Six on Saturday: December 30, 2017

 

1. On Christmas Eve we usually enjoy a quick meal,  each child opens one gift, and then we play a game or work on a puzzle together. This year we had adults work on the puzzle and kids playing with their new gifts. It was a very pleasant evening!

Before the festivities, Leo(7) and I made knock-knock jokes for the family: this one was for Mommy.

knock, knock

Who’s there?

Canoe

Canoe who?

Canoe help me make cookies?

I rushed to finish knitting a sweater for Ivy (8):

 

2.  Best of all, SNOW!

There was a snow ball fight and snow creatures built as well… See the rabbit to the left of the monster? He has long ears.

 

3. I was happy to wake up to sunshine on the 25th

and receive this present!

 

4. The clematis obelisks are lovely at this time of year!

and the Japanese area looks beautiful in snow too.

 

5. The hydrangea blooms are beautiful in a new way.

The ornamental grasses are not so decorative now…

 

6. There is even a bloom to share this time! This is witchhazel Pallida, small and sweet. Do you see the yellow blooms?

*****

Looking forward to the new year!

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Our Norfolk Pine

Our Norfolk Pine lives indoors year round. I bought it for our first Christmas 2 months after our move to British Columbia in 2014.

We are enjoying it still in 2017. Here it is today. 🙂

*****

Six on Saturday: December 23, 2017

Minus 9C this morning….

1. Clear skies has meant cold mornings, sometimes with frost on my car’s roof.

2. Humidity has meant lots of mushrooms on woodsy paths.

The moisture seems to agree with some plants that usually lose fresh foliage by now: Heucheras and Epimediums

3. A few of our grasses haven’t changed much at all.

And the leaves on the oakleaf hydrangeas remain….

4. Rhododendrons are all quite happy. This is a young one just planted last spring, called ‘Primrose’.

5. Oddly enough, both old and new foliage show on this young  Podophyllum.

6. Indoors, in the laundry room window, an array of succulents…

*****

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A Pre-Christmas Craft Evening.

On Christmas day it never seems there is enough time to build things, to stop and actually play with new toys. This year we hosted a build-a-toy event with the grandchildren and their parents. Each of the three children received a vehicle that came with instructions and a screw driver. One parent assisted each child as needed. Everyone had a great time!

Ivy (8) began working on her fire engine, with Mom’s suggestions.

Leo (7) worked with his Dad by the fireplace, building a front-end loader. (It helps to stick out one’s tongue while working!)

 

Forrest (5) worked with his grandfather on his dump truck.

All done!

*****

 

Six on Saturday: December 16, 2017

This gets more difficult as winter approaches… but I found my six after hunting about with my camera. No snow at the moment, just sun and cool air.

 

1. It has been 3 years since we bought a small Norfolk Pine. It has survived in the same pot with precious little attention. Occasionally it gets decorated for Christmas.

 

2. Some of the garden plants seem to have avoided harm from our frosty nights, at least so far! For example this blue flowering Pulmonaria.

 

3. The Geums still look very green.

 

4. This Euphorbia seems to have refreshed itself along with the cooler weather.

 

5. Yes, other plants have put on new growth, dispite the cold.

Columbine

Corydalis quantmeyerana `Chocolate Star’.

 

6. While others are in bud or bloom.

Witchhazel

White Hellebore …before Christmas!

*****

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Six on Saturday: December 9, 2017

What a busy week it was, indoors and outside as well. We needed to finalize travel plans for January, help search for our daughter’s missing work dogs who escaped, attend various meetings and choir practices, and on & on…
But here we are with temperatures of 6-8 Centigrade in the daytime, and frost at dawn. I forgot to plan for scraping the car of ice in my timeline, so almost missed a doctor’s appointment yesterday.

So here are my 6:
1. Puddles everywhere, mushrooms in the lawn,  Dacrymyces chrysospermus (I think) on a stump, and raindrops falling from the moss covered branches.

 

2. Berries have darkened on the Disporum Night Heron. This is on my favourite plant list!

 

3. Fresh and fun in the garden at this time: baby Cyclamen plants and Helleborus foetidus in bud.

 

4. Gifts are always fun….

 

5. Wood is stacked by the door in case we have time for an evening fire one day soon!

 

6. And a happy ending is required for all stories: The return of the work dogs! The rascals went partying in the woods for 3 nights! Scared us to death.

*****

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Six on Saturday: December 2, 2017

 Welcome to December! For now it turns dark so very early, near 4:30pm. After Christmas the days will lengthen and there should be more light. I hope!

Here are my six:

1. Our Cercis forest pansy has been here a couple of years. When I bought it I got “a deal” because the top had been damaged somehow.  It is healthy and pretty, but we decided to make one branch into the new lead by tying it up straighter. I think this should work well, we’ll see how it goes next year. (No beauty award this year!)

 

2. Do you know Acer macrophyllum? The leaves are huge, hence the name Bigleaf Maple! They grow wild around here and the grandchildren enjoy collecting them, pressing them flat and tracing them.  They have all fallen by now.

 

3. Before we moved here someone had a great time making leaf impressions for the concrete front walkway. I enjoy the fern shapes.

 

4.  Since it is a wet and rainy season here in BC now,  the mosses look bright green, lush and soft. I enjoy them on the ground and rocks, less so on our roof!

5. Still enjoying Clematis seedheads and grasses. I leave them around until March or April when I prune the vines that require it as well as the grasses.

Ornamental grass Northwind

Hakonechloa macra Nicolas

 

6. The Magnolia buds are showing.  This is a late blooming variety, but even so, last year’s flowers had some damage. It is a young tree that I moved to British Columbia from Ontario, back when it was tiny. I hope it is stronger now and will make it through the winter nicely.

*****
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