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Perfumed air
I have been stopping lately on my neighborhood walks. Simply to take a deep breath. And smell. The delicate scent of blossoms have been wafting through the air and it’s quite delightful. I do enjoy the bright springtime bulbs and woodland wild flowers like trilliums and marsh marigolds, but let’s face it, they are mostly nice to look at. Blossoms on the other hand, win you over with their fragrance. Right now, it’s the heady scent of lilacs in my neighborhood. I was also lucky to see the lilacs at the Royal Botanical Gardens recently. Apparently the Lilac Garden is “one of the largest and diverse collections in the world.”…
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The Garden of Epicurious
A few months ago I awoke in the middle of the night to a harrowing shriek. It was a terrifying sound. My mind started thinking of horrible possibilities, like someone in pain or dying. I got out of bed and looked out my window to the dimly lit street below. There they were. A pair of foxes. One tilted its head back and screamed. The sound was the call of a red fox. No one was dying or in agony. It was simply two foxes out for a midnight stroll. My sense of hearing is not faulty, but my mind certainly did play tricks on me. According to the Greek…
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Summer sunshine in a bottle
By most accounts, 2020 was not a great year. One bright spot was the nice weather. The relatively warm winter and plenty of summer sunshine was uplifting for my spirits, and more importantly, ideal conditions for plants to flourish. The vegetables from my summer garden are long gone of course but there is one crop to be enjoyed long after the summer rays are gone. Grapes. It was a great year for growing grapes in Ontario. Warmer than average temperatures through the entire growing season produced juicy and flavourful grapes. Winemakers are excited about this 2020 vintage. Say. No. More. I have been eagerly watching out for the 2020 wines…
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A crafty lesson
I have been making notebooks lately. Thanks to the Globe and Mail craft club. It was an enjoyable way to spend an hour on a Tuesday evening as Catalina Sanchez shared her step by step instructions on how to craft homemade notebooks. Ever since I have been stitching together these little notepads with random paper I have in the house. I tend to go through phases with making crafts. A few years ago I was obsessed with sewing tote bags. I had discovered an old sewing machine in my family, a 1954 Singer. It’s a dapper little machine, shiny black with ornate gold trim, that folds neatly into a carrying…
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My name is Scilla
Early spring blooms are starting to show their cheerful faces. Bright sunny daffodils, tiny crocuses, and delicate snowdrops to name a few. It’s still too early for the emblematic trilliums to blanket the forest floor. This will come soon. In the meantime I have been enjoying the masses of little purple flowers sweeping across grassy areas. A pop of brilliant colour shimmering in the green. Except every year I forget the name of this amethyst jewel. Scilla! Siberian squill is another name for this flower that grows from tiny bulbs each spring and multiplies easily. Cobalt blue petals hang from slender stems like a tiny umbrella. Inching up mere 4…
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A peak behind closed doors
We may be staying at home, but we can still indulge in some virtual exploration. I thought it would be fun to peak inside some closed doors. Winery doors specifically. It turns out I have a lot of photos from past visits to the Twenty Valley (in the fall 2019). I have written posts on some, but there are many wineries I never wrote about. So please join me on a photo tour. Get comfortable, grab a glass of wine if you wish, and let’s go see what’s behind these inviting doors. Our first stop is Kew Vineyards. You’ve already had a glimpse at their delightful outdoor patio on the…
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Happy tweets
March 20 is the UN International Day of Happiness. As I wrote last year, it’s all about spreading the message of happiness and kindness (and I had some inspiration from a kind friend to do so!) The day is designated by the United Nations to recognize “progress should be about increasing human happiness and wellbeing, not just growing the economy.” I continue to enjoy the daily little nudges from the Action for Happiness app to remind me of ways to be happy everyday. Today’s message is “Celebrate the International Day of Happiness“. So happy International Day of Happiness! One topic that comes up frequently in the daily nudges relates to…
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Walking and Philosophy
Most of my walking this past year has been on the familiar paths of my neighbourhood streets and woodland trails. However, I do let my mind wander at times to other destinations, say a craggy Greek landscape. Instead of cold wind whipping at my face and geese honking overhead, I imagine sunshine warming my cheeks and bees buzzing in thyme and lavender bushes. This particular image comes to mind after reading about Aristotle’s school (Lyceum) in Athens. Aristotle liked to walk with his students (called peripatetics) while deliberating his philosophies. Of the many topics Aristotle deliberated, human happiness was a biggie. He believed the goal of human life was happiness…
