webs
by Marja-Leena
by Marja-Leena garden delights
I’m continuing to enjoy a relaxing extra long weekend at home, especially observing the ever evolving cycles of blossoming and going-to-seed in the garden, messy in places still but with many rewarding delights for the senses. Another delight is that husband has been installing an automatic watering system on our sunny deck, the one with numerous pots of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and a few flowers. With our usual summer drought soon to come, it will save many steps back and forth from the kitchen sink with a heavy watering can.
Oh, and happy July 4th to all my American friends and family!
by Marja-Leena Canadian Red
It’s Canada Day today. Our Queen is in Ottawa this year to celebrate our country’s 143rd birthday and give us the gift of a special rock.
Below are a couple of other articles Canadians and non-Canadians might enjoy. We Canadians are rather noted for being modest while being quietly proud of our country, so I don’t really like this bragging tone nor a “branding” of Canada, even if said a little tongue-in-cheek. What do you think?
– A new national angst: Getting used to bragging rights* (link expired and removed)
– What is Canada’s brand?
by Marja-Leena looking out
sitting here with no words to offer but a bit of my view over the back yard…
by Marja-Leena summer
the tomatoes are growing, golden nuggets almost ready
the first cucumber was delicious, many more awaiting
little baby peppers are appearing like magic
local sweet strawberries and raspberries for dessert
a huge full strawberry moon tonight
it must be summer
by Marja-Leena prunings
Stirring my love of both art and history is this wonderful essay* by Gary Geddes called The mirror of history shows us who we are – Ancient works of art that reflect life, hardship and the ‘yin-yang dance of human relations’ have much to tell us about how we live today.
Added June 27th: In the comments below I mentioned the Terracotta Warriors. Now you can enjoy an audio slideshow* of the exhibition that just opened at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.
*expired links removed
by Marja-Leena the longest day
Disappointingly dull cloudy weather today for the solstice. Nevertheless I wax nostalgic at this time of year, every year, so I reread my past posts about this very important, ancient Nordic tradition. My favourites, if you care to visit them, are:
a midsummer fest, 2009
white nights, 2008
midsummer nights, 2005
And, if you have wondered: why it’s the longest day of the year–but not the hottest.
Hauskaa Juhannusta! Happy solstice, all!
Added June 23rd, 2010:I knew that Midsummer is, or used to be, an official holiday in some countries, but did not know that it is also a public holiday in Quebec!
In Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Quebec (Canada), the traditional Midsummer day, June 24, is a public holiday. So it was formerly also in Sweden and Finland, but in these countries it was, in the 1950s, moved to the Saturday between June 20 and June 26. ….from Wikipedia
Here is a notice from Helsingin Sanomat about what will happen in Finland as the country starts to shut down:
Just a brief advance warning for anyone who is unaware of it, but this coming weekend signals the Midsummer celebrations in Finland, and will bring with it certain restrictions on shop opening-hours and transport schedules, as well as marking the start of the summer vacation season for many.
P.S. Just in case anyone is wondering why the Summer Solstice is being celebrated a bit late, the concept of Midsummer in Finland is associated with the saint’s day of St. John the Baptist (hence Juhannus, the Finnish name for it), and since 1955 the holiday has always been celebrated on a Saturday falling between June 20th and June 26th. Earlier it was held on June 24th, or St. John’s Day.
Midsummer Eve is quite as important as the day itself, and given the long distances often involved in travelling to the summer cottage a good many people choose to take Thursday off as well. Traffic volumes on Thursday and Friday reach an annual peak, and long lines are to be expected at traditional bottlenecks.
The return on Sunday is not usually so congested on the roads, as many people take this weekend as the starting-signal for their summer holidays and stay in the countryside for the duration.
Sadly, Midsummer also involves a good deal of drinking, and given the amount of water in this country, it also often sees a spike in the number of accidental drownings, either through people falling out of boats or overestimating their swimming prowess in waters that can still be quite chilly at this time of year. Please take care.
So there you go, the 21st version of a pagan-Christian blend celebration!
by Marja-Leena Montréal: highlights
We walked quite a lot around Old Montréal, the Latin Quarter, and some of the downtown. Thanks to Beth and J and their car tour we saw even more beyond. Here are only a few of our favourite photos of spots full of history in this lovely old city…
Previous posts about our trip to Montréal:
Back from Montréal
Montréal: roofs
Montréal: feasts
by Marja-Leena meeting MB
Many of my readers may remember MB Whitaker who was well-known and liked for her lovely blog Find Me a Bluebird, where she posted almost daily poems and photos. Sadly she stopped doing so about two years ago but has left the blog up. Meanwhile MB still sings and plays with her band The Heard.
I was thrilled to receive an email a few days ago from MB that she, her husband and daughter were coming from Idaho to Vancouver for a brief visit on a Pacific Northwest Coast holiday trip. We arranged to meet, and that was last night for dinner at a restaurant on Granville Island. Wow, was it wonderful to make that face-to-face connection once again with someone who had become an online friend. My inner shyness always quakes a little at the prospect of meeting the first time but melted away quickly for as always it is a wonderful and memorable experience, cementing a friendship even more.
MB and her husband both work in the non-profit environmental fields, and MB is also a web designer so we wished that our daughter Erika had been able to join us for those are her areas of work too. MB’s daughter, still in high-school is bright, beautiful and creative like both her parents. After our discussions of what might be her future career choices and places for study, she showed great interest in the quick tour we took afterwards of our art and design institution nearby, Emily Carr University, though quiet at this moment between semesters. Our time together was too short but we hope to meet again!
I did take a photo of them but forgot to ask for permission to post it – maybe later?