When you don't have an old barn

Have you seen posts and magazine ideas about things to make with old barn boards? Me, too. I've not noticed many old barns around here and even if there were any, I'd have qualms about nonchalantly prying off a few boards for my own use. 

However, I have absolutely no qualms about rummaging through my husband's stock of wood. I scored this weathered fence board and thought it perfect for a table runner.

An assortment of votive holders and a mini vase. Pansies which are flourishing in the wet cool weather. One last ranunculus. A couple of rose buds. Various clippings from herbs and shrubs.  Et voilà, five mini bouquets to perch on top of the board for a casual country effect. Without a barn to pillage.

Any old barns around your neighborhood? 

Spring: Thursday Inspiration

Spring is delicate green filling in the landscape, one leaf at a time. Once the temperatures begin to rise, there's no stopping spring from bursting out in color.
 

This is what the roses look like at Butchart Gardens just now. In March the plants were pruned to about knee height. In April, after danger of frost (although we have had frosty nights lately) the gardeners cut them back severely. I spoke with one of the gardeners last week who told me that intensive feeding now will result in the beautiful blooms we will see in June. I can hardly believe that these stubs will produce anything. I'll be sure to go to the gardens in June just to see this.

 

Fritillary. One variation is called Chocolate Lily. I didn't know these flowers existed in North America. Actually, until a conversation with Elizabeth of Cornish Cream a couple of months ago, I didn't know they existed at all. They are apparently native to Western North America. Have you seen these before? Do you have any in your garden?

Linking with Mary of the Little Red House for Inspiration Thursday.

Thoughts about Trees, Tourists, and a Giveaway

Yesterday, I took myself to Butchart Gardens. Having an annual pass is wonderful. When I was last there, documented in this post, grey clouds threatened rain and there were few visitors. Not so now. I heard all kinds of American accents, and there was at least one tour from Asia. I don't know enough to distinguish Chinese from Korean from any other eastern language so I could not identify the people group. 

Everyone has a camera. I-phones, tablets, point and shoot digitals, humongous DSLRs. It's just as much fun to watch the people as to look at the gardens. Some people look at life through their cameras, snapping away, rarely taking time to just stand and really look at the foliage, the flowers, the composition, the structure of the scene in front of them. Others look for awhile, then put the camera up to the eyes and press the shoot button. 

A querulous conversation overheard along the way:

He (gray haired and tall, looking wildly about at everything but the flowers):  I don't know what I'm going to do and you don't know, either.
She (snapping photos left and right): You know you will anyway. You always do.
He: (stomping away) I'm going back to sit in the car.

What was THAT all about?

I stood under this blossoming tree for quite some time. Its beauty made my soul ache. Do you get that feeling? That you cannot possible absorb the loveliness of this, of now, and your soul stretches and leans into the moment?
 

I wish we all could meet at Butchart Gardens and wander through it together, stopping to look and admire, take some photos, and have tea. Would that not be a wonderful afternoon? I picked up a few things in the gift store to complete a giveaway. There's a set of four mug mats and a felt needlebook made by me, a wire flower arranger (to place over a vase), a package of annual seeds and some loose tea, blended for the Garden. 

To enter, just leave a comment on this post, ensuring that I have a way to contact you. I have noticed that I cannot find contact information about some of my commenters because they are connected with Google+, and unless I join Google+ I cannot see anything - not even discover your blogs. My reasons for not connecting with Google+ are for another post.

I'll choose a winner on May 3, just over a week from now.  

This post is linked to Thursday Inspiration, hosted by Mary of the Little Red House.

A Little Patch of Sky - Thursday Inspiration

The prompt for this week's inspiration is sky. In the above photo, most of the image is the reflections of the mountains near Canmore, Alberta, where we spent a few days hiking last summer. The triangle in the foreground reflects the sky, just a small triangle of light and clouds between the mountains. 

Linking to Mary of the Little Red House for Thursday Inspiration.

Thursday Inspiration: Bread

"The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, 

is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight."

MFK Fisher

When I was 12, my parents sold the home we had lived in for 10 years. My mother claims that it sold to the people who came by the day she had baked buns. The yeasty, warm scent of fresh bread was too much to resist.

Baking bread brings a satisfaction similar to that of making soup or completing a needlework or art project. All the ingredients are brought together and given time to meld, with the result being something that nourishes not only the body, but the soul. I do love baking, and eating bread, although I eat much less of it than I used to. 

Linking to Thursday Inspiration, hosted by Mary of the Little Red House. 

This is a Fence Post

Mary, from the Little Red House, gave out the prompt "fences" for today. I looked through my photos and found the above one, a detail of a fence in San Diego.  I like the curved lines and the "sort of fleur-de-lis" detail at the top. 

 More fleur-de-lis adorn this fence in Paris, around the Luxembourg Gardens. How pretty a fence can be while protecting and defending. 

This fence, around part of Victoria's Inner Harbour, is a mere hint not to fall into the water. Nor does it block the view. 

Linking with Mary of the Little Red House. More fence posts (HA) will be up starting around 11 am Pacific time.

For those who inquired about yesterday's post - yes, I made the bunnies. One for Little Miss A and one for Little Miss S. But shhhhh - they won't see them until Sunday.