late cherry trees

A couple of weekends ago I decided to take a walk to nearby Queens Park rather than go further afield. As it was, the weather was iffy and it was starting to cloud over again. I took advantage of the sunshine while it was there. The photo above is of the late Cherry blossoms in flower at the time. Much of their blossoms have faded away and been replaced by the greenery that we'll see through the summer. I'll have more photos soon, so enjoy this one for now! - V

Blossoms and stuff

I finally got out to take some photos Sunday afternoon. This is a selection of what resulted starting near home with the cherry trees along the main road and then Queens Park.

The maple trees are leafing out but the flowers can still be seen in some places as you can see and dandelions are to be found everywhere. The word for dandelion comes from French and means "lion's tooth" as the indented edges of the leaves might suggest. The German word for the plant is Loewenzahn which has the same meaning, "lion's tooth!" I think its such a wonderful plant and with so many uses, such as using fresh, unsprayed leaves (i.e. no chemical pesticides or herbicides) in a salad just to name one.

There is a hillside full of these white flowers above though I can't tell you the name of them and then there are English Daisies as seen in the pic below.

A row of townhomes near the park. Then there is the sign at the entrance to the park.

Fraser Cemetery in Sapperton has its cherry trees too. They're all in flower with the petals collecting everywhere.

Then there are the tulip plantings in and around Stanley Park in Vancouver. I especially love the last one, don't you? The colour red and the underplanting of Forget-Me-Nots make such a wonderful contrast. I had to get down on my knees practically to get the last shot and then getting up was a bit of a chore with my knee being the way it is but it was worth it! The last photo, by the way, was taken on Denman Street near Davie. Enjoy the photos!!! - V.

Blossoms

Its Sunday, a mix of sun and cloud but reasonably warm weather-wise, and since my the arthritis in my right knee is much better and allergy symptoms are gone for the most part (allergic to alder and birch bollen), I'll get out for a bit to take some photos. The cherry trees on the main arterial road nearby are in full bloom. Hopefully there's enough sunshine to bring out the colours to their best advantage. After the cherry trees, I may head into Vancouver to see how the rhododendrons and azaleas are doing in Stanley Park. So now I'll get cleaned up, pack up my things and head out. More to come! - V.

Klondike Rose

Here we are nearing the end of another week. The weather is improving each week. Last weekend I had plans to get out to take more photos, weather permitting, but that was not to be. It looked promissing Saturday morning but clouded over by afternoon, so I cancelled going out that day. As a result, I spent that day behind the computer doing research. Sunday was overcast all day but warm. Again, because of the cloud (for me I love sun and blue skies, though some cloud adds interest), I spent the day indoors mostly. I got caught up with the rest of the laundry having done most of it on Friday evening after arriving home from work. The balance of the time was spent behind the computer and in the kitchen.

This brings me to Klondike Rose, and before your thoughts go to the Yukon in northwestern Canada, let me tell you I'm talking about a potato, called "Klondike Rose." Its got rose-coloured skin and a gold flesh similar to another potato variety called "Yukon Gold." This brings me to the subject of what I was busy doing in the kitchen. I was cooking up the potatoes, skin and all, for making potato salad. After the potatoes cooled, I removed the skin, cut them up into slices, finely diced an onion, chopped up a tomato and then prepared an olive oil and white wine vinegar dressing to which I added a little bit of prepared dijon mustard (with horseradish). I added a bit of sea salt and freshly ground pepper to the dressing, mixed it and then added the dressing to the salad. This was mixed and left in the fridge overnight. I had potato salad at work two days in a row, a departure from sandwiches each day.

There is one thing though that is of concern. The usual varieties I buy tend to sprout after a time as I would consider normal. After two weeks, these potatoes have shown no signs of sprouting. This led me to do a little research and I found that these potatoes (considering their origin) have been "treated" to prevent sprouting, in other words given a dose of radiation. Doubtless, I'll likely not use them again and opt instead for varieties of potatoes not treated in this way.

Now I'm about to head out to work once again but I'm looking forward to the weekend where I hope to head up to Burnaby Mountain to check out the cherry trees in blossom. Then I might head over to Stanley Park to see the rhododendrons. We shall see what the weekend brings! Meantime, have a great weekend when you get to yours!!! - V.

Burnaby Mountain - Spring

This afternoon (Monday) I was up on Burnaby Mountain to have a look at how far along the Japanese cherry trees are to blooming. Well, they've just started and I guess should be a better show by next weekend. Those at lower elevations are about a week ahead of those on the mountain.

The view is spectacular from the western end of the mountain looking west toward Vancouver, Burrard Inlet and the Coast Mountains. The image below shows Capital Hill in the centre with Vancouver and Stanley Park off in the distance.

There is a closer view of Capital Hill above and then you can see a shower in progress in the photo below (or does that start as snow?).

Then there are cases of finding the unexpected on such trips out, like this person trying out his parachute technique over and over again. He really didn't get enough lift since the winds would die down all of a sudden but here is a series of shots showing his attempts. Then he would do this over and over again. Good for working on the technique though! Have a great week!!!

Blooms

These blooms have faded but this is how the scene along West Georgia Street looked a few weeks ago when cherry trees all over the area were in full bloom as were the spring heathers. - Volker