My garden so far

Posted on 7/18/2023 by boj Posted in Gardening, General

Existing in the garden:

Black Cohosh (Actaea racemosa) OG
Smooth Oxeye (Heliopsis helianthoides) OG
Canada Anemone (Anemone canadensis) OG
Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) OG

Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia) OG

June 2020 Ontario Plants
Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) OP20
Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica) OP20
Smooth Rose (Rosa blanda) OP20
Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) OP20
Spotted Beebalm (Monarda punctata) OP20

September 2021 Ontario Plants
Smooth Blue Aster (Symphyotrichum laeve) OP21
Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) OP21
Meadowsweet (Spiraea alba) OP21
Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica) OP21 +
Smooth Rose (Rosa blanda) OP21 +

June 2022 Agnieszka’s garden

Lanceleaf Coreopsis(Coreopsis lanceolata) AG22

August 2022 A Cultivated Art
Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum) CA22

American alumroot (Heuchera americana) CA22
Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) CA22 +
Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica) CA22 +
Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) CA22 +
Spotted Beebalm (Monarda punctata) CA22 +
Heart Leaved Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium) CA22

May 2023 Fletcher

Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) FL23
Blue flag iris (Iris versicolor) FL23
Downy Wood Mint (Blephilia ciliata) FL23
Field Pussytoes (Antennaria neglecta) FL23
Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium) FL23

Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium fistulosum) FL23
Lance-leaved coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata) FL23+
Lance-leaved Figwort (Scrophularia lanceolata) FL23
Virgin’s bower (Clematis virginiana) FL23

May 2023 A Cultivated Art
Button Blazing Star (Liatris aspera) CA23
Dense Blazing Star (Liatris spicata) CA23
Wild Blue Flax (Linum lewisii) CA23
White Rattlesnakeroot (Nabalus albus) CA23
Rocky Mountain Bee Plant (Peritoma serrulata) CA23
Hairy Mountain-Mint (Pycnanthemum verticillatum) CA23
Grey-headed Prairie Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) CA23
Steeplebush (Spiraea tomentosa) CA23

May 2023 Beaux Arbres

American Spikenard (Aralia racemosa) BA23
Wild Ginger (Asarum canadensis) BA23
Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum canadensis) BA23
Foamflower (Tiarella stolonifera) BA23

June 2023 Ontario Plants

Narrow-leaved Vervain (Verbena simplex) OP23
Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum) OP23 +

Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea) OP23

June 2023 Beaux Arbres

Allegheny Monkey Flower (Mimulus ringens) BA23

Dwarf Arctic Iris (Iris setosa var. arctica) BA23
Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris) BA23
Water Avens (Geum rivale) BA23
Bog Aster (Oclemena nemoralis) BA23
Wild Mint (Mentha arvensis) BA23
Ohio Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis) BA23A
Prairie Sagewort (artemisia frigida) BA23

June 2023 Plant exchange
Black Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) EX23
Purple Giant Hyssop (Agastache scrophulariifolia) EX23
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) EX23
Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea) EX23 +
Tall Ironweed (Vernonia gigantea) EX23
Silver Wormwood (Artemisia ludoviciana) EX23
Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron annuus) EX23
Bowman’s Root ? () EX23
Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris) EX23
Hairy Beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus) EX23
Tall Meadow Rue (Thalictrum pubescens) EX23
Water Avens (Geum rivale) EX23 +
Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) EX23 +
White Vervain (Verbena urticifolia) EX23
Figwort (Scrophularia marilandica ?) EX23
Blue stem gr ??? EX23
Tall wood beauty (Drymocallis arguta) EX23
Downy Wood Mint (Blephilia ciliata) EX23
Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) EX23
Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium) EX23
Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) EX23

Film: Undine

Posted on 9/10/20219/13/2021 by boj Posted in Baby, Bike, Film, Gardening, General, Knitting

How does one spend a summer in Ontario?

Film: Manchester by the Sea

Posted on 7/20/2021 by boj Posted in Baby, Bike, Film, General

My spring project involved taking the kids on bike rides.

20210411_140453 — Our most frequented location is, of course, the Britannia Beach

20210417_115937 — Trev expressed interest in seeing more of downtown so here we are at Lebreton Flats

20210423_110147 — We checked out Bell’s Corners to take a look at the school Owen will be going to next year

20210425_110109 — On a day that was no good for riding we took a walk around Mud Lake

20210515_124029 — Ride to Almonte was my favourite of the year so far

20210524_132451 — We did an “University Tour” by biking through Carleton and Ottawa U campuses one day

20210604_163836 — Trevor expressed interest in seeing the Golden Triangle but then only decided to look at a single block of it (hence the picture of him on the way there only)

20210619_105151 — As a promise of more ambitious rides in the future we biked to the starting parking lot in the Gatineau Park

20210702_122543 — We are keeping it simple during the hot months and just going for coffee and sandwiches for now

Living room

Posted on 5/15/2021 by boj Posted in General

This took a while, but our living room is now, exactly like Ontario, open for business. We had put a lot of thought into what stays and goes. We loved our wall of books, still do, but our home is chaotic and the bookshelves would become overwhelmingly messy in no time. We moved the books to the games room in the basement. Maybe one day when life is slower the shelves can come up again.

image_from_ios-2 — Safely messy in the basement

But you love books! Yes we do. We always have several on the go. They are on the stereo shelf now.

The rule is, once the tissues and/or phone fall off the ends, it is time to rearrange the books.

The living room is now a calm place to knit or read, listen to the radio, have the morning coffee and do pilates and yoga. Owen has taken over the arm chair for the online school.

20210514_074153 — Owen in class and Trev at breakfast

One day, we are looking forward to having friends over!

Film: Another Round

Posted on 3/8/2021 by boj Posted in Film, General, Knitting1 Comment

Way back when I made Trev this fish hat. Actually I miscounted when orienting the tail and it turned out to be a mammal.

He wore it for a while until the button eyes damaged the fabric and I decided not to repair it.

Last winter we saw a kid wearing a similar hat and Owen asked for his own version.

20200430_141930 — Owen’s fish hat modelled by Markus

Instead using buttons I made crochet eyeballs so they can be sewn on at their edges and put less wear on the hat fabric. I didn’t put a lot of thought into the designs though I did put a row of fish hooks because I thought it would be a funny tattoo for a fish to have.

Trevor was in line next and at this point I was really keen to put an eye catching pattern.

I bought a pattern dictionary (which is a coffee table book with bunch of knitting drawings) and got these swirls out of it. I was super pleased with the look but the pattern made it difficult to shape the hat causing me to redo the original fish body shape into one with back and belly.

Though this turned out well, I was not brave enough to attempt it again and when Markus asked for his hat, I went back to stripe scheme.

Markus wanted red and green – his favourite colours. I don’t remember why he insisted on raindrops but I suppose water is the kind of thing that would stick to a fish. Getting those colours to not look like Christmas was the key feat of this hat.

Final hat in the series was for my sister. I redid this one several times trying to get the right drawing. At one point I even had a row of octopuses that looked like chaotic squiggles and almost invisible fish.

O, zar je uzvodno do kraja?

Posted on 2/21/2021 by boj Posted in Film, General1 Comment

Covid has stolen so much, Djordje Balasevic being one of the latest acquisitions. His music was the soundtrack to my childhood and I am so happy I was able to see him play live in Zagreb in the eighties and then again in the naughties. Even today, towards the closing hours of a good bike ride, his songs settle into my mind and I know it has been a good day. You will not thank me for it, but I will translate “Remorker”, that private Randoneuring anthem. Better look it up on YouTube though!

”Tugboat” impertinently translated by Yours Truly

The snows arrive.
It is no good, more and more Novembers bother me.
Gently clip me to your hair like a seashell pin,
that’s what I need –
my little shelter under the sky.

Unhook the barges,
aim for the morning and
let that ship slide.
Americans cracked the code for this:
“Take it easy” pretty doll!
A ripe peach splits by the sky.

Dim the lights, ease on the gas,
funny things we fear.
Think someone is looking for us?
Like we don’t exist.

Shift your thoughts to idle,
shake the stars like plums.
And slowly ground the ship
onto those plush banks.

And dream…

Migratory birds in flight.
Small sails flutter on open sky.
That departure of geese always makes me older
– the journey to heaven.
Oh, is it upstream all the way?

And dream…

Post Industrial Brambles

Category: General