First Day of Summer

Okay, it's been a pretty chilly sojourn in the Maritimes this time. I take back all my whining about the spring in Victoria even though it was challenging. The thing about Victoria is that we don't really have winter so summer, while gleefully anticipated, isn't the life-line that it is in parts of the country that have real winter. This past winter in eastern Canada, by all accounts, was grim and included mountains of snow. And spring has been cold and wet at least in Nova Scotia and PEI. A clerk in the Upper Tantallon liquor store (where we are regular customers) said 'they' have given up any expectation of good weather. Sad in a stoic, we've seen it all before, kind of way.

We have friends with us this time so we are doing the tour guide thing regardless of having to wear every scrap of clothing we brought with us, all at once. Except the shorts of course. Yesterday, first day of spring, the thermometer struggled up to 12C and today promises to be 14C. Did I mention the wind? Relentless.

But it is still a great place and we are having fun and the hospitality is warm enough to overcome any problems with the weather.

At Province House, this is the meeting room wherein the formation of Canada was hammered out by "The Fathers of Confederation"

And at the other end of the hall is the still-in-use PEI Legislature. Tiny.

First day of summer and NOT very summery!

We think these are wild phlox.

Malpeque Harbour. A bit of a trwek to find it but well worth it.

Cabot Park and yet another storm rolling in.

Siblings!

sold!

It's been two months, almost to the day, since we listed our house and now it is officially sold. Had we listed 2.5 months ago it would have sole in a minute, but the market went soft and we sat a bit longer than is comfortable. In the end the first buyers, remember I said they were nervous entering the roundabout, didn't follow through when faced with the 48 hour clause that required them to buck up or back out; it was a second buyer who won the prize. It is a young couple who've been looking for a couple of years and we hope they'll be happy with their choice. This house has great Feng Shui but it is big and demanding too.
And now we will do some grieving but there won't be much time for that as there are many details to organize with a comprehensive renovation of the new place and a trip to the Maritimes thrown in for good measure.
While I was taking the real estate sign photo I couldn't resist the rhodos. It seems to me I post a lot of flower photos but sometimes I just can't help myself. I wish I could capture the scale for you easterners who might be reading, but it doesn't come across. The red rhodo is about 12x12 feet, the purple is shorter but even wider. they are really enormous and only about 20 years old. And I can't take any credit for them other than benign neglect.

Lots of other things are in bloom right now, about a month behind schedule but since the weather has improved I am trying not to whine about it. Besides we've got last night's hockey game to really whine about. That was awful! 

The yellow tree, laburnum, is stunning right now and quite nondescript otherwise, (should have bloomed in April; I really can't help saying it), and I have managed to keep ahead of the aphids on the lupin.

the kitchen garden has been yielding nicely

We've had some fun evening on the deck as well as some quiet ones talking about our continues good fortune. We'll miss it but there will  be compensations aplenty. 

a new clematis to replace a passion flower that didn't survive the winter

I've said this a lot of times lately but here it is again: thank goodness we are making this move now because if it was ten years form now I don't know how we would manage. It's overwhelming even for us, and a tremendous physical as well as emotional effort. And while I say I will miss our roofed deck and balcony, today I was thankful that we don't have to find someone to clean those roofs!

And as final word, I've done some more work on the buffalo and it still hurts to hold my arm in that position. Oh well.