26 July 2009

Blessings in many forms


Today felt like summer, in earnest; hot sunshine, little wind, and the garden smiled in relief, stretching towards the warmth. And the gardener smiled too. There's been a lot of wind and rain damage, and some plants are looking traumatized and threatening to rot because of all the wet. But others are doing just fine, thank you.

I roamed around the yard this morning for a little while and just looked around. Instead of fretting over the wet and the mildew and the slugs and weeds, I focused on the beauties we have. Like the delightful echinaceas that are beginning to get going, including 'Coconut Lime', which is pleasing in its vigour.


And 'Harvest Moon', which for some reason is one of the coneflowers that appeals to me the most in an architectural sense. Plus it's lovely, it smells nice, and it seems to do pretty well here.


Before we left this afternoon to attend our awesome Member of Parliament Scott Brison's annual Barbecue, I was out in the front porch and this coneflower caught my eye. Intense excitement! I hadn't noticed it this morning (in my defense, I hadn't had any coffee during that first morning walk), and I charged out to snap a hasty (and not colour-perfect) picture of 'Tomato Soup.' As Kylee noted in a post a couple of weeks ago, it really IS the colour of tomato soup.


To some people, this is a weed. To me, Queen Anne's Lace/Wild Carrot (Daucus carota) is one of the most beautiful wildflowers we have. I can (and do) spend a great deal of time delighting over the complexity of the flowers, the bees and butterflies and other pollinators that enjoy it, the sweetness of the fragrance, and later, the delightful seedheads. It's a pretty, pretty thing and it makes me happy to see; which is why I have a few of them scattered through the garden.


It's a good indication that I'm feeling much, much better that I actually want to go out and see people and do things. After puttering around here for part of the day, longsuffering spouse and I headed off to Cheverie, to go to the barbecue, and ended up seeing assorted friends, including the amiable Rob Baldwin of Baldwin's Nurseries (left, beside my LSS).

Our federal riding is called Kings Hants, and is a big, sprawling area comprised of the two counties of Kings (where we live) and Hants. Cheverie and other parts of Hants County are across the Minas Basin from us, which is part of the Upper Bay of Fundy, and as I've observed before is home of the World's Highest tides.

We are very blessed to live in this part of the world. Sometimes, I forget that when I get caught up in the morass of not feeling well or work challenges or other misadventures. But since I'm feeling much better with each passing day, I'm starting to remember just how blessed I am, and how wonderful it is to be able to live beside salt water. We get to harvest and enjoy treats like the dulse (yes, it's a seaweed) that my better half picked off the rocks by Cape Split (seen here drying in the sun outside our barn.)

After we left the barbecue, we went down the road a ways and visited the lighthouse in Walton. I know that Nancy of Soliloquy has written about this lighthouse and this part of the province before, and I'll just add that it's a lovely area and a wonderful place for a picnic, or just a stroll. The lighthouse and surrounding area is all maintained by volunteers, which just shows what a small community can do when inspired.

This beach is actually between Cheverie and Walton, and we happened on it because I said, "Let's go down this road and see where it leads." We knew it led to the water, but didn't know whether we'd have access or not. It was cool to find this shale-covered beach, though we didn't scramble down the rocks to the beach.We were a little too full of chicken, and pleasantly sun-weary.

All in all, it was about as perfect a summer day as we could have asked for. Suddenly all the unpleasantries and challenges of recent months seems to have cleared away like fog on a hot summer's day. Blessings take many forms, when we stop to consider and be grateful for them.

15 comments:

  1. Jodi, I am so glad you are feeling better. That does make it easier to see all the blessing we have around us. But then, so does your perfect summer day.

    The area you live in is beautiful and almost makes up for all the snow you have. (at least from my view) :)

    Those cone flowers are lovely. Harvest Moon looks a lot like our prairie cone flower-except for the color. I am enjoying the names of these new varieties almost as much as the new colors.

    Hope you have many more perfect summer days and that you continue to share them with us.

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  2. A perfect post for a perfect summer day, Jodi. Glad to know that you are feeling better and able to enjoy the little pleasures of life.

    The cone flowers are really gorgeous. I've not had any luck with the orange ones but want to try again because like you, I love oranges and blues in the garden.

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  3. Oh Jodi... I miss the gentle and beautiful summers of Nova Scotia. They were some of the best of my life--here in DC, it has been chilly: about 30+ degrees, when normally it's 34-36.

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  4. What a delightful post Jodi. It seems to have caught your mood. I am glad to hear you are feeling better. It sounds and looks like you live in a different world than I. Eating seaweed, having lighthouses to visit and the beautiful coast line. It is great that you have beautiful cone flowers to cheer you.

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  5. Jodi - so happy to hear you are feeling better - and had a day out.

    Very excited to see your picture of E. Tomato Soup. I ordered that over the weekend and it is good to know that it really is that colour!
    K

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  6. It's great to hear you are feeling better and getting out and about in your beautiful province.
    I love Queen Anne's lace too, and let it grow in my garden. It is very interesting to watch.

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  7. Jodi girl .. yet again you have made me very homesick .. those type of summer days are the BEST !
    Autumn is even better when cool, dry and bright : )
    I am a fan of Queen Anne's Lace too : ) .. and lighthouses ... and the SEA .. I miss that so much at times.
    I'll have to enjoy all of these through your posts .. this one was beautiful !

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  8. Jodi,
    You’ve really gotten Jamie and I interested in coneflowers over the past year. Your photos are very seductive. I’m glad you are feeling better. --Randy

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  9. glad you were able to feel well enough to enjoy a perfect summer day. what a lovely area you live in. just looked at all your photos of the daylilies...beautiful.

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  10. I *almost* went to the BBQ, jodi! Dangit. I'm so glad you stopped at Walton Light and hope you signed the guest book...my home is just a few hundred feet from the lighthouse road.

    Yer fleurs are all gorgeous, and I do love that word "morass" -- it's one of those perfect words for which the meaning and the spelling almost explain each other. Then of course there's always ... "when I gain weight, I have less waist and morass." Hee! Must be this WRETCHED HEAT!! :-)

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  11. Thank you for this post Jodi! You live in such a wonderful place. And you add more beauty to it with your flowers.

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  12. Jodi, I am glad the weather has improved and summered up and that you were able to get out and about in it. Sun and just the right amount of warm can put a spring into our step. it sure makes me smile. I am totally surprised at how much I like Tomato Soup....I brought home Harvest Moon...it's a lovely coneflower. I am wondering what you do with the dulse? I wish you many more real summer days. gail

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  13. Delighted to hear of this lovely summer day. Harvest Moon is lovely, too. I'm most glad to know that you're feeling better and able to enjoy the bounty of your riding.

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  14. I'm glad to hear you're feeling better and getting around.

    Blessings do come in many forms. I've thrown out my back so work is out of the question. But the last few days I've been able to wander the woods and catch up on my serenity and today actually be able to sit at the computer to catch up on some visiting.

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  15. jodi, glad to hear you are feeling better! love the hummingbirds and the dulce! whenever one of us goes up to canada to visit relatives, we always bring back dulce and maple syrup! take care and stay well.

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