when the lights went out...

 We spent the night in the city.

We went for a nice long walk...

and found ourselves at the waterfront as darkness settled in.

The kiosk at Canada Place is a friendly reminder of the winter games we hosted here just two years ago.

Coffee and triple-berry cheesecake...

on a patio on the pier...

on a warm spring evening...

was just the perfect way to end the day. 

Who knew the sails at Canada Place changed colour every few minutes?

We know now!

A change of scenery from time to time is a good thing.

Even if there's not much that can compete with the view at home!

vancouver's van dusen gardens...

On a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon...

we decided to visit the big city. 

We had no agenda set in stone...

and visiting Van Dusen Gardens was not in the plans at all.

We were just beginning to think about dinner as we drove by the gardens...

and saw the sign for the garden restaurant.

What could be nicer than dinner on a warm patio...

...overlooking the gardens?

We came to the city...

and then found a quiet spot to eat.

We really are country folk at heart!

Once dinner was done...

we decided we really should stroll the gardens.

We were glad we did!

Van Dusen Gardens is situated on 55 acres that was once the Shaughnessy Golf course.

It first opened to the public as a garden in 1975.

Though there are more than 7,500 varieties of plants...

I'll just show you a few today.

I promise!

Oh...

and a few birds as well.

The purples and greens...

...were most lovely at the close of the day.

And we couldn't have picked a better time to stroll the rhodo garden.

We had to think about our visit to Bellingrath Gardens in Mobile, Alabama at the beginning of March...

when their rhodos were in their glory.

We are just a wee bit behind up here in the far north!

I won't even pretend to know the names of all the plants and trees.

But I sure appreciated the signs throughout the garden identifying them.

The rose garden will look better in a few weeks...

I know.

The wisteria...

iris...

magnolia...

poppy...

...and lupine.

Succulents...

poking through every nook and cranny of the rock wall.

The Canada geese have made themselves comfortable in the gardens as well.

They seem to feel at home wherever they roam!

It was peaceful and quiet...

beside still waters.

There's nothing like being in a garden at the end of the day.

Earth laughs in flowers.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

changes in my neighbourhood...

Saturday morning dawned sunny and clear...

a beautiful day in my neighbourhood.

It was the perfect day for the garage sale next door.

Of course I went to check it out!

 Stuff...everywhere!

Moving day is fast approaching ...

and our long-time neighbour is cleaning house.
She had her first garage sale a few years ago...
but then her house never sold overnight.
Now her days next door are numbered.

Her daughter was orchestrating the garage sale.

She was enjoying coffee and sunshine on the patio.

We will miss her (in the pink)...

a good neighbour for many years!

I came home with treasures for my granddaughter.

Maggie will be most thrilled with Barbies...

that come with their own private jet...

and motorbike.

As I left the garage sale...

I noticed a lot of action at the nearby intersection.

A tractor rally?

I went down to see what going on.

 This intersection was the scene of a serious car accident two weeks ago.  

The road was closed for hours...

and the jaws of life were called out.

The accident was caused when a vehicle pulled into the intersection while unsafe to do so.

However...the driver of the car that was inching forward could hardly be blamed...

since a hedge on the adjacent property totally obstructed the view.

After years of complaints from motorists about that hedge...

the neighbours made arrangements with the owners of the property to have a 'hedge-removing' bee.

 The owners agreed...

and the hedge came down in short order.

 The shrubs were hauled away.

The neighbours even brought in sand to fill the holes.

Neighbours working together...

make for a great community.

I've seen a lot of changes in this neighbourhood over the years.

Some good...

some not so good.

It's always sad to have good neighbours go.

As for the hedge...

I'm glad it is gone!

some things last for ever...

Others...not so much!

We planted a row of  red sunset maple trees along our driveway seven years ago.

Once established...they would grace the lane forever.

So we thought.

 Over the years...

two have broken off in wind storms. 

So we have a few wimpy ones...

where the replacements went in.

Several weeks ago...

we noticed that the first tree in the one row...

was not getting leaves this spring. 

That's it.

Seven years and it is finished.

For no obvious reason.

We found out that we can get a replacement tree from the nursery...

about that size.

But there will be no more digging until fall.

We are to leave the dead one in place until then...

and get in an excavator to dig it out...

along with a large hole to put a new tree into.

So...I'm wondering how to make that dead tree at the road look inconspicuous until fall.

I'm open to suggestions!

Some things do last a very long time.

Almost forever!

We bought a swing set for our children when they were wee things.

When they outgrew it...

we passed it along to friends with a much younger family.

When our first grands arrived...

the friends decided we needed the swing set back...

and delivered it to the farm.

It was looking a little worse for the wear...

and I didn't really want it back.

But there it was.

(Thanks, Gord!) 

A few years later...

we moved on and Jeremy and Broni moved into our old  farmhouse.

The swing went with the package!

It served them well.

Emme, Spencer and Ryder had a lot of fun on that old swing.

It seems they have outgrown it though.

Jeremy tried in vain to find a new home for the old swing set...

and yesterday it went to recycling.

It served us well for more than three decades.

Amazing!

((I think it was made in Canada!)

Speaking of 'lasting forever'...

I'm still mowing lawns with the John Deere mower we bought in 1988.

I'm not always happy about it...

but it still gets the job done.

The lawns are mowed.

The sun is shining.

Have a great weekend!

skipping...seriously!

It was long ago...

...when my daughter, Heidi, took her skipping rope on the road.

We were on vacation in Kelowna...

and she was skipping...

just for the fun of it!

Fast forward several decades...

...and my granddaughters recruited Grandpa to help turn so they could skip on the back patio.

That was a few years ago.

Who would have known that Emme would one day be taking her skipping rope on the road?

(sktphoto.com)

She's back from participating in the Canadian Rope Skipping Competition in Moncton, New Brunswick.

 She happens to be one of our country's best skippers!

A few things have changed since the carefree days of skipping in the back yard.

The rope is made of metal.

The hair is always in french braids.

The shoe laces have no chance of coming undone.

It is serious business these days.

Oh...did I mention she has to practice?

I am so proud of you, Emme! 

a wet victoria day...

After a few weeks of sunshine we were due some rain.  

And it came...

on the long weekend.

So I spent my Victoria Day indoors.

Though the sky was grey...

the view from the kitchen window wasn't all bad.

I am quite enjoying my Nelly Moser clematis these days!

When we are on a road trip in the USA...

we stop by McD*s for coffee every once in awhile.

(Their coffee is good...and the service is quick!)

And every so often we have their cinnamon melts...

one order to share.

I always tell myself that I will try making them sometime.

Sometime arrived yesterday.

I used cinnamon bun dough...

made teeny little dough balls....

bathed them in cinnamon sauce...

and baked them in mini-pie pans.

 A drizzle of cream cheese frosting while the buns were still warm...

was the icing on the cake.

The kids stopped by and we had cinnamon mini-melts as a Victoria Day treat.

We spent the evening around the table with good friends.

And that was Victoria Day 2012.

Have a terrific Tuesday!

run, skip and jump...

My twin granddaughters can usually be found hanging out together.   Though they each have their unique interests...they are always there to support each other.  Emme has been involved in competitive skipping for the past few years...and Spencer is usually in the benches cheering her on. Last week, Emme was in Moncton, New Brunswick taking part in the national rope skipping championships.  (She did awesome, we hear!)  Spencer was not thrilled to be left at home...while her mom traveled to the east coast with her sister.  But she made the best of it!

She took part in a school-sponsored 10 kilometer run on Thursday...a run which came right past my front porch.  I kept my eye out for her...and was there to cheer her on.  Not only did she complete the entire run...she was one of the first girls to cross the finish line.  I know I couldn't have done that when I was ten years old.  She also raised a lot of funds for fresh water in Somalia while she was running.  Way to go Spencer!

After school she had no energy left for running across the fields...

...and showed up at my back door on a tractor.  Emme was gone...but Mina from next door made for good company as well.  She kept busy...and before long the week was over.  Today Emme will be back home again!

And on the farm...we have reason to 'jump for joy'.  The last of the corn has been planted...almost a month earlier than last year. 

Grandpa had the help of a few princess fairies...which really hurried things along!  Maggie brought her friend Emma over to Grammy's for a play date last week...but she was really more interested in spending time with Grandpa out in the field.  It's all good.

Happy Victoria Day to all my Canadian friends!

life is like that...

Life. It can be funny at times!

I grew up in the country...one of five sisters and one brother.  We attended the country school nearby...and a country church in the same neighbourhood.  Not far away lived another family with five girls and one boy...who attended the same school and church as I did.  My sisters were good friends with some of the girls of the other family.  I was in the same class as their boy...and we had a lot of fun together in our senior high years (particularly German class).  We were all part of the same youth group...

...and several from each family were on this particular outing in 1971.   As time moved on...many of the siblings from each family scattered...and the ties were not what they once were.   

The youngest of the other family was the same age as my ‘little brother’...always dramatic and never at a loss for words, as I recall.  I taught her in girl's club once upon a time.  I remember she brought a yummy dill dip to an event.  (Who said we only remember the big stuff?)  I also remember that she took the prize for scripture memory!  Eventually she married and moved to the interior of our province.  What a surprise to re-connect with her through Blogdom in the past year or two.   You can go pay Karen a visit at her blog called Ocean Soul.  She has plenty of time to visit these days...since she is on an imposed 'staycation'  following major surgery. 

We’ve had many good laughs over things from the distant past...since we re-connected these last few years.  I love reading her blog...especially when she tells of friends and family that I know.  Not long ago Karen posted photos of a family vacation...a trip to Mexico with all her siblings and their spouses.  I couldn’t help but smile...

 (Karen ~ far left)

...since the photo looked strangely similar to one we took on a family cruise with all my siblings few years ago.  How many families have five sisters and one brother? 

And how did it happen that both guys are reclining for the family photo op?  I know my brother wasn’t even a little amused by the way the photographer lined us up...but his sisters thought it was quite funny!

 

Who knows?  Life is like that. 

Karen gave me permission to 'borrow' her photo...and to share the tale of the two families.  And I give you permission to go wish Karen all the best as she recuperates. 

Have a great weekend!

home on the range...

Though I have posted about picnics...

and porch parties and such...

I haven't showed you what has been happening behind the scenes over here for the past week.

It's springtime on the farm.

A lucky few heifers are on the green pastures for the summer. 

Here on the farm they are bringing in the crops...

to keep the cows happy for the next year.

The first cut of grass is safely in the bunker...

...and this week it is corn planting time.

The sun is shining...

and the days are long.

I'm linking the above photos to Vee's blog...

where she is having a note card party today.

All four photos have been posted in previous years on 'My Front Porch'...

but are a good representation of what is happening here this year.

Let me just add one more...

for good measure!

Ryder loved to be part of the picnic lunches at the field in years gone by.

This year...

he is having lunch in his school desk!

How time flies.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!