Drought Thyme?

It's been really warm around here lately, and the snow is melting really quickly. When I went outside this morning I noticed that a lot of my herb/flower garden was uncovered, even though I have been moving snow on top of it when I get the chance. When I scrunched down to take a closer look today, lo and behold the thyme was greening up already. Usually the chives are the first things to get growing, but not this year.

Seeing green this early in the year - it's not even technically Spring yet - is a relief to the eyes, which have seen just white, brown and gray for so many months. But I'm worried actually. Because we have had so little snow this Winter. So little precipitation of any kind for much of the past year. Last year's growing conditions were tough, and I worry that we're in for yet more drought.

Last week we got another batch of propaganda from the local MP, and in it was something useful for a change: a link to Agriculture Canada's website on drought monitoring. I checked it out and came across several disturbing maps, showing just how dry its been and for how long. Here's one that shows data for this past Winter. You can see that everywhere in the prairies has had lower than average rain fall, and in the Edmonton area (where it's brown on the map) we have had between 40 - 60% of the average. Areas further north are even worse off.

World Water Day is coming up on March 22nd. I'm going to see how little water I can use on that day. We do fairly well around our house for conserving water, but we could still do better. Canada's per capita water consumption is quite dismal. I think we have the false perception that we have an abundance of fresh water in this country. But maps like this one show that appearances can be deceiving.

How much water does your household use? Could you use less?

Everything and Nothing

That title makes it sound like I might have some kind of profound, yin/yang type of post coming up, but actually it is just a description of the state of my brain right now. It seems crammed full, yet completely blank at the same time, leaving me in a state of bla.

On the one hand, I am so happy to see the Spring birds back again - I spied a pretty house finch in our woodlot and a neat redhead duck on one of the local sloughs. Leaves are popping out and the grass is greening up nicely. I had a nice time working out at the CSA farm again this weekend. The wildfires are under control and Gord is on the mend from his hip surgery.

But on the other hand, I am so disgusted by our Alberta provincial government. Bill 44 - are you kidding me? What an embarrassment. Parents can remove their kids from class in a public school if they object to the teaching of any topic (but particularity evolution or homosexuality) on religious grounds? So if I had kids I could remove them from any class that teaches about Conservatives, right?

And today, Bill 48 - are you serious? You want criminals to pay for their own health care costs if they injure themselves during a crime, but you want to sue big tobacco if smokers get cancer or other diseases. So criminals are personally responsible for their own ill health but smokers are not? And these are subsections of the SAME BILL? Seriously Ed, look up the word "consistency" and try that concept out some time.

All this just pushes my brain into overload and it just shuts right down. It's pretty sad when you have to put your fingers in your ears and sing 'la la la' just to stomach living in your own province.

At least the birds are pretty.

First Birds, and a Gardening Update

Yesterday we saw the first robin of the year! That is always a happy day, because it signals that Spring is most definitely here. There is nothing like the song of a robin to cheer one out of Winter's stupor - it seems to remind my ears that there are more than just monotones to hear.

We also saw a bit of a silly sight - a ruffed grouse way up in an aspen tree, nibbling on the fuzzy buds. Grouse seem to be silly creatures, and this one was walking around on the tree as though it was still on the ground. It seemed to be stepping without care to wherever the fuzziest (yummiest?) buds were, no matter how far out on a limb he had to go. It sure gave us a chuckle. Eventually he fluttered down to the ground again, blending in with the still-brown landscape. Later on, we heard him making his drumming sound, advertising for a mate.

I managed to get some weeding done yesterday, and also uncovered the strawberry plants which were heavily mulched with straw. They were all alive, and even green under there, so I replaced the damp straw with dry and they should get a good start now. Also, my chives have begun to sprout again, and the thyme and lavender made it through the winter unscathed as well. So far, so good.

Of the plants I seeded last weekend, the perennial salad green French Sorrel is the first to sprout. It will be planted in with the rest of my perennial herbs and plants, once it gets big enough. I hope to have enough seedlings to pass on to family and friends as well, since I seeded quite a few.

Today is another lovely day, and I will go out and plant some borage in my two half whiskey barrels - that should look nice with the pansies that have self-seeded in there the past two years. Then at 3 pm (or thereabouts), I'll stop for tea of course! Do join me, if you get the chance!

That connection with nature thing...

Last weekend Gord and I spent some time outside in the treed part of our property -- we really needed to get out of the house and just be out there. Spring has been a long time coming, and while there is still a lot of snow around, the sky was blue and the sun was warm. So we went out to feed the birds, deterimined to take our time about it, and just enjoy being out there.

We have a lot of black-capped chickadees around here, and they have become less and less shy over the years. Often they will fly over and sit very close to us when we fill the bird feeders, and chirp loudly as if to say, "hurry up already, we want our black oil sunflower seeds!" At times there are dozens of them that come to the five or six feeders we have set up, for sunflower seeds, peanuts and suet.

This year has been a banner year for squirrels as well - there are four of them! It seems like they may be two mated pairs, but we really don't know for certain. They come to the feeders as well, and it is quite the show to see the squirrels and the birds vie for the prime feeders.

Gord has told me of how one of his uncles used to have birds eating out of his hand, and this Spring he really wanted to see if that could happen to him too. These chickadees were pretty friendly, so they seemed like they might just cooperate.

And last Sunday was the day - after standing still and sort of blending in with the feeder for about 15-20 minutes, the birds started sitting on the feeder while Gord's hand was there:You can see the squirrel there (whom Gord has named 'Chomper') in the background, keeping an eye on the situation.

A few minutes later, one of the birds landed on Gord's hand and took a sunflower seed out of it, before flying away. This happened quite a few times with a few different birds, and I managed to get one decent picture of this:
Not to be left out, Chomper came by in a little while for a closer look:


And then came closer yet for his share of the sunflower seeds:

I can tell you this was the highlight of our day! I've cropped the pictures so Gord's face isn't in there, but in some of these shots he is really smiling! There's something pretty amazing about having a little bird or squirrel think you're just another part of the landscape, safe enough to sit on.

Next time it will be my turn to try and stand still for 20 minutes at the feeder, and see what happens. I knew meditation was good practice for a lot of reasons, but I didn't foresee this particular application!

Wishing everyone a happy weekend, with time enough to stop and connect for a little while with Nature's goodness.

Two Water Stories

After a couple weeks of extreme busy-ness, I spent part of Sunday afternoon and yesterday evening walking around the yard, taking some pictures of the garden and just paying attention to all the flowers, trees and bugs I hadn't had time to pay attention to lately. I recently discovered I had yarrow in my yard, and bergamot too. And I had planted some sage a while ago, inspired by Heather's stories of her delicious mint and sage tea. The internet tells me that yarrow and bergamot leaves can be used in tea as well, and so I decided to give it a try, all together. The result is the beautiful concoction you see in the picture there. A pale green, leafy elixir, with a small dollop of local honey. It occurred to me that this was a totally local beverage, since the water we get is from the North Saskatchewan river. Just before my first taste, I hesitated a bit, thinking "These are some leaves I pulled off some weeds in my yard, do I really want to drink this?" I did, and the first taste convinced me that good herbal 'loose leaf' tea is available right in my own back yard!

My second water story isn't quite as nice. As I was on my way to work today I saw a huge vacuum truck parked on the side of the gravel road, with what looked like a big hose leading into the wetland area there. I pulled over and talked to the man beside the truck who confirmed that he was sucking water out of the pond at the instructions of "the County" for use at a nearby construction site. I said, nicely I think, that this is a wetland, a duck habitat, and that you can't just drain water out of it. A small duck was swimming towards us as I was talking. The man replied that I'd have to "talk to the County." I said I would be doing that, and he went back to his hose. I got in my car and drove to work, fuming. I needed some yarrow bergamot sage tea right then.

I have written to the County about proposed housing developments around here and they assured me there weren't any under consideration at the present time. When I get home I will check the name of the contact person on that letter and give them a call. I may call Ducks Unlimited and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society as well. I thought wetland areas were automatically protected, and now it looks like that just isn't so. It makes me sad.

July 30 2008 Update: Last night I retrieved the letter I got from the County and have just now on my lunch hour called them to talk about my concerns. Of course the contact person referenced in the letter was gone until after the long weekend, and the Mayor, who's signature was on the letter, was gone too. I was able to leave a message with someone the the admin assistant said was the "Planning and Development Manager" so we will see if he calls me back. I managed to speak quickly enough to get in both concerns (land development, pond draining) before the answering machine cut me off....

Canadian Lakes being Made into Toxic Waste Dumps!

Updated below with link to the letter I faxed June 21, 2008....

My fellow Canadian blogger over at Unstuffed posted about this today, and I am so mad I could scream! The Harper government has quietly been making Canadian lakes into tailing 'ponds' for mining operations, thereby saving the mining companies from building their own containment 'ponds.' The government just re-classifies the lake into a non-lake, with the stroke of a pen, and suddenly toxic heavy metal sludge is being poured into Canadian lakes from coast to coast to coast.

How DARE the government take a living, breathing ecosystem and kill it so the mining companies can save some money! The toxins will seep into the ground water and be consumed by humans and by the animals that drink the surface water. Humans and animals and plants alike will all be poisoned in the name of bigger profits for mining corporations and bigger corporate donations to the Conservative Party of Canada.

We can't just sit around and take this garbage anymore people! Clean water supplies are not unlimited. Clean water is a human right and part of the public commons, and we are allowing it to be poisoned! All the better for the private water companies to come in later and sell us back what should never have been taken and sullied in the first place. And how good is a job in a mine in your home town when you can't drink the water in your home town because the whole watershed's been contaminated? And you can't just boil the water to make it safe again.

Please, if you live anywhere a Canadian river flows in or out of, call or write your elected officials and let them know that this is absolutely unacceptable, a crime against nature and every living thing. You can get a start on your letter here. Canadians, don't let this one go - pick up your pen and write! It just doesn't get any more basic than water. When will we ever learn.

I am so embarrassed to have this government represent Canadians to the world - it is absolutely sickening. Come on Mr. Dion, bring this government down already!

Picture of lake downstream from one about to be toxified courtesy the above-noted CBC article.

Update: to see the letter I just faxed to the Fisheries and Environment Ministers, click here

Two neat things....

Two days ago we saw a porcupine in our back yard. It was meandering along the grass, and then waddled its way into the bush. We have named him/her Pokey. I wouldn't have expected to see a porcupine here, although they are supposedly quite common in this area. He sure was cute. (But apparently they can do a lot of damage to trees, I guess I will have to keep an eye out for this.)

Then today I threw something together for supper and I think I can actually call it a recipe! I had cooked up the rest of the CSA greens with butter and nutmeg again, and thought I would boil up some wild rice in my veggie soup stock. I did, and for some reason when I tasted it, my tongue decided that dried apricots, raisins, pecans, freshly grated ginger, some flax meal and some balsamic vinegar would go really well mixed in with it. My tongue was right! Fortunately I have enough left over that I can even have it for my lunch tomorrow at work. (There are no more greens left though - I gobbled those up again with a big silly grin on my face.) I guess now I can finally put a check mark in the "cook something" column of my Independence Days spreadsheet!

Birds and Tar Sands Tailings Ponds Don't Mix

On the way home from work today I was listening to the local CBC news, when I heard about a flock of about 500 birds that had landed in one of Syncrude's tailings ponds. Many birds have died and hundreds of others are in the process of dying an oil-soaked death. And it wasn't Syncrude who reported the problem. No, it was an anonymous tipster. Gotta love all that responsibility and accountability, eh?

Apparently the oil companies are supposed to ensure, as a condition of their license, that they have effective means of keeping birds away from the toxic lakes, for obvious reasons. But, this time there was a flaw in the "waterfowl protection plan." (Wow, that fancy name makes it sound so organized and foolproof!) I guess Syncrude staff hadn't been able to deploy the noise-making propane air cannons on one of the huge tailings ponds yet, due to the recent unusually cold weather. (Climate change, anyone?) The cold weather didn't deter the ducks from migrating through their usual route though - they use environmental signals other than temperature to time their migration. (Gee, if they'd only realized how cold it's been, this woulda never happened!)

And the audacity of these left-leaning ducks, to create this terrible PR problem for the Alberta Conservatives, right after being "bullied" by the Greenpeace environmentalists last week too. I guess the ducks aren't on the Conservative's payroll. Silly, stupid ducks. Oops, did I blog that outloud?

But it's all good, because the government will fine Syncrude a whole million dollars if they are found to be negligent. Maybe they can use the fine money to add to their 25 million dollar PR budget to convince the world that the Alberta tar sands are environmentally friendly. Really. They are. 25 million bucks can't be wrong!

Update May 1 2008: Only five ducks were saved from the toxic lake, and it is uncertain if any of these mallards will live for long. The premier of Alberta, Ed Stelmach, said he "mean[s] business" when he insists that the oil companies comply to the conditions of their operating license. But I don't know, maybe he just means "business as usual." After all, his "Environment" minister had this to say:

Alberta's environment Minister Rob Renner said Wednesday the incident has put a major dent in Alberta's efforts to counter the message being spread by environment groups that the massive northern oil sands projects are taking a major toll on the environment.

"It's a real blow to our messaging that we are working very, very hard [to] ensure that we do have sustainable development," Renner said.

So, this tragedy wasn't a blow to the drowning ducks themselves, or to the environment. No, it was a blow to the MESSAGING of the government. A blow to the spin they're trying create with the 25 million dollars of tax payers' money that is going to their PR campaign to greenwash the tarsands operation. How sad, that their messaging efforts have to contend with such a 'blow.' This guy shouldn't be called the environment minister, he should be called the greenwashing minister. Sickening.

Read the complete article from the Kansas City Star here

Picture of a duck covered in oil from a 2006 oil spill courtesy the BBC.

"Guerrilla" Smiling ?

A few days ago Gord and I were talking about how much just smiling at someone can really make a big difference to the smiler and the smile-ee. It's amazing how the simple act of smiling can change everything in an instant. Smiling and mouthing "sorry!" when you accidentally cut someone off in traffic can diffuse an potentially ugly road-rage situation. Smiling and waving at your neighbor increases 'community' sentiment, even if you don't say a word. When we were talking about this, I thought about the phrase "guerrilla gardening" - the practice where people go ahead and plant flowers and edible plants on vacant lots, boulevards, or wherever a bit of dirt is available. (Cluttercut has blogged about this recently.) It occurred to me that we could all be practicing "guerrilla smiling" as well!

Lately I've been waving and smiling at oncoming drivers on the country roads I take on my way into work every morning. When we first moved here, almost everyone waved at everyone else this way, but it has sort of dropped off over the past couple of years, as more people moved into the new acreages that were being built. I've decided to start doing it again, because it's nice and I like it.

So, this morning I just raised my two fingers in a peace-sign looking greeting and the lady in the car coming towards me broke into a big grin! I have no idea who she is, but I know that both she and I felt better in that moment than we did the moment before! I did the same thing to the guy who drove by me in a pickup truck, and he didn't smile or wave back, but he did a bit of a double take as he was maybe thinking, "hey, did you just wave at me?" I'm not sure if he was happier after I waved or not, but he was surely more curious!

Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh really sums this up nicely when he says,

If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work. "

Smiling for peace - that's something we all can do!

Picture courtesy this flickr site. Nose-touching not required in guerrilla smiling!

A snowy day...

In contrast to last weekend's summer-like temperatures, this weekend we are getting a Spring snowstorm. It's not that bad where I live, but some areas of the province are getting 10-20 cms of snow. I'm grateful for it actually, because it has been a pretty dry Spring so far.

So I'm doing inside things today, which I don't mind a bit either. Some bread-baking, some soupstock-making, and some regular Saturday things like dusting, laundry and book-keeping. And some blogging of course!

This morning, while doing another one of my favorite things, reading, I came across two really interesting articles in the latest Westworld Magazine, which we receive as part of our AMA membership. The first was a short piece describing the work and life of The Urban Farmer, Ron Berezan - how neat for this local permaculture guru to exposure in this magazine! It seems as though words like 'permaculture,' 'locavore' and 'foodshed' are becoming more and more mainstream these days. What a great day it will be when these concepts reflect just the way things are, and when people just can't imagine treating the earth any other way than with respect.

The second article was a reminder that we still have a long way to go in this regard. The author of the article states,

"For me, as for many Albertans, the cumulative impact of this latest oil boom is only now lurching into focus, the rousing parade of economic numbers, buoyant immigration figures and housing starts slowly turning sour as familiar places become unrecognizable. Soon, one can’t help thinking, the archetypal Alberta land-scapes of bald prairie and foothills and rolling fields with patches of parkland bush will exist only in carefully cropped, soft-focus postcards. Meanwhile, one immediate consequence of the boom is the steady loss of Alberta’s agricultural land to residential and industrial development..."

The author goes on to report that despite the perception of Canada being a 'breadbasket' nation that exports a lot of food, it is actually a net importer of food if you take wheat out of the equation. Alberta actually imports 85% of its vegetables. All around the Edmonton area where I live, top grade top soil is being stripped off the land, and large subdivisions are being grown instead. Where farms used to stretch to the horizon, now I see closely clustered rooftops, surrounded by asphalt, with some tiny saplings planted in the depleted soil.

"Only five per cent of Canada is capable of producing food, and only 0.5 per cent of such land is Class 1 (characterized by ideal climate and soil quality), yet the loss of superior farmland is a countrywide phenomenon – from the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia to the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario to B.C.’s Okanagan and Fraser valleys. And it’s particularly significant in Alberta. In 1971, 1.5 per cent of Alberta’s Class 1 land was occupied by urban development; by 2001, the figure had jumped to 6.5 per cent, and has continued to increase since."

Only 6.3 % of Alberta's landmass is Class 1 farmland. So why do we keep scraping off and paving over the land that we need to grow food? One of the people the author interviewed for the article seems to have an answer:

“The land is a reflection of our whole attitude, and what it’s showing us these days is a complete lack of accountability. We have such powerful means to intervene in the world, to reshape it, yet we have no real sense of the long-term effects of any of our interventions. All the same, I remain eternally hopeful.”

Despite the snow outside today, I can still hear a robin singing merrily, as if the sky were blue, the leaves green and the worms abundant. I guess the robin is eternally hopeful too. I hope that it won't be long before the robin shares her vision with the rest of us.

The "Anywhere" meditation

After a snowfall of about 10 cm (about 4 inches) earlier this weekend, Sunday dawned all sunny and inviting. It was quite chilly, but the blue sky enticed us outside anyway, to get some fresh air and do some outside chores. The two main jobs were shoveling snow, and filling up the bird feeders. Gord offered to start shoveling, while I took care of feeding the birds. This was a great arrangement -- I'm sure I got the better deal! So off I went down the snowy path, with peanuts, black oil sunflower seeds, and niger seed in my trusty bucket. And my camera in my pocket.

I filled the peanut feeder first, and after I hung it back up in its spot, a bunch of chickadees started gathering around in the trees, looking down at me. It was like they were saying, "What'cha doing lady? Whatever it is, just hurry up and leave so we can eat!" But, they were so cute I had to just stand there for a while and watch them. I stayed still and just listened and watched. Pretty soon some of the braver and less patient chickadees just flew down and landed on the peanut feeder, which was only about two feet away from my head. One bird would peck and grab a peanut, and then fly up to a nearby branch and eat it, leaving room for the next next bird to land on the feeder and get a snack.

I stood there with my camera, snapping pictures now and then, for about 10 minutes or so, maybe longer. I marveled at how close to me the birds would fly and land. I could easily see their little black eyes and their cute beaks. I could hear their different songs and sounds, and was even close enough to see which bird was singing when. I just stood there and smiled, taking in the light and warmth of the sun, and the birdsong.

When I came back into the house later (after pitching in with the shoveling!) I realized that moments like these are what my Meditation Made Easy book calls the basis of the meditative experience. It is that direct sensory awareness, that immediate connection to one's surroundings in the present moment which is the fundamental ingredient to meditation and why it can occur anywhere, anytime, in many forms. You don't need a special room or cushion or pose or posture, just a period of open and mindful awareness.

Since moving to "the country" a few years ago I've been more appreciative of being able to go outside and watch the birds and the trees and the bugs and the flowers. It was in those times that I felt the connection to the planet and the Oneness of all things most deeply. I guess I've been meditating all this time and didn't even know it!

When I see the birds and the sky
I vow with all Beings
To be grateful and treat the Earth kindly,
Along with its myriad inhabitants.

Challenge Withdrawal

Well, you may have noticed that the Freeze Yer Buns challenge banner has been removed from the right side bar. I've decided to withdraw from the challenge for the time being. The reason for this is because one of our guinea pigs, Corky, died last week just a couple of days after starting the challenge. I am not certain if it was the lower temperature that brought on the upper respiratory infection that she died from, but I didn't want to take the chance that it was and possibly jeopardize our other guinea pig's health. So it's time for some serious reassessment on that front. We may turn our attention to other ways of conserving energy. And we definitely need to really think about how our actions and decisions influence the lives of those in our care.

Rest in peace little Corky pig.

The Mighty Pansy

I'd like to propose a change to the connotative meaning of the word "pansy." If the little pansies I seeded this Spring are any indication, they are pretty tough little plants! This is a picture I took of a small pot of pansies today, October 20th. They are sitting outside on the staircase going down from the front porch, about 10 feet from the house in any direction. As you can see, they are going strong, with buds still forming! Let me say again, it's October 20th, in the northern half of Alberta, Canada. These little guys have already been through several frosts of -5 C (23 F), and at least one of -10 C (14F). I'll be saving the seed from the most hardy of the bunch, if they ever stop flowering to form seeds, and I'm definitely planting these again next year.

So the next time I get called a pansy, I'm taking it as a compliment!

Of Raspberries and Hummingbirds

Yesterday was hot. Really hot. It has been hot all week but yesterday we were out working in the yard because our topsoil was delivered and we had to do some prep work around the yard so it can be spread out properly by our local grader operator (hereafter known as Farmer Joe) later this week. There was grass to be clipped, wood to be moved and ants to be cajoled out of wood piles. They were not particilarly cajolable, and many bit my ankles in protest, unfortunately.

But as we were going around the perimeter of the yard we noticed that the wild raspberries were ripening nicely, and we each had a handful or two as the day wore on. They were delicious! There's nothing like eating a sun-ripened, still warm raspberry.

Later, when I was quite worn out and taking a breather on the porch, I saw a hummingbird! I haven't seen a hummingbird here for two years, and that one I scared away. This hummingbird was flitting about some red salvia flowers I had planted under the Schubert chokecherry tree. It hovered there for a while, while I sat there gawking at it and trying not to scare it away this time. I think it may have been a Ruby Throated Hummingbird. I will definitely be planting these flowers again next year.

It is so nice when serendipitous things happen like that. I knew there was a reason why I wanted to take a break right then! Despite the heat, the day was a nice balance of working and resting. If we take the time to be still from our busy-ness from time to time, things seem to unfold nicely:

The Tao is constant in non-action
Yet there is nothing it does not do

If the sovereign can hold on to this
All things shall transform themselves
Transformed, yet wishing to achieve
I shall restrain them with the simplicity of the nameless
The simplicity of the nameless
They shall be without desire
Without desire, using stillness
The world shall steady itself

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 37 as translated by Derek Lin

Bird Roll Call

Yesterday I was out taking some pictures of the garden (again!) and decided to meander down to the bird feeders to see if I could be quiet enough and patient enough to take some pictures of the birds. I managed to get a couple decent shots with my little digital camera. After Tai Chi tonight I will post a picture of a female American Goldfinch that was at our finch feeder. [Edited to add: here's the picture!]

It seems to me that this year we have had an amazing variety of birds come to our feeders. So I decided last night to sit down and write out a list of all the birds we've seen in our yard. There were more than I thought! Some are with us year-round, and some come and go with the seasons. Here is a listing of the frequent, not so frequent and rare visitors to our yard:

Frequent:

• Downy Woodpecker
• Hairy Woodpecker
• Black Capped Chickadee
• White Breasted Nuthatch
• Blue Jay
• American Crow
• Black Billed Magpie

Not So Frequent:

• Pileated Woodpecker
• American Goldfinch
• Common Redpoll
• Pine Grosbeak
• Tree Swallow
• Evening Grosbeak
• House Finch
• American Robin
• Slate Race Junco
• Winter or House Wren (probably the latter)

Rare:

• Tree Swallow (there are lots around here, but not in our yard very much since the House Wrens chased them away)
• White Throated Sparrow (just here during migration I think)
• American Tree Sparrow (also just passing through)

One timers:

• A hummingbird I scared away by flailing my arms because I thought it was a huge bee
• Some kind of grouse, probably a Ruffed Grouse
• A Great Grey Owl - Gord captured his remarkable visit on video!

This is a total of 23 kinds of birds! We have about six feeders of various types around the yard, and we've been putting blackoil sunflower seeds, suet and peanuts out for three winters now, and niger seed out for one winter. In the summer we put out everything but the suet, because it seems to attract too many crows.

Also for the past two winters I have participated in the FeederWatch program, which is where from November through March you watch your birdfeeders for as little as two hours in total over two days and then report back on line which birds you have seen. It helps the scientists at Cornell Univeristy Ornithology Lab keep track of migration patterns and the growth or decline in bird populations across North America. Plus it is a nice way to spend a couple hours on a Winter weekend.

Another trip to the garden store....

My niece found this unusual flower, a blue Passion Vine (passiflora caerulea), at the Prairie Gardens nursery this past weekend. It was so strange, I had to buy it. Too bad it is an annual, but I'm hoping I can harvest some seeds in the Fall. Wait a minute! It looks like it may be a perennial after all! Wait another minute! It looks like it is only perennial in warmer climes, and largely an annual or houseplant in my area. Oh well. I will enjoy it while it lasts, and still try to harvest some seeds.

My niece and I had a nice time at the nursery - she said she really likes flowers and gardens and especially likes Japanese gardens. This is terrific, because then she can come with us to the Devonian Gardens later this summer!

The Beauty of Green

There's nothing like the color of New Spring Green. Newly emerged leaves have the most refreshing shade of green there is.

The leaves in our yard are starting to pop out everywhere, including the ones on our Schubert Chokecherry tree in the front yard. Just looking at the leaves gives me a feeling of peace, and that things are OK with the world. Everything is getting a fresh start.

I went to the local nursery today, Prairie Gardens , and picked up some flower arrangements in window boxes for my mom and two sisters and my sister-in-law. It's Mother's Day tomorrow and my littlest sister and my sister-in-law are having their very first Mother's Day. And it was a good reason (excuse?) to go to the nursery and get some flowers. I also got some pansies and a few herbs (two kinds of parsley and some oregano) for myself, which I will plant tomorrow. Some of the seeds I planted are already sprouting, which is a hopeful and happy sign.

Tomorrow I hope to get a start on preparing where our small raised vegetable garden bed will be. I have to put down some newspapers and/or plastic sheets for a while to kill off any weeds first. Then it will be time to buy some landscape ties and make the raised bed itself! I have never had a garden before, and I am very excited about it!

May Flowers!

It has been a long prairie Winter and it is good to see some real signs of Spring! I took this picture today - the little yellow flowers look so cute and courageous. They are the only flowering things in the yard so far. It makes my eyes happy to look upon them.

My eyes are also glad to look at our guinea pigs, Scooter and Corky. When I was feeding them a little while ago, before I went outside to take the flower picture, I sat and watched them eat. They are very focussed eaters. I can learn a lot from them. They are single minded about their task of eating, just like they are totally committed to their naps. Do one thing at a time, and do it well: The Zen of Pigs.

An eye opening experience

It was on our 1st anniversary trip to Victoria where I had a major perspective changing event occur. We were on our way back to Edmonton after our trip was over, and we had taken one of the first BC Ferries of the day from Swartz Bay to Tsawassen. Coming down to the car deck as we neared port, I noticed that some chicken poo had gotten on my nice red Jetta's hood. This pissed me off, since this was the nicest car I had ever had and now some stupid birds had gone and shat upon it. So I turned to look over at the poultry transport truck and there she was: a scared looking chicken looking right back at me. Stuffed into a 1 ft by 1ft by 3 feet metal cage, with at least three other chickens in there. Right there I realized that humans should not be doing this to animals! Animals should not be made to suffer! They have no capacity for evil and yet they are being treated as expendable, meaningless "products" for human exploitation. I was sickened. Sickened at my own ignorance and nauseous at the state of humanity. That was my first real step towards becoming a vegetarian.