A lovely Sunday walk through the Botanical Gardens in West Sechelt. What a gem that property is. They have signs on all the different trees and plants so you are getting an education as well as exercise. A perfect Sabbath.
I love these mushrooms, the symmetry and detail. They look like a fancy tart or pie with cinnamon on the top.
Eldest daughter’s yard
Healthy boundaries are important,
but you may be building a brick wall
when a picket fence would do.
~Amy Dickinson
Like delicate lace,
So the threads intertwine,
Oh, gossamer web
Of wond’rous design!
Such beauty and grace
Wild nature produces…
Ughh, look at the spider
Suck out that bug’s juices!”
― Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat
This popped up overnight along our driveway. Mushrooms everywhere after the rains.
Mushroom Season
When God wants to make a mushroom, He does it overnight,
but when He wants to make a giant oak,
He takes a hundred years.
Great souls are grown through struggles and storms
and seasons of suffering.
Be patient with the process.
~Rich Warren
Water off a ducks back
Everyone brought their own dishes, cutlery and their contribution for a traditional turkey dinner with all the fixings. Food was set up buffet style inside. One couple at a time filled their plates and went outside to eat, distanced from the other couples. Toques, afghans and electric blankets added to the festive atmosphere with pouring rain on the deck roof, our dinner music and stories of the week’s adventures our dinner conversation. When it got too cold to stay outdoors, we each took our own plates home with us as well as containers of leftovers for tomorrow. I’d say it was a successful family dinner and probably the most unique one we’ve shared so far. I am thankful for daughters who are creative thinkers with adventurous spirits who know how to make the best of an imperfect situation. Thank you for a wonderful day.
Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy,
and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”
~William Arthur Ward
No matter where you go or what you do,
you live your entire life within the confines of your head.
~Terry Josephson
Bright pink watering can forgotten, still signs of life abound. Tiny red tomatoes cling to sprawling vines. Verdant Jerusalem artichoke reach to the top of the fence, competing for last rays of sun as it plays hide and seek behind giant fir trees lining the road. Asparagus ferns bend low with dew drop jewels dripping from each lacy frond. In the woods, mighty Maple dressed in orange and yellow with moss green skirt bends to pale purple self-heal around its trunk as rugosa rose hips blush with their secret bounty of vitamin C. Bright orange nasturtiums hang over raised bed sides as though laughing at those still encased inside.
It’s Fall but the garden is still a beautiful, lively place to wander.
©Sharron R. McMillan
Nasturtium and impatiens disagreeing on the politics of gardening
If you have integrity, nothing else matters.
If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.
~Alan Simpson
Cosmos
Cosmos flower is a daisy-like flower that attracts the attention of butterflies and birds, but people love it above all. This gorgeous flower has a specific chocolate scent, which makes it unique and easy to recognize. You wouldn’t even have to look around, you will get familiar with the Cosmos flower’s scent the first time you feel it. Cosmos flower has a cute shape – bowl or cup one and grows up to 6 feet in height. You can grow the Cosmos flower in your garden, but it also makes great cut flowers, so you can decorate your home with it during winter.
The main meanings of the Cosmos flower are:
• Beauty,
• Order,
• Peace,
• Wholeness,
• Modesty.
Cosmos flower represents peace and order in the first place, but it also carries romantic meaning as it tells your partner that the two of you will walk together through life, hand in hand.
You can also gift the Cosmos flower to your beloved one to express how happy and thankful you are for just having such a great person in your life. People born in October get the Cosmos flower all the time, as this flower stands for October babies.
The word cosmos originally comes from the Greek language and it represents love and beauty and literally means harmonized/balanced universe. Cosmos flower comes in many vibrant colours and has a deep and sensual fragrance that send off a message of love and peacefulness.
Cosmos flower has a short, but interesting history. There is a legend that the Cosmos flower got its name by a Spanish priest who developed these flowers in mission gardens of a monastery. The priest noticed how symmetrical and aligned petals of the Cosmos flowers were so that he decided to name them by Greek name for the ordered universe – cosmos.
Dahlia in Eldest Daughter’s Garden
