CRUISING the PIER

 Sunset at Discovery Pier. Holland America cruise ship comes toodling along.....(With a  500mm Sigma lens at distance)

      And this is where I was standing. On the side of the Pier.
                       Holland America on the horizon by Quadra Island Lighthouse. So far,but getting close.

                                                   And finally, cruise ship pulls puffs slowly by the island.

   Sunset on the Pier. A workman eating fish and chips.
                                                          .

   My friend, Faith, and I , stood on the boardwalk, talking through the evening, watching the cruise ship putt putt its way along the passage.

                         

Discovery Pier is Canada's first salt water fishing pier. Fabulous place to just sit and eat fish and chips.Or fish. Or sit. Or visit. Or eat  ice cream.The snack shop rents rod and tackle, and licenses.

                                                   Not into fishing myself, but it's pretty cool.

Watching  eagles soar over the cruise ship.

                 The Pier is just the right size: 150 feet from shore, and 600 feet long
                                                           in which to sit and sigh, on a warm summer's night.
 
 In the summer, the Farmer's Market spreads out at the Heritage Museum at the entrance to the Pier boardwalk.  Produce, Art, Entertainment,  handicrafts.....(and don't forget the fishing).
                          I think I prefer, best, to stand on the pier, as the sun goes down.

                  "Someday, after mastering the winds.....

                                 "The tides and gravity......"

                                              

      "We shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time ....."

                          "In the history of the world, we will have discovered fire..." (Teilhard)                   

                           

                   "Perhaps we cannot raise the winds. But each of us can put up the sail,
                                      so that when the wind comes we can catch it." (E.F. Schumacher)
                                     

DAY to NIGHT

 Morning comes early. With Spencer, the neighbour's cat, usually snoozing on the porch. Before the heat .That July furnace that sucks itself inside every living thing and smolders.

          Morning, Spencer. It's good to see you again. Smart cat. Always sleeps in the same chair. He figures it's his. He's probably right.
                                                      
 And up on the hill, Cordelia ( from the house behind) watches. From her perch. I think she figures that's her place. Like some sort of angelic beacon. A beacon that purrs.
           Daises have started popping up everywhere, now that the Campanula has had its season.

                    Cherries to pick.                                          Fat Grapes to watch over.

                      Sweet peas to pick.            Everyday.      Sometimes twice a day.

Cats that flop. Cats that have fur coats. Even in the shade the pavement is rather hot.
                                        July has been simmering along  quite well.
                                        
                  Gardening at 7am. Only time to do it. When there is some sort of cool. Smokey ( Spencer's brother)  inspects everything.  Has to play with everything. Incredibly helpful.

  More sweet peas to pick. I'm trying to keep my head above the oodles of sweet peas. Me and my bright idea to plant a gazillion seeds.......(And I'd do it again in an instant)  Things to make. Like Marmalade. Glowing golden on the window sill.

By early evening, the heat settles. Smokey has the right idea. A little pocket by the fence in the shade. All his.

                    Cordelia is back on her perch. Sun has squeaked itself down a tad to bring shade. The sweet peas need to be picked again. Their fragrance so strong you can sense it, even  before you even get near. When cutting, it is almost overpowing. And I need to cut the grape vine trailers......have to wait for shade for that.
       
               Closer to sunset, pots to water.       Mind the cat(s). They seem to be everywhere.

              "Like a great poet, nature produces the greatest result with the simplest means.
                                                       There are simply a sun, flowers, water, and love. " (Heine)

    And Plums to pick in a week. That involves more canning.    And a few cats to watch over things.

                                Early evening, back on the porch.                     Day is coming into night..

When the dark  begins again. The cat trail between houses is cool.

                                                              Smokey will sit in the trail for ages.

                                               Under a Super Moon, night begins again.............

                                                  

SWEET PEAS

(July 10th grandmother's pitcher) )

 It's time to show you what the SweetPeas have been doing.I guess I wax poetic over them at times. But they hold very strong memories  of growing up, and watching my mother stuff seeds into the ground along the side of our house. Every year. Without fail. Sweet peas would grow incredibly  and peek in the windows of the diningroom. And I would climb onto a stool and cut them off . Stuffing my face into their heady aroma. Not wanting summer to end. Not wanting that time to be gone. I would put as many as could fit into granadmothers cream pitcher. And stuff my face into them yet again. I still do that.....

  (1979)
                                                                                                        May 2014 First shoots. I decided to do the peas differently this year. I was on a garden tour about two years ago and saw a property that was growing them free standing in troughs of good soil. So, I dug out the top terrace, scatterd about 12-15 packets of sweet peas in the dug out, covered iwth good soil, compost, etc, made a mound , and watched to see what it would do.

(First sweet pea)

"Where lilac trees are gossiping, and whisper tell tales to the breeze, Sweetpeas are now clambering. Each hangs her pretty graceful head ....." ( Robert Kirkland Kernighan April 25 1854-Nov 3 1926)

(June 12th)
Over the mound of soil I got this neat idea to put large tomatoe cages, attach stakes to each side and string twine on the top sections. The peas got bigger.....

                         (June 18th) And bigger. Must be all the fertilizer pellets I dropped in ...Lathyrus Odoratus, native to Sicily and the Aegean Islands. The flowerof Remembrance, in Victorian times.

 
 End of June 2014. .First sweet peas. Pye LOVES sweet peas. She will nuzzle them and nuzzled them. Must be the scent. She goes positively goofy when they are brought into the house. IF left alone with a vase, she will pull them out, systematically.......She's been doing this for year. Sweet pea seeds can cause symptoms of scurvy if ingested on a frequent basis. The seeds contain beta-aminoproppionitrile, which studies have shown to be  useful in skin grafting.

 
                                                                       (JULY 5th) Sweet peas have been around since the 1700's, courtesy of a monk named Cupani.  But it was a Scotsman, Henry Eckford, who cultivated them into the wow factor associated with the Victorian era. The sweet Pea has a royal connection as well. The Spencer family gardener,( of Diana, Princess of Wales), Silas Cole, made the blooms even more large and wonderful. When you see the "Spencer Variety Mix" on your next packet of Sweet pea seeds, you are in the presence of history.

 

 
 I've discovered that the secret to getting them to grow, is to plant them everywhere, with abandon.Have no fear with gardening. Crannies, pots, porch, in troughs.....my theory is that to get a LOT of anything, you have to plant a LOT. Many seeds will not take. Seeds are affordable, easy to find, and you're better to stuff as many as you can  into the ground, and let nature to the rest.Make sure they are well watered, every day.

                              (JULY 8th)  Sweet Peas on Steroids......
                  
             (July 8th sweet peas) Then cut and cut and cut the flowers and the stalks, will produce more.

 And more, and more. And then Spencer, from next door, helps manage  bouquets.  Every day fresh. Or every other day. Then  I am reminded again, of growing up with sweet peas every summer. Of hot July and August nights with ice tea,  and the rich, almost dark scent of the flowers. And I bury my face, like the cat, into each bouquet, not wanting to let it go, trying to remember the scent, until the next time.....
                        
        "Here are sweet peas on tip toe for a flight,with wings of gentle flush o'er delicate white." ( Keats)
   The more you pick the morer you get, and the more I pick the happier Pye is to  snuffle snuffle........