MICROSCOPIC SPRING

 It's here. Spring. Well, I think it's spring. No, this is not a photo of fine twigs, grass, or willow branches. Oddly enough, this is Smoke Bush fluff seeds ( kind of like the dandelion fluff  that is fun to play with in the fall)   dewdropped with rain . Ever so small. Microscopic until you take a macro lens to it. 

                                           

 I think it definitely feels more like October than January. The Forest, just down from our hill, is rolling in fog most days. Thick to light fog wafts about the rainforest. From early morning to noon.Or from noon to midnight.Depending....
 It's on days like these  Smokey tries to get into the garage to roll about on the concrete floor. It's warm and dry. He comes down the hill, with his brother, Spencer, to see birds .They keep thinking they can catch the all. They spend hours here. And on days like this , like to get into the garage to roll in the dead bugs and show how pretty they are.           

                              

 And it's on days like this, that if you search for a bit you'll find Dragon'sblood. It's growing out of the rock wall in the terrace. Resembles small roses, but they are  mostly fingernail sized.Or fang sized, I should say...Dracula would approve.
  I was clearing out some deer poop, and nearly fell into the clematis. was very surprised to find it starting to show green nodules. Ever so tiny. Ever so microscopic.

 And back to my favourite find: Smoke Bush Fluff seeds.....everywhere. Small. Microscopic.

 Doused with rain.................

             Looking like twigs.........And yes, I was still able to find lots of deer poop to scoop. Seems to be a going thing at my place. Deer and Poop and Cats.A sure sign of spring. Cordelia came down for a visit. For her snack. She shows up when the others are not here. She doesn't like the deer poop , as you can see..................            

 And there are still so many pockets of Smoke Bush fluff to find..............looking like crystallized ginger. And me, stepping on pods of deer poop trying to get a good shot of them.....

                                 

 And it is still winter. In the mountains at least.While down here it is spring.  I think. After a long day of birding the cats head back to their homes.  They don't seem confused. They just like the birds. They just like to visit. I think it might be spring.

   

DISCOVERY PASSAGE

 Such a Storm day. Right on Discovery Passage. The waves long and frothing. Nothing better than that. My favourite thing is to go down to the ocean when it's heaving and hauling.

 Discovery Passage is a channel that forms part of the Inside Passage, between Vancouver Island and the discovery islands, near the Georgia Strait
 The Passage was named after Captain vancouver's Ship the HMS Discovery.

 It's mostly Quadra Island that is the eastern shoreline. "There's tempest in yon horned moon, and lightning in yon cloud;but hark the music, mariners!The wind is piping loud. The lightning flashes free, while the hollow oak our palace is, our heritage the sea." (A. Cunningham)

                                               

 The Strait of Georgia is on the southern end of the passage
 Quadra Island is the largest part of the islands that can be seen from here.

                                 

 This is used by many large ships, and Cruise Ships in the summer. You can see them pass by on a clear day, larger than life.

But on this day, it was soaking wet with rain, and surf and brrrrrrrrr. And all of it pretty amazing.

Old Fashioned Lemon-Orange Concentrate

 

OLD FASHIONED ORANGE LEMONADE CONCENTRATE

 To enjoy in a  glass,mug, or serve in a pitcher of ice cold water
Easy easy. Good anytime, or when you have a cold, etc.Nice on the throat
You only use a small amount at a time....it is not meant to be ladeled out full strength.

 

1^st STEP:
BOIL together (about 6 minutes) in large pot on top of stove:
8 cups white sugar/ or brown, but the colour will change. Can substitute honey.
8 cups water
¼ cup ( half of a 4 oz bottle) citric acid ( a must)

              (Note: Citric Acid can be found in pharmacies)

 

2^nd STEP ( While liquid is boiling):

Cut up with sharp knife, or grind in food processor, coarsely:
3 oranges ( with peel)
4 lemons (with peel) (Can also substitute with  a lime)or add about 2 cups lemon juice if you do not have lemons

 

 Lemon juice concentrate is  a good quick alternative if you do not have lemons....

 

3^rd STEP:

Dump coarsely cut up oranges and lemons  into pot you have taken off stove.

4^th STEP:
Let mixture sit till cooled.
Pour into large glass bowl, or ice cream bucket and let sit in fridge for 24 hours .
(This is important, because the flavours will steep better. One year I did not let the mixture rest for 24 hours and it did not taste that great)

 5^th STEP:

Next day, strain mixture into another bowl and pour into smaller containers. Or ice cube trays.

 6^th STEP:

To one glass of water, or pitcher of ice cold water, add as much, or as little, of the concentrate, as you like. I like to sometimes just add a tablespoon to a glass of water, to give it a fresh taste. It is amazing, and inexpensive to make, and it is not time consuming, regardless of how the directions sound.

Rain......

 Must be January. I was out in the rain. Plip plopping rain. On my head. Just like in the song.....thought you'd like to see B.C. rain, since the rest of the country is covered in snow and ice, and a few of my favourite quotes.................
.
 "A picture is a poem without words" ( Latin proverb)

 "Joy is the mainspring in the whole of endless Nature's calm rotation" (Schiller)

                                                                    

     "Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together" (Goethe)

"We are living in a world of beauty, but how few of us open our eyes to see it!" (Lorado Taft)

 
                 "We are all parts of an infinte plan which is wholly wise and good." (Bucke

 "One ought every day at least to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and , if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words." (Goethe)

                                                                            

 "The day returns and brings us the petty rounds of irritating concerns and duties. Help to perform them with laughter and kind faces, let cheerfulness aboud with industry. Give us to go blithely on our business all this day, bring us to our resting beds weary and content , and grant us in the end the gift of sleep and peace."  (Robert Louis Stevenson)

SPRING? In January?

Just one photo today. One that screams volumes. Spring.  In January? This is from the roses, taken on Sunday. I went outside to dig in the dirt, figured it was frozen and everything would be frozen. A good excuse to toddle back inside.
   However, found the roses were sporting leaves. New leaves. Not the ones leftover from the fall. Brand new. Never been seen.  I pruned the roses, pruned the hibiscus and lilacs to half their size, cause they've been needing that for ages. Have done it before and they've turned out great in the spring.
   But the rose leaves I left. Hoping they survive any frost that may come, and it will. Just a reminder that spring has shown its hand.

"Spring is like a perhaps hand
arranging a window, into which people look
while people  stare
arranging, changing and placing
carefully there a strange
thing and a known thing here
and changing everything carefully."

(E.E. Cummings)

On a Cold and Frosty Morning......Catnip days

 "Past 3 oclock, on a cold and frosty morning, past three o'clock, good morrow master all..." So says the old carol.  Definitely past three am. More like 7:30 now ( No I haven't been wandering outside since 3am). But ocne 7an hits and the light starts to do this.......

 I can hardly wait to find frozen sundials......Frozen to the wood seat.

 Finding the pink in the mountains beyond.

 Coming across Smokey, with his sleek charcoal fur poofed out as much as he can. Chasing birds.  Looking pretty.

 The ravens in the sky, on the tops of trees, calling and screaming to be heard.

 And Spencer. Always sweet. Purring and snorting in his way, saying hello.

 Bench, in the summer laden with potst of flowers, now slick and frosted with ice crystals. Can hardly wait to pile it up with more pots this year. I'm thinking maybe large pots full of sweet peas on stalks.....will have to think about that one.

 And here he is: "Hellloooooooooooo" "Hellooooooooooooooooooooo" Anyone in there?

 And Spencer in the first of the morning sun. On his place on the gate. Leaving frosty paw marks on the wood.

 Yes, hello, we see you. Bo sees you. Smokey's mornng wakeup call.

 And the deer at night, in the shroud of twilight. Eat seeds that I put out for the birds. They ae quite take. Come the nicer weather there will be no more seeds, and I will have to use the deer spray to keep them from my roses. But not now. It's cold and they like to finish up what the birds leave behind.

And on a cold day like this, granted it is not piled with snow like back east, our indoor cats get a treat. Catnip . To wallow and roll and dream of warm fires , cat kibble and belly pats in their sheltered existence......

JAN 1st 2014......

 It's here ! It's the first day of a new year. The fabric sales have begun..............Thrushes that have returned. They usually do, in the winter, preferring the seed pans till spring when the bugs are more plentiful.

Thrushes have reappeared, because of winter. They will hang around the garden, eating seeds and singing. The cats love to watch them.  

And another set of fabric. Music fabric. So hard to find  and  ready to be cut.......

And meanwhile, the Thrushes   poke away in the dead leaves.

 Thrushes are stocky, happy, hopping songbirds with long legs and long bills. Their call has a haunting trill that is unmistakable. They're a little shy, but  rather bossy with other birds when around the seed pan, trying to steal all the peanuts away from the jays.

And there's still more fabric. I love this combo...teal with orange, peacocks, swirls, and solid coral.  Colour. Colour.

 There is a rare Thrush , that is hardly ever seen, that has white feathers, in place of the regular orange . In this part of B.C. you can see thrushes almost year round. If it snows, we will have flocks scouring under bushes for seeds.

Spencer on New Year's day, purring and snorting with abandon.

 

Smokey on New Year's Night. He sort of glowed in the light.......

                             First day of the New Year over......on to the next and the next.......