July 2012 – Summerhouse Art

both-sides Our front garden is to put it bluntly, awkward. It is bisected not only by a straight ugly sidewalk but just a few feet away is an even uglier driveway. We have a space of about four feet in between the two and that leaves us with a strip in the middle to make something out of. On top of that, the soil needs constant amending since it is rock hard and dry all summer. Victoria, for all it’s rain in winter, is desert-like all summer and we live with water restrictions as well.

So keeping that in mind we have tried to use mostly plants that can stand both extremes. The goal eventually is to have some plants like the cedars give winter interest and fill in with all the dry land plants for summer.

We are pretty haphazard about it all, I must admit. And often things come up that we weren’t expecting, or things have spread and found their own spots and we tend to leave them to it. I’ve posted in the past about how this garden surprises us and even earlier about an Accidental Poppy Garden.

This summer it has surprised us once again and we’ve let it happen. To really appreciate it you have to see it from the front steps down to the street.

lft-from-frnt

Then to appreciate it even more it is necessary to go to the street and look back and enjoy the chaos and color.

left-from-front

right-from-front1

But to totally appreciate what the plants have done you must slow your progress and look closely at the individual groupings made almost all by unexpected plants like Lamb’s Ears or Mallow or even oregano ( which has escaped the herb garden and gone traveling) cosying up to what we actually planted. Those of you who know a weed when you see one will probably find quite a few. As an artist, I tend to give them a chance if they fit in somehow and look nice. At least for a while….

lavender

iris-and-sedum

strawberries What a lovely weekend, hot, sunny and full of surprises.

We went out yesterday to get strawberries. We go every year to the same place, a little stand on Veyaness Rd where a grandmother in her sari sells us a flat of lovely strawberries. This afternoon, they will become a few jars of freezer jam. And will taste as fresh as they are today. Nothing like local strawberries.

Then after a stop for lunch and iced tea in Sidney we decided to take the long way home. Does that make you think of that song by Supertramp? Oh go on and enjoy it on youtube. I apologize in advance for the youtube ads.

And headed off to Island View Beach. Ah lovely ocean breezes, so cool and refreshing.

sunbathers kids-on-beach With the strawberries keeping cold in a cooler ( we think of everything, dontcha know) we spent a bit of time walking the beach.

After making another stop to get the smallest of new potatoes for a summer salad, we headed up a road we’d never been on before. Isn’t that what you might do on holiday, discover somewhere you’ve never been before?

As I’ve maybe mentioned before, since we live in our fave holiday destination and actually don’t take the usual holidays we designate every summer weekend as our holidays. And this one little diversion ended up feeling like a holiday in the south of France … except, all the signs were in English. Ok I admit I’ve never been, but I’m pretty sure it’s just like this, except for the signs….

So here we are, meandering in lovely green countryside….

road-near-grapes1

with a farm lady whizzing by on a tractor…

tractor

on our right, a dappled horse grazing in a meadow.

horse-grazing We discovered acres of grape vines for wine? Mind you looking at the photo today, I’m wondering….maybe kiwi? Never mind, imagine grapes in the south of France, ripening in the hot sun….