Weekend: A Garden Outing

" There is simply the rose; it is perfect

in every moment of its existence. "

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

It's cool and overcast, and it feels a bit autumn-y this Sunday afternoon. Thankfully we did not postpone a visit yesterday to a nearby city's botanic garden, St. Albert Botanic Park, where we wandered under warm and sunny blue skies. First of all, I cannot believe that we have not been to see this gem before. It appeared in a list when I did a google search for gardens here in our own province. Secondly, I was startled at how vivid and colourful the dahlias, roses, and cottage gardens are blooming even after our hot summer. Beautifully maintained, and obviously loved by its team of volunteers, this really is a place I shall want to visit again and again. Thankfully it's not too far away from where we live.

I'm sharing quite a few pictures on today's post, so whether you meander slowly or pass through quickly, I hope you enjoy this colourful feast for the soul.

We came home buoyed and felt we ought to celebrate with something nice for afternoon tea. There was no café there, and we're still a bit leery about hanging around in crowds, so upon our return home, while Rick quickly gave our lawns a hair-cut, I pulled out Jacques Pepin's simple recipe for French Apple Tart. Jacques says it's one of his family's staples, and it's quickly becoming ours as well.

While we finish up the apple tart for tea this afternoon (I'd share if I could), I hope you enjoy the photo tour... the pics in this post are from the garden we visited.

" Gardens will be the peaceful haven we all need. "

PAUL TUKEY

" All dahlias are beautiful in their own way! I love them

because they have the most perfect symmetry and

come in a rainbow of color options. "

CHANTAL LAROCQUE

Did I hear him whisper that I was his Prairie Rose? It might have

been in my imagination or the wind whispering in the leaves.

" Roses do not bloom hurriedly; for beauty,

like any masterpiece, takes time to blossom. "

MATSHONA DHLIWAYO

Preparations were underway for a wedding in the Rose Garden

on this beautiful summery afternoon. It cannot get anymore romantic

than that, don't you think?

" The magic of hydrangeas - nature's litmus papers! "

UNKNOWN 

" When the world wearies and society fails to satisfy,

there is always the garden. "

MINNIE AUMONIER

" The man (or woman!) who has planted a garden feels

he has done something for the good of the whole world. "

CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER, 1829-1900

from My Summer in a Garden

The many volunteers who maintain this garden certainly have outdone

themselves. I believe the words above say it for these folks—they have

truly created something lovely for the good of their city's citizens.

If you are interested in more info about the St. Albert Botanic Park,

you can click HERE.

Although it was all beautiful, I think the Cottage Garden was

my favourite spot. Give me a bench at the end of a

winding path, and I'll sit and 'just be' for a little while.

" Everyone needs beauty as well as bread,

places to play in and pray in,

where nature may heal and give strength

to body and soul alike. "

JOHN MUIR

* * *

We've been out enjoying our summer days, so that's why I have not been around here much.

Wishing you a beautiful week ahead.

Brenda

 

August: Garden Glimpses At Last

"I must have flowers, always, and always."

CLAUDE MONET

It dawned calm and overcast this morning. With a mix of rain clouds and smoke hazing the sky from wildfires, it smelled like wet campfire early on. Thankfully, now it smells sweet and feels refreshing. A bubble of joy rises in my heart as I take a quick stroll around the garden. The heat wave that came through a few weeks ago stunted many of our plants, burning off buds, but they are at last recovering and filling our days with much happiness.

As August gets underway, I'm delighted to give you a peek at what's blooming in the garden, mostly in the backyard, a place that is a never ending work in progress.

"Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful;

they are sunshine, food and medicine to the mind."

LUTHER BURBANK

" In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends.

OKAKURA KAKUZO

"In summer, the song sings itself."

WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS

Before I close, here is a bit about the novel I'm currently reading. I'm sharing because it's a perfect fit with today's garden theme. In her latest book The Last Garden in England, author Julia Kelly writes a tale about five women who are connected by a certain garden that 'blooms a secret' and ties them together over the decades.

While relaxing in your own garden, time travel to overgrown pathways with Emma Lovell as she undertakes the arduous job of restoring this neglected garden to its former glory and uncovers old secrets long buried and forgotten. So far, I am about a fifth way into the book - it's a gentle read with mysteries that keep me turning the page but don't have me biting my nails in suspense. A most agreeable summertime read. 

" 'Everything gardeners do is intentional. We create order out of nature.

If she called this Celeste's garden, there was a reason,' she said. "

JULIA KELLY, The Last Garden of England

* * *

Wishing you a beautiful week ahead.

Brenda

Photos from my garden, Summer 2021

One Book I Avoided Reading as a Girl

" I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!

How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! "

JANE AUSTEN

I never tire of books. They are a hobby, a pursuit, a lifeline. From my earliest childhood, words in books captivated my imagination in a way nothing else on this earth has ever done. Books are my heartbeat. It's a gift for which I'll never stop being grateful. So, to be honest, during the sweltering heatwave we had recently, and it felt unbearable at times without AC, I secretly grinned to myself. Expending as little energy as possible during those days, I tucked myself in a coolish corner and, without a shred of guilt or shame, I disappeared into my books and read for hours. Just like I did when I was a girl....reading on a sunny afternoon in the shade of our poplar trees or sprawled on my bed in the evening reading until sunset, squinting my eyes to etch out just a few more words before the twilight faded into dusk.

British novelist Doris Lessing once said people should not read a book out of its right timing for them. I agree. Out of season the words lay listless on a page, barely engaging us, but in season, they hang with promise, heavy like ripe fruit ready to nourish and delight. Sometimes we read a book and we aren't ready for it, but the experience can ruin it for future reading. One such book for me was Black Beauty. I don't know how old I was—maybe nine or ten—but I was totally gutted when I learned this beautiful horse had to be sold to uncaring, cruel men. I never read it again. 

 

THE YEARLING (children's fiction)

by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

So then, I could never bring myself to read another children's classic The Yearling, because it was about a boy and his pet deer, and I already knew it wouldn't have a good ending. And even though my younger sister loved it as a girl and highly recommended it, I still couldn't bring myself to read it. But, this summer at the, ahem, tender age of sixty-four, I felt ready for it. It has been a lovely summertime read with its storyline woven with high adventure, sadness and loss but also with many delightful threads of beauty and wonder and hope. Life in the Florida backwoods was ruthless, and Penny Baxter fought off wolves and bears, faced failure and sickness; yet there he was, instilling in his young son the ability to marvel at the beauty of the world around them.

"I do not understand how anyone can live without

one small place of enchantment to turn to."

MARJORIE KINNAN RAWLINGS

I was especially taken with one enchanting description in the book. One evening while out tromping in the woods, Penny Baxter and young Jody watch as eight pairs of whooping cranes glide into a pond and begin their mysterious ritual dances. It was like watching a dance at a grand ball. I remember naturalist author Diane Ackerman writing about the plight of whooping cranes and how these elegant birds had been nearly destroyed and are now making a slow recovery. Yet, here was this description written decades earlier, possibly drawn from Rawlings's own encounter, when whooping cranes still plentifully wild were doing their courtship dances with barely anyone to see them. Penny Baxter and his son watched and were so overcome by it, they were speechless, even when they arrived home to supper. I sat in that moment after reading the passage, and I had no words.

Reading books when the timing is right is so important in getting the best from them, even when it means reading a children's classic when one is nearly a senior citizen. I borrowed the book from the library, but I think it's one I'd like to own and have near to hand, in case I want to read my favourite lines again. The illustrations in the hardcover edition are wonderful.

I'll close with this heartfelt talk Penny Baxter had with his young son as the boy faced the grievous loss of his beloved pet. It's one of my favourite passages:

"Ever' man wants life to be a fine thing, and a easy. 'Tis fine, boy, powerful fine, but 'tain't easy. Life knocks a man down and he gits up and it knocks him down agin. I've been uneasy all my life...I've wanted life to be easy for you. Easier'n 'twas for me. A man's heart aches, seein' his young uns face the world. Knowin' they got to get their guts tore out, the way his was tore. I wanted to spare you, long as I could. I wanted you to frolic with your yearlin'. I knowed the lonesomeness he eased for you. But ever' man's lonesome. What's he to do then? What's he to do when he gits knocked down? Why, take it for his share and go on."

   

* * *

Shall we take it for our share and go on?

Wishing you beauty and heart's ease.

Brenda

Top: Image by Ina Hall from Pixabay