buzz

Early this afternoon I found myself at the Davie Village Community Garden in Vancouver's West End. The garden was abuzz with activity as you can see by this photo of a bumblebee at a Spanish lavender flower! - V

tulips

Back in March going into April I had two different bouquets of tulips in the dining room. This was the first one. When the flowers were closed, they actually looked red but as they opened over time they appeared more like a cross of orange and pink. You decided for yourself. I'll have more photos on the weekend after my trip to north Burnaby tomorrow. Good night, guys! - V

tulips - a certain sign of spring!

In early April I had this vase of tulips on the dining room table to brighten up the apartment. They're a sure sign of spring as are others. What do you like best about springtime? - V

flowers

I bought three of these plants last autumn and kept them going through the winter after I had cut them back. These mums are flowering in the dining room window despite it being spring and not at all time for mums! - V

roses

We moved into this new house in southwest London (Ontario) in the late 1960s and that is when I began taking up gardening with great interest. I'm in the photo here taken in the mid-1980s when I was into my 30s. Soon after this I replanted the flowerbed in the foreground. The yuccas (the ones with the white flowers) found new homes in other parts of the front yard which was a chore. The roses in that bed had seen better days though the climber stayed on for some years. The bed was then replanted with alpine flowers which lasted until the late 1990s when the bed was replanted once again, this time with heathers. My interest in plants and flowers in general goes back to my early childhood. Anyway, have a great week! - V

oasis in a busy urban metropolis

A week ago this past Sunday I was in Vancouver's West End and among the places that I visited was the Davie Village Community Garden. This is just a sampling of the photos I took. The top photo looks toward the downtown with a mix of flowers and plant in the foreground. The image below shows a planting of annuals and perennials. Spanish Lavender is in the middle and petunias at the bottom and the left-hand side of the photo.
Those are scarlet runner beans (in flower) above and the top of a hollyhock stock complete with beautiful pink flowers below.
I managed to capture a wasp on a white yarrow flower in one photo and a couple of honeybees on a sunflower below. There must be a hive somewhere!
The yellow sunflower is something that we're all familiar with (above). There were even bumblebees about such as on this Spanish Lavender flower. In this case it might even be two of them!
Sweet Peas are lovely (above) and below we have a close-up of one of the flowers. Its amazing what can be found with in a bustling metropolis, a kind of oasis in all the noise and haste of life! I hope you've enjoyed this small selection of images. Feel free to comment! - V

camcorder and other stuff

Its Monday and the day here is fast drawing to a close. Yesterday I ordered a Flip Ultra HD camcorder online. The order was confirmed this morning. Once I received it, expect some videos to add a new dimension to this blog and not just short video clips which I've been able to post for a while. Later, once I can afford it and it seems practical, I purchase a more substantial camcorder than the Flip. For the moment, this one opens plenty of possibilities.

Two other items are in my sites at the moment, a good starter set of studio lights and either a macro lens or a wide angle lens. I'm buying items as I can afford them as Brad and I expand our business venture in photography. Photography is one of my great passions and business is one of Brad's but I'm sure photography takes a top spot for him as well. Expect more news on this soon.

On my way home this evening I bought a power drill to drill those holes in the large pots in advance of planting. While at Canadian Tire, I also found a couple of fuchsia plants to add to the collection of flowers, so that should be it for plants this year, at least for the balcony!

Now I'm going to wind things up for the day and head for bed soon. Its already after 9 pm and I hope to be in bed by 10 pm at the latest. Since I get up at 5 am, I'm trying to get as much sleep as I can get. Some nights its a bit of a challenge getting more than 6 hours. Seven hours is better but 8 hours is better yet which seems to work on weekends. Have a good night, guys (or good day if you're into the next day)!!! - V

planting

The plants I bought over the last couple of weeks are ready for planting. I have the pots and most of the potting soil required. I am purchasing a hand drill from Lee Valley over the next day or so and will be able to complete the potting by Canada Day. The Cinco de Mayo floribunda rose has to be one of my favourites (see photo above and below). The flowers are pink with yellow centres and have an apple scent. The plant will grow up to three feet tall and as wide.
There are other plants as well, such as rosemary, spanish lavender, blue salvia, a couple of mini-roses, pink wave petunias and a couple of lobelias. More photos coming when everything is ready! Have an awesome day, guys!!! - V

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

memories

Today I took the time to Google my old street address in southwestern Ontario and to have a look at the street view as the property is seen from the curbside. I was somewhat shocked by what I saw.

The roof was redone in a light brown shade of asphalt shingles but that wasn't the cause of the shock. Nor was it the fact that the shed had been moved. I had planned on doing that anyway and move it into the backyard if I had stayed but that wasn't it either. The new owners had a cast-iron planter at either side of the carport (at the front) but that wasn't it either. Well, what was a shock was that there was only trees and a lawn to be seen for the most part. Most of the flowerbeds with the flowering shrubs and roses were gone. The one bed that remained had been replanted.

The new owners have the right to do with their property what they will but from a point of stewardship of the land, the eco-system, it didn't make much sense to me. There was a lot of life on that property, like wild rabbits, bees and butterflies of all sorts. I can't say that the bees and butterflies are there anymore since there's nothing for them to sustain themselves on. There's lots of grass, so the rabbits may still be there. The same would hold for the birds since the trees are still there as well.

The lawn looks like a mono-culture affair, so the likelihood of chemicals (herbicides and pesticides) being used is high which is not a wise choice for the environment in my opinion. As a race we are paying the price now and will later with greater effects in the future if how we treat out environment isn't turned around. I spent years gardening using organic methods and rarely resorted to the use of chemicals to solve a problem, or a perceived issue. Aside from using organic methods, my view was to keep the eco-system strong and diversified.

All that aside, the front yard looks boring and uninteresting. No curbside appeal there either. But such is life. We live, we make mistakes or triumphs and learn from the results there of, or that's the hope. There's no sense in worrying about it since nothing will change the outcome. Such is life, so let's move on! - V.

Saturday in Vancouver

Saturday afternoon I had made plans to go into Vancouver but rather than head over to the Spanish Banks as originally decided, I ended up heading over to Davie Street and then English Bay Beach from there. When I arrived, there was a street market in progress on Davie Street with plenty of activity in the works. There was a stage set-up on Davie near Burrard Street with people seated in front. The stage is off to the left and not pictured in the photo above. I struggled to get a photo with enough sunlight in it since the sun is rather low on the horizon this time of year. After all, we are above the 49th parallel. There were even a couple of guys handing out condoms in front of the Priape store. All they were wearing was underwear (Jim), some flip-flops and a smile! The restaurants and taverns had lots of activity too. Booths were set up and sidewalk seating was extended out into the street. From there is was off to the other end of Davie Street to check out the annual flower plantings.

So at the other end of the street I saw another surprise aside from the annuals. The cloud pattern in the sky caught my interest, so some of the photos you see will have these clouds in them, such as the one above of English Bay Beach with the fan palms in sillouette.

And before heading out to the beach we can also pay a visit to one of the many local Starbucks locations in town. This one is at Denman and Davie Streets.

I believe I caught the flowers at the right time since they are due to be pulled and replaced by spring tulip bulbs at any time. I love the colours and textures!

There are many fan palms along Beach Avenue above English Bay Beach as you can see in the above photo. From the railing on the left you can see the beach below. Then this cloud pattern caught my interest again forming a background to the crowns of the fan palms. What do you think???

The above photo shows Sunset Beach (plus the clouds). There are a few fan palms there too plus some annual plants for added interest.

Before I left Vancouver's West End for home I spent some time at the beach (English Bay Beach) to observe the sunset. The image above shows the rays of the sun shining through the cloud cover with Vancouver Island far off to the west. Then the photo below shows a larger view of the sunset with people in sillouette. Enjoy the photos! There will be more over time and not just images of hot guys, though I'm sure you appreciate them too!!! - V.

Checking out Stanley Park

Saturday was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. It was 23 degrees with a cloudless sky though you could see the mist off in the distance. This area is known for its temperate rainforests, so this shouldn't be surprising. I took a number of photos during my trip into Vancouver, the main destination being Stanley Park. The photo above was taken near the entrance to the park on West Georgia Street. Off in the distance (looking east) you can see the Coal Harbour development. A Canada goose (there were a few) is seen on the grassy boulevard on the northside of West Georgia Street.

The swallows are back at Lost Lagoon (above). Here are a few at a nesting box at the north end of the lagoon.

Near the rose garden in the park you may spot a bee house-hive for the blue mason bee native to this part of the British Columbia coast (see pic above). The bees even have their own garden with flowers suited to their needs. The alliums (below) also keep them busy collecting nectar for making honey.

A couple of "lions" guard the entrance to the Lion's Gate Bridge crossing the first narrows on Burrard Inlet between Vancouver and North and West Vancouver on the northside of the inlet. The photo above shows one of the lions. Below is a view of part of the seawall as seen from the bridge.

Downtown Vancouver can be seen from the bridge just beyond Stanley Park. The view includes one of the tallest structures at West Georgia and Thurlow Streets. Then there is a view of the bridge looking up (below).

Another view of the bridge is shown above, this one from the Stanley Park side and a close-up view below.

Prospect Point, to the immediate west of the bridge, has an awesome view, this one looking to the northwest across to West Vancouver (Hollyburn Mountain in the background). There are all sorts of wild flowers to be seen on the walk between Prospect Point and Ferguson Point on English Bay (see below).

The above photos shows a fern frond unfurling and there are all sorts of stumps to be found, all put to good use as "nurse stumps" (below).

I did manage to see another couple of bald eagles. If you look carefully at the centre of the above photo, you can see an eagle. When I spotted them and took this photo, that one and its partner obscured by the trees took off westward. This was the best I could do with my telephoto lens and reason enough for me to get a bigger one! The clearing have all sorts of wild flowers, such as the buttercups below. I did want to get a close-up shot of a bumblebee but it took off rather quickly unlike the garden variety that are used to having people about.

The fruit of the blackberries are starting to form (above) and below you can see a view of one of the clearings. A number of clearings were created after the big wild storm of late 2006 (I have photos of before and after with dramatic changes).

Above is a view of English Bay as seen from Ferguson Point. Then below is a photo of rock art which can be seen along the seawall between the 2nd and 3rd beach on the English Bay side of the park.

People were braving the water at the 3rd beach (above) and there's another view of the beach from the lookout above the beach itself (note the fan palm).

A view of English Bay's main beach near Denman and Davie Streets can be seen below. Despite the warm temperatures, people are well clothed for the most part, even in the heat of the summer. Back east in southern Ontario, beaches there would display a lot more skin. This something that immediately struck me when I came here to stay in 2006 but a couple of factors come to mind that might account for this: an awareness of the damaging affects of the sun and perhaps, in part, a British prudishness to cover up, something that has been tossed away back east though sunscreen is well used there. The benefits of exposure to the air and the sun's rays is the body's ability to produce vitamin D plus drying out the skin (we all know what moist skin is the breeding ground for!). Anyway, that's my journey through the park for Saturday. I hope you've enjoyed the photos! Hope your weekend was a pleasant one too! As for today, I spent the day resting up after all the walking I did yesterday. My right foot and knee have not healed up enough yet, so both (especially the foot) were a bit sore after the end of the day. Take care!!! - V.