Not Quite Kingsbrae

I thought I'd post a few updated images of my gardens. These images were taken last week (June 24 approx.).

Folly Fest 2014: Julian's First Foray Playing At A Music Festival

For a number of years now Julian has been saying 'I can't sing'. Well, here he is singing at Folly Fest 2014, a three day music festival in the Village of Gagetown. I think he's proven himself wrong. He's singing a song called California Stars, originally written by Woody Guthrie and popularized by Wilco. Julian's musical partner was 'local sweetheart', Audrey Eastwood. I say 'local sweetheart' because that's how the local Gagetown newspaper referred to Audrey a few weeks ago. I think she was mortified by the reference (though it's kinda true...heehee). Audrey played the ukulele, Julian played the guitar....and Julian was a singer....

I wonder if he'll admit that now?

Damn...I Was Hoping For A Jackalope Sighting

Almost every morning I go for a 4.8 kilometre walk. It's a healthy way to start the day and also nice to get in touch with the world around me. I almost always see something or someone of interest: birds, animals, yokels, potholes, beer cans, coffee cups, etc.  On the morning that I shot this video I had a close encounter with something furry. It was a most pleasant rendezvous, although I suspect that we were both highly suspicious of each other's next move.

Signs Say A Lot About People

'Visitors Welcome'. This is the sign that sits at the roadside end of Howard and Marilyn Erb's driveway. At the other of the driveway you'll find Howard and Marilyn, two of the nicest people you'd ever meet.

Howard and Marilyn grow and sell herbs on their property and they're always eager to share insight as to how herbs can make your life better, or at the very least make soups and salads more delicious.

Howard and Marilyn are always giving visitors new recipes to try and often free herb samples with which to experiment. More than anything they give you their time, sharing their enthusiasm about not just herbs, but life itself! When we have friends visiting us, we often take them up to the Erb's property because, as the sign says, visitors welcome...and they mean it. Signs say a lot about people.

In contrast, take a look at the three signs which 'welcome' people to my neighbours' property. If you knew nothing about my neighbours, I wonder what conclusions you might make based on the signs alone. Signs say a lot about people.

Les Jardins Du Homme Libre (Fils de Patter)

Take a look at all of these images, soak in the veritable rainbow of colours, admire the azaleas, revel in the rhododendrons, and then consider the fact that the blooms you see are already 30% past their peak. These images were taken on June 20 in the garden of our photographer friend. Let's call him 'Homme Libre' to protect his identity.

Homme Libre told us that we arrived four days after the peak (June 16) of what we now call 'the greatest show on Earth'. Monsieur Homme Libre has something like five or six hundred azaleas and rhododendrons in his gardens. It is to be believed.

I believe! I believe!!

La Wendy, El Guppo and I were spielbund, spillband, spoolbound....bound by spelling. We felt like little fleshy pink Smarties, high on LSD, in a juicy bag of technicolour Skittles. It truly was a candy shop for our mind's eye.

Homme Libre and his gardener, Anne du Jo, have done a spectacular job of creating an oasis within an oasis. They deserve high praise (hence the LSD reference) for hard work and creative planning. If the world of gardening had two celebrity gardeners to give a 'two green thumbs up' rating (a la Siskel and Ebert, in a living sense), then I'd mention it here. I looked up 'celebrity gardeners' on Google in an effort to reference someone/anyone, but I didn't recognize a single name. Curious. The world has celebrity chefs (J.O), celebrity celebrities (J.Lo), celebrity athletes (M.J.), and even people famous for being famous (M.B-G.), so why not celebrity gardeners?

I hereby nominate Homme Libre and Anne du Jo for the coveted Pelle d'Or award. Of course I made that award up, but that in no way diminishes the deservedness of these two soil toilers/petal pushers. They are as brilliant as the azaleas and rhododendrons
that I photographed. I thank them for a most pleasant experience that has lasted far more than one fine morning in June.

The Real Monarchist League Of Canada

Having a royal family is one of the most ridiculous notions that I can imagine. Though it may have made sense 'back in the day' when the king or queen actually had powers, in society today it is an utter waste of money. The security costs alone to 'protect' the royals is staggering. What are we protecting them from anyway? The answer: lunatics. It's the lunatics who are keeping them alive, I'd argue.

In any event, down with the royals, I say. All royals, not simply the Camillalot crowd. <cue the whinny of Duke the studio stallion in 3...2...1....NOW!>.

I say that we worship the monarch butterfly. Let's take the money that we spend on the royals, and put it into habitat preservation for the monarch butterfly.

People....rise up and plant milkweed before it's too late!

The Canadian Canaries: A Beautiful Couple

Lately I've been seeing a pair of goldfinches on my morning walk. They flit about the bushes like school children on a playground. They're not easy to capture motionless. I was lucky to get these two to pose for about 15 seconds. Snap, snap, snap went my camera, and then off they went to bluer skies and greener pastures.

They're a handsome couple. The male goldfinch is as close to a Canadian canary as we get. Stunningly beautiful. The missus ain't too shabby either.