Tomatoes....

are a growing.. prolly the best thing left in my garden... fertilized them this morning... we shall see if that produces a better, bigger crop... unfortunately.... i see no more blossoms.... but with some water, sun and fertilizer.. should have a burst in a couple of weeks....

t and g came back last night... from their adventures in the woods.. they decided that Prince George was out... but that they'd go inland, up in the mountains, on t's quad... i wish i wish... i'd love to do that, would be a riot... and it only cost 20$ for gas, to go 120 km... thats about 70 plus miles... they even saw a bear, deer, squirrels, elk... not sure what else... the elusive cougar was not to be seen... and prolly good, since we on vancouver island have the most aggressive cougars in the world, and the most docile black bears... go figure....

Monday Morning...... holiday

today is a holiday... if your canadian... actually it's just another day... pulling weeds and watered a bunch of things...
not very exciting i'm afraid... but interspersed with phone calls from a distraught mom who's bratty teen and friend didn't come home last night... sooooooo i checked the trailer... hmmmm ditto at this house.... thank god i'm not a parent anymore... but unfortunately the trailer maybe removed soon... at my doing.... sometimes being a grandma ain't what it's cracked up to be... speaking of cracked....
had an egg today... first one in a month.. ackkkkkk... a white egg no less.. and store bought.. i sure miss those chickens....had a doe and fawn in the garden yesterday....now that dora and sampson are back, that will be far and few between... they are maturing, the romps out in the field are less, and shorter.. more snoozing ... mind u, up all night watching for criminals can wear out a doggy.... dora is a good little watch dog... she excels at her job....sampson just thinks life is grand, whatever dora does, he does... woofy woofy....

The Mad Dash......

going north.... 'wagon ho'... err.. well you know... throw the stuff in the car, grab the puppies.. and off back to Canada... was a generally uneventful trip... except for Portland there wasn't even a lot of traffic.... landed in Canada with no trouble... the Border guard was very pleasant and merely mentioned that i had my dogs to cover the fact that i was smuggling in drugs and alcohol... my reply was 'oh sure', he chuckled and said.. welcome back... whew.... no strip search this time... and NO, i had no drugs, no alcohol, no nothing... not even too much gift value... i've decided i'm simply too boring for words... but saves on fixing my vehicle after they've shredded it....guess i have a healthy respect for 'da law'...

sirens howling, 4 firetrucks just flew past on a mission... 'welcome back'.... it's fire season and even tho we've had rain, its bone dry and ready for sparking.... it's a long weekend here so lots of campers and 'riverities' (those who go to the river to party hearty)
speaking of burning... daughter #2 is fried... she had to go to vancouver today... 4 hrs on the ferry(2 hrs each way)... laid out side... utoh.... fire engine red...

as yet i have no pics... my garden.... well... i have plenty of tomatoes coming.... my lettuce and other cold season crops have all bolted, 6 feet high and swollen with seed pods, the peas are finished... sighhh.... but am thinking i might just pull them out and plant some new ones... sometimes we get lucky and its a long enough season for a new crop...
and i found 5 big pepper plants today $1.50 each.... even if i only get 1 pepper per plant... i'm ahead of the game... since peppers are astronomical in price.. AND one of the worst victims of the pesticide game... mmm nothing like a little pesticide to make yer hair fall out...makes me wanna never eat an unorganic pepper...

anyways.. thats my 'job' tomorrow... planting them up in pots and putting them somewhere warm.... since our 'summer' isn't quite the temperature that peppers like... mmmm now where did i put that parka???

The birds.....

are busy busy... collecting and gathering for nests and babies.... my one bullrush stalk has been well used... maybe next year i'll have 2 stalks :D...
i've been hearing a pheasant in the field... and thanks to Dora's alert ears and pointing habits.. i can see him... he's eating bugs over by levi's dirt track... so dora and sampson are resigned to being indoor puppies... at least until our pheasant friend wanders elsewhere...

woohoo.... i just spotted his mate!!! am excited... a breeding pair of pheasants would be awesome... unfortunately our hunter friends think they are good eating... personally eating something that doesn't have a lot of meat on it.. just doesn't cut it!! actually eating something that wandered in my field doesn't quite do it either... i'd rather see them wandering in the field, eating up the bugs that are going to dine on my garden :D
they seem to like levi's dirt track.. must be good bug hunting....

got my choi plants all transplanted.. choi as in bok, sui and other closely related ones... they come in a 6 pack, 3 different varieties... i'm needed some more swiss chard too... will check out my leftover seeds... the weather is cooler than normal, so am in no hurry atm.... all my 'babies' are covered and hopefully won't go into shock...

still a sick kid at home... yesterday we made a fairy... she will hang in Bubbles the car... :D

Island Farms....

and the GMO issue.... Vancouver Island Challenges British Columbia Farmers to Boycott Monsanto Corn & GMOs ...... this article was in August of 2007... i wish i knew if things had changed much, but suspect that probably not.... i don't know about you, but personally i'm not really keen on drinking or eating a product that has Monsanto's Roundup Ready corn, which is genetically engineered to endure repeated spraying with Monsanto's glyphosate-based toxin, in it... mmmm get your vitamins with a healthy daily dose of Roundup???? EWWW....

got my peas and lettuce planted yesterday... woohoo... now watch the weather turn ugly! i know that the spring weather will be erratic as usual so i have reemay ready to cover the new babies... as for the peas.... they are in the ground, ready for a quick rain shower... yum yum in 60 days there should be the start of some very good garden eating :D i saw baby tomatoes in the garden shop yesterday... what are they thinking!!! and not only that.. $1.50 per plant... yikes! Costco had huge ones for $10.00 but they were at least 2 feet tall.. probaby ready to spring into blossom... unfortunately unless one has a greenhouse, chances of tomatoes setting are slim to none, since they won't set below 45 degrees....

today would have been our first ball game.. but... alas... i have a sick kid at home... ah well more ball games to come.... silly bug nestled in her chest and she's coughing and hacking germies all over..

was supposed to rain today.. but so far so good... mind you it's only 6:14 a.m. lots of time for mommy nature to change her mind.... i was going to mow the rest of the yard, but ran out of gas.... the mower works great... will be good once i finish... that will knock out the broom in that area.... woohoo... what a nasty plant... invasive and not generally useful unless i wish to make brooms out of it....

Plastic water bottles........

are a evil nasty waste of oil, enviroment and generally foul... thats my opinion at least... i'm ranting about it because sitting on my balcony is a case of them... and i'm not terribly happy about it... but daughter is working hard and needs water for work... sooooooo that led me on an internet search for an alternative.. TADA!!!! LifeWithoutPlastic.com .. is a great site!... what i think are pretty reasonable prices for stainless steel products... i'm going to order one of the water bottles and who knows maybe one of their food containers...

can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since i last posted ... i'm a slacker in the posting dept... have been busy sawing, screwing, hammering.. and trying to build some extensions on my shed... there isn't enough covered room for my tools and wood... and since i'm in a rainforest (what's left of the forest :( ) and it rains a lot i need something to protect them... sooo i've become ms 'notsogood carpenter' LOLOL i'm sure if someone video taped me, they be blushing... since i'm not very agile anymore and everything takes twice as long to do.. aging gracefully isn't in the heart of the 'notsogood carpenter... so i finished my fence around one garden.. sampson and dora firmly believe that the raised beds were just built for them for a huge play box and bone burying spot... now i have to start on the other one that they like too... they are happy happy puppies digging up my herbs and carting off old brussel sprout stalks...

yesterday sian and i got to observe a very dedicated little hummingbird that found my one rush stalk to be a supply of downy fuzz for her nest....

i wish i could have been closer, but think i was lucky to have captured the picture at all... i have 2 mallards in the pond just near the house, but unfortunately it will dry up as soon as summer comes.. so i'm hoping they will transfer themselves down to the creek.. we still have one beaver (hopefully) and there should be a pond of sorts...

erika has been chef lately... made a killer (yummy) roast chicken... with help... i gathered some fresh rosemary, thyme and sage, a couple of carrots and showed her how to stuff it with the herbs, throw it into the roasting pan... hmmm so easy she's discovered!

i bought my bedding plants.. getting ready to plant them... and plant some peas... the weather hasn't been the greatest and is below normal temps, so i'm in no hurry... sian has a brand new pair of garden gloves, just her size, and some new to her garden Duck Boots... woohoo... she's looking forward to helping me... lots of peas and tomatoes are on her list....

but not today... we're both sick... some sort of 'bug' ... sniffles and tummy upsets.. mmm the joys of schools and children .... besides its grey and threatening rain... good day to stay indoors and do almost nothing!

Today...

is World Autism Awareness Day..... Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the world.... it affects my family... the stats on Autism is staggering... gotta wonder what really is going on with our children....