Abkhazi Gardens - Victoria BC

Sweetie had an appointment in Victoria on Friday so we decided to head there a couple of days early. We spent a warm Wednesday afternoon walking downtown, enjoying China town, Market square and the other areas around our hotel.  Thursday dawned rainy and grey so what better day to do a garden shop tour. I got out the yellow pages and made myself a nice big list. When I came across the ad for Abkhazi Gardens it seemed like the best place to begin our tour and of course, the photo ops would be great. 

Abkhazi Garden is a wonderful example of the immensely important work done by The Land Conservancy of BC.  It is well worth the price of admission.  We were thrilled by what we saw here in late March and are planning on visiting the gardens again in early summer. 

The views from the summerhouse at the top of the property are some of the best in the garden.

Across the rocky terrain a peek-a-boo view of the summerhouse shows the diverse landscape of this garden.

One of my favorite plants, the Pasque flower gently nods its head to the raindrops.

The base of this red cone spruce is the largest I have ever seen.  I had no idea they grew this big!

You know it's spring in BC when you see the Skunk cabbage blooming.  We could smell this long before we saw it!

The garden is also home to many different species of wild life.  This guy seemed to pose for the photo op.  He wasn't shy at all.   I didn't realize I had captured one of the three turtles who call this pond home~ lucky me!

I had to ask the garden steward what this amazing architectural plant was... and wouldn't you know it, I can't remember what she called it.  Next time I'm bringing a pen and paper along!

Sweetie noticed this burl perched on a stump.  Isn't it amazing.

This makes me want to make hypertufa planters - I hope Gladys will want to join me!

new addiction

Turtles sunning themselves in Central Park, New York City

An attempt to create my own blog background lead me to a couple of YouTube videos that inspired the idea of changing my blog header photo weekly.  This lead to the creation of a customized photo crop in Picasa. So a new monster has been unleashed.  I have poured through my many photos on my lovely little coolmax... cropping away... here are some current favorites.  So much for figuring out how to make my own blog background!

 witch hazel tree and a wonderful sky

the center of a gorgeous Angel statue ~ Central park, New York City

sand dunes at Cannon Beach, Oregon

a close up of a snake plant in HD

the ceiling at Grand Central Station, NYC

spring flowering Heleborus

the mouth of the Oyster River

the color of your soul & numerology ?

I just stumbled across what I think is a wonderful quote by Heraclitus: "the soul is dyed the color of it's thoughts "

What a wonderful idea...

So that lead me to thinking.... a quick Google search ....yes, there are more than a couple of quickie online surveys to determine the color of your soul (or something similar) but for some reason or other this site on numerology jumped out at me.

Check this out:  http://www.numberquest.com


Here are the results from my name ~ of course I am only going the retain the good bits!

Name Meaning

Your name at birth was a set up! It set the stage for who you would become and the people and events you would be likely to attract. It helped to shape your perspective of life, your energy level and your attitudes. It helped to determine your level of self-esteem and your future potential for success or for struggle. Everything is energy in motion. Everything, including you - is like a powerful, broadcasting satellite - emanating distinct, vibrational frequencies that magnetically attract your experiences. What frequency is your name set to?

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Soul Urge: 19 / 10 / 1 

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Your Soul Urge - The Song of Your Soul - A Deeper Look Into What Motivates You

The Soul Urge number has also been called Heart's Desire and Spiritual Urge. It is our secret, innermost longing. Our dream, our motivation, the fuel that energizes our journey. The Soul Urge number reveals what we secretly strive to be or accomplish. Some have said that this number tells us what we have been in previous lifetimes, the accumulated growth of our soul.

You are the essence of individuality and independence. You are intense and convicted when it comes to defending your beliefs, as you never doubt your inner strength and ability to handle any challenge. Many are inspired by your confidence, while others may feel irritated and view it as arrogance. You are likely to attract people and situations that allow you to express this part of yourself or else they will mirror these traits back to you.

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Personality: 37 / 10 / 1 

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Your Personality - The Impression You Make upon the World

The Personality number describes the way we appear to the outside world, the first impression people have of us. We may not even be aware of how we are perceived by others because we are so often focused on our inner world, and many times the inner does not match the outer. Personality gives us a peek at some hidden talents we have. The talents that we use to get along in the world and in some instances, protect us from it. It is likened to a bag of tools (jewels) that we carry with us along the way.

Others see you as a unique individual who always does their "own thing". Independent, capable and pioneering, you seem to take control of the situation and make it run effectively. You are very concerned with your image and always seem to dress in a way that gets noticed.

Expression: 56 / 11 / 2 

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Your Expression - Character, Talents and Identity - Your Unique Quality of Consciousness

The Expression number shows us who we truly are, what we came into this life already knowing. This is where we feel most comfortable and how we automatically act. We attract people and situations to us that require our Expression so that they can further evolve. In this way we play the role of teacher. Naturally we are attracted to occupations that we resonate to, so the Expression number can be a strong factor in our choice of a career as well. Our Expression is the vehicle, with all its virtues and vices, that drives us along the path of our Destiny. It is the essence of our identity.

As a peacemaker and mediator, you bring harmony and intuitive insight to all you come in contact with. You have an inborn ability to understand all sides of a situation, and you have the tact and gentleness to express it in a way that it will be received. This talent is the magical ingredient for "Peace on Earth".

You are endowed with a high vibrational energy that may be expressed through inspirational, teaching, preaching, acting, art or invention. You have access to prophetic wisdom and your positive attitude is a transformational force in other people's lives. Fame and notoriety is very likely at some point in your life, as your kind of energy gets noticed! Much will be required of you in life when you have a master number vibration, because much will be given.

bird+window=ouch

This ruffled little cutie flew straight into one of the windows on the back of our house.  It was almost like a cartoon, bonk ~ plunk.  He landed on the seat of my Adirondack chair and laid there on his side for quite a while.  Sweetie wanted to pick him up but I manged to talk him out of that. I think the little guy would have had a heart attack on top of the trauma he had just endured.  It took almost an hour but he eventually sat up then flew into the maples at the edge of the property.  He looked so small and defenseless I really felt bad for him. I hope he's okay.

wine+sunset+prism=wow

I was putting a lovely decorator pillow (sigh) in the window that was allowing far too much sunlight to breach optimum TV viewing for Sweetie when I noticed the reflection of the trees through my hanging prisms.   This one in particular is broken (while cleaning I have managed to knock them from their hangers~repeatedly) and gives an interesting slant on things.

What an lovely way to enjoy a Vancouver Island sunset.
I should admit the first couple of photo's I took here were of my wine glass with a scant amount :) of viognier in the bottom.  Unfortunately the finger prints all over the glass really detracted from the look.  I will try again at a later date!

beach day - yes beach day!

Yup, that's right... a trip to the beach.  Wow, what a blustery gustery day!  Sweetie and I almost got blown away.  The guy who never wants to leave his castle suggested a chai tea and a beach walk so there was no way I was going to miss this.

We parked at the mouth of the river then ventured forth to take a couple of pictures and generally get blow away.

I never noticed before that seagulls don't actually fly in this strong wind, they just sort of float.

A couple of pictures of raindrops on the window might make a great background for something one day...

Then we were on to Miracle beach, where the sand goes for ever and the trees are dripping with moss.

All in all, a wonderful little excursion.

What a difference one day makes

I just love the quote by Kin Hubbard "Don't knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change once in a while."   How true is that.  

It's snowing ~  quite unexpected, mostly because I haven't watched the weather report for the last few nights.  It chased the roofers home for the day. Not that I mind really, it's nice to have some quiet.

Bad weather always looks worse through a window.  ~Author Unknown

There's one good thing about snow, it makes your lawn look as nice as your neighbor's.  ~Clyde Moore

The snow doesn't give a soft white damn whom it touches.  ~e.e. cummings

What, for me?

Imagine my surprise when a knock at the door brings a flower delivery guy.  Not something that happens to me everyday!  We're not exactly living in a metropolis here.  I am such a lucky gal.  The girls at work missed me so that they thought to show it with a gorgeous bouquet of spring flowers.  Get a load of this :)

bored, bored, bored

I may have developed a case of compulsive blog tinkering. The more time I have on my hands (pun intended) the more incarnations it’s undergone. I’m not sure how many different templates & colors I have used since the inception of this little enterprise. The current pick might just stick around for a while ~ mostly because I love the flexibility it gives me to use extra large photos.

Today I took my new and improved right hand out for a test drive. With a staedtler triplus gel-liner in gold and a couple of photos I took of tea pots I played around outlining shapes and following contour lines. I think this might become a bit habit forming. I even used my sharpie fine points to color out some background items I didn’t care for.

And because there is just no way I can take just a couple of pictures I snapped a few vignettes around the house. The gorgeous sunflower doll was made by my friend Gladys. She never fails to make me smile.

I find it odd that some photos are more interesting when they aren’t in focus. What’s that about?

mini daf's pop art

This is what I did today, took about 80 photos trying out various settings on my camera.  This one was a favorite of the day and once rendered in Picasa it's pretty cool.

I love the lichen that grows on the crabapple tree.  I'm not so sure that the tree loves it.

These cute little bulbs just popped up from no where.  Maybe they are from last years fund raiser my niece hit me up for.... Isn't it that time again? 

Moss magnified to the extend of my camera's ability is just amazingly delicate.