My Little Gardener

I had a surprise visit from D#1 and my two little munchkins this morning! It was such a pleasant surprise as I usually go to their place due to the baby's schedule. I got lots of smiles and coos from Eden and she was wide-eyed looking around at the trees and listening to the birds.

Noah tried out "his" new bed in "his" room (the guest room that I've painted). I bought a new double bed so he can stay overnight once in a while and his sister can sleep with him when she's old enough to stay over, too. He was quite delighted with the bed, which he tried out by bouncing on it a few times and lying down to make sure it was comfy enough. He likes the view from the window and the pictures I chose to decorate the walls.

Then we sat on the patio for our visit but it wasn't long when Noah wanted to know if he could dig in the garden. Naturally, I said "YES! Of course you can!" You see, I figure if I can get him trained early enough to know weeds from flowers, he can come and do my weeding for me when he's a bit older. LOL Anyway, he got busy digging but then asked if I had any gloves. A bit surprised by that, I got out the gardening gloves, put them on him and off he went again. He had a toy police car and the toy tractor from the farm I keep here for him to play with and eventually, he brought the whole farm outside, too.

I caught him in the garden with my camera and just had to share. He looks so small among the plants and he was so busy he didn't even notice me taking his picture. I just love getting candid shots of him. He politely asked if he could take the car and the tractor home with him so he could play with them at his house, so I say "Sure," and also gave him the little farmer that sits on the tractor. As they pulled out of the driveway, I saw his little arms waving good-bye while he hung on tightly to those little toys.

They all made my day and I'll have the memory forever.

Click to enlarge the photos. Yes, they WILL enlarge this time!

Sixth Foot a Hoax

Since August 2007, six feet have washed ashore in British Columbia. Five of the six feet were left feet and one was found near my own little village of Ladner. Click on the map to enlarge & find Vancouver. Below Vancouver you'll see Richmond and below that is my village of Ladner. You can see why I'm a bit creeped out about all this, being so close to home.

All of the feet have been found inside running shoes, buoyant because of their thick, air-filled soles. Police have released few details, but the first four showed signs of disarticulation, which means the foot separated naturally from the leg, not through severing that would prompt speculation of foul play.

The story has generated worldwide interest and has been picked up by CNN (Larry King was discussing it this evening), the BBC, Fox News, the Associated Press, and others. Although the police have not released much information, many are hypothesizing that the feet are from victims that were illegal stowaways thrown overboard at sea. Others are suggesting they are the result of organized crime or that they are from the four victims of a light airplane crash off the BC coast more than three years ago. Ocean current experts suggest that the location of the finds suggest that the feet all could have been washed down the mighty Fraser River. Forensic pathologists are hard at work to find some DNA that might lead to the source of this mystery.

With all of this going on, the coroners office announced today that the latest foot was actually an animal's skeletonized paw stuffed into a sock and shoe, packed with dried seaweed. Of course everyone agrees that this type of hoax is reprehensible and disrespectful to families of missing persons. Hopefully, the mystery of the feet will be solved very soon. Your thoughts?

ABC Wednesday - V is for VanDusen Gardens

ABC Wednesday is brought to you by Mrs. Nesbitt place. Pop over to see other participants' entries for today's letter "V" ...

Within a stone’s throw of downtown Vancouver lies the former Shaughnessy Golf course (once used by the city’s elite), now transformed into a world-class botanical garden. The majestic evergreens throughout the site pre-date the garden, and the gardens have evolved around them. Paved pathways lead to wonderful plant groups including hollies (the largest collection in Canada), bamboos, magnolias, rhododendrons and azaleas which, in late spring, attracts visitors from all over. You’ll find various theme gardens within Van Dusen’s 55-acres, including large formal and informal perennial borders, a children’s garden, rose and lakeside gardens. Its newest addition, the Canadian Heritage Garden, features many plants that were once used to clothe, feed and house the first natives to inhabit this area.

Van Dusen also has one of North America’s three Elizabethan Hedge Mazes - you may want to bring bread crumbs to find your way out - and its rolling lawns often play host to events such as the British Antique Car Show. The restaurant’s a destination eatery in and of itself. (from here)

The VanDusen Botanical Gardens is a paradise of delight for those who enjoy strolling through gardens. On May 30, my sisters and I took our mother's best friend Lucy for lunch at the Shaugnessy Restaurant there. My mother and Lucy grew up together, remaining best friends until Mom passed away in 2002. Lucy has had a tough life, always working while raising her only daughter by herself after she divorced her first husband. She was a woman well ahead of her time and would not suffer fools gladly. She eventually remarried but is now widowed and her only daughter will have nothing to do with her. For my sisters and me, Lucy is a connection to our mother and we happily keep in touch with her, taking her for birthday lunches and having her for dinner at Thanksgiving, Christmas, or other occasions. She is always elegantly dressed and coiffed and can teach anyone Emily Post's rules of etiquette. She plays bridge on a regular basis and has a mind like a steel trap. What a wonderful woman she is, and I hope we will have the honour and privilege of being there for her for many years to come.

Since we all love the restaurant at VanDusen Gardens and it's a central location for us , we got together for Lucy's 89th birthday. We didn't go through the gardens that day, but I did take a few photos when we were leaving. I know a lot of people are amazed when I say we have palm trees here in Vancouver, but it's true. They are of a hardy variety, but still... The following are at the entrance to the gardens.

Here is a shot of the entrance to the gardens and a closeup of the totem pole that's on the right.

And this "Princess Tree," which is native to China, was in full bloom the day we were there and gracefully draped the entrance on the left.

Van Dusen Gardens hosts an annual garden show every June and I have attended a few times, especially to see friends who participate. In May, when I was there recently, the rhododendrons were in full bloom and I saw many colours and varieties surrounding the parking area just on the outside of the gardens. Every December, the garden hosts its Festival of Lights which is absolutely incredible. I remember walking around one bitter cold winter evening and stopping to get some roasted chestnuts. With Christmas music softly enhancing the evening air, we strolled through the entire garden taking in the sights with awe. For an idea of what it's like, click here to see a youtube presentation of the 2007 festival. It's well worth a look, especially from halfway through to the end where you'll see part of the light and music show.

The VanDusen Botanical Gardens is a place to visit over and over again, at least four times a year to see it in its seasonal glory. If I have visitors this summer and/or in the fall, I'll definitely take them for a walk through some of the garden's 55 acres.

If you're interested, read yesterday's post on Campbell Valley Regional Park for another example for the letter V. It's a verdant valley so it also fits with the letter of the day.

Campbell Valley Regional Park

Green, the colour of the forest, calms and relaxes. It also has a healing effect and is said to relieve depression and anxiety.

I had the most amazing day today - in the most awesome and sublime green environment of the Campbell Valley Regional Park, about a half hour's drive from my place. I'd heard of this place but hadn't yet visited it . After today's outing, I'll be going back to do more exploring.

Even the sign for the place was green. After parking the car in what I hoped would continue to be a shady spot, we found the entrance to the trail that we'd decided to do today. It's one of the shorter trails and with my bad back acting up lately, we thought that would be the best one to try. So off we went along the Little River Loop Trail, a 2.3 km easy walk that would take us through areas that made me think of Louisianna bayous, the California redwood forest, and alpine meadows full of blue lupine, white daisies, buttercups, and wild roses.

This place is HUGE with both a north and south entrance. In some areas horses are allowed and there is an off-leash area for dogs, too. Our walk was very quiet and we didn't meet anyone else until we were almost back at our starting point. It took about 45 minutes to do the 2.3 km but I was always stopping to take photos. Everywhere I looked I saw art. There is nothing more beautiful than nature and I just kept snapping away until D#2 began to tease me. But I didn't care. I thought of all of my blogging buddies and buddettes and how you'd enjoy seeing the photos. So here are just some of the many shots I got today. I hope you enjoy them and are tempted even more to come visit my little corner of Beautiful British Columbia.

The beginning of the trail.

Walking beneath a canopy of trees.

Giant ferns! Bigger than me!

This gives you an idea of the size of most of the trees!

D#2 walking ahead of me on the trail.

There were a lot of trees like this with moss hanging from them.

A little forest glade that we came upon.

I saw several enormous tree stumps; the one of the left is obviously a red cedar and I think the other one is, too. Just older. I don't think I could have managed to climb on top of them because they were that big. However, I could have crawled under the one on the right but I hesitated because of what might have been living there.

Periodically, we came upon these little wooden bridges that I guess go over the Little River. However, right now the river must be dry because there was no sign of it.

When I looked up.......waaaaaay up (like the Friendly Giant used to say)....this is what I saw.

When we were walking through the forested part of the trail, we came upon lots of buttercups and these wild flowers at the left. I'm not sure what they are, but they were pretty.

Eventually, we came out of the forest and discovered we were in an area that looked exactly like an alpine meadow. For as far as we could see, it was absolutely full of blue lupine, white daisies, and dark pink wild roses. I must say I thought it was stunning.

Then again, we found ourselves again in a forested area with thick canopies and wild raspberries just ripening on the vines.

Do you remember that creepy scene in "The Wizard of Oz" when the trees came alive? Well, this tree reminded me of those trees so I just had to take a photo. I almost felt like saying "Hi" to it.

What an awesome afternoon in a location so near to my own home! This is a place where I know I'll return over and over again, especially in the autumn when the deciduous trees will turn brilliant colours and the sun will cast long shadows through the park's statuesque trees. For now, I'll leave you with this shot of the sun trying to get through the high canopy to reach the floor below. I hope you've enjoyed your virtual tour along the Little River Loop Trail at Campbell Valley Regional Park and you're calm and relaxed from all the green.

A Sunny Day in Vancouver

What a glorious day today! This morning I was reminded of Mr. Rogers and how he used to sing "It's a beautiful day in this neighbourhood, A beautiful day for a neighbour, ... So let's make the most of this beautiful day "

For all the hype and groaning we all do about the rain here, we do have some long stretches of wonderful weather. And there is so much to do here when it's nice. Here is a sampling of fun things to do in Vancouver on a sunny day.

1. Lounge at any of the myriad beaches found along the edges of the city or in many of the outlying areas. In the city you'll find the famous English Bay, Jericho Beach, Spanish Banks, and Kitsilano Beach. Take in the views of the city and the water while lunching on fish and chips and ice-cream, but be sure to take plenty of sunscreen!

2. There are three main waterparks in the the vicinity of Vancouver. One is at Bridal Falls, about an hour's drive outside of the city. One is at Cultus Lake, a very popular summer spot, and the third is very near me. This one is called Splashdown Park and it's just off the main route to the ferry that will take you to Vancouver Island.

3. Hiking is another favourite passtime of Vancouver and area residents. Beginners can take in Pacific Spirit Regional Park next to the grounds of the University of British Columbia. Intermediate hikers might want to try Dog Mountain, a 2.5 hour round trip hike on Mount Seymour. Experienced adventurers will love hiking to the Lions. It is one of the area's most popular and strenuous hikes, about 7 hours roundtrip and should be attempted by experienced, properly equipped hikers only.

4. Bike, walk, or roll around the Seawall in Stanley Park. This is a famous piece of urban infrastructure with amazing views of the ocean and mountains. Nearby on Denman Street, one can rent bikes or rollerblades.

5. Rent a kayak and spend hours exploring the shoreline around Vancouver. You never know what you might run into.

6. Of course, there are places where you can get ice-cream like the famous Dairy Queen, McDonald's, or various other parlours around town for specialty ice-cream or gelato.

I'm going to go and plant a daisy mum that a studen'ts mother gave me as a thank you for tutoring her son. It's lovely and I think it's had enough of sitting in my kitchen sink looking outside. It's time for it to join the other plants and flowers in the garden, so off I go. I wish I had some Italian gelato in my freezer.

Gramma's Pride and Joy

For those of you who aren't into babies, just come back another day - because I'm sharing more photos from today's visit with my little munchkins. Eden is now 3 months old and Noah is a feisty 4 1/2 now. When we arrived, Noah (with a fresh haircut) was on the deck playing with a caterpillar and he wanted me to come and see it. So off I went and we named him Fuzzy (but later Noah changed it to Superman). Noah was manhandling it like little boys do, so I suggested we make a bed for him. We found a container and went down to the lawn and gathered up some grass, dried pine needles, a pine cone, a few sticks, and even a wood bug (Woody) to keep him company. Noah's Mommy was a bit creeped out by what we were doing, but I told her I used to do that when I was a little girl, only I'd collect Daddy Longlegs. Here's Noah holding "Fuzzy" aka "Superman."

When Eden woke up from her nap, all the attention turned to her. Noah was a bit jealous today and kept trying to get in all the photos with her. He told me all about how he married her because he kisses her all the time. He hasn't quite figured out marriage yet, other than that people hug and kiss. So cute!

So Eden was all smiles today, can hold her head up when placed in the face down position on her blankie and tries hard to turn over. When she did a big "spitty-up" we turned her over. Here I am wiping her little mouth.

Another month and she'll be rolling over like there's nothing to it. Right now she likes the sitting position so her Mommy puts her in it, holds her steady and then lets go - but then catches her as she falls over like an old drunk. lol

At one point in the afternoon, Noah tried to take over and get the attention. So he got down on the floor with his baby sister and was trying to get her to look at a toy he was holding up. I love this photo because it looks so typical of a sister thinking to herself, "If I don't acknowledge him, maybe he'll go away. Stupid brother!"

But usually, she watches him all the time! In these two photos her eyes are on Noah and whatever he was doing.

My blogging friend Liz sent along a toy football for Noah when she sent Eden a gift when she was born. It's one of Noah's favourite toys and he loves to play catch with it, especially with me. So whenever I go to visit he asks me, "You want to play catch, Gramma?" So out it comes and my daughter told me that Eden gets into the game now. She holds her little hands, Noah tosses it gently to her, and Mommy helps her catch it and throw it back. Here they are demonstrating.

Pretty soon, Eden showed signs of hunger and sleepiness, so I left them to it and came along home to upload and enjoy my photos from today.

But before I sign off, I just wanted to show you this photo. Look how chubby she is! She's obviously very healthy but her Mommy is worried she's inherited her legs! And one thing she has definitely inherited is her Daddy's ears. See those little Spock ears? They curl out at the top!