TICKETS IN HAND!!!!!!!

The excitement mounts, the tension of waiting builds , or maybe I should just sit and enjoy a beer. The day of leaving will come whether I fret or not.
I went on a wonderful walk today.
Saw the distillery district. Really enjoyed the early morning quiet as the merchants were opening up, setting out their wares. A coffee sitting in a lane, looking at sculptures and reading a book by J.B. Priestly seemed the perfect moment to enjoy.
The "film" of life going on around me, aware of me being there or not, is fun to watch. I've always loved making up stories for the scenes I see. The couple at a table, talking together, a group looking in a window, contemplating something they see. A contretemps in a car as it passes by.
As I walked home, I passed the Queen St bridge. I love the saying written on it, but am not sure what it may mean.
Walks for me a long contemplative moments that I cherish. I go over the "tapes" in my head. Conversations from yesterday or from 10 years ago are not uncommon. The "Oh!, I see what he meant by that" moments come across me and solve long standing puzzles. These "time outs" are critical. I would never have thought so when I was young and hated being alone. All that noise around me kept out the thoughts that might have saved me some troubles. But then, I wouldn't be the me I am.

BEAUTIFUL SUMMERY MORNING!

The Iris are beginning to flower! This one is a deep red brown and is just exquisite. I am glad that I got to see them before I left. They last just a short time, so I have to get out and look at them as often as possible.
The lilacs are pretty much done. A great display this year.
The spiderwort, a small purple flower, have just begun to flower also.
Because my garden is now mostly a shade garden, the poppies I used to have hardly flower any more. That is too bad, because I love the intensity of their tissue paper colours.
The main of the garden is full of garlic, making for a very "fragrant" grassland.
I like the blousy look of the place. No grass, lots of ground cover, hostas and day lilies. Something is always doing something! The birds love it because there is a great food supply and the cats love it, for obvious reasons. The squirrels use the upper highways to get around and I use it for the shade.
It is my secret garden place, hiding from being in the city.
I wonder how the years will affect that feeling.

The last stretch

Well, only a week to go! I get all my documents for travel tomorrow. I've been trotting around getting the bits and pieces one needs for a trip. It is sinking in, finally, that the trip will happen. I have been waiting a good long time...I think March, since I got going on it.
Of course, I have to put in the picture of my travelling companion again, since it is such a long time since the first publishing. Nina and I will trek our way around the North Island in New Zealand and Queensland in Australia.
The 9th of June is the day I take off and land there on the11th.
Coming back is long, but I get an extra day in there and seem to
travel for only a day!!!????

NOW FOR THE COUNTDOWN

All my plants went out this weekend. We have been lucky in that it has not skyrocketed in temperature and is too warm for plants to acclimatize to being out. I usually put shade cloth over them for the first few days, but the trees had leafed out a lot and they were well shaded enough to not need it. The cactus, in particular, love being out, particularly since they get a chance to bite unwary hands that reach out to pet them. How silly of people.
I love roses for that and the black locust trees too. All these biting snarling things. I wonder why?

The trip is getting closer!

I have my e-tickets and the bookings for the tour in OZ are done. Now begins the dance of the packing.

Music please.

What gets to go,
What gets to stay.
How will this fit?
What does this weigh?

One big suitcase with two climates in it and a medium backpack that I will be using to travel each of those climates. It will be winter in NZ and summer in OZ. So now I have to whittle it down to essentials and pick.

Long underwear is a must for winter in NZ. Cutoffs and sandals a must for OZ. Lots of socks, turtlenecks and sweater type stuff and on the other end, short sleeve tops and shorts.

I guess I will figure it out while there and purchase the missed items as I go. That falls under the category of "Souvenir". I can go with that.

I had a great day today, visiting old friends at the animation company I used to work with. I enjoyed seeing all the beautiful work they were doing and marveled at the amount of talent that is packed into one building.

The day was sunny and not too warm and I walked the distillery district in the early day's sunshine. It really was quite beautiful.

GREAT WEEKEND IN VANKLEEK HILL

We had a great weekend alright! Our family got together to celebrate both a new cottage and my brother Rene and Petra's wedding.
We stayed at a wonderful little B&B about 12 minutes drive from Van Kleek Hill, called Dream on the ridge. The hosts were wonderful, the food was superb and the bed very comfortable. The weather was too cold to enjoy the pool, but the birds and the forest were very welcoming. I saw turkeys, skunks and a lot of ruby throated hummingbirds. There were also rose breasted grosbeaks and woodpeckers fighting with the goldfinches for first dibs in the feeders.

I walked in a planted forest that felt like a cathedral. I'm sure a million people say that, but it was so peaceful and lovely. There were the remains of a turkey, probably caught by a coyote. The barred feathers were very neatly spread in a circle.
Grouse were around because I saw one near the guest house. Boy, that sure was a nature full weekend.

We saw rain 9and lots of it), sunshine and cloud, but all of it quite cold. Today it is very warm indeed compared to those few days ago.

My trip to New Zealand is getting closer. I am struggling to make sure I learn enough about my new camera. I want to not make the mistake of erasing things or corrupting files. Very scary when it is so far to go back for more.

A real spring day

The smell of the garden and the trees is heady. There are blossoms everywhere. I watch them as they come in waves. First the snowdrops. So quickly come and gone, but they are a herald to the rest. The the grape hyacinths. Their fierce blue is in a stark contrast to the lime greens of new growth. The daffodils with their family circles, all the faces looking out to the new and fresh world. Then the tulips (those that survive nipping off by the squirrels) come in with dignity. They lay their leaves around themselves like cloaks cast off to show the wonderful clothes they have come in.
No wonder we are all so taken with this parade. It is colour we have not seen for 5 months.
Even before the flowers came up, the promise of spring came with the lightening of the shrub's twigs. Some take on a redish colour as they gear up for leaf making. I found it wonderful to read someone speaking of the leaves of the horse chestnut spreading out like little umbrellas and tilting up to be solar panels! They are!
Today, with the warmth we are having, I sit by an open door, listening to the robin singing away. He does have the backdrop sounds of an ocean of cars, passing in waves, but he seems untdeterred from his task of announcing spring.
I have been told.

Wind

Today, the wind has been playing the scaffolding flutes next door.
the sound is a low moan that rises in intensity and pitch when the wind picks up.It's quite beautiful and melancholy.
This week was a wash as I have had a head cold and couldn't do much other than commune with my pillow. I pecked at my painting but it didn't hold my attention very well.
A baby dove (I can't believe that the doves have fledglings already and it's the first of May) has been hanging around our front yard all this week. I finally got a picture of him the other morning. He is wary of us but not afraid. He just keeps a respectful distance.

I wasn't outdoors at all till this afternoon. A gloriously sunny, warm and windy day. A walk around the gardens to see where everything is at tells me that there is a riot of garlic going on. No rose aphids or whatever bug it is that doesn't like garlic.
The bugs I DO have are the red lily leaf eaters. There they were, fornicating away on the new growth of lilies, laying little orange egg stuff all over. Last fall, I went out and ripped up all the lilies, in an effort to get rid of the bugs. I know they live in the soil, so I am determined to keep ripping out everything till they are gone. But what a loss!
They were so majestic. Turk's cap lilies.
The bugs eat all the leaves up till they look like ragged clothes, then the bugs eat the flowers. UGHHH!