FRANK's DAY.....

"Every blade of grass, each leaf, each separate floret, and petal, is an inscription speaking of hope. "(Richard Jefferies 1848-1887)

 Oh to be a pair of turtle doves, puttering about on the lawn....Oh to be a cat, watching doves toddle about on the ground. Oh the excitement. Oh to be FRANK the cat from the hill....

 To ogle  Doves sitting in the feed pan. Out on their date. While a cat watches. A cat like Frank.

 While the Cranesbill explodes all through the garden. Surprises  here and there. Frank slides himself onto the greenhouse to start his day. His wonderful cat sort of day.

 Frank from the hill.. I've named this one "Frank", as in Frank Sinatra, cause he lounges on the greenhouse, and if he could croon, he would, while watching the turtle doves.  I don't think he's singing to them, however....  He favours the greenhouse most mornings. His oasis.

 Frank watches the Cranesbill growing. And The Moai, humming , into the wind. I'm sure he's debating where the Cranesbill will grow best:  Sandy soil. Normal soil. Shade. Partial shade. I am sure he debates this at length. While he croons his day away.

Frank is not too keen on Smokey OR Spencer.They don't care too much for flowers.  The Cranesbill blooms in the spring, sometimes later on in the season. But I don't think Frank worries about that too much. He just flops  on the roof. He surveys.

"Among human beings a cat is merely a cat; among cats a cat is a prowling shadow in a jungle." (Capek 1890-1938)

 A Turtle Dove is  lovely to watch.  Yum yum. Says Frank. As he twitches his tail.

 Cranesbill  floats in the wind, looks great in the rain, and BEES love it. Not sure the cats care about how it floats. Or about bees. They do  chase bees sometimes.  They hide in the Cranesbill to chase the bees. Then the bees chase them......

 Looks like it's not just Frank who is interested in the Doves. .......or the big world outside. Bunny sees Frank. He twitches his tail at her. Bunny doesn't like his lounge act much.

 The cats are fully aware, of course,  that at the same time  Cranesbill is starting to  pop out of the dirt,   so is the  MOUNTAIN BLUET ( CENTAUREA). Of course they are. They see all and know all. Especially Frank.

 Also known as Bachelor's buttons, it's considered a WEED by some. For shame.

 A weed????? It came originally from Europe, likes lots of sun and some rain in which to thrive.  It's a hairy thing.  Kind of like a cat. Like Frank. Who has a big thick coat.

 Frank is more interested in the DOVES than flowers.. He naps all morning on the greenhouse. He waves his paws in the air when he dreams. He must think he is a Dove.

 At the same time,  Cordelia keeps her eye on Frank.  She hides behind the Cranesbill

 which  is : is rabbit resistant, masses well, and reminds Frank that life is pretty good on the roof.

 CENTAUREA often shows up as a mistake, like it did here, in my garden. Just sort of popped up one day. Like Frank did. Just one small plant , that decided to live in the dirt, and now it's spreading through the garden. A weed? Shame Shame.  I love it. The bees go crazy for it. It grows up to 30-80 centimetres tall. And yes, it's hairy. Looks a lot like a thistle. Or like  a cat. Like Frank. 

 Besides which there are troughs of Sweet peas . There are miles of sweet peas .  Well,  almost miles. Frank watched me stuff seeds into the dirt. Grow . Grow. Grow. Frank  sniffs into the wind from his perch. He must sense the Doves.

Those Doves  hanging out in the cherry tree.......... opposite Frank on the roof.

 Much to Frank's dismay. He  climbs up higher ,to the top of the greenhouse. Thinking he'll be closer to the action. He croons away. 

 Smokey is wiser.  He naps on the bench. He yawns at Frank.

 And CORDELIA is the wisest of all. She  sees Frank teeter away on the roof.
"Sitting silently, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself." (Basho 1644-1694)

 Only the MOAI is silent about it all. Buried up to its ears in  green stuff.

 And the  prolific CENTAUREA: It now grows all the way up and around the fence.  BEE haven.The flowerheads are very much like knapweeds. Fuzzy and hairy. Like a cat, remember. Like Frank. Frank the Cat from the hill, who is having a lovely day. Waves his paws from the roof and sings....

 "Stay quiet; refuse nothing; flowers grow only because they tranquilly allow the sun's rays to reach them. You must do the same." (Juliana Krudener 1764-1824)

In Campbell River

 CAMPBELL RIVER is situated on the east coast of Vancouver island, British Columbia on Discovery passage. It's about a 3 1/2 hour drive north of Victoria.   In the spring it is somewhat of a show off.  All fresh and new.

 Has a healthy group of Star Trek enthusiasts, of the furry purrrrsuasion.

 Beaches at low tide  provide a great expanse  of wide open spaces. You can find beaches all along the coast. Some of the closest ones  to the city are Saratoga, Miracle  and Rotary Beach and a few others tucked here and there.

 In the spring,  spring flowers are bar none. Lush. Green. Velvety with rain. ( This is Anenome)
 Discovery Harbour, Fisherman's Wharf, Coast Discovery Marinas are close  by. Salmon point is located just on the edge of town,heading towards Courtenay.

 If you get a fishing license, you can fish from the Pier ,off the boardwalk on hot summer days, or go with a fishing guide and fish in open water.

 Or you can try whale watching.

 Or cat watching.

 And try out the  fabulous sushi places downtown.

 Or just watch the flowers grow.

  A 40 minute drive north of  Campbell River, is Strathcona Park. 

 Watch the flora and fauna wave in the wind.

 Or be watched.

 Plenty of biking, hiking, golf. Grape vines explode. In the fall there will be grapes to turn into wine. Then there will be wine making from the fruits that have grown all summer: rhubarb, blackberry, cherry, grape, apple......

In Campbell River Pier Street Market goes on all summer long, till October. I have gone off and on, can be a little pricey, but there are tons of aritsans, baking, fresh veggies, music to be had. Grteat place to meet people.

 Quadra island  hosts Studio tours from time to time featuring local art people, crafters, designers. Really something to see.

 And when you get tired , there are  B and B's, Resorts, Campgrounds, hotels, and friends to stay with.

 Real estate is changing all the time in Campbell River.

 The streets are wide and easy to navigate.

 And the fences are pretty nice as well for sitting on.

 A new hospital is going up. Exploding out of the ground. It is said it will be ready in about 371 days. It will be fabulous.

 Meanwhile. Plenty of time to watch the ferns unfurl. And rush hour seep by. Or just sit on the porch and watch it all unfold.

"Imagination is the real and eternal world of which this vegetable universe is but a faint shadow. " (William Blake)

Maidenhair Fern.....

 "It is morning, and in the morning when the light drips through the shutters like the dew, I arise, I face the sunrise...." ( all quotes from From "Morning Song" by Conrad Aiken 1889-1973. Amercian
Pulitzer Prize winning author)

 The Maidenhair fern sprawling awake is one of my favourite  early spring things. 

 I have only one maidenhair fern, (Western Five Fingered) and I plopped it with all the other ferns  up on the hill, a few years ago.And promptly forgot about it.It was buried  with all the rest. Turned my back on it and plundered on with other  less delicate green things. Sad state of affairs.


 And still it thrived. Along with the Cranesbill, that  seem to  propagate profusely at will, like little bunny rabbits.  And that's a good thing. At first I thought THEY were weeds. Poor Cranesbill. Now I know better. Like with the Maidenhair fern.

 The Maidenhair fern(Adiantum aleuticum) is so light and feathery;  poofs up over the summer. I ended up moving it into its own container, so I wouldn't lose it, or step on it, or chop it down. By the time I found it under all the ground covers, it had dwindled .

 In its own pot it  comes back every year. Again and again. Even though one year I tipped the pot over and it lay upside down for sixth months , in the dirt. It's  fronds are something of a marvel,  since rain will shed leaving the leaves dry. It also produces some sort of  lovely scented oil that is used in shampoos. Some believe that it will help baldness or dandruff sufferers. It was often made into  soap to be  scrubbed into the scalp.Would cure any scalp sores. Well well.....awesome little plant.

 "Vine leaves tap my window, Dew drops sing to the garden stones, the robin chirps in the chinaberry tree repeating three clear tones."

 
 The fronds are supported on long dark "sticks" which at one time Native people used to weave into baskets. Fronds  were also used to stop bleeding  wounds.

 They can grow in the garden alongside sweetpeas. Neither of which are very demanding.  Just don't step on them. They don't like that.  If the fern gets too much water it will lead to root rot. It doesn't like that either.

 If you do let it get too dry, or stomp on it, or cut it back, or tip it over, over water or underwater, you can make a quick save by giving it a good soaking in water. Then leave it alone and it will forgive. And grow.


 If you put it into a pot, don't  repot it into a larger one. It doesn't like that. Likes small pots in which to  feel comfortable. Not great grown indoors.  I keep mine outside in its pot,  under the rhododendrons.That way I won't step on it, or squash it, or destroy it in any way.

 Tolerates CATS eating its leaves, or being smothered by snow and ice. Very forgiving fern.

 Grows well beside HOSTA.....in the dapple corners of the garden. Will be happy all summer.

LEAVES are used to make teas, which are said to treat a number of ailments like colds, kidney stones, swishing out  the liver, any number of lung ailments, jaundice, bladder gravel  and a some say a great diuretic. But don't go stripping your fern of leaves.  There are a number of websites where you can order  Maidenhair tea leaf concoctions.

 "There are horses neighing on far-off hills tossing their long white manes, and mountains flash in the the rose-white dusk, their shoulders black with rains."

 "Vine leaves tap at the window dew drops sing to the garden stones, the robin chirps in the chinaberry tree repeating three clear tones...................................." 

Photos: Michelle McConachie Woods ( idylldirt.blogspot.com)
QUOTES from "Treasury of Great Poems" 1942 publication