Our Manotick Secret!

Yesterday I wrote about a new riverside path we discovered in Manotick. 

Today I’ll let you in on the secret of why we often head to Manotick...

Before the pandemic, we’d often go to the Miller’s Oven tea house for brunch or lunch. Terry’s meal usually included a slice of their delicious “mile high” lemon pie for dessert. 

But now, during our pandemic lockdown, they only sell take out food... and whole pies. So we often buy frozen meat pies, soup....

And WHOLE lemon meringue pies! (They have to be pre-ordered. Their take out menus is posted online.)

Manotick River Walk

Last time we were in Manotick to buy take out food at the Miller’s Oven Tea House, we added a little walk by the river as well.

Crossing the bridge at the old mill, we headed left - intending to cross back on the new bridge nearby.

But we spotted a path going down to the river and took a detour.

This wooded area brought back childhood memories of the bird sanctuary in Red Deer, Alberta, a place that friends and I would explore.

A different view of the old mill from here!

We saw a few birds in the rushes.

 

A peaceful place I’d definitely like to return to again!

Trying to Live in Harmony With Lengthening Days

Since December I’ve been tracking our daylight hours here in Ottawa.

When I started, around Christmas, sunrise came around 7:40 am. Now, in late May, it’s light around 5:20 am. In December, the sun set around 4:20 pm. Now it’s light until almost 9.

From 9 to 15 hours of daylight in a little over 5 months is a noticeable difference! And it’s not over yet! Our days will continue to lengthen until late June. 

I recently read an article on how electricity has changed our sleep patterns. Before electric lights - and midnight TV - those who couldn’t sleep lay in bed resting. That too was part of the sleep cycle - or so the author of the article claimed.

Thinking about life before electricity - and because I’m a morning person - I decided to try to rise with the sun in the morning - and go to bed at 9, shortly after sundown.

Would I feel better living in sync with our daily daylight rhythms? How would it affect me? That’s what I was curious to find out.

New View

Terry and I were walking in a park we visit regularly ...

But this time we took a new path away from the river...

There we encountered... some waterfalls! 

We’ve walked in the park dozens of times - ever since our children were young. I don’t remember ever seeing them...

“Hi from Maui” I messaged one of my sons, sending him a photo. It really resembled the waterfalls we had seen there!

Puzzling Spring Weather

Spring came early this year... April had warm, comfortable weather. We were able to get out and do yard work...

Then in early May, weather turned cool again. 

We bundled up more on our walks...

A few weeks into May, a heat wave for several weeks. Today it’s cool again, a nice reprieve that makes me think of baking...

All this - and we’re not even in June!

When did this happen?!

I put my one and not orchid next to a west-facing window that gets direct sunlight mid-afternoon.

A few weeks ago, I fertilized the plant, then basically ignored it. 

I recently checked it again... and was amazed at how many blooms had developed. Was it the new location or the fertilizer that has made such a difference?! Both, perhaps!

Tulips - So Many Kinds!

Ottawa’s annual tulip gardens are always a surprise...

There are so many tulips that don’t look like traditional tulips.

Are they hybrids?

Some look like roses or chrysanthemums...

Creating flowers in new shapes, sizes and colours.

Now, that would be an interesting job!

Rainy, Cool Walk

Earlier this month, it was Terry’s birthday - a cool, rainy day - but I suggested a walk...

(I also casually remarked that, if we drove to Almonte, he could get a small birthday cake at Baker Bob’s.)

So off we went!

The river looked lower than it had been a month before, when we were last there.

We’d had quite a bit of rain after the snow melted...

Was the water level being controlled by the operators of the dam?

We noticed that a house we often admired - that had been for sale - now had a SOLD sign in front...

Ah, well... We couldn’t afford it anyway! But it’s fun to dream!

So Much to Learn!

I’ve been gardening for years - but I have so much to learn!

A few days ago, in the blog, I mentioned that I liked the tidy Euphorbia plants because they stayed put and didn’t spread.

After reading that, my neighbor Mary sent me this photo of her backyard flower bed. All the Euphorbia started with one plant near the bird bath. After a few years, the plant started spreading.

I’d be happy if mine did - and replaced the gout weed I can’t seem to get rid of! I wonder if that could ever happen!

Planting Sunflower Seeds

Last year my son visited a friend who had enormous sunflowers growing in his garden. 

My mother would love flowers like that, my son commented...

I have lots of seeds she can plant, the friend replied, and took him into the garage where some sunflower heads were drying.

That was last fall...

Several weeks ago, we put the seeds between layers of damp paper towel to see if they’d sprout...

The plan was to keep them moist - then plant them outdoors if they sprouted.

But then PANIC! The weather turned cold and instead of sprouting, some became moldy...

I quickly planted them in pots and put them in a sunny window...

It looks as if a few are reviving and beginning to sprout...

A hopeful beginning!

Ottawa’s Tulips

Tulips in spring are an Ottawa tradition.

An annual gift from the government of Holland, they brighten parks near the Rideau Canal.

The biggest display is near Dow’s Lake, a man-made lake created when the canal was built.

Last weekend Terry and I headed over to go for a walk. There was no festival this year, but dozens of people were there.

Spring came early this year, so I’m not sure how long the flowers will be this beautiful.

I think we caught them at their peak.

Spring Flowers

There are still a few early spring flowers blooming in the yard... Like these tulips...

The cheery Euphorbia is also blooming. It gets bigger every year but doesn’t spread, a feature I like. Once it stops blooming, I sometimes divide it to multiply the plants in the yard.

The anemones are beginning to bloom - one of my favourite flowers!

It’s also the beginning of iris season.

I just noticed this first one in bloom.

A Hope and a Prayer

When I returned to Canada after living in Jerusalem, I moved to Montreal.

I found a job teaching English to French-speaking soldiers. But the school where I taught wasn’t in Montreal. It was located in a smaller city, a 45-minute drive away.

Other teachers who taught with me lived in Montreal, so we car-pooled. But that meant taking a bus or subway to the driver’s neighborhood, adding another half hour to the commute each way.

I enjoyed living in downtown Montreal, and didn’t want to move...

Perhaps I needed a car...

At the same time, I had almost no savings and I didn’t want to get into debt... A car seemed like an impossible dream!

Somewhat discouraged, I came across a self-help article that talked of envisioning one’s desires, perhaps by creating a collage - or taking it a step further by buying  something that would support the dream...

But what...?!

I still remember walking through a department store in downtown Montreal and noticing a display of KEY CHAINS...

That’s it! I’ll buy a key chain for the car I was hoping to own someday... 

For many long months, I’d look at the key chain whenever I felt discouraged... In some beautiful, inexplicable way, it gave me hope.

I eventually did get a car - a small yellow Honda Civic. (Honda Civics were  smaller in those days!) And - equally miraculously - I learned to confidently manoeuvre Montreal’s busy, circuitous expressways, something I’m not sure I’d like to do now.

But the point of remembering all this is - in part - to challenge myself again...

What do I want to accomplish now? And what small token of hope could encourage me on...?