The Changing Moods of Mother Nature

Mother Nature is one fickle girl - she can blow soft breezes that caress the land in a bright, laughing sun




or she can sprinkle the landscape with a gentle shower that bathes the green trees and washes the faces of the flowers








For some reason, sometimes, Mother Nature gets angry with thunder and lightening and wind driven rain. Usually, the flowers and the trees are immune to her anger, bowing before her wrath but standing tall and bright in the afterglow





Then sometimes, Mother Nature's wrath builds - one can feel it in the air - a hot, heavy, still air that portends something happening. One can see her wrath building in the black clouds boiling to the west















The rain is harder, blown in the angry wind

Mother Nature throws balls of ice in her tantrum which slam into roofs and cars and defenseless plants.









The hail washes from the eaves to collect in piles under the downspout.




After Mother Nature's tantrum has passed, the damage is surveyed - the fading iris blooms are battered, but still standing tall and proud.

But Mother Nature is not finished with her wrath - she builds again to the west - the clouds are blacker and angrier as they swirl and boil.

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We stand and watch as she moves closer and closer, hoping it will pass but knowing that this storm is too big and too close to simply slip on by.

We can hear her before she hits - a roaring off to the west, we can see trees start to bend and the sheets of liquid pour from the sky

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And then she is here - much angrier than before, throwing wind and hail and rain as hard as she can.

Rivers of water form and flow turning paths into raging streams boiling with white water.








Lakes form on the streets and garden plants become submurged in the murky water.

The terraced steps are submerged under a layer of water.

And then, suddenly, she is quiet, her wrath calmed in the sun's return.

The consequences of her wrath are laid bare for all to see.

Rhubarb lays flat, it's giant leaves stripped and filled with holes.

The strawberry plants, just starting to give us their bright red berries are alive, but bruised.



The tender young leaves of the hosta were no match for the Mother's wrath, they have been ripped to shreds.









Water and rain and wind have changed the landscape, where there were wood chips, black dirt is left, the chips having been driven onto the lawns by the force of the water.

The plants which had bloomed and blossomed and filled out in the spring are bent and twisted and broken in the aftermath.

Lakes of water cover the streets and sidewalks and lawns - a testament to the amount of water that fell and yet still an enticing wonder to a little boy.



























But Mother Nature is not done with her wrath on this day as she boils up again to the north.

Damage surveys are put on hold as we run for cover as the raindrops begin to fall








But she is spent, her wrath is done, this rain falls for only minutes through sunshine breaking through the clouds to the west.

And within minutes - it is done - the birds in their wisdom sing songs to welcome the sun back and calm Mother Nature. The rivers turn to gentle streams and soak into the ground. Within minutes they are gone, leaving behind canyons and ruts, a reminder of her force.

Sonnet: Don’t Blame Nature

Why challenge Mother Nature, man, in vain?

Accept her superiority and pow’r;

One can’t traverse with equal speed each lane;

Take blame for every flood, wind, drought and show’r!

When hot, the excess steam must be let off;

When cold, one needs to cover to gain heat;

When Nature’s in a furious mood, don’t scoff;

Find solutions better and don’t retreat.

When Nature sends a breeze, man loves her touch;

When Nature blows a wind fierce, men rant, rave;

Yet, Nature balances her acts so much;

From natural disasters, man ought to save.

Align with Nature:

Love the way she works;

But cursing God brings man more Nature’s jerks!

Copyright by Dr John Celes 9-6-2005

So she is calm again and morning brings her gentle side, the damage will be surveyed, pruning and raking and staking can cover the bruises left behind. The roots of the plants remain strong and will send out new shoots. Mother Nature will recover and we need to remind ourselves that it could have been worse - the damage to a few plants is small compared to the loss of property or life.

The wrath of Mother Nature will return again, we can never be sure when or how angry she will get. Nature does balance and we will soon forget this angry outburst as we bask in her calm and gentle side.

After the Storm

The weekend of June 10th we had a huge rain storm - 3" of rain fell that day in two separate storms. The evening storm turned the sky to an angry, boiling mass of clouds that dropped hail only three km further east from our yard.



It is amazing to see the power of mother nature and to think that rain can take so many different faces - a soft, gentle shower or a hard, pounding rain that causes soil to move and plants to break. Such was the storm last Sunday.

The last of the tulip petals were victims to the rain's ravages. They seemed to appear one day, brighten the front path for a short time and then poof - a sudden summer storm brings their time in the garden to an end.

The Dwarf Koren Lilac, profuse with blooms this year, puts forth a wonderful perfumed scent made all the more heady by the rain.

It is a joy to catch it's scent even when you are no where near it.

But the rain also nourishes the parched soil and hopefully will bring forth those hosta's that seem to hide beneath the ground until well into June making us think that they somehow perished over the winter. Their tiny heads have finally poked through the ground making one wonder how they will be able to grow big enough over the summer to fill their alloted space.

The sages have grown huge over the past month and the storm serves notice that notes need to be made to stake them.

Can I prune now, I wonder?

The irises planted along the front of the garden have all bloomed and survived the pounding they took from the rain to stand guard over the sprouting vegetables.

The rain pounded so hard that the little statue needs to have his feet washed!!!

So too, the faces of the poor poppies which popped out of the safety of their jackets only to be pounded down to the ground by the rain.

The Lady's Mantle glistens with the rain caught in the cupped leaves - my how this plant has grown since it was transplanted last year from Mom's garden. Looks like there is a mystery hitchhiker within it's leaves as well!

The storm nourishes the plants and even though it has been a cold spring, it seems they have taken to the garden since being planted only last spring.

They are filling in, growing tall and blooming.

The garden - planted the last weekend in May has popped and soon will be giving us it's tasty produce. It seems to have weathered the storm albeit with dirty faces.

So the storm passed - stories of floods to the west and south and damaging hail to the east made us thankful that the driving rain only filled the creek beds and caused some new erosion channels in our sloping yard.

Yes, Mother Nature is a powerful force at times but it is the beauty and the scent that she also brings that can make us forget and forgive her anger.

Snips & Snails II

This past weekend our grandchildren came to Pops and Grandma Donna's house - which for a three year old is a wonderful playground full of all those things that he doesn't have at home.





The first thing he spied was the bridge over the newly built "dry pond". Staying on the bridge was NOT an option when there were all those ROCKS down below. Of course Grandma's admonishment of "don't move any of Grandma's rocks" seemed to fall on deaf ears as the overwhelming urge to organize them and - as I was told - "make a line of rocks".

By Sunday, he had discovered our Basement - another treasure trove of all things "boy-like".

Wood and wrapping paper rolls and "those little strong arm things" (as I figured out after he asked five times and I had to get him to show me that he was referring to the small one pound weights) were lugged upstairs to become another part of the "castle" he had built at the foot of our bed with every pillow in the house. He would bury himself in the pile and whenever anyone would try to go over - he would jump out and tell them he was the troll who lived under the bridge and they couldn't cross.

Back outside he moved from the pond to the dry creek bed where he decided that the rocks placed along the sides of the creek should all be piled in one spot.

What is it about little boys and rocks?

So they've gone home - leaving in their wake little reminders that they were here and - looking on the bright side of things - the wood from the castle has been moved out to the deck - a few less pieces that Pops has to lug up the stairs.

The pile of rocks can easily be moved back into place - and after all, I wanted to move some of those rocks anyway.

The pillow cases were removed from the pillows for washing before the pillows were put back in their rightful places.

The "strong arm things" while still sitting on the kitchen counter are maybe a gentle reminder to Grandma Donna that perhaps she should get back to exercising?

While I have a tub of toys in the closet, not once did this little boy get those toys out, his toy box was the yard and the house and his toys were all the mundane everyday things that we see no use for but to a three year old, they become fodder for his unimaginable imagination.

Perhaps toy manufacturers - and we parents and grandparents who get sucked in - should listen and see what is really fun for little boys - they don't need all those fancy, smancy toys - they just need wood to build whatever their imagination makes it to be, they just need a pile of stones or pillows that become their imaginary castles. Wrapping paper rolls have a multitude of uses in a three year old mind - swords to fight with your sister or flag poles to sit atop your "pillow castle".

So as I go about my day today, I am sure I will continually find evidence of the three year olds visit and I will move them back to their rightful places all the while remembering with a chuckle the energy and imagination that children have when they are just allowed to PLAY!!!

Hmmmmmm - I think I have my Christmas gifts sitting right outside in my yard!

The Project

Ever since our new house arrived on Sept 29, 2004, we have been working spring and summer to get the landscaping done. As our yard is a massive two lots for a total of 160 x 130, this is no small undertaking.






The summer of 2005 saw us just getting the basics in place - front steps and front deck.

The Back Deck so we didn't drop off into space out the back door.

Slowly we moved outward. Once the decks were done, we could tackle the contouring of the yard, moving the dirt from front to back and from back to front, creating lawn areas and rock garden areas, flower garden areas and the hot tub pad. Now I had plans for a pond from the very start. Given that we have very sandy soil, I spent my time while the Foreman worked on the back deck, digging a five foot hole in our back yard. That hole was carefully worked around through the whole summer of 2005 as the bobcat moved earth around our lot creating the final lay of the land.

Finally winter came and we could rest!

The spring and summer of 2006 saw three little boys moving next door. Inquisitive little boys who LOVE our yard. We looked at that five foot hole and thought of it filled with water and three little boys next door.

We began to fill in the hole!

By the winter of 2006, we had the basic outline of the pond - smaller and shallower but no less attractive.

By the time the snow had melted and the spring work began, the three little boys arrived in our yard, eager to help!

We began to rethink the 8" pond.

We decided to make it into a dry pond - after all, we have three dry creek beds running through our property - it only made sense to have a dry pond too. That way no little boys would fall prey to the watery attraction.

We laid out the tarp, strategically placed some of the multitude of rocks kindly hauled by our neighbour (the father of the three little boys) and pondered the shear size of the "dry pond"

We installed the water feature - safetly buried underground - away from little boys.

We filled the bottom of the gigantic black fabric with gravel - added more rocks and stones and placed the rock fountain on top of the below ground tub.

The beginnings of a bridge were laid in place

The Foreman pondered the job in his precise, practical, measure twice-cut once way.

Slowly but surely on a 30 degree Sunday in June, the project began to take shape.

The Foreman tested his work for weight bearing capability.

Three little boys visited, spied the new addition and promptly jumped off the bridge into the "pond" to check out the water feature.

Ah yes - a Dry Pond was definitely the Right Way to go.

And so the vision has come to be - albeit with a few minor alterations along to way as circumstances changed - it brings a feeling of completeness to the yard. All the major projects are finished, the decks are built, the gardens and paths are enclosed with landscape ties, the Arbour and the Hot Tub screen are built.

There is still lots to do, plants to plant, weeds to hoe and lawns to mow.

But for now, we can sit back with a feeling of accomplishment - listen to the water flow from deep underground up and over the rock placed on top while three little boys step from rock to rock through the pond.

The Project is Complete!

The Bonus Tree

Often when one transplants a plant from one garden to another you get a few bonus plants, little hitchhikers that have fastened themselves onto the main plant.

Usually these bonus plants are other perennials that you can ease away from it's temporary home and lovingly transplant into a new space where it can feel free to grow and spread.

The bonus plants are usually the fast growers and spreaders, things like yarrow, or daisies or corn flowers. Even the little jumping jack - the first to bring welcome color to the spring landscape hitchhikes on a transplanted plant then proceeds to become an aggressive, annoying guest - popping up everywhere whether you want her around or not!.

Often they are things like gout weed, or other invasive ground covers, or in the case of my lovely miniture yellow irises - a whole lawn takes up residence and in those cases it is sometimes just best to try to get every last bit of the freeloader out (not the easiest task) and into the compost heap (as will be happening to the grass in the iris once the blooms have faded).

Sometimes two of the more invasive perennials take up residence together - Yarrow and Cornflower - sort of like peas in a pod!

Sometimes you find a bonus like a little lupin growing in the iris clump. This little hitchhiker will have to wait for the iris to be divided later in the year before he earns a permanent home.

And sometimes, you find a tiny, tiny sprout of some tree or shrub that is a mystery. Such is the case of our "bonus" tree.

This little tree came into our garden one year ago on one of the plants transplanted from Mom's garden. It was only about 3" tall and had about three leaves and it's trunk measured only fractions of an inch around. It was so tiny, it would have been easy to miss in the haste of getting the transplanted perennials into the ground. Even then, given the red color, we knew it was one of the good "bonus" plants so we slipped it into some soil, tied it to a garden stake (mostly so we didn't inadvertently hoe it out on a rambuncious weeding rampage) and kept it watered.

That mystery tree is now about 2 1/2 feet tall and growing well. It has definitely found it's permant home - right where we planted it a year ago.

But what is this mystery tree - Mom had lots of fruit trees and shrubs in her yard so we are thinking it is the child of one of those. We have an apple tree planted this year and the colors of the leaves are much the same although shaped slightly differently.

Unless someone can identify this lovely bonus plant, it shall remain the mystery tree until such time as it decides it is time to let us know it's name through it's blossoms, or fruit.

Until then, we will watch it grow, fertilize and water and lovingly take care of our "bonus tree".

The Ever Strange Mind of The Night People

Sooooo......It is 4:22 am and I have been awake for an hour and a half. Sometimes that happens,

I wake up and just can't get back to sleep. My mind starts to turn - this time I was planting the garden in my mind!

After tossing and turning for about half an hour, I turned on the radio, hoping that it would take my mind off the many thoughts twirling about in my mind.

Now our radio is tuned to the 630 CHED which is a talk radio station. From the hours of 2 am -5am the Coast to Coast radio show brings out the "Night People".

The "night people" call into the Coast to Coast show to discuss the current topic (sometimes); but more often than naught, they call in to report UFO sightings, government conspiracies, bigfoot sightings, future predictions or often just to ramble about whatever is on their minds.

According to the "night people", our governments are controlling our minds, covering up the fact that aliens have landed and not only are walking amongst us, but impregnating the women! They speak of conspiracy theories on everything from Roswell, N.M., the Kennedy assasination, 9/11, the Iraq war and even how radio waves are used for mind control!!

These "night people" seem to have a completely different view of the world than we "day people". Perhaps it is due to the fact that they can't sleep either and their minds are also twisting and turning making mountains out of molehills (as one's mind is quick to do in the quiet of the night).

So I listen to the "night people" calling the radio to discuss their latest theories. It is like coming upon the scene of an accident, you don't want to look, but you can't help yourself. Even though the musings of the "night people" seem to be just a bit out there, I struggle to stay awake to hear the discussion. Gardening thoughts are replaced by questions of "what if" as the discussions in the darkness make it all seem just a little more plausible!


As the birds begin their wake up calls outside and the sky begins to lighten in the east, I realize that sleep will not be forthcoming any more this night.

The discussions of the "night people" fade in the memory as reality takes over and thoughts of conspiracies and UFO's and mind control are pushed aside as the coffee pot brews and I step outside into the real world to see that it is exactly as it was the night before!

The Greening of the World

I love the shade of Green of the new leaves in spring.

It is that bright, chartruese green that tells me that the start of the warm weather is upon us.


It also portends the working season. That time of year when we get to enjoy the fruits of our labour only after we have laboured to cut the grass (2 hours - every 4-5 days), pull the weeds (a daunting and never ending task) and finish putting the "Bones" into the yard.




The Garden has been dug and Hubby (always concerned about "erosion" has cut and pounded rebar into landscape ties to create the "foursquare" plot. Planting is still to come. Each year, I plan to get the garden in early, yet it seems that either the weather or the preparation delays getting the seeds into the ground.





ANOTHER trip to the Greenhouse to pick up a "couple" of things is like being a kid in a Candy store and trays are filled with a little of this and a little of that......"ohhhh, imagine how these would look along the front border".







I really should NOT go to greenhouses!!!











The spring blooming shrubs (Mohican Wayfaring Tree) start to put forth their blooms, although I have three of these shrubs and this is the only one that is as leafed out and has blooms as yet.














The Tulips planted two fall's ago seem to have established themselves in the rock garden and surprise me with their blooms.











The Jumping Jacks not planted by us seem to have popped up everywhere - almost to the point that they have become a nusiance. Their bright purple faces bring color to the garden before anything else so they are allowed to stay albeit controlled (as if that is remotely possible!)










The Rhubarb plants - one transplanted from the Wetaskiwin Garden - having made a move in between it's final resting spot - and the other two transplanted from Mom's garden - are promising lots of rhubarb and strawberry tarts! YUM!!!





Yes - the Greening of the World is a Wonderful Time of year - bringing the promise of warm days to come, fresh vegetables, sweet berries and delicious baking!

Rhubarb and Strawberry Tarts

Preheat oven to 425

Frozen Tart Shells (after all there are more important things to do than make tart shells)

2 cups Rhubarb chopped

1 cup sliced strawberries

2 eggs

2 tbsp butter

1 cup sugar

3 tbsp flour

Put fruit in bowl - whisk eggs with remaining ingredients and stir into fruit.

Fill tart shells

Bake tarts at 425 for about 6 minutes - turn oven to 350 and bake for another 20 minutes or so - watch the edges of the tarts to guage doneness. (The recipe times are for a pie so I have adapted them for tarts - use your discretion as to times for your oven)

Enjoy warm with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream!

The sweetness of summer at its best.

The above recipe can also be made as a pie - bake @ 425 for 10 min - 350 for another 30-40