Spring at Sunlight Gardens Nursery

Terry and I recently visited Sunlight Gardens Nursery, an organic nursery specializing in day lilies.














It was fun to take the 40-minute drive to Middleville, Ontario on a sunny spring day!














Terry used to work with one of the owners - who often gave us gifts of plants. So I was anxious to view the nursery for myself.














Fortunately we had written directions, as our Garmin GPS didn't recognize a place named Middleville! (It's near Almonte, which Garmin does recognize!)














The nursery consists of an acre of plants behind their home.














Caring for them is a labor of love!














Nancy showed me around the beds... Then she dug up some herbs for me to take home. She couldn't resist sharing!














I wish I could remember the names of all the plants!














Spring flowers were in bloom. I did recognize the irises - as I have a few in my garden. Nancy gave me a small (short) iris plant to take home.














I was fascinated by the many varieties of mint they grew - apple mint, chocolate mint, and spearmint... to name a few. I didn't know mint came in so many flavors!














After a tour of the grounds and a relaxing chat...














... we returned home with more plants than we had planned to get, among them different varieties of mint and day lilies...














Seeing the plants in beds - rather than in pots on a store shelf - made me want to create a little city nursery like theirs behind my home!

They invited us to return in July when their mid-summer flowers are in bloom. I hope we do!

CHOOSING to BE...

I often stop reading a book when I arrive at an idea I need to think about for a while...














So when I recently picked up Debbie Macomber's book, Knit Together - and found where I had left off, I knew why I had stopped reading. I needed to think about her words...

Debbie, a successful novelist who overcame dyslexia, a reading and writing disability, as well as disparaging comments from teachers, writes:

"My own personal formula for success [is] something I like to call the "Five Be's":

1. BE PROUD
Take pride in who and what you are because you are special in God's eyes... Embrace the blessings God has given you, and be ready to give something back.

2. BE PERSISTENT
... it's the people who have the fortitude to keep trying even in the face of adversity who eventually find success.

3. BE BOLD
Dare to dream! ...[God] wants us to stand tall, walk firmly, and be excited about reaching the goals He has placed in our hearts.

4. BE GRATEFUL
Appreciate the little things in life. Appreciate the chance to dream and the encouragement you receive... Appreciate the opportunity to learn from your mistakes."

5. BE YOURSELF

She then advises: "Don't be afraid of finding and pursuing success..."

(And as I close the book again, tucking in my bookmark, I wonder if "success" could here be defined as "excellence in being who you are"...)

The Law of Love

One of the most challenging aspects of Christianity (for me) is the Christian LAW - not SUGGESTION - to LOVE [even] OUR ENEMIES...

(I have a hard time relating to the word "enemies": In the course of a lifetime, not many people fall into that category...)

But if I am to love my enemies, how much more so all the others who mildly annoy me...!

I have struggled for many years with forgiving, not my enemies, but some near to me who have hurt me, especially in my childhood years. Many of the grudges re-surfaced in later life, as I reflected on the source of some deep-rooted sadness.

There has been a digging up of soil, so to speak, and a confrontation with many of my hidden, angers... a pulling up of weeds... And at times I had to pray for strength to let them go...

Forgiving is hard because it minimizes the wrong, implying that it was okay to do something that wasn't! a friend once commented, confiding that there were some things she simply couldn't forgive.

I eventually forgave, not minimizing the wrong, but simply because I had to: "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us..." (The Lord's Prayer) is basic to Christian faith.

Besides, I didn't want to live with the burden of anger any longer. Forgiving - and freeing myself from anger - was a serious business!

So today, as I happen upon words that Paul wrote to the Church in Rome, I am taken aback. Writing about our attitudes when we use our spiritual gifts, I come across the words: If a person's gift is "showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully."

Now whose gift is showing mercy? I wonder... Unless it's the gift all of us use... when we forgive?

Am I called to forgive cheerfully? Is that part of the law of love?! Not with furrowed brow - but with a song and a dance of joy?!

(Now that is a new challenge to ponder!)

Peace... and Sunsets

Two things I never tire of: The palpable peace of a quiet Saturday morning (with all the windows open)...














And the glimpse of a beautiful evening sunset... visible above the city rooftops and trees. It always catches me by surprise!

Strange (Perhaps)... But True

I've previously shared some urban myths about Canada... (Ideas that people in other countries believe are true about Canada, when, in fact, they aren't!) So, to balance things out, I thought I'd share something that I consider strange (but true) about Canada: That fact is that in Canada, we no longer have post offices! (Well, we do have a few... but not many.)

I was reminded of this by visitors from Germany who asked me: Where is the post office? We hunted and hunted downtown for it, but we couldn't find it. We wanted to mail a few post cards...

Oh yes, I sighed... (I had forgotten to tell them...) We no longer have post offices. If you want to buy stamps, go to a DRUG STORE!

Seeing their surprised looks, I explained: A few years ago the head of our postal system decided it would be cheaper to shut down post offices and let the business of selling stamps and weighing parcels (and everything else a post office does) be done be private businesses. At first, when they made the change, it was very confusing. In my neighborhood, I sometimes didn't know where my local postal outlet was, it was changing all the time! But eventually things settled down. Now many shopping malls and large drugstores have them. Which is why, when I need to buy postage stamps or mail a parcel, I head for a drugstore. Three drugstores in my neighborhood have postal outlets in the back.

Occasionally - especially in smaller communities - you can still find a post office building. But they no longer are the impressive buildings they used to be, like this old one in Almonte...














Instead, they are smaller, boxy buildings - like Almonte's new post office...














It's just down the street from the old one.














I'm not sure what this old post office building is currently used for... But probably not for selling stamps!

Neighborhood Update

Last spring and summer, we were plagued with road construction.














This spring, crews are landscaping around the new sidewalks...














Last fall and winter, two houses on our street were hauled away. First one, then another... We sadly watched them go...

This spring, new houses are being built.














The corner one is coming along nicely,














... but this one is still a gaping hole!

Who Needs a Camera?!

My daughter and I were viewing an interesting musical combination on You Tube: Classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma accompanying hip-hop dancer "Lil Buck". (The performance caught on a cell phone.)

Who is that guy? I asked, intrigued by the dancer's unusual footwork...

So we turned to a few more of his clips...

Then we watched him do a warm-up routine in his home.

As we watched this last clip, my daughter commented: He's dancing in front of a large mirror - but I can't see a camera... Oh, I think he's using his computer to film the whole thing by himself...

Sure enough, an open computer was sitting unobtrusively on top of his boom-box.

My computer has that feature, I replied... So (in theory) I could also photograph an action scene with no camera!


















(Now to figure out how it the program works...!)

Visiting Almonte

One of the joys of summer (for me) is driving out into the country to re-discover small town Ontario. Many old Ontario towns, built on raging rivers, were once industrial centers.














We recently visited Almonte, a 40-minute drive from Ottawa. The beautiful stone buildings that remain - like this former postal and customs office - attest to the town's former prosperity.














Once a producer of textiles, Almonte, Ontario is now most remembered as the childhood home of James Nasmith, inventor of basketball.

(Reading bits of its history online, I was surprised to discover that its name is of Mexican origin!)














Almonte's raging river, originally harnessed to power textile manufacturing, still contributes to Ontario's electrical grid.














We wandered the streets of old, historic Almonte, discovering vintage and antique shops...














...as well as this textile store that sells quilting supplies.














We stopped at a cafe in a renovated textile mill beside the river.














There, surrounded by paintings overflowing from the gallery upstairs, Terry and I enjoyed a soup-and-sandwich lunch: Croque monsieur, parsnip-pear soup...

... a delicious club sandwich...














...coffee and dessert.














We then headed home through the peaceful countryside.

Turning T-Shirts Into Shopping Bags

I recently came across a Martha Stewart craft idea for turning T-shirts into cloth shopping bags. Just the kind of project I needed for two stained T-shirts my son wore while working on a construction crew a few summers ago...














The shirts are still in good condition - but they look awful. (He even cut the sleeves off this one.) But they would still work as shopping bags!


















Since T-shirts are stretchy, perhaps I should double them, putting one shirt inside the other as "lining," like my daughter did with this shopping bag she made me...


















There, it's done! ... Not as attractive as the one my daughter made... (with longer handles than the one in Martha's pattern...) But a useful cloth shopping bag, nonetheless...


















... in size LARGE!

My Tulips and Other Spring Flowers

This is the last weekend of Ottawa's Tulip Festival, but judging from my tulips, the city's tulip beds should still be lovely for another week or so.














With spring's late arrival - and rain the past two weeks - last year's April flowers are this year blooming in May.














The rain has made everything else grow too, so some of our tulips are dwarfed by the foliage around them!














I enjoy white flowers against a green backdrop, and tulips are no exception. Other new bloomers in my garden are white anemones...














Red bleeding heart...














They really do look like little hearts!!














(But why "bleeding"?)














I think these blue flowers are forget-me-nots...














Do they also come in white?! If not, maybe some sweet woodruff is growing in with the blue forget-me-nots. (But they do look lovely together!)

Birthday Fun

Terry kept busy on his recent birthday...














We had brunch at the Market...














(Cafe au lait and croissants...)














And later we spoiled ourselves by going out for dinner as well!

(If we can't stop the aging process, we may as well enjoy it!)