Puppy Flower Arrangement Fun

My sister, Rose, emailed me these wonderful photos of very creative flower arrangements in the shape of puppies. So delightful! I searched, and found lots of references to these flower arrangements on the internet, but no mention of the artist's name. I would like to give her due credit. It wasn't obvious which, if any, was the original posting, to provide a link back. So here goes, with just the photos (click any image for a larger view):




I was so inspired by these arrangements that on Sunday afternoon, when the sun broke through, I went out in the garden looking for flowers to try my hand at my own arranging. My dahlias would be perfect for creating the shagginess of the puppies. Here was my first attempt, with the center of a purple coneflower as the nose, and late-season (small) spikes of butterfly bush for pointy ears, the stems wrapped in wire to keep them together:

Hmmm, the eyes would be better if a bit more noticeable, such as with these black-eyed susans:

Hmmm, I like the butterfly bush ears, and how about a mature dahlia flower for the mouth? Yep, that's a "keeper":

Now my son was inspired also, he joined in with his own arrangement:

Here is a closeup, showing the perennial sunflower eyes, green nose from a bud, and messy hair from geranium leaves (the green variant of Victor Reiter which pops up like a weed everywhere in my garden):

So far so good, my turn again. This time, I left some petals on the coneflower, as whiskers, and tried a blue hydrangea as a head, and the butterfly bush ears. I don't know what it is, but it's cute, too. My son claimed this one for himself.

Hmmm, what about the bright shaggy yellow of perennial sunflower, and the yellow black-eyed susan for eyes? That's a good combination, too:

So by the end of our fun, we had three little flower "pet" arrangements, to keep:

Garden Surprises to Cheer Me

It is my faith in God and my sweet kids who give me hope and perspective in times of despair, but it is my garden which really helps to cheer me, with its unexpected surprises.

Lately I have not had much time to spend in the garden, being quite overwhelmed by my work, overwhelmed by my husband being so overwhelmed by his work that he is seldom around and when he is, not available for conversation, and starting to be busy with kid's schedules starting up also. But whenever I have a chance to spend even 10 minutes walking to the compost and back (yes, it really does take that long, since the path is never a direct one), I always come back feeling refreshed (albeit longing for more).

On the weekend, I tackled a small weeding project, trimming and pulling some lemon balm which has taken over too much of an area behind my italian plum tree. The tree finally showed blossoms this year for the first time, but I had been disappointed not to see any fruit follow. But while down on my knees in the dirt, I looked up, and saw 5 beautiful blue/purple fruits hanging in the tree. They were just hiding under the leaves, that's all. My 7 year old son, on hearing the news, climbed in there with me, and spotted a 6th fruit. The two I took inside to sample (one because I had accidentally knocked it down, and the second I had picked) were a bit too tangy to the tastebuds, but very sweet to my imagination.

Today, while visiting the compost, I passed by the raspberry patch, and my golden raspberries (I have the name of them somewhere) were showing a great second crop of fruit. They have done this consistently in the past, but each time it is a sweet surprise, to get raspberries in mid-Sept and beyond. So I picked this small basket for the family to sample:


The blackberries which are sending long thorny branches over the fence in a continual assault, also sent across two bunches of ripe black fruit, which I enjoyed on the spot.

I also picked one more of our asian pears on the way inside, to share with the kids after school. The top row of our asian pear espalier has borne us 3 ripe pears, now. The second row is heavy with fruit, but that variety is not quite ripe (I've already sampled). The bottom row shows no fruit this year (and I can't remember if we had any last year, either - I'll need to look back in my blog!).

The espalier apple is full of beautiful red fruit on the top row (I think it's a Liberty), but not quite ripe yet. Would make some nice photos, when I get a chance. The middle didn't bear, and the bottom was stripped clean by the squirrels this year!

Fairy Discovery at Whytecliffe Park

The other day, we were exploring the scenic seaside Whytecliffe Park in West Vancouver with some friends, and I noticed it was unusually quiet. I wandered back along the trail, and was surprised to see my daughter and her friend Justine chatting with fairies. I was able to take this photo before they noticed me and flew off (click the image for a larger view):

Good-Bye My Turtle Girl

It started as just a joke, when my daughter asked me for a small aquatic turtle at the pet shop. I had to blink twice, to make sure I was reading the 79.99 price tag correctly, and then I replied, "If you want a turtle, I'll catch you one from the lake, and not one of these puny ones, a good sized one."

So when we decided to go canoeing at Burnaby Lake in late June, my daughter reminded me of my "promise". So I tossed a plastic tub into the canoe, just in case. Sure enough, within minutes of putting the canoe in the lake, we saw a turtle sunning itself on a log, and the chase was on. We hadn't thought to bring a net, so I ended up catching it with my bare hands. It was a pretty exhilirating experience.

I had told myself that if it was a native turtle, we'd return it, and if not (i.e. a pet shop turtle released into the lake) then we'd keep it. So after catching it, we checked at the pet shop (while trying to buy a suitable aquarium for it; we ended up getting a perfectly sized one for $40 on Craigslist), and it was one of the 3 varieties of turtle they sold. But when I checked online, I found that it was a Western Painted Turtle, which is also native to this area. So as a compromise, I guess, we decided to keep it only for the summer, until the kids return to school.

I read that the female has a narrower tail than the male, but having no other turtle to compare it with, I only guessed that this was a female. Nice smooth dark shell, maybe 10" across. Gorgeous red & black pattern underneath (I should have taken more photos), and beautiful yellow markings on her skin. We couldn't agree on a name for her, so she just became my "Turtle Girl".

I took her outside some times, let her run in the yard. I discovered that turtles can really move when they want to! Wow! She was a little speedster. But most of the time, we kept her in the tank, with just enough water in the bottom for her to swim, and two large rocks for her to climb onto, to "sun" herself (I tried to click on the recessed light above the tank whenever she did this). She seemed to like the clump of grass I added to the tank, and was often "hiding" near it.

The tank was in an alcove at the landing of our main staircase. So over time she got used to us passing by, and only panicked when we stopped. Lately, she had stopped panicking at all, and only backed away when we approached. But still, we could never think of her as a pet, only a captive. When I picked her up, she hissed and tried to claw herself out of my grip. I learned two tricks to holding her. One was holding her from the back, close to her tail, so she could only push my hand with her back feet, but not dig her claws into me. The other one (I think she was not amused!!) was to hold her completely upside down, holding the edge of her shell, so she couldn't dig any of her claws or feet into me at all. I wish I had a picture of that. She looked so undignified, but she also got very calm when I did that (maybe the blood rushing to her head had something to do with it).

I don't know if she ever ate or not. We bought her the floating pellets for turtles (a combination of vegetation and protein), and I tried tossing in bits of romaine lettuce and dandelion greens, but couldn't tell if she ever ate any of them, or whether they all just ended up in time jammed in the intake of the filter. Apparently turtles can go for weeks and even months without eating. And when they hibernate buried under the mud in winter (I guess in Vancouver they may or may not actually hibernate), they can go for many months without breathing. Pretty amazing.

Well, in two weeks the kids are back in school. We survived a spell of very hot weather (a few times we found her with her head pulled back into her shell, and I felt sorry for her that she didn't even have any cool water to retreat into), and now the weather has cooled, and the kids are at camp near Burnaby Lake this week. So it seemed the ideal time to set her free.

Today was an extremely stressful day at work, but I had decided this was the day, so I put her into a plastic tub and took her with me when I went to pick up the kids. I have to say I cried the whole 10 minutes I drove to camp, and I already missed her terribly. I'm sure tonight will be awfully quiet, without her clunking around at 5AM, knocking the filter (which is suction-cupped to the side of the tank) out of the water so that it starts sucking air....

I'm already trying to decide if we want to put a few fish into the tank, or just remove it altogether. We saw some 99 cent goldfish at the garden center the other day, which seems pretty tempting. But then again, maybe our hamster and two sea snails might be enough for now.

My daughter helped me release her into a shallow pool at the edge of the lake. Instead of heading out into the lake, our Turtle Girl quickly headed straight into the tall grasses at the other side. We could hear her for some while, pushing her way through, the grasses wiggling to indicate her progress. When we turned for home, I felt relieved that she was back home where she belonged, but I'll surely miss our Turtle Girl.

Garden Related Glimpses : mid-Aug 2008

Here goes with some more garden photos, and other miscellaneous photos from August. Instead of my usual close-ups, here are a few wider views of my garden:

Here is our fairy house, with blooming lilies towering above it:

Here is my hummingbird corner, with a lush butterfly bush cascading over a clump of crocosmia, and a set of red monarda falling to the right:

Here is one of challenges I regularly deal with, blackberry vines reaching over the fence into my garden (those nasty things seem to grow one foot or more per day!). The large purple plant on the right is a purple sage. To the left of it, the straggly flower stalks of Stachys byzantina (Lamb's ear). I don't much like the look of the flowers, but I leave them for the bees (especially the little mason bees) which are all over them. To the far left, our red currant bush, which bore more than a 4L (1 gallon) bucket of berries this year:

I was very pleased to gather a large harvest of lavender flowers from my neighbour, before her landscaper removed the large plants this year. While I had the lavender drying on a number of cookie sheets and other trays on the kitchen island, the fragrance throughout the house was amazing:

I also made a batch of lavender jelly. I was very pleased with the natural colour of it (yes, just lavender, certo & white sugar, no other additives or preservatives). Oh, and did I mention that it tasted good, too? My 9 year old daughter has been asking for it on toast for breakfast ever since.

While I'm posting photos, here is one of Alouette Lake, BC, from above. My husband and I discovered this viewpoint while off-roading a few weeks ago:

Yesterday (Sunday) we took the kids canoeing from Barnet Beach across and up into Indian Arm, to escape the heat. It was indeed much cooler there, and ended up being a beautiful day to canoe, with only the occasional drops of rain. We spotted this harbour seal with her pup on the shore, mainly because a pair of kayakers ahead of us had already stopped to watch. Otherwise we may have missed them on the rocks, since they were quite well camoflauged:

Here is a closeup from the same photo, you can better see the mother seal with her pup (he was not interested in looking at us, so that is his back end, you can see the flipper on the right side):

Those Rascally Squirrels

Last week, I was taking photos in the garden, when a squirrel ran along the fence, climbed the neighbour's house, and hung sideways, screaming, with some large object in its mouth. So I snapped a quick photo, and then continued with my garden photos without any further regard to him.

Then a couple of days ago, I saw a squirrel (seems to always be that same dark character) hanging from my espalier apple tree, stripping off an apple. That little bandit! Suddenly it all came together... I had wondered how I had counted 5 little round apples forming in the tree at the far end of my yard, and yet last week I was walking through, and found not a single one, and no sign of any having prematurely dropped to the ground.

I'm thinking those little bandits probably got our early pears, too. There were maybe 6 tiny pears, but they disappeared also without a trace.

So thinking of this squirrel screaming the other day, I decided to crop & get a better look at what was in his mouth, and sure enough, that looks like an apple to me.... What do you think? (Click the photo for a larger image.)

If I had known, it should have been me screaming at him, not that rascally character screaming at me!

Swallowtail Butterfly Photos

With my new camera this year that actually allows me to take some decent close-up photos, I've been fascinated with capturing images of the bumblebees which I adore. Here are a few of my recent favs (as always, click on the image for a larger view):

The bees love the globe thistle (Echinops banaticus) even more than I do (which is a lot):

A couple of days ago, a swallowtail butterly flitted into the garden, and didn't seem to mind me chasing him around with the camera as he visited my many plantings of Echinacea purpurea (Purple coneflower):




True to its name, the Buddleia davidii (Butterfly bush) is attractive to the Swallowtail butterfly (although the smaller white Cabbage butterfly doesn't seem to give it much attention):

Hummingbird Photos

I was bragging to my Mom the other day, that almost any time I go into the garden, I see a hummingbird. So these are my photos to substantiate my claim. ;-)

We have a "hummingbird corner" in the upper corner of our yard, with dozens of shaggy red monarda flowers, a favourite of hummers (click on any of the photos for a larger image):



When the monarda blooms come to an end, the butterfly bush, which is just starting to bloom, will provide interest for the remainder of the summer. Nearby, there are lots of trees in which the hummers can rest, such as our small cherry tree:

...a medium sized alder tree beyond the fence:

...and a tall alder tree behind our yard:

This is an interesting photo of the hummingbird already turned around, and just about to dart away:

Garden Glimpses : June & July 2008

I'm trying out a slide show format, I think it's pretty nice. Click Refresh at the end, to start over (instead of viewing advertising). Or click "View All Images" to view larger images, in a more traditional slide show format:

Hamsters are Just Not Like They Used to Be

I was musing to myself today, as I was tugging out handfuls of clover from our lawn, that my hamster (from when I was a kid) would have loved this stuff. When I was a kid, I remember spending hours sitting outside, watching my hamster, Snowflake (she was an albino, white with the pink eyes), munch on and then stuff her cheeks full of clover. When she looked like she would burst, I would return her to her cage.

My daughter's hamster, Hammy, has not showed the same interest in clover. In fact, he shows very little interest in foraging when we take him outside. And come to think of it, rarely seems to put anything in his cheeks, never mind stuff them to the bursting point.

So it got me to wondering why the difference, and I can only speculate that it may be because Hammy already gets such a wide variety of foods... We have a number of different foods we give him regularly, including a "hamster" seed mix, hamster pellets, nuts, rice, split peas, oats, and sunflower seeds. I don't remember what we fed my hamster regularly, but I remember one time getting a large beanbag frog - I don't remember if we bought it for 10cents at a garage sale, or someone gave it to us, or what - but when we discovered that it was full of grain, that became my hamster's food for months. So perhaps that was why she so enjoyed our regular trips outdoors, for the variety in her diet.

It made me think about my kids, and how when I was a kid, there was so much to look forward to. The mandarin oranges which only came out at Christmas time. Strawberries in June. Toys at Christmas or birthdays. Cake and pop at birthday parties. What a different world it is for my kids, with almost all food and material things available any time, and all the time. When they were younger, I think I did well at resisting the urge to buy them lots of toys, treats, etc, but lately we have found ourselves buying just about anything that catches our interest. Partly because we can. Partly because it is so much easier to entertain them with something new, than to revive interest in what they have. Partly because time is always so short, if we see it, we just buy it, we might not have a chance to return later... I am always looking for new baked goods to try... Things my mom wouldn't think to buy, she would instead bake her own. On the contrary, I can't imagine spending the time baking, it is much easier to just buy.

Then I thought again about Hammy.... He seems interested in the foods dropped in his food dish nightly, but if he walks around outside the cage, where some of the seeds have been scattered, he can walk right by them without showing interest (to my dismay, that we need to pick them up or finally just vacuum them up!). If hamsters evolve with us, will they eventually lose their cheeks, since they no longer have the need to treasure up food and carry it to their nests? How can we retain any joy or thankfulness for what we have, in the midst of so much? How do we help our kids appreciate the blessings they have (without boring them with the "When I was a kid" stories)?

On a lighter note, I need to share this cute photo of Hammy, looking like he's playing peek-a-boo (not the obsessive cleaning he does, of course!)... I was mad when I first saw it, and the silly piece of grass which my son poked in front of the lens as I was shooting, but later I came to appreciate this extra element of him hiding behind the grass. What do you think?

6 Random Things About Me

It is fun on a rainy evening or late night (when I'm too tired even to play with DAZStudio 3D images) to wander through other people's virtual gardens, via their garden blogs. One of the gardens I like to "visit" is that of Irena from Toronto, Ontario. And I know she visits my blog also, since she graciously leaves me encouraging comments.

Recently I've been tagged by Irena in her "My Roots Run Deep" blog, to provide 6 random facts about me. So here goes:

1) My 2 kids were born in the same hospital as I was. Some 30+ years apart - Oh my, that's giving too much away! It was called "Burnaby General Hospital" back then, they now call themselves "Burnaby Hospital" (the distinction is too subtle for me, but someone reading this could probably enlighten me on the difference).

2) My favourite brand of facial tissue is Kleenex. Some brands are too hard to pull from the box, resulting in the whole box lifting, and requiring two hands to pull out a tissue. Others don't stay up enough, and tend to fall back into the box. I find it has the right balance of allowing a one-hand pull, but doesn't flop back inside. I only buy the 2 ply. Not that thick 3 ply stuff (just fold it over or pull2 when you need so much bulk!), nor lotions or any other additives. And of course, I buy the bulk pack, but try to find the colour combinations that will colour-match our rooms (beige for our master bathroom, purple for my daughter's, green or blue for my son's, burgundy for the powder room, and other colours for the other rooms).

3) On a similar note, my favourite brand of bathroom tissue is Purex. Yes, the "pillowy soft" stuff. White kittens rolling down the carpetted steps & all (do you remember those great TV ads, or am I dating myself again? I couldn't even find any images for this, or the later pillowy soft ads). Anyhow, similar story. It is soft enough, but not too fluffy & tearable. I won't even try other brands anymore, it is all around the best. I'm strictly a 2 ply girl, but double roll is great, it reduces storage requirements in my closet.

4) We don't have cable TV in our house. We really don't watch TV very much at all. My husband will occasionally watch late news on one of our two available channels. And on the occasion we want to watch something together, we just rent movies (or borrow some of those great "oldies" from the library). We had a 6 month cable trial (one of those real sweet deals) once, primarily so we could test out our wiring (we wired just about every room with cable, and even a satellite run from the attic, when we built the house). In the end, we didn't really test out more than the connection in the family room. And being able to watch re-runs of "I Love Raymond" or "Friends" on different channels at different times, just didn't justify the monthly fees.

5) My favourite cut flower is the Stargazer Lily. It was featured prominently in my wedding arrangement, so the strong scent invokes wonderful memories of the wedding, and the overwhelming scent in our honeymoon suite afterward. It is a good buy, if you can find one in full bloom in the store, since it can be planted in the garden afterward, and reward you with flowers for many years. I once made an online puzzle from a photo of my stargazers.

6) I always wear a seatbelt. I guess I just learned to drive a car that way: sit down, put the seatbelt on, start the car, adjust mirrors, ... So it drives me crazy that my husband will start the car and drive several blocks (or until my daughter or I point it out!!) before pulling on his seatbelt.

Now it is my turn to pass along the fun. But first, let's get the guidelines of this game out of the way:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on the blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

I would like to "tag" the following people, whose blogs are also well worth a visit. In fact, I have been considering to pass along my "Creative Blogger Award" (from August 2007!!) to them, but just haven't set aside the time to write up the post!

1) Catherina from Virginia, USA, in her blog "Shabby~Chic Cat's Gardening Close~ups!" Her photos are lovely, prepared as themed collages of prints.

2) Pam from Austin, Texas, in her blog "Diary of an Austin Gardener". I love the garden close-up photos.

3) Melissa in Ontario, Canada, in her blog "Empress of Dirt". Great garden & wildlife photos, and witty commentary, too.

4) Kylee in NorthWest Ohio, USA, in her blog "Our Little Acre". Fun little anecdotes, gorgeous photos and lots of flower closeups.

5) David in Australia, in his blog "David's 'Images of Nature' Photography Gallery". He has some great nature photos, and I enjoy his "Sky Watch Friday" series.

6) David in Gloucester, Massachussets, in his blog "Flower Mandalas". David is a psychotherapist, photographer, digital artist, and writer, involved in healing and transformation through art. Perhaps since my life - by God's grace - has been filled only with blessing, or perhaps since I spend most of my time in the busy-ness of material living, I find I don't really relate to this whole area of healing, but I am nonetheless spell-bound by the beauty of his flower mandalas.

Tag, you're it!

And thanks to Irena for tagging me, this has been fun!

Aiko in the Forest

Tonight I was much too tired to work, so I found myself downloading more accessories for Aiko. It has been a long time since I played with DAZStudio. Made sense at the time, except now I'm tired and my eyes hurt, too. ;-)

Okay, here goes, Aiko as a fairy in her new "Tink" dress, with a texture applied (which happened to fit okay, even though designed for an entirely different outfit), and her new wreath headband, courtesy of faerie-dreams.com (click the image for a larger view):

What do you think? Was it worth staying up until midnight, or should I have caught an early night while I had the chance?

Garden Glimpses : Mid June 2008

June is a wonderful time of year, since the many blossoms are a-buzz with many fuzzy bumblebees. They are busy on the chives:

...and the Physocarpus opulifolius "diablo" (Diablo ninebark):

...and the Spanish lavender (Lavendula stoechas):

...and the Geraniums (this first one is "Victor Reiter"):


...and the raspberries:

The butterflies are now flitting about the garden also, like this cabbage butterfly, enjoying the osteospermum flowers:

Everywhere, there is the hope for summer fruit, such as these strawberries:

...apples (on the espalier tree):

...and pears (Bartlett pears, in this case):

The campanula glomerata is in full bloom, and looking beautiful this year (even if the long stems have flopped over again - each year I tell myself I need to do something to support them, maybe next year I will finally take action):

(As always, click any photo for a slightly larger view.)