by summer’s here
Today is the Victoria Day holiday and what a busy long weekend it has been. My husband took Friday off work and we’ve been working hard in the garden for three days in a row. Three gorgeous sunny days, the first of summer at 30C (86F), much too hot for us heat wimps! After a cool wet spring, the heat has made everything lush and green. The tulips and magnolia were finished off by last week’s rains. Now the heat is bringing forth lily-of-the-valley, lilacs, laburnum, clematis montana, azaleas, rhododendrons, forget-me-nots, bluebells and yellow poppies.
I’ve been hardening off pelargoniums and other annuals to plant out in a few days, and repotting tomato plants to go outside a little later in the month when the nights stay above 10C. We brought outside patio and deck furniture and umbrellas, and one evening enjoyed sitting outside until after dark while waiting for the house to cool down, enjoying much talking and spirited games of Liverpool Rummy with our visiting eldest daughter Anita.
Saturday evening, husband and I went out for a delicious Thai dinner to quietly celebrate another wedding anniversary. I was much attracted by the interesting reflections in the windows across the street from the restaurant!
After the meal, we went for a stroll along the waterfront park where many couples and a few young families were enjoying the warm evening and the view of downtown Vancouver on the other side. As we sat for a few minutes on a bench, another middle-aged couple walked by just as my husband said to me, “We live in the best part of the world”. The woman turned around with a smile and said, “I think so, too”. Surprised, we laughed. On our stroll back we discovered a secluded garden between an adjacent office building and a condominium, with numerous gorgeous wisteria in bloom – a gift!
Today is pleasantly cooler and rainy, Anita has left and we are enjoying a quiet and restful afternoon, reading books and catching up on some blogs and blogging. Like looking back through a diary in my youth, I find it interesting looking back at past blog posts on the same date or theme. In this case past Victoria Day weekend articles were revealing. We seem to always work on this weekend instead of going away camping or visiting. And this year’s blooms in our garden are quite a bit later than these past years: 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.
May 19, 2008 in Canada and BC, Home by Marja-Leena
Not quite: you don’t live in Thunder Bay… {grin}
Sounds like a lovely weekend. We’ve had a very cool spring and I’m loving it. The heat is coming though and that is when I hide in the cool shade. Here in the Southeast, wisteria, is an invasive in the same category as kudzu and oriental bittersweet. It is gorgeous though and not far from here grows on a very large cedar tree. The purpley flowers against the deep green of the tree is striking and beautiful.
How beautiful. You do live in the best part of the world (well, except for all that rain… 😉
Your season must be about the same as ours now – lilacs, wisteria, azaleas, rhododendron… Looks like you had a lovely holiday. We have our Memorial Day weekend that kicks off our summer coming up this weekend.
Hey Peter! Thunder Bay’s weather is similar to Winnipeg’s and I haven’t forgotten the long winters!
Joan, I didn’t know that about wisteria. I imagine your summers must be way hotter than ours.
Leslee, thanks! The only good thing about the rain is that we don’t have to shovel it, heh, and it does give us a lush rainforest. Yeah, our flowers are late this year so we’d be on par judging from your photos.
Congratulations on your wedding anniversary Marja-leena! Great photos…
🙂
Hi Elise, and thank you!
the photo of the reflection is very interesting. It reminded me of a work I saw online recently by Maaria Wirkkala. Do you know the one I am talking about? It is called “As if” and it is a site specific work that uses the immediate built environment to create the piece. If you go on her website, click on Works; it’s the one on the top of the list. There are 3 images; the 2nd one shows a bit more context of this very interesting installation piece that she set up.
http://www.maariawirkkala.com/
Taina, I can see what you mean being reminded of Maaria Wirkkala’s “As if”. Thank you for another great link, she’s certainly had some prestigious exhibitions.
another image I came across today while reading about Helsinki’s homeless that called to mind your image!
http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id91612.html
Hi again, Taina! Isn’t it amazing, once we focus on a certain image, how we start to see that image over and over again?