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| One Lovely Pink Tulip of 2019 |
Current Mood: I must admit to waking on Saturday morning to the snow falling & already accumulating on the ground did not bring me any cheer. My poor tulips were flattened by the snow & cold, so it took me quite a bit to pick up my mood.
My overall garden has been leaving me feeling quite discouraged. It is in rougher shape than the economy. So since I will be home a lot this summer, I have worked out a plan to revive, redo, reinvent my garden.
I had several large clumps of daffodils come up but not a single flower, well I did have one bud but my little chipmunk friends decided it was a delicious opportunity & waited no time in chewing off. So do I leave the clumps in & find a fertilizer to feed the bulbs all summer or do I dig up? Any suggestions?
Currently Working On: the list for the SPSH (Summer Photo Scavenger Hunt). Being that some, if not all of us will still be on some form of social distancing and/or lockdown restrictions, the list is providing some challenges to take in consideration those restrictions. It will be a shorter list this year. My hope is that it will still provide a bit of a challenge, encouraging everyone to think outside of the box & mostly importantly to have fun with it. I plan to roll out the list by the end of May. The SPSH will be June to September, just like summer.
Currently Baking: I made Beer Bread & yes I used Corona beer, I just could not ignore the fun in that. The Beer Bread was introduced at Ruth's blog, found here: Ruth's Beer-Bread Recipe. It's quite easy & very tasty. It also toasts up really well & gives that delightful crunch.
Currently Surprised: but very impressed that even though the Premiere of our province has allowed some Phase 1 essential businesses to open up in-store shopping, many are not rushing to re-open other than with curbside pick up. The one everyone has been excited for, are the garden centres. Many of our local garden centres feel that they could not successfully provide the required social distancing rules & safety of staff & customers, so are remaining closed to in-store traffic & providing curbside pick up only. Well done!
Currently Entertained: the Canadian Snow Birds, officially known as the 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, or military aerobatics of the Royal Canadian Airforce, arranged for a flyover of most of Ontario on Saturday, but it was postponed to Sunday because of the snow storms. Mr Man was very excited & braved the cold to watch; for me it was kind of ... oh. But I did like that they did this as a tribute & thanks to the Ontario people for staying home, __ 💜__ holding the line & flattening the curve (slowly it seems).
Currently Commerical Emotional: there are several of the big companies airing on TV, pandemic related commercials, ones meant to tug at your heart strings. And do they ever, there's 3 in particular that make me cry every time. I am sure that these retailers run a similar commercial in every country that they sell in, just changing the outdoor scenes for local. There's one that has the female singer sitting on her bed, playing a guitar & singing Stand By Me; oh yeah gets me every time. I also like that several of the big car manufactures have kept their commercial time but have allowed local business to advertise, for free, during that time slot.
"Right in the difficult, we must have our joys, our happiness, our dreams: there against the depth of this background, they stand out, there for the first time, we see how beautiful they are." Rainer Maria Rilke
Oh I'm so pleased that the scavenger hunt will still be going ahead! It will still be fun to do - thank you!
ReplyDeleteOur lockdown goes into its second phase this week but the advice has been very blurred and I'm hoping they will clarify things later today at the government daily press meeting.
I think this year's SPSH takes on a whole other sense for a need to focus on something else ... everyone everywhere is chomping to get outside, even with the snow (again) of this morning, I just had to be outside.
DeleteThank you for going ahead with this year's Summer Scavenger Hunt - a bright spot to look forward to, even if all our Summer travel are on hold or cancelled.
ReplyDeleteDeb is right about things being confused here as we supposedly enter the second phase of Lockdown. I had been hopeful that TBC might be able to return to school next month, but I think it's more realistic now to look at his return happening in September.
I will also watch today's briefing in the hope of finding a spot more clarity.
I love that you used Corona beer in your bread!
I think that governments are looking at what they should do, it's a case of dammed if you do, dammed if you don't. We have a federal & provincial briefing scheduled today, one at 11am one at 1pm
DeleteGlad to hear the scavenger hunt is in process; I always look forward to it. My husband says dig up the bulbs, and buy new ones. He did that for our bed around the flagpole last year, and this year they were gorgeous. He took the old bulbs and replanted them in the back yard. Some of them did indeed come up this year, and we were able to cut them and bring them inside to enjoy. Our governor will announce new plans for NY sometime this week. Our county now appears to be one of the first that may see some reopening. I'm not inclined at the moment to take advantage of any of it since I can take care of all our needs at the grocery store, and many of my desires at the garden centers which have remained open. One in particular is huge, and social distancing has never been a problem there. I believe masks will continue to be required everywhere until we see a vaccine.
ReplyDeleteYeah that you'll be in for the SPSH. OK once the snow is gone I will dig up the daffodils - thank Tracy for the advice. I am with you about not going out. Our family doctor has said that Mr Man with his eye issues is considered in the group of moderate risk. We kind of knew that already, but appreciated the doctor's call. The more I hear/watch your Governor, the more I like him, too bad he's not running for the prime leadership role in November.
DeleteSnow would have put a damper on my mood as well. I am really, really limiting my TV intake. Less than an hour of news a day, and mostly I have been watching commercial free TV. Our closet garden center opened and we went Thursday, and their stock was already very picked over. The big home improvement stores were open the whole time, so I have friends who made trips there to pick up their supplies. Hubby will have to make a trip there for a bag of potting soil, although I am told by my daughter that it can be delivered by Amazon, of course. She did that to start a little herb garden, as she likes to cook with fresh herbs. Hubby tried the potting soil available at the grocery store and it was really not acceptable.
ReplyDeleteI too am looking forward to the photo hunt, even if I have to resort to using my tablet or old digital camera.
With even more snow this morning, it's making my mood harder to rise above. I like the idea of a herb garden. I have grown Basil just to be able to smell the leaves (I do cook with it). It sounds like your cell phone has met a fate not of your choosing :(
DeleteI'm amazed by your snow. Untimely :( Garden Centers here were somehow considered essential and stayed open to in-store shopping through it all. And grocery stores have also. Now that hair salons are opening and restaurants are able to offer dine-in seating, we're expecting a rise in cases in 2 weeks. It's just too soon, imo :(
ReplyDeleteThe snow did look pretty once I got passed the horror of seeing it. It is not unusual for us to have snow this late into May, it's why we wait until May 24th to plant the tender plants. Oh too soon for hair salons & restaurants IMO. I saw a Doctor's report on the number of droplets & speed of a cough, a sneeze & just regular talking. Scared me.
DeleteLooks as if everyone is making that bread. My friend emailed me a recipe several weeks ago and then I saw Deb's (Ruth's) version online. Mum made it and said it was rather sweet but I plan to try it some point. Glad to hear you can toast it. Is the texture more like cake, or does it have the "pull" of normal kneaded bread?
ReplyDeleteBut fed up about the current situation - let's not talk about that!
This beer bread is a little sweeter than I expected, I imagine you could cut the amount added & yes it's more cake like texture than kneaded bread. I am having shorter spans of up time & it takes a little more to pull myself up. I had a cranky moment of actually having a one person (me) argument with a F/B comment (that made me laugh at myself).
DeleteI'd want to leave those daffodil bulbs in place, so they can naturalize over the years and return year after year.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to the summer photo scavenger hunt. :)
Thanks for the gardening tip. So glad you want to join in with the SPSH.
DeleteOh my goodness, snow???? That would put a damper on my spirits for sure!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you're doing the SPSH despite restrictions. I've always wanted to try to find a sample of each thing from Robbie's toy room - maybe this will be the year for that adventure! :)
Unlike there, many places have reopened here & people are flocking to get haircuts & coloring & manicures & eat out (restaurants at 25% capacity inside).
We got to see a flyover of the US Navy Blue Angels ... although it was pretty far away, so we could just discern six planes in a V.
I think you'll like this year's SPSH! I am sure we will be one of the last to come out of lock down by choice. I think the second wave will hit hard!
DeleteI like that you mentioned the TV commercials - I also find them very inspiring and encouraging. One that I particularly like is the Zillow commercial The short video shows a house (that looks a lot like the Brady Bunch house) with the sun coming up and going down, and lights coming on and off and people moving around inside. In the background is the Bob Dylan song "Shelter from the Storm" and the tagline is "It's times like these we understand the real value of home". I am very thankful that I have a home that I can be comfortable in.
ReplyDeleteHow do I join your scavenger hunt?