the 21st actually, I wrote about my new garden venture. Here it is July 21 already, we had a crummy June and in true Victoria fashion it now hasn't rained for at least 3 weeks. In spite of me paying virtually no attention to the veggie garden, not to mention the flowering ones, it is producing stuff. It's too hot for the kale now although it is still trying, but we are having beets and beet greens tonight!

Not many, but beets nevertheless.

It also looks as though we may get some yellow zuchinni eventually (look really hard at the photo and you can see a tiny zuch buried in the shadows), the tomatoes are looking promising ( I seem to have been on a yellow theme when I planted seeds.We have yellow zuch, yellow toms, and yellow beans. March must have been a dark month) and we even have a few stawberries. The red leaf lettuce is the biggest I've ever seen but our beans seems to have been on the rabbits' list of comestibles so not much happening there. What I've learned: plant later, use good soil, stay small, and that the copper anti-slug strip really works.

Other than that ignoring the garden seems to work pretty well.

Summer has finally arrived

And it seems to be all about eating outside, not to mention the dramatic change in temperature. On Monday we had to wear sweaters and have both propane heaters on to be comfortable with pashminas, fleeces, and blankets at the ready. Our Arizona friends, Malcolm & Peggy (in down vest), found it decidedly chilly.

Wednesday we decamped to ranbow Park in Esquimalt to what we consider to be "our" picnic table, again with Tweedies, and Forbes' this time who are off to Hong Kong on Tuesday. It was a perfect evening and warm there for a change. There often is a 10 degree temperature difference between our house and this picnic table site.

The Arbutus trees at Rainbow Park were the inspiration for a pair of paintings that weren't painted as a diptych but turned out to be one. They are looking very stressed this year and we have noticed a decline in them for the last few seasons.

Last night we didn't eat until well after 8:00 as it was pretty darned hot, not that we are complaining having whined about the cold for the past 2 months. These thermometer photos were taken at 8:30pm. I don't know what the temperature actually was at the front of the house in the sun because the thermometer only registers to 50C (120F) and that's what it was reading. The back of the house in the shade was a comfortable 31C (88F). This morning we finally got around to digging out the window aircon for our bedroom.

 We are looking forward to going on a water garden tour this weekend, anticipating some exciting new ideas as Jim is getting antsy about our pond which needs to be cleaned out. If that isn't an excuse and opportunity for a renovation I never heard one. Someday soon we'll go kayaking and I believe we are going camping next weekend ...

Summer in Victoria is dry; we will have weeks of clear blue skies with no rain and low humidity now that we can finally say summer has begun. Long may it last!

Sea of Red & White

   Canada Day 2010 dawned gray and cold, and even rained. Not to be completely deterred Jim, Barb, Betsy (Barb's niece, not my sister. It'll get confusing when sister returns to Victoria in a couple of weeks) & I decided to brave the elements and do downtown to, as the Griffiths all say about everything and anything, "see what's going on". Of course there was a lot going on and a lot of people enjoying the festivities. The international food-fair was a non-event but the buskers were great and the atmosphere happy despite the cold wind. Three of us managed to get into the living flag on the grounds of the 'Legde', which was fun. I started out in the red section but the flag was short of whites so I took off my sweater and 'crossed the floor' in that great Canadian political tradtion. It was pretty chilly in just my white shirt and I was glad of the relatively dense press of people. Then we followed the crowd up Governmnet Street and home again, without the corwd, for hamburgers and potato salad under the gas heaters. It was a unanimous decision to forgo the fireworks and mega concert along with the 50,000 spectators. Probably the only disadvantage to our northern long evenings is that it isn't dark enough for fierworks until almost 10:30pm which means the organizers have to keep everyone happy for a couple of hours, the police have to worry about inebriated teenagers, and we old folk are ready for bed. Some years we go and always enjoy the spectacle because the setting is absolutely stunning, but often we don't, curmudgeons that we are becoming.

Speaking of curmugeons, how about the gangsta in our midst, aka cousin Barb who hates wearing hats but felt the need to (literally) wave the flag.

It wasn't really cold enough for the Tweedies to wear their Olympic mittens but it wasn't that far off. Reference was made to the year Alan Bull wore his Raccon coat and snowshoes to one of our CD parties. We hope you fellow Canadians marked the day somehow and that our US friends enjoy local festivities on 'The 4th". We always need to remember how lucky we are to live in free and affluent countries even if they aren't perfect.