Even spring house cleaning seems like an attractive thought at the moment. Sparkling window panes, billowy curtains, shiny floors, the smell of furniture polish and freshly washed blankets and comforters are all pleasant thoughts. I could rush things and do it early but that would be cheating. The rituals of spring must be allowed to follow their normal timetable. A creature of habit ? Yep .. that's me. Where did I store my easter bonnet ? ( a fanciful thought .. I stopped wearing hats years ago!)

The prospect of washing and ironing all our spring clothing and packing away all the woolens is now something to be anticipated with an inward smile.  Changing seasons really do give one a fresh perspective on everything. Particularly spring.

The optimism and daring of the tiny shoots in the garden, peeking through the  blanket of snow which has protected them over the long winter months signifies the promise of the beauty to come. The tiny fish in the pond reappear and tentatively forage for food. Their hibernation is also coming to a close.  I wonder if the babies have survived ? We  fortified their domain with the appropriate heater and pump of course but one always wonders if such tiny beings will still be there when spring arrives.  We'll find out soon enough when it is time to rid the pond of winter's refuse and algae in preparation for their warm weather antics.

 We did lose our largest aquatic friend late last fall. He was a lovely golden colour and  the leader of the group. Always the first to appear and always playful. He would even come up and nibble my finger. However, one early fall morning I glanced out of the upstairs window  and got one of the biggest shocks of my life. There was an enormous bird standing on the rockery around the pond intently peering into the water. I opened the window and tried to chase him away but he wasn't at all intimidated by me. He was HUGE !  His legs had to be well over a foot long and his bill even longer. Even now I am not sure what  he was but am guessing either a crane or a heron. Finally he did move and after a few minutes flew away. He was right back at the pond the next morning but this time he did take off as soon as I  raised my voice. We discovered over the next few days that Goldie was gone and  one of his red and white buddies was minus most of his tail. Needless to say I watched that pond every morning for the next couple of weeks but the titan didn't return again. Hopefully  the warmer weather 's arrival will not also bring that creature back.

 One little guy in particular managed last summer and fall to become a great favourite to both of us. He was so very tiny but had the heart of a lion. When the other babies, who were all bigger than he was, were still  assiduously avoiding being in the vicinity of the big guys, particularly at meal time, this little guy ( whom we aptly named PT Cruiser ) was right in there grabbing his share and then darting away.  He would repeat this exercise until he had eaten his fill each evening and invariably we ended up chuckling at his actions by the time his feeding ritual had ended. When the cold weather arrived he was still much tinier than the others and we were not at all sure he would survive the winter but as recently as a few weeks ago he was still thriving as we spotted him when he ventured out one sunny afternoon for a bit of exercise and  fresh air. Still tiny  ... and still the bravest of the bunch. Once it is warm enough that we can start feeding them again  that little guy  is going to think he is attending a banquet as I plan on making certain he gets the choicest  bits of fish food I can find.

Nature truly is a miracle. As one ponders the awesome mystery of the perfect planning involved the pleasure afforded as one watches every aspect of nature reawaken reminds anew that there is always a tomorrow to look forward to with hope.

The best part of spring of course is once all those household chores are finished and one can get into the garden! Even  the garden spring cleanup and preparation is fun although the necessary tasks will make one's muscles ache after the long months of inactivity. But what beauty will follow that labor ! Well worth the effort expended. And this year those gardens will show my touch from beginning to end !  This is our first spring in our new home and I so look  forward to  adding the finishing touches to the established landscape and truly making it our own. We made a start last year  and accomplished  a fair amount but there is still work to be done.

 Retirement does indeed have its rewards. Earlier  years when we were so busy  and barely had time to meet all the demands of family and career  were wonderful years but this time is truly special. Finally, time to do all those things you always wished you had enough time for and now at this time in your life to finally be able to savour each and every moment . Now, when you can truly appreciate nature and its wonder. Why does wisdom take so long to fully develop? All those years when priorities  were so different seem so pale in comparison. Why can't we know these things when our children are tiny ? We could have made those years so much more than they were ! We should have made so much more of every moment of those years.

 But looking back, and wishing we had done things differently is a fruitless exercise. Nothing will be gained by wasting precious time on regrets. So instead, make each and every moment now count. Do those things with your grandchildren for which you never had time with their Mommy or Daddy. Isn't that what grandparents are for ? We all do really do our best  in most ways as young parents. And lord knows we do love our children. No need for remorse.  Life demands certain things at certain times in our lives. Now, enjoy being a grandparent. The time spent with a Grandparent can be the most precious memory a child will have as they go through life.  Pass on to them with love and with the wisdom of your years the knowledge which you have acquired through the years. It will be the most appreciated gift you could possibly give them. They may not realize it till many years later but they will cherish those moments in the years to come I promise you.

This time of year is like no other. As the remnants of the drab landscape of winter begin to show the rebirth of growing things and tender green shoots bravely thrust their way into the sunlight, as the trees start to bud, as the days lengthen and the sunlight grows brighter, one can not help feeling optimistic and impatient to be outdoors. Besides ..  because of last fall's early morning visitor I will need to stand guard duty for a while to be sure he has forgotten about this particular fishing hole !

I think I may continue this dialogue  from time to time. ' Doodles ' is a label which will cover a wide range of miscellaneous subjects. Perhaps as time passes I shall turn this page (or pages, if verbosity runs rampant ) into a kind of journal where I  jot down whatever comes into my mind from time to time. I'm not sure others will find it of interest but it might be interesting for me as a means of following my own mood swings. <s>  However if the arrival of  spring  is as imminent as it appears it is going to be I may not be doing much writing for a while. It's kinda difficult to do justice to the spring cleaning or planting and other gardening chores if one is sitting at a computer keyboard. The keyboard may be easier on the muscles  and joints , but  its no help at all with the flora and fauna upkeep around here.

June 16th ...

Well several weeks have passed since this page was uploaded and have I ever been working ! But enjoying every ache and pain I hasten to add. Although spring was later arriving than I had originally anticipated and  has proven to be cooler than usual I have managed to accomplish quite a lot. Spring cleaning is done, gardens are cleaned up, new plants  all doing well and the flowers are beginning to  display their beauty as I had envisioned as I toiled. 

The huge creature who discovered our pond last fall has so far not returned to threaten our fish thank goodness. We did lose our sweet little PT after all, and well after winter had departed. One of the larger fish must have become hungry as the weather became warmer and the fish became more alert. In any case, PT is gone and we assume that to be his fate. What a shame as he had survived the winter and was one of the first to  become active. Nature does have a cruel side as well as providing so much beauty  and solace unfortunately.

I have decided to make use of this page to  show my sister Julia and  Les'  daughter Beth the results of our labours as they both live all the way across the country from us and we seldom are able to be together these days. Of course, they have a head start  each year as BC warms up way ahead of us each spring. So bear with me, the following are for  the two of them and are pictures of our home and garden.

June 29th ...

 A few more pictures of our gardens ... the roses are lovely right now ! I wish I could share their beauty with all of you. Each day brings more proof of nature's wonder. And most assuredly makes every second of the work involved in creating and nurturing these gardens so worthwhile !

  September 8th ...

I have been remiss in not adding more images of the beauty we have enjoyed this summer but each day I kept thinking .. tomorrow's show will be even better, I'll wait till then to photograph the gardens again. The lack of rain this summer has hindered  a full appreciation of  nature's bounty. Rainfall has been sparse and water restrictions have been in force much of the summer. The plants have done their best and the show has been lovely but nothing like what it should, and would have been, had the weather been more accommodating.

 This poor plant is a survivor of a calamity which occurred about 6 or 7 weeks ago. It had been one of the hanging plants along the fence and was gorgeous .. that is until it fell to the ground one evening when a gust of wind caused its hangers to break and the poor plant was smashed to bits .. quite literally. Had it been left up to me I would have given up on the poor thing but Les insisted that he would nurse it back to health and he proceeded to do just that as you can see.It now sits on a table on the deck and it is never without an amazing mass of blooms  .. even more lovely than before the mishap. And Les has even had the grace to not even once say "I told you so !" 

His patience has always been rewarded when it came to house plants as his collection of African Violets  attests but apparently it extends to garden type variety flora as well. I suppose the reasoning behind keeping that a secret till now might have something to do with  mundane things like  weeding and cultivating etc. He freely admits that he has absolutely no interest in those pursuits.

 These are only  two examples of his wizardry with house plants. We inherited these from his Mother when she passed away a year ago February and there has not been one single day since that time when these two plants were not covered with blossoms! There are many others in our home which are lovely as well but they do take a rest from blooming from time to time. Not these two. They simply keep displaying more blossoms with each day that passes. And never just one or two.. they are literally covered with flowers all the time. Perhaps his Mother  still assists with their care ?

Now that I have  forced you to sit through my garden pictures, which I probably will be adding to as the days and weeks pass, I will let you get on with your journey through my site. I hope it hasn't been as boring as viewing slides or videos of someone else's vacation can often be. <s>

 December 15th ...

 No garden pictures this time, but thought I'd add a picture of our home with the Christmas lights  hopefully enhancing the welcome visitors feel upon arrival. As Christmas will be here this year for the Gorven family and Beth and her family will finally be here in person all the way from the west coast it is an extra special day for us, and one which we are really looking forward to with a great deal of anticipation. We have tried to make certain they would  know how happy we are to finally have them here. This picture is more for my sister this time. <s> Who knows? Maybe it will act as an inducement and she might even consider  a similar trip one day.

This year we have tried to safeguard our wee baby fish and invested in an aquarium so they are now indoors for the winter. Their parents manage to cope with the climate  and are safely hibernating with a heater and pump in the pond to  make the cold less of a hazard but the babies are just too tiny to deal with  such drastic temperature changes so the girls will have the fun of seeing and  perhaps helping Grandpa with the feeding chores of all of those tiny creatures. It promises to be fun watching them have fun with Grandpa and will add to the  pleasure of this holiday season.

I hope all of you have as happy a time in your homes and with your families as we anticipate having with ours  during this season. Happy holidays to all of you !

August 9th...

 Goodness ! I had no idea it had been so long since I added to this page ! It's been a busy year  and many new pages have been added to my site as well causing me to neglect  this one. Not much of an excuse though and I do have several new pictures to add which I will do in the next few days. This one I wanted to put up right away. This little guy is incorrigible and is constantly at the bird feeder. This time we caught him in the act and he decided to stare us down.  I was amazed he didn't scamper away but he stayed there on the tree staring at us as if he was posing. After showing such chutzpah we decided he deserved a feast and allowed him to eat to his heart's content.The bird and squirrel population around here is  becoming quite a handful. At times we feel like traffic cops, chasing the squirrels so the birds can get to the feeder and have their turn. It's so much fun watching their antics as they become more at home each day  and allow us to observe them at very close range.

 Meet our new friend..