A Wee Sparrow

There was excitement in the backyard yesterday. I looked out and saw a tiny baby sparrow hopping around on our back patio. One of its parents was beside it. I ran for my camera and kept my distance while taking some photos but my presence was enough to scare it. It went scurrying into our long, not-yet-cut grass. At that point, its parent was no where to be seen. I felt so bad. I was worried that Meeko might find it, so we kept him in the house. Then I worried that someone would step on the poor thing because it wasn't obvious at all where it was. I ended up putting a metal fence around the area where it was hiding as a reminder to us of where it was. Then I went to garden on the other side of the yard to give the little sparrow time and space.

Emma was inside the house and monitored it from there. She googled baby sparrows as we weren't sure if it had fallen out of one of our birdhouses or if it was really time to fly. She found that if it had feathers (which it did) that leaving its house was most likely intentional and it would soon be able to fly. Sure enough, a little later our little fellow was gone.

The downward crook of its beak makes it look a bit sad or at least very serious. I suppose in a sparrow's life, the first day of flying is very serious and I'm sorry that I added to this little one's stress.

I am happy however to have photos of him and think I will try to do a painting of him. Right now though, I have a few more days of gardening ahead of me.

The Flowers of May

Along with getting my garden on its feet (that's an odd idiom), I have succeeded in painting a little the past week. I get so torn this time of year. Garden? Paint? Garden? Paint? Some of the spring flowers are so fleeting that they need to be painted or else I have to wait for next year. But my garden can run away on me (those feet again) if I don't get it under control at the beginning of the season.

Our back lawn is covered with wood violets right now. They are so pretty and I much prefer them to the dandelions which are also vying for my attention right now. I dug out a little clump of the violets and potted them so I would have to time to paint them. I am not a quick painter. I never have been. Too detail-oriented for that I guess. Below is my painting in progress and at the very top is my finished wood violet study on Twinrocker hot-pressed watercolor paper.

The paper wasn't completely flat when I finished the painting so I placed it under a pile of big art books. I really didn't pay attention to them at the time. They were serving a utilitarian rather than literary purpose. It was only when I retrieved my painting afterwards that I noticed the top book "The Flowers of May" with a watercolour painting of violets on its cover! I had distractedly chosen the perfect paperweight!

While it would be easy to assume that "The Flowers of May" is a celebration of this month's flowers, it actually pays tribute to a wonderful botanical artist named Caroline May who lived from 1809 until 1874. She painted delicate, beautiful watercolours of British wildflowers. About a thousand paintings of her paintings have survived. This book contains reproductions of ninety of them. I hadn't looked inside this book in years.  Look at Caroline May's painting of wood violets that she refers to as 'Dog's Violet'. Isn't it lovely? I'm so glad I saw it after and not before I had completed my own painting. It was a beautiful moment of serendipity in my week.

Within the same lovely purple palette, my lilacs (Syringa vulgaris) are in full bloom right now. I adore their fragrance and can't resist burying my nose in them each time I pass. You do have to be careful though. Yesterday my nose came very close to a giant bumble bee!

I am very fond of purple, especially blue-purple. My favourite colour is periwinkle (which is somewhere in between purple and blue). The lilac blooms have wonderful combinations of purple, blue and hints of pink. It's just amazing the gradation of colour in each little blossom. With their scent and colour, they are pretty close to a perfect flower for me.

I picked a small lilac sprig to paint. I actually had to pick more than one over the course of finishing my painting as lilacs wilt very quickly.

Here is my lilac sprig painting also painted on Twinrocker paper. The lilac in the photo is not the one I used as my reference for my painting but it's very similar. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a 'click and sniff' button so I could share their sweet, heady fragrance with you? ♥

My Backyard Friends

Meeko's not my only companion in the backyard while I garden. I am frequently visited by some very beautiful friends! Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal are above and below. What a handsome fellow the male cardinal is. The female is very lovely too in a more understated way. They are such sweet, polite birds. They always arrive together and gently chirp (pip, pip, pip) when they find that the seed tray is empty as if to say "We had hoped to have a little snack, but don't worry we'll drop by again." They are nothing like the beautiful yet very bossy blue jay who will screech from the top of the tree: "Hey lady, I thought I told you that I like the seeds put out before I arrive!"

Other birds who tend to visit as a couple are my lovely mourning doves. They are not hugely brilliant or maybe they just don't see well. It's not too hard to surprise them. But they are so pretty and I love their goofy charm.

Finally, this is a sweet little song sparrow. I love its striped and speckled markings. I often hear him before I see him. He is a very gifted singer and he serenades me (I like to think it's me) on a regular basis from a neighbouring tree.

The Year of the Giant Tomatoes

Every year brings its own surprises in the garden.  The weather is always the biggest wild card. Depending on conditions, certain plants can suffer or thrive. This year has proven to be the 'year of the giant tomato plants'. All that light and heat we have received so far has provided the tallest tomato plants I have ever had in my garden. The plants are actually taller than me right now and are full of tomatoes, green for now, but promising one of the most abundant harvests ever. I can't wait!

I didn't plant that sunflower. A bird did.
I just love its position, leaning out at the corner of the veggie garden, as if to say 'Welcome'!

These are Opalka heirloom tomatoes. Isn't their pepper shape cool?

Pineapple heirloom tomato. I am very intrigued by these and can't wait for them to ripen.

Green Zebra Tomatoes

Look at how the veggie garden has changed since May!

May

June

July

Happy days!

Blue Friday

Today is 'blue' day in the Poppytalk Summer Colours week.  This is the final day in the coloured-theme week. I have pulled together a collection of photos taken by me, Emma and Chloé. The top photo was taken by Emma with a timer at my parents' Muskoka home last summer.

1. Muskoka silhouette (photo by Emma)
2. Forget-me-nots
3. Swim goggles
4. Top of fire hydrant (photo by Chloé)
5. Emma's feet in Muskoka (photo by Emma)
6. Lobelia
7. Chicory (photo by Chloé)

If you garden, you know how hard it is to find true blue flowers. When I started my garden here, I planned different colour schemes for different flower beds. I intended to plant only blue and white flowers in the pool area. So many blue flowers actually are more like purple. I love purple but was disappointed that my blue and white vision never quite came to be.

I am feeling a little blue today about my painting time lately or, more to the point, the lack of it.  It's challenging once the girls are off school, especially because my studio is in the house. Other parents manage to work through the summer but I think when work is outside of the home, it is understood better and respected by everyone both inside and outside of the family.  Despite my frustration, there's lots to celebrate right now.  Emma's high school graduation and prom is tomorrow and Chloé's birthday celebration with her friends is in progress right now.  My birthday is on Sunday, Chloé's actual birthday is next Saturday and we are leaving for a family trip to New York in a matter of days.

Red Alert

Today's colour for the Poppytalk Summer Colours photo collection is...red! We had a discussion here yesterday as to whether these fruits were pink or red. There's a bit of both in them but we decided they veer more to the red side than pink. I can't eat watermelon. I wish I could as it seems to be such a perfect summer fruit, but I always have an upset stomach afterwards.  Emma and Chloé love it though.

The sun was out this morning. Hello sunshine! The evidence of the rain from the past few days is still apparent on the geranium blossoms.  I love the photo of the geranium below. The blossom was laden with moisture that was backlit by the morning sunshine. There is a surreal quality to it.

I don't always have a lot of red in the garden, but this year I included more red in my flower pots. The centre photo is salvia and at the bottom is diascia.  Diascia is one of my favourite annuals. It comes in pink, coral and red and is remarkably resilient.  It handles the summer heat and will continue to bloom long after many annuals have succumbed to autumn frost.

I mentioned yesterday that Chloé was quite enthused by this whole colour week theme. My budding photographer took the following two photos (along with many others I don't have space to show).

I was actually giving her a hard time when she was taking photos of pretty much everything we passed, as Meeko really needs a brisk walk.  In the end, I'm glad she ignored her mother and took the photos. I particularly love her arty photo of the fire hydrant.

There are lots of lovely red photos gathering in the Poppytalk Summer Colour pool. I'm sure there will be lots more added throughout the day.  It has been fun to do, although it has taken up quite a bit of time this week. I am getting quicker though. This post was pulled together quicker than the ones earlier this week.

Busy day here. Emma has her rehearsal for her high school graduation ceremony which happens on Saturday. Chloé is having her 13th birthday party at the end of the day. She doesn't turn 13 until July 7th but it was a challenge getting her friends together on the same date. They are going out for dinner (with us) and then will have a sleepover. That is such a misnomer as there never really is that much sleep involved, is there?

They Call Me Mellow Yellow

I am continuing to colour code my blog posts this week in sync with Poppytalk's Summer Colours week. Yellow is a lovely choice for today because there is no sunshine here at all.  All of these cheerful subjects will take its place.

My daylilies must have known about 'Yellow' day.  The first summer bloom opened this morning. What lovely timing.

1. One of the books in Emma's summer book stack.

2. Daylily - yellow is not my favourite colour in the garden but this soft, lemony yellow is perfection.

3. Buttercups

4. Shasta Daisy

5. Grape tomato blossoms

6. 'Pineapple' tomato blossoms - I cannot wait to see the fruit!

7. Yellow clematis tangutica - Gorgeous but highly invasive.

8. Gaillardia - Gallo Peach Blanket

9. Dandelion - so maligned yet really quite beautiful close up.

10. Heron and Canada Geese with reflection from the street light taken last night when Emma, Meeko and I went for a walk with the mosquitoes.  The photo is not super sharp because I took it at dusk but I couldn't resist including it.

Wishing you a sunshiny day!

Friends participating in the Poppytalk Summer Colours week include:  Sonia, Margie and Geninne.
Have a look!

Colour My Monday Green

It is a holiday weekend here in Quebec. The 24th of June is Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day. We spent part of the weekend in Trois-Rivières to celebrate the 88th birthday of my husband's mother. I took lots of photos of my brother and sister-in-law's pretty garden that I will post later this week.

Today and for the next four days, I have decided to participate in Poppytalk's Summer Colours week. I've been inspired to take part by friends Margie and Sonia. Today's colour is green and it was a real treat to wander around the garden to take photos this morning after a night of rain. 

I love June as the garden always really starts to thrive at this point in the growing season.  Our family has done a fair bit of growing in June and early July as well. We have so many birthdays packed into a five-week period. Emma's birthday is on June 1st, her cousin Erica on June 2nd, my brother-in-law Jean on June 10th, my grandmother Edie (deceased) on June 16th, my brother Bob on June 17th, my grandfather Eric (deceased) on June 21, my mother-in-law Margeurite on June 25, my sister Karen on June 30th, me on July 1st and Chloé on July 7th. Isn't that crazy?

Here's a simple yet elegant arrangement of herbs, leaves and flowers gathered during my garden walk this morning.