Yes spring is here - the gnome is out!!!
It was time to spend getting the garden ready for planting. That means weeding, raking, trimming...well, you know the routine I'm sure! I hung up another couple of birdhouses that I had found at Homesense, as well as a little bird bath. I learned how to use the riding lawn mower while Paul got into whipper snipping mode. Saturday, the sky was sort of threatening and sure enough late in the day we ended up getting some showers. We made a short trip into town to get a few groceries, movies and look at barley straw for the pond. We had been told that it is a remedy for the algae problem we have in the pond beside the cottage.
We found out that a bag of barley straw pellets was about $24.99, and was appropriate for a small ornamental 'city' pond. There was also another product there that was approximately $28.00 for the amount for an application for a pond of our size. It is not harmful to fish, but it turns the water blue! Apparently, the coloring filters the rays of the sun (which help algae to grow). The store clerk cautioned us though, that if the water is running/flowing, the product would just wash out down the creek. We agreed with him that this product might be better for a later summer application when the water is a lot more still.
When we asked the Home Hardware clerk about where to purchase barley straw - his only thought was a farm on Concession 2, north of the turn off for North Line. He said "just drop in and ask the farmer". I said "will he come out with his shotgun?" The background to my remark is of course that this is the farm that has all the big painted signs proclaiming "government get off our land" and other such sayings!!
When we left the store it was pretty close to dinner time so Paul decided that we couldn't just drop in at the farm that evening, and Sunday wouldn't be appropriate either. So...no solution again.
We went for a walk with the dogs when we got back and were amazed again at the vegetation that had just grown so much because of all of the cool, wet weather.
We found 2 comparison pictures, the first is the walkway to the fishing put in, probably in February/March:
This next one is the pathway now (just a little to the right):
I think this is why fiddle heads are such a delicacy. One week there is no sign of them and within the next 2 weeks the ferns are unfurled!
That evening we had delicious steaks (not premium beef) that I had from our freezer at home.
The next day, we were planning to go fishing. Paul got up with the dogs as usual, but by the time I got up he was going back to bed complaining of a headache and bad stomach. I though maybe it was just that he had been drinking coffee on an empty stomach and tried to get him to eat some toast - but he was having none of that!
Well whatever he had, it really knocked him for a loop. He was in bed for the whole day, kept trying to get up but every time after a few minutes would end up in bed again. He slept a lot of the time. Not sure where he picked up the bug, he thought it was something he ate but I had exactly the same things (but a different steak).
So the dogs and I had a pretty quiet day - lots of reading, a bit more clean up outside and a couple of walks, mostly taking more flower pictures!! I found a couple of interesting flowers but I had no idea what they were. I have since discovered the name of the flower below is a "Wood Betony". As far as the other picture below - I have no idea - if you know, let me know! It looked sort of like a dandelion going to seed but the stem is much different.
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| Wood Betony |
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| Mystery Flower |
So, that was about it for the weekend. It was touch and go whether Paul could make the drive home but by the time I got everything cleaned up (OMG lots of work) he was well enough to be a passenger. Needless to say I was very tired when I got home that night!!
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