beach walk, Victoria (2)
More of my favourite images from our walk on Cordova Bay, on our visit back in May.
Can you spot which of these show the hand of man upon nature?
by Marja-Leena
by Marja-Leena 
by Marja-Leena visitors from Hawaii
left to right: Terry, Marianna, Marja-Leena and Fred by False Creek, looking north at Vancouver’s condo towers
Yesterday’s highlight was a wonderful visit with blog friend Marianna (of Hattie’s Web) and her husband Terry who are in Vancouver for a family reunion and their almost annual visit to the Vancouver Folk Festival. Marianna and I met the first time two years ago so this time our husbands were included. We all felt at home together and enjoyed much stimulating conversation and laughter over lunch at a longtime favourite restaurant overlooking False Creek. Terry took a great photo of us so do check it out over at Hattie’s post.
The weather here is usually in its best summer mode between mid-July and mid-August but this year it has been absolutely awful in all the Pacific Northwest the last few days so we were lucky there was a suitable break in the monsoon-like showers. We hope they were able to catch a few of the FolkFest events without getting soaked and cold. Hope to see you again next year!
by Marja-Leena beach walk, Victoria
I’m so glad to have my blog back after the server problems – strange how it broke my rhythm in writing. As I’m thinking of what to post, I remembered that I’d not finished describing the latter half of our island getaway in May, after we left Gabriola Island and headed south on Vancouver Island. So to recapture the rhythm, I’ve gone back into my photos and jumped into a series I took on Cordova Bay, in Victoria. We stayed with dear friends in the area who took us for a long walk along this beach in low tide. What beauties to be seen there, even these bluffs dripping with algae and seaweed.
by Marja-Leena an artist’s garden
About a week ago I wrote about some garden art we’d installed to hold up some flowering plants. One commenter in that post mentioned Derek Jarman’s garden in Kent, England, including a link to wonderful photos of it as well as mentioning Jarman’s book. I was immediately captivated.
A few days later, a package arrived at our door, containing the book Derek Jarman’s Garden! It’s a lovely surprise gift by that commenter, J, who is our son-in-law, presently working in England (our daughter and their two girls are visiting here). I knew artist, filmmaker and writer Derek Jarman was a hero of J’s just from seeing his large collection of that artist’s books and films.
I didn’t know that gardening was a life-long passion of Jarman’s and that he spent the last years of his short life building this unique garden at his cottage on the shingle beach of Dungeness, next to a nuclear power plant. He kept a journal about the experience, while photographer Howard Sooley captured rich images of him and the garden, even assisting in plantings. Jarman hunted and carried back many stones, weathered wood pieces and rusty objects from his walks on the shore and created magical installations amongst the plants and shingle. Jarman’s partner Keith Collins wrote a lovely preface and assisted in the publication, done after Jarman’s death.
Only a few hours after receiving the book, and it being a very rainy day, I was drawn into this little beauty, absolutely swept in and loving the photos and the writing, finishing it at bedtime with a happy glow. Here is one of many many favourite passages from Jarman’s writing:
At first, people thought I was building a garden for magical purposes – a white witch out to get the nuclear power station. It did have magic – the magic of surprise, the treasure hunt. A garden IS the treasure hunt, the plants the paperchase.
I invest my stones with the power of those at Avebury. I have read all the mystical books about ley-lines and circles – I built the circles with this in mind. The circles make the garden perfect – in winter they take over from the flowers. There was magic and hard work in finding the coloured stones for the front: white, difficult: grey, less so; red, very rare.
I was amazed at how much beauty was achieved in such a harsh environment. By no means can I compare myself to such a wonderful gardener (as well as writer and artist). I think the lush rainforest of our Pacific Northwest area is one huge garden of its own, in the midst of which we try to make our own little mark, our little piece of paradise on earth. This book has inspired me to look at my garden in a slightly different way, encouraging me to continue to add more personal touches after installing the rust pieces mentioned earlier. I unearthed some forgotten artifacts in the garden shed, like these rusty old garden tools and Greek goat bells, very modest things to add to the various stones and rocks from beaches here and there. Time for more beach and junkyard combing, methinks!
Thank you so much for this inspiring book, J, I will treaure it!
Oh, and isn’t it interesting that this conversation started with the other son-in-law making the wonderful rust garden supports, with daughter Elisa‘s suggestion? I am lucky.
Later: J sent me some excellent links for further reading and viewing if you are interested:
– article by Howard Sooley
– Howard Sooley’s website
– more writing at the Guardian
– a “letter” from Tilda Swinton, the actress, and good friend of Jarman’s mentioned a few times in the book
Plus, I forgot to add this article about the Dungeness area
by Marja-Leena junkyard finds 6
having fun with circles
the last in the series, I think
by Marja-Leena raccoons’ morning bath
It is 8:00 am and I am sitting at my computer preparing a blog post when at the corner of my eye by the window I see some movement outside in the backyard. Lo! a family of raccoons having their morning bath in the kiddie pool. I squeal in excitement calling husband and daughter to the window as I grab the camera. How delightful, a momma and four healthy looking kids.
We have not seen raccoons in our neighbourhood this year, in fact last time may have been three years ago. They must be coming back again, joining the regular skunk family visitors that walk along our back shrub border every evening. Too bad our granddaughters are away for a few days but these photos are especially for them. Enjoy!
by Marja-Leena junkyard finds 5
not only texture, also repetition and pattern….
by Marja-Leena garden art
Summer seems to have finally arrived here with the turn of the month. After a long cold gloomy spring, the light now seems almost too brilliant, especially for photography. We’ve been out on the good days in the past couple of weeks doing a lot of pruning of trees and shrubs to keep our mature garden from reverting into a rainforest jungle.
You might recall that last month when we were visiting our eldest daughter and her partner and attending a wedding in another town, I got interested in Richard’s skilled metalwork. Using bits and pieces of intriguingly textured rusty scrap metal plates and rebar, he made me some arty stakes in a cage arrangement for my row of peonies. These ones always produce massive heavy blossoms, and it always rains when they are in bloom, so it’s a difficult job keeping them staked up in an attractive way. Now I have these wonderful garden art pieces that will look nice even in winter! You can see the peonies are now blowsy and ready to shatter.
Another plant in the garden that needs staking is the giant red crocosmia, which will be blooming a little later. We’ve been using these ‘bumblebee’ posts that we received as a gift long ago, from my sister-in-law and her husband, and was crafted by one of his daughters (sorry I’ve forgotten her name). We needed a third stake to be able to comfortably tie a wire or string around the whole clump, so Richard made another post with a rectangular rust plate. We just put it in place yesterday on the other side. Don’t all these pieces of garden art look great, and by repurposing material that might just end up as waste? Thanks, Richard!
To finish this little garden tour, here is a view of my red roses and the just finishing blue ceonothus beyond. Though you only see a glimpse of them, there are lots of self-sown foxgloves and daisies everywhere, giving my garden a wild look in the early summer.
by Marja-Leena happy July 1st
It’s Canada Day here and a holiday long weekend also for our southern neighbours. Wherever you are, have a good weekend!