15 Mainsail Lane

When my dear brother called last evening I was watching the shadow cast by the sinking sun ease its way up the steep slope that rises across the lake from me.  I tried to describe to him how beautiful it was with the sky turning from peach to rose just at the crest of the hill, and then shortly after our conversation this happened—

October 31 2020 Blue Moon. "On average, a full Moon occurring on Halloween happens every 18 to 19 years. But it normally happens, that a full Moon is visible across just a part of the Northern Hemisphere, so not a complete circle.

The last time this happened across the all-time zones was on Halloween day, October 31st, 1944. So 76 years ago!” source: https://www.severe-weather.eu/global-weather/halloween-blue-moon-mk/

When I rose this morning this is what greeted me

Every day I say "thank you powers that be" for the privilege of living at 15 Mainsail Lane

Happy November 1 everyone

Love Molly n Maggie

Hummingbird Moth on Calibrachoa

 

I wait for this visitor and marvel every time I see it. It came today on this glorious  summer day—July 28 2020. The Canadian Wildlife  Federation  CWF Humming Clearwing Moth  says that "Adults (moths) drink flower nectar from a wide variety of plants including beebalm  and bergamot, red clover, lilac, phlox, snowberry, cranberry, blueberry, vetch and thistles. Young (larvae/caterpillars) eat the leaves of honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.),  snowberry (Symphoricarpos spp.), hawthorns (Crataegus spp.), cherries and plums  (Prunus spp.)". Having read this I may lesson my assault on Vetch that grows in abundance,  especially it seems, in my garden although that seems highly unlikely! The next time I see  leaves of hawthorns, cherries, and plums with holes in them or sides eaten away I will say,  “ I wait for you Hummingbird Moth!"

Fog Walk

It all started out innocently enough. Molly’s morning walk. Just a few steps into the fog I was surrounded by not only the mist but beauty so deeply touching I walked back to my house to get my camera. Welcome to Fog Walk, July 11 2020

This phlox seems to have naturalized beside the path to the lake

Quite surprisingly this foxglove has survived from the scattering of seeds along the path three years ago.

 Lamb Kill, Bog Laurel, or Kalmia Augustofolia

 

Common Rush I believe to be Juncus effuses

Tamarack

Across the lake

Across the lake
To the point

An amble through my garden

My garden is truly feeling like home now. We have a ways to go together but we are getting there. I especially enjoy the plants given to me by dear friends and family. This very cold spring has brought one or two glorious days and this is one. Please enjoy my amble through my garden.

This lady slipper was dug for me by a friend who knew it was on death’s row living beside a road that was being built

It is multiplying.

I first saw these in Thunder Bay and have loved Bunch Berries ever since

Rhododendron occidentale Western Azalea

Rhododendron Crane

Rhododendron Capistrano

White Lights Rhodendron Azalea

For-get-me- not … nor shall I!

Bleeding Heart, Dicentra spectabilis 'Alba'

Viburnum Annabelle

Alongside Leighton Dillman Park

Yesterday, finally feeling safe to travel with my friend after Covid’s ravages  I jumped in her SUV and went for a ride to “The Valley”. I had hoped to get some shots of apple blossoms but perhaps another day in another spring. What happened though,  put me in awe and it was in our very own back yard. On our way home, she turned off the highway and took us through the hilly Dartmouth Streets to Park Avenue in Dartmouth a mere 25 minutes from my front door. Park Avenue runs along one side of The Commons.

The Dartmouth Commons is an approximately 120 hectares  (almost 300 acres) area of land established as a commons for Dartmouth residents in the late 18th century. In that Commons Leighton Dillman Park nestles on the hillsides. Along the Easterly perimeter Park Avenue hosts its own celebration of flowers: Cherry Trees.    Leighton Dillman was a volunteer caretaker of the park  and it is for him that the park is named. Please enjoy the cherry blossoms with me on Park Avenue Dartmouth NS and someday we will go through the park.

Spring sun rising

How very privileged to wake up to loons' call searching through mist. How very blessed to live where I can stroll outdoors to see bracken unfurling, to marvel at the beauty of the crimson maple tree flower now brilliant before the greening leaf buds stretch open, and to be with the serviceberry— glistening white in the rising light.  I shall quote something now about this wonderful shrub that was dear to my mother’s heart.

 “As with many species, it is known by several common names, depending on where you live. Serviceberry is considered a derivative of sarvisberry, which in turn comes from a Latin word for a European tree with similar-looking fruit. Some people, such as Maritimers, call them shadbush which points to their blooms coming at the same time as the run of an Atlantic coast shad fish. Some other names you may recognize are bilberry, Indian pear, les poires and sugar plum. Amelanchier Canadensis
Canada serviceberry, shadbush
•    Native to : ON, QC, NB, PE, NS
•    Habitat : Swamps, thickets, riverbanks. Prefers sun to partial shade but may tolerate full shade, moist soil.
•    Appearance : A small shrub that can grow to seven meters with oval leaves that are partially opened at the time of flowering.”

https://cwf-fcf.org/en/resources/encyclopedias/flora/serviceberries.html

  Odd isn’t it,  how many descriptions leave us cold while the beauty we experience warms us to our very depths.