A Loon and a Looney Tulip Bed

As we walked along the arena section of the trail, I was thinking that I wouldn't be posting today. Of course, that it altogether fine. I am sure that you could all use a break. But here we are regardless.

The day was grey and there were no wildflowers to be seen, but when we got to our turnaround spot, Sue looked down. Behold, a loon was resting just down the bank. I don't recall ever seeing a loon anywhere near here, but here it was, sitting calmly, just a few feet from us.

The creature was calm enough for a bit but became exasperated by our intrusion and soon swam off downriver in a huff.

When I got home, I took a snap of our tulips. It is what Sue terms A Happy Garden with no thought or planning. I blame a previous owner of the adjoining house who thought it was just wonderful that way. Who am I to argue? As a guy who once had somewhat planned gardens, I didn't love it at the time. Now, I don't care.

Speaking Canadian

Since I don't drink much, I don't use some of these terms, but I know most of them. A few of my most common ones are double double, click (or klick), hydro, back bacon, timbit, pop, and touque. I take exception to toboggan, or at least as pictured, above. Toboggans ↓ have flat bottoms without runners. We call the one pictured in the list, a sled.

I am totally unfamiliar with street meat (hot dogs), darts (cigarettes), out for a rip (drive). Instead of pencil crayons, I am more more likely to say coloured pencils, but pencil crayons are familiar too. 

For the most part, the list is accurate, and I think most Canadians know most of the terms and would actively use many of them.

Completing Mother's Day

I took awhile to complete Mother's Day. I previously posted about Shauna's visit on Saturday. Then, on Sunday we drove the short distance to Dark & Deadly where we enjoyed hot and tasty breakfast sandwiches. I'm sorry that photo includes me and not Sue, but, primarily, she was taking a picture of our breakfast when my old mug got in the frame.

While I have already praised the breakfast sandwiches, let me tell you that, as delicious as they look, the butter tarts did not appeal to us because, somehow, they were inexplicably salty.

Later that day, Jonathan dropped by with roses. He also brought his friend who, in turn, brought her ersatz baby. Said baby was a homework assignment. The $3000 doll acts, fusses and cries like a real child. It needs to be fed, changed and burped and will fuss until it receives the appropriate attention. The baby even gets mom up in the middle of night. Just like an actual baby, the doll demands 24/7 attention and had to come along with Nora  

Danica was hit by a virus and did not get here until yesterday. She brought coffee  and a gift card for even more coffee at D&D. She told us about having just signed her lease for the room that she will be occupying in the fall for her second year at university, and then we played a few rounds of Uno.

The Community Garden

After seeing various wildflowers that I recently posted, we dropped by the community garden at the museum to see more cultivated spring blooms. I don't mean community in the sense that random people plant gardens there but in the sense that the garden is planted and maintained by certain members of the community (the horticultural club, I think) and for members of the community to enjoy. It's not a grand place in scale, but it is a nice little spot.

The first photo that I took was of patch of grape hyacinths, aka muscari. I shot pointing downward and made a single flower my main focus. This ↓ is how the shot looked without any special editing applied.

I found daffodils other than the ubiquitous yellow kind. While the more common yellows are quite fine, it's nice to see other varieties by times.

And  . . . two little clumps of pretty tulips.

It’s raining this morning and for the whole day it seems. The plan is that Danica will drop by with coffee and for lunch to complete Mother’s Day visits. She got hit by a bug over the weekend, but she is fine now. 

Lights and Delight

Our mayor posted a photo of the bridge lit up in green for mental health week, so off we drove to the bridge, but where we got there, we were disappointed.

We were compensated, however, for had never seen the bridge lit in orange. Usually, if nothing special is being featured, the lights have been white. I don't know if orange is just a change of pace or whether there is a special meaning attached.

 

We've also never taken a photo of the bridge lights when it hasn't been dark out, or at least nearly so. This was around 8:15, and I just miscalculated about when it would get dark. However, I kinda sorta liked this look too, so my initial disappointment did fade a bit.

As we sat on the bench while waiting for the darkness to fall, I took a selfie. I once promised Sue that nothing would come between us, but townhall loomed to prove me wrong.

Darkness was slow to descend, and there was a chill in the air, so we left early.

Speaking of leaving, I leave you with this tulip pic before we part today. After a recent very cold night, our tulips opened regardless. I looked straight down the throat of this beauty and snapped my snap. After first showing the bridge lights, I now leave you with this delight.

The Other Wildflowers

I posted about the expanses of trillium flowers recently, but we began to notice other wildflowers as well, in little places here and there, like by this log in the background.

According to my iPhone, they are yellow trout lily flowers, aka Erythronium americanum. "The yellow trout lily is a perennial spring ephemeral with bright yellow, nodding flowers and mottled leaves, native to eastern North American woodlands." 

Before we left the woodland, we spotted another tiny flower, quite small and very low to the ground. "Hepatica (hepatica, liverleaf, or liverwort) is a genus of herbaceous perennials in the buttercup family, native to central and northern Europe, Asia and eastern North America." As we can see, they are pretty, little flowers, and I think my fav photo of the excursion. 

Mothers I Have Known and Loved

It is the day to acknowledge mothers. This is my mother with my daughter in 1974 (I think). Evidently, Shauna was telling a fish story of the one that got away.

Mom was born in 1915 and lived until 2003.

I usually print some sort of card for Sue on these occasions. While Shauna doesn't look happy, it is a reminder of Shauna being put to sleep outdoors in the carriage in all sorts of weather. Does anybody still do that? Those kinds of carriages no longer seem to be in use.

The years roll by and roles change. Shauna took Sue out for coffee and shopping yesterday, and the grandkids will drop by today.

A visit, coffee and a hanging basket from Shauna.

Meanwhile, here is Shauna with her own kids about 16 years ago, I am sure that her own kids will do something for her today.

Here's another photo of Shauna and Danica that popped up when I was looking for the one above.