Friday, April 22, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
How did this get in here?
How on earth does a Bougainvillea tree branch end up in Northern Alberta Canada? Well, imagine my surprise when I get to the Edmonton airport and for some unknown reason I decide I need to get something out of my suitcase and I open it up and there nestled in between my damp dirty laundry ....yes I travel with damp dirty laundry, is a little Bougainvillea tree branch, must have fallen out of my hair as I was packing (remember the time I had coconut in my hair?), well there it was still damp (my hair must have been wet) so I took it out and put it in a bottle of water (which I just happened to have with me) for the rest of the journey home and it seems to like it here.....it's got little new leaves.
I am hoping I can keep the fact that it is now living in Alberta and not on a beach in Mexico a secret from it by keeping it in my greenhouse and then I will keep it as a houseplant for the winter months....this is my plan, not that I planned this of course, one would never smuggle plants across 2 borders, that would be foolish. Of course it will never be all that it can be confined to a pot, they are most beautiful if left to grow at their own pace. Some of the most beautiful ones are the ones growing on the side of the roads with no one tending to them. I will try to keep it happy and comfortable.
While it is heating up in my greenhouse it still looks like this at the golf course.
Last fall I strategically hung 9 birdhouse throughout the course in areas where they most likely would not get hit by golf balls and possibly may not even be seen by golfers unless they are looking for them. I numbered them all so they is no confusion as to who's house is who's, and of course so they all get their mail :) House # 7 can be seen from my office window and so far no action there. We have many many ravens up here and they are such a nuisance, not only do they steal golf balls by the 1000s from the driving range they steal the eggs right out of bird's nests and kill the babies birds before they even get out of the nests, this is always so sad for me when I see a pillaged nest with broken eggs laying on the ground. I managed to find a guy that built birdhouses and so I bought 10 of them (gave one to my mother) If I see the birds liking these I plan on buying 10 more this fall. I will slowly create my very own little bird sanctuary. Now if I can just find a way of keeping the coyotes from eating the baby ducks, although when we discovered a coyote den with 3 little very fat, furry, tumbling, funny and sooooo cute coyotes pups I thought "how can I deny them food?" I don;t believe I am interfering with the wildlife food chain by protecting the birds from the Ravens, they have other food sources but for the most part I believe we humans should just admire wildlife from a distance and mind our own business....for the most part, I won't get into hunting because I don't want to get into a debate about that.
Anyway...there you have it, still snow, still cold. Today I am putting on my mittens and toque and heading outside to help a friend build some raised garden beds....maybe, just maybe 2 more for me...what do you think? This is a picture from last summer, I"m thinking of putting 2 square 4x4 beds in front of the two beds on the right. It would mean hauling about 2 more loads of dirt. I don't have access to my back yard by truck so it all has to be hauled by wheelbarrow from the front driveway to the back, each year I think I am done hauling dirt but I can't seem to ever get enough. It's hard being a farmer when you're a townie.
I am hoping I can keep the fact that it is now living in Alberta and not on a beach in Mexico a secret from it by keeping it in my greenhouse and then I will keep it as a houseplant for the winter months....this is my plan, not that I planned this of course, one would never smuggle plants across 2 borders, that would be foolish. Of course it will never be all that it can be confined to a pot, they are most beautiful if left to grow at their own pace. Some of the most beautiful ones are the ones growing on the side of the roads with no one tending to them. I will try to keep it happy and comfortable.
While it is heating up in my greenhouse it still looks like this at the golf course.
Last fall I strategically hung 9 birdhouse throughout the course in areas where they most likely would not get hit by golf balls and possibly may not even be seen by golfers unless they are looking for them. I numbered them all so they is no confusion as to who's house is who's, and of course so they all get their mail :) House # 7 can be seen from my office window and so far no action there. We have many many ravens up here and they are such a nuisance, not only do they steal golf balls by the 1000s from the driving range they steal the eggs right out of bird's nests and kill the babies birds before they even get out of the nests, this is always so sad for me when I see a pillaged nest with broken eggs laying on the ground. I managed to find a guy that built birdhouses and so I bought 10 of them (gave one to my mother) If I see the birds liking these I plan on buying 10 more this fall. I will slowly create my very own little bird sanctuary. Now if I can just find a way of keeping the coyotes from eating the baby ducks, although when we discovered a coyote den with 3 little very fat, furry, tumbling, funny and sooooo cute coyotes pups I thought "how can I deny them food?" I don;t believe I am interfering with the wildlife food chain by protecting the birds from the Ravens, they have other food sources but for the most part I believe we humans should just admire wildlife from a distance and mind our own business....for the most part, I won't get into hunting because I don't want to get into a debate about that.
Anyway...there you have it, still snow, still cold. Today I am putting on my mittens and toque and heading outside to help a friend build some raised garden beds....maybe, just maybe 2 more for me...what do you think? This is a picture from last summer, I"m thinking of putting 2 square 4x4 beds in front of the two beds on the right. It would mean hauling about 2 more loads of dirt. I don't have access to my back yard by truck so it all has to be hauled by wheelbarrow from the front driveway to the back, each year I think I am done hauling dirt but I can't seem to ever get enough. It's hard being a farmer when you're a townie.
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