I love the lavender bush Arta planted along the side of the house on lot three. When it is in bloom, it is covered in pollinators. If you look at the bush in the morning you can find many different kinds of bees sleeping and snacking on it.
I'm a little obsessed with finding and holding sleepy bees. I know I shouldn't wake them (I don't like it when I get woken up) but... there you go.
I learned from Miranda that you could make a delicious lavender simple syrup with the blossoms. It makes a lovely floral lemonade (that pairs beautifully with Empress Gin).
This morning there is an air quality warning because the smoke rolled in last night from forest fires in Boston Bar.
Yesterday morning before the smoke rolled in
View this morning. Where did the lake a Bastion mountain go?
So this morning, thinking about possible indoor activities, I decided to make some syrup.
Why I was on the ground is another story, but I had the opportunity to slow down and think about what you see when you look at things from a different vantage -- in this case, half way down the path to the stream.
I may be on the ground, but I'm OK.
What's that in the sky?
As many of you will know, Rebecca has a ritual of staying up late, late, late to get spectacular photos of the moon and the night sky. Well, imagine my joy when I got to see the moon AND sleep through the night.
While I was down, I also noticed a cool shadow on a thimbleberry leaf. I tried to get in close with my camera for a good shot of this long-legged friend, but had a hard time getting the camera in focus.
I've gone on-line to try to identify... best I can come up with with common candy-stripe spider. I love that name.
Now I may have ended up on the ground again a little later, closer to the stream. And if I had been on the ground, maybe these are the things I might have seen.
I found my first banana slug of the season! Yay. I had been talking with Janet who said she hadn't spotted any yet this season, so I was extra excited.
They are still just a tiny fella.
And then thinking about yesterday's musings on slowing down and decided to hold it and and wait for its cute little antennae to come out (just did a side quest and learned that these are actually called their upper and lower tentacles). You'll have to be patient and slow down for a full one and a half minute video is you want to see this friends tentacles. You'll also get to listen to the stream.
While I was down again I also spotted another gastropod. I am also in love with garden snails.
I also absolutely adore watching snails make their way across the terrain... stretching out and then pulling their shells along afterwards.
And if you thought that snail was cute, wait until you see what is up next. Again, I would not have spotted this from above, only from below looking up. I saw a snail on the underside of a daisy. When I zoomed in, I saw that the snail had made a friend.
I invite you to get down on the ground today and look at things from a new perspective. I hope your transition from standing to being on the ground does not include falling.
Jas, Elise and Eli stopped by Montreal on their way to Newfoundland. We got to spend 3 short days with them. A highlight of the visit was a trip to Parks Canada Fur Trade Museum.
Since this is a Parks Canada site and it is a Canada Strong summer you can get Canada Strong Parks Pass for free. That means, it is free to go to the Fur Trade Museum. I love free stuff!
When I called to get more information about the museum I asked if they were running my favourite ever event--Canoeing up the Lachine Canal in a Traditional Voyageur Canoe. We did this with our kids many years ago and loved it.
The answer was YES. And even better, if you had a minimum of 4 adults, they would organize a private tour. Hooray. Here is an example of a Voyageur Canoe.
This image come from the Voyageurs Website where you can learn a lot more about these 14 person canoes that traveled between Montreal and Fort Williams (Sudbury) in just 6 short weeks. The voyageurs paddled 14 - 16 hours a day doing 60 strokes per minute. The trip home was faster clocking in at 4 weeks.
Here is our crew getting ready for action.
And us practising our strokes in two rows.
And us in action.
It was a hot day. Can you see the sweat beads on my face in the middle photo?
After the canoe ride, which involved ducking under several bridges and nearly reaching the St Laurent, we turned back and headed to the dock. The water was too rough and we didn't have enough manpower to safely navigate the actual river. We loved that our tour guides names were Rose and Thomas and the boat was called Eric. We felt like the whole family was there.
After the canoe ride, we checked out the museum. Can you guess what a major reason for the fur trade was?
Hats of course. Here is one famous type of hat made from beaver fur. The TOP HAT.
We learned about the phrase - "Mad as a Hatter", tried to differentiate 8 different types of pelts and learned about trading with the Indigenous communities.
I love this photo of Eli trying on hats.
We couldn't leave the museum without a photo of the Voyageurs.
Can you guess what song we were singing? A traditional Voyageur song to help us paddle at the rate of 60 strokes per minute.
We are wearing the traditional garb --the red hat, wool coat and ceinture de flêche. According to the website referenced above - "Other than holding his coat closed around the waist, historians also believe the sash provided back support during portages." It was needed as each Voyageur needed to be no taller than 5'7'', weigh less than 140 lbs. and be able to carry 2 bundles during portages of 90 lbs each. I tried to lift one 50lb bundle and needed two arms.
If you are in Montreal this summer, you should certainly make a visit to this museum and take adventage of the Voyageur adventure on the Lachine Canal.
It's my first morning at the lake. Everyone is asleep except me (because I am still running on Quebec time). I want to go pick raspberries but what if someone wakes up and is looking for me?
Did I spell raspberries wrong? Yes. But who cares? I always say the letter S brings good luck so add as many as you want to. Also... dyslexia.
So I leave a note on the kitchen island in front of the bouquet of Daisies Axel picked for me yesterday.
I walk out the front door and glance at the bee balm to see if I can spot any bees. It is too early. It is still cool. They must all be sleeping... like everyone else in the house.
As I start walking up the gentle hill to the raspberries, I spot Anita's fairy garden... and the fairly house I made 2 summers ago. I have not seen it yet (I had to leave before it was fired) so I excitedly divert toward it.
Hello fairy house! I didn't take off the roof to look inside, but I know that the floor has the inscription: All Fairies Welcome.
Side quest complete, I turn back to the raspberries. I start at the end of the row where the bushes are the smallest.
As I begin to pick, my fingers remember that if you have to squeeze of pull too hard for the berries to come off, they aren't ready yet. Even if they look red and delicious. But what if these are the last berries I ever get? I calm my anxiety by reminding myself that they will be there tomorrow, and maybe they will be ready then. And even if I don't get to eat them, someone else might, and even if no one does (human, bird or other -- I have been told there is a bear on the property), that is OK. It will go back to the earth.
So many delicious berries.
Can you spot how many berries were ready and have now been picked?
As I continue picking I notice that some berries that seem extra ripe do not fall off. When I pick harder and they come off I can see they are overripe and mouldy on one side. I have never noticed this before. I'll file that little bit of knowledge away in my brain -- when one of these pops off, a little squishy in your fingers, don't pop it right in your mouth.
But now I look at my hands and I'm bleeding. Stupid thorns. I wipe my hand on my jeans. But a little blood won't stop my from picking.
Did I trick you? Just raspberry juice.
As I continue my harvesting, I come across a branch that has no berries at all. I realize it is because it is not a raspberry bush. There is a little tree growing out of the patch. I remember that I have not yet thanked the raspberry patch for the gift of it's berries. I also remember that when you harvest from a plant, you should take care of it... don't take too much, maybe clear away encroach plants so that it can continue to grow and thrive. I make a mental note to come back and remove that seedling later.
I continue to pick and move my way up the row, and suddenly the sun hits me in the eye. I look up and it is nestled between two trees. What a view.
I'm noticing I can't reach all the berries on the far side of the bushes and know I can just continue picking down the other side when I get to the top. At the top end of the row, a beautiful boulder with gorgeous moss. I decide to leave a berry in case a bird lands there to rest.
And on the other side of the rock, a bush. I can tell from the dried up flower buds that it is a lilac. And suddenly I recognize the leaves of the sapling I had come across earlier. A baby lilac. Can you see that the leaves are the same?
And suddenly I let go of a worry in the back of my mind that I didn't really realize was there. When I decided 10 minutes ago that I wouldt back and remove the sapling so the raspberry bush could thrive, I was also wondering maybe I shouldn't? If it grew there, maybe it is supposed to be there. Who am I to pull it out? But now, I feel a little better about it. There is another lilac bush nearby, and it will continue to grow there.
And now, to make my way down the other side of the raspberry patch. But then I think about the fact that maybe I don't need all the ripe berries on the bush. Maybe someone walking down the road will want to pick a few berries for their journey as they pass by. We can eat the ones I have already picked. If we need more, I can go pick more. I don't need to strip the whole patch. But I decide I will still walk down the far side of the row, on the road side and just admire how beautiful they are.
As I walk, suddenly I notice the sound of the stream to my left across the road. I haven't gone into the forest to see the stream at this spot for over a decade. I decide to go check it out. First I've got to get through the ditch of boxwood bushes.
I can tell that tree ahead it as the stream.
Getting closer. Stepping through the underbrush, trying to make sure I don't trip, still carrying my container of raspberries (why didn't I leave it at the road?).
Oh sh*t. I just lost my shoe.
Just stuck under a branch, no mud, all good. It's back on my foot now, but now I see a cool flower. Take pictures so I can look it up later.
I made it to the stream, berries in hand!
Watch this to see the stream and hear its sounds. You'll get to see skunk cabbage too.
Nobody has come to find me so time to head back home. But I decide to make another side quest to leave some offerings for the forest Fairies. On my way there I pick a daisy and find a feather!!!
I also notice this beautiful white rock in the retaining wall. It's been there long enough to that some moss has made it's home in one of the cracks. I decide if I find a nice big rock down at the beach this summer, I might bring it up and add it to the wall.
Back at home I decide it is time to blog my morning adventure. But what if no one knows to find me on the deck?
Can you guess who was the first person to find me?
