Backyard fun; January in Ontario! Wow!

Backyard fun; January in Ontario! Wow!, originally uploaded by Our Enchanted GardenA good swing and a fun game of toss on a January afternoon - what a pleasant surprise! Maybe I'll have to cut the lawn again before the snow finally flies!
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A good swing and a fun game of toss with our dog Keisha on a January afternoon - what a pleasant surprise! If this keeps up I may find myself mowing the lawn, when I would normaly be shoveling snow out of the driveway!
The garden hasn't shown it's having any trouble with this odd weather yet and I have to keep a close eye on things to ensure our more tender perennials are well mulched and not pushing their roots up out of the ground.
Fingers crossed that my grapes and strawberries, raspberries and the apple tree aren't confused and start budding when they should be dormant and waiting for the warmth of March and April to begin their growth cycle anew.

A Happy New Year Message

Here's a little slide show I put together with a couple of my photographs I added some text and effects to help celebrate the season! Wishing all the very best in this brand new year! In 2007 may you and your loved ones have the blessings of peace, happiness, health and abundance!
| Bless Us, Every One!

Posting Problems after making a change!

Darn! Looks like I may have messed up this blog by playing around with the publishing settings and I can't seem to get it back in order.... Darn! Hope I don't have to start from scratch 'cause that could be very frustrating and may just see me using a different blog altogether! I've got one at Yahoo 360 too that I don't use much - maybe it'll be best to go there as this blogspot site isn't as nice as I'd like it anyway! (MindSay is still my Blog home of choice!) Wish me luck getting this fixed or farewell!

A Beautiful Rose Bud

Beautiful Bud, originally uploaded by Our Enchanted Garden.

Now there's no doubt that summer is just around the corner - that's when my wild rose, a shrub known by the botanical name "Rosa Rugosa", begins to bloom.

This is a hardy plant found growing along old gravel roads and river beds. The plant's seeds are produced in a pod at the base of each flower. The pods are called "Rose Hips" and are popular in herbal teas. They also provide important nutrition for birds in winter and are a source of Vitamin C. The small, sharp thorns on this variety are also helpful for wildlife living underneath and using the shrub as protection from predators - as in a briar patch, it is very effective protection in most cases!

A Great Grandmother's Garden!

A Great Grandmother's Garden Horizontal, originally uploaded by Our Enchanted Garden.

On the day I was heading to my daughter's house to go babysit my granddaughter for a day, I mentioned to my partner John that the garden in the front of our house looks like a grandmother's garden. I thought that was pretty cool, because I love being a grandmother!
And then I thought, well wait a minute, seeing that my mom lives here too and she loves the garden, that's makes it a great grandmother's garden and that is very cool!
Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day!

Another corner of the garden for you here:


More to follow soon!

My new May Calendar

My new May Calendar, originally uploaded by Our Enchanted Garden.

Playing with some interesting tools available to Flickr users - this calendar feature is fun but I'd like to be able to enter in holidays, moon phases and personal info... Interesting just the same!
And the lambs - I got a bunch of photographs of a flock of sheep just outside of Rockwood Ontario, they were shy so I had to move very slowly and had to stay inside or right near the car... When I finally approached the fence they moved to the back of the pasture fairly quickly!

Join us for a walk... in the garden

Join us for a walk..., originally uploaded by Our Enchanted Garden.

In Our Enchanted Garden!

Spring in the garden is progressing nicely and touches of colour are beginning to show. Soon this view will be full as the plants grow in and perform their flowering magic. The colours will change every few weeks as a new variety comes on and an earlier one finishes.

It's a dance, a living tapestry, a collection of life, a symphony of creation at it's best!

Nature is the boss in this patch of garden. Other than the tidying up that I do as flower varieties continually come and go over the spring and summer weeks there's not much else required from us. It's a nice spot to enjoy the sunrises and the sunsets on our street, have a coffee or chat with the neighbours and passers by!

This is Our Enchanted Garden - the meadow we built and dedicated to nature as an experiment of humans and the natural world living co-creatively!

Hope you enjoyed the little stroll, do come back - the garden changes every few days and there's always something happening!

Shots like this are why I LUV the natural world!

Shots like this are why I LUV the natural world!, originally uploaded by Our Enchanted Garden.

Impressive view of a Hyacinth in full bloom with all its' luscious colour!

After a few good days of rain and a bit of a cool spell that might last another day, the hyacith are now open in all their splendor. The fragrance is amazing too, so sweet!

This is what a gardener waits for in the spring - the beauty of bulb plants really add a whole new dimension to a garden, prolonging its' blooming period for months! And for a gardener this little hint of colour is true delight long before the tiny plants in the greenhouse will be able to come outside and thrive.

Another lovely shot that day was taken of an American Robin,(Birds of North America, Guide to Field Identificaton, Golden Press, NY).

He surprized me by turning and looking right at me after I'd asked if he'd give me one good pose! (I have the previous shot 100-3691 of the bird facing backwards just before he turned!)
Now that was a stroke of luck, that he heard me and understood and was willing to cooperate. Not only that but he looked right in my eye (lens) as if to strike a pose for me. And then he was gone! This way I get to tell a little tale of a robin in the garden and help you see them with the help of a camera and the internet. You might start noticing them in your neighbourhood too, if you haven't before, all these midwest US storms can really move them around.
They eat worms, grubs and other bugs and are a boon to a garden. If they're around, try to provide some fresh water to them daily. Don't leave the water out overnight - water a plant with it and re-fill in the morning. Use rain-water when you can to fill your birdbath!

Hope you enjoyed this little walk in the garden.

Happy Earth Day

http://static.flickr.com/38/97992817_d68755a11a_o.jpg Visit A Forum For Nature; read about our Earth Day there or tell us about your Earth Day! Visit Our Enchanted Garden website, where Easter celebrations are still underway as some people celebrate Easter this weekend. Visit the Garden blog too, for more photos and Earth Day topics! Pop Quizz on Tuesday!