Come along with me

I’ve been blogging here off and on since 2006 and recently decided to move my blog to a new domain.

Here’s my new location: http://www.storygal.ca/

You’ll find the same theme of life, love and gardening. Still me, editor, author and storyteller. Still me who takes pictures wherever I go, enjoying nature, family and friends and music too.

Please come along and join me there.

 

Another garden

This year we had opportunity to rent another garden space. I called it a plot and my friend Doris laughed at that, thinking quite the opposite of living and gardening. Oh, well.

how the new space looked a couple of weeks ago

At last our garden looks like one. Most things are emerging from under the soil and some look quite at home. I worry a little though since the promised fence is not yet erected. The hardware and wire are certainly there. It only needs strong backs of available volunteers to get it together. Not a place I can help.

all the hardware is present

The mulch has been spread around the garden boxes and many of the boxes sport tomato plants and lettuce and beans among other things. There are even some flowers.

Last week when our granddaughters, 7 & 9, were going to be with us overnight, we stopped at the community garden space on our way home. One helped me fill a pail with water and held the watering can while I poured it in. The nozzle on the tank is quite large and water comes out pretty fast. We’re trying our best not to waste water.  Once we’d watered the plants,  we put our own watering can in the car and I retrieved my cell phone for a couple of photos.

Our garden is still quite young here, compared to the others planted earlier, but it took a bit of time to assign boxes and get some of the things in place for the enlarged community garden.

At the church there are two boxes assigned for their community cupboard, which is generous. People from the congregation may be tending those.

how it looks now

I have back-up help for the time we’ll be away, to make sure the garden is tended, the weeds are pulled and produce harvested. We’ll have beans, onions and cucumbers here. And a few marigolds to help keep bugs away.

Perhaps the girls can come again with me to pick things from this garden as well as our garden at home, which is coming along quite nicely, protected from small animals.

 

home garden raised beds

 

The rain last evening certainly refreshed the soil. The grass is damp but the sun is shining and that helps the gardens along too.

 

a mix of herbs, tomatoes and veggies

parsley and basil in an extra space

And the fairies welcome a visitor

Last year, we continued our fairy garden, and this year my oldest granddaughter set it up, complete with a sparkly path and the fairies. This is our third season for it.

There was a discussion about which fairy belonged to which girl. The younger one of the two was tired from her weekend of camping with the Brownies and Guides. She wanted to trade fairies. Maybe another day it will go better.

The older girl, aged 9, created a new path among the flowers and stems with coloured stones. They’ll be shaded for sure once the heat comes and the daisies beside them grow even taller. (The fairies reside indoors between play times so no little critter makes off with them.)

 

Set up on my garden stone, a perfect foundation for the fairy house

Our first fairies, made of clay, didn’t stand up and the process was disappointing. Then it was Grandma’s decision to go looking for these fairies, found at a local craft store. Last summer, we made some extra fairies with wooden clothespins and silk flower petals.

When a third gardener was added to our annual planting event, we needed a new fairy for her. And again a new one was found, this time at a garden centre gift shop. Oh, the interesting things they had. Alas one of that fairy’s wings was broken and we haven’t quite worked out how to fix it. We may need a new fairy and then retire the other one.

And so the fairies we created with clothespins are still hanging around… and one comes to visit. What stories will they tell of tea parties and running through their garden, and playing beside their path?

 

See the visitor coming with her purple-petaled hat and skirt?

 

Note: Fairies give way to other popular things in the market. Anyone know where we can get a new fairy?

Gardening with my Grandchildren

 

We have five grandchildren, ages ranging in age from 2-9 years old. The oldest two at 7 and 9 have had opportunity to help me plant my vegetable garden since they were three, and the youngest of our gardeners turned 4 in March. The little boys, currently two, will get to help next year, once they’re three, but if they should happen to visit, they can still help give the plants a drink, with a little help. They can also begin to understand now, that just as they need a drink, the plants also need water to grow.

Helping with the watering

The oldest two girls know what to do with the plants once I show them where I want the plants arranged. I show them the spot, hand them the plant and they manage very well. One even pops the plants out of their pot and divides the seedlings. All three were excited to help me plant this year again.

In process, watering as we  go along

 

The four-year-old is learning to dig the hole, put the plant in, fill the space around the plant. She’s learning to pat the soil gently around the stem and knows that the plant needs water right away. We give her the small watering can, for she’s just a small girl herself.

We do these tasks together, then everyone gets to play awhile afterwards, along with having a little snack and a drink of water too.

The older girls and I talked by Facetime the week before about what we’d plant. We honour their requests in as far as things they like to eat and the available space, so we have a small variety of items. We’ll always have tomatoes and cucumbers, those two are assured, and parsley, but other items may change from year to year. Their Mom requested jalapeno peppers so that’s new this year. We’ve added squash, lettuce and zucchini as well.

 

This year, in addition to our own raised beds at home, I decided to rent a bed at a church that’s expanding their community gardens. I’ll plant some of the extra bean seeds there, carrots, and perhaps a few extra herbs. That garden isn’t ready yet, but it will be very soon. The water tank is waiting and other supplies are already there. It just needs a crew to complete the tasks and put up a fence around it.

New garden beds being prepared

In time our grandchildren learn about planting and harvest. When veggies and tomatoes are ripe throughout the summer, they’ll have some to eat. They already recognize seasons as a time to ski and make snowmen, a time to plant, and a time for swimming outdoors. The planting season is part of this wonderful creation of which we’re simply caretakers.

 

Photo credits: L. Shaw, L. Wilker and C. Wilker,

 

 

 

Upcoming event for Piece by Piece

 

I’ve received some amazing reviews, personal notes and kind words about my new book, Piece by Piece, from fellow writers and readers thus far. I am grateful for their sincere and generous comments.

My official launch happens this Saturday, May 11th, in my hometown of Tavistock, ON, at the Tavistock Public Library, 40 Woodstock Street South and begins at 11 am.

Come and join us, and get your signed copy.  I look forward to seeing you there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those who cannot make it to the launch, my book is also available at Words Worth Books in Waterloo  and from me.

For more information on my book, and to contact me, here’s my website https://www.carolynwilker.ca/books/

 

 

Off to Palmerston today

Today I’ll be in Palmerston for a book signing, featuring my newest book, Piece by Piece, and I’ll have copies of my other books along too.

This book makes a great gift for a mother, grandmother or friend. You can treat yourself to a new book to read as well.

Glynis Belec, from Angel Hope Publishing, will be joining me for this event at Family Home Health Centre on 237 Main Street West in Palmerston. From 11 am-3 pm.

We have small treats and a draw prize, and you can get your book signed too.

Time to get ready, hope to see you there.

Piece by Piece book signings

 

Please note that I have several book events already set up for Piece by Piece

 

April 13th, at Family Home Health Care Centre in Palmerston ON, from 11 am to 3 pm

May 11th, at Tavistock Public Library, Tavistock ON, at 11 am, reading and signing books

And I will be at the Tavistock Fall Fair in September. More news on that one later. All of my books available at this event.

More in planning stages

Winter

Early November in southwestern Ontario, we had a real first snow. It coated trees and covered roofs, nearly buried the gardens and gave drivers a reason to haul out their snow brushes. It was cold too.

 

like how the snow mounds on the picnic table top and benches, like a marshmallow top

 

Ceramic birdhouse made by my friend Valda. It may not be the most comfortable place for birds, but it’s a pretty decoration.

 

Time to put the watering cans away. We had to turn them upside down and drain them first.

 

snow on the trellises, and fence, a neat pattern

Weather in Canada, at least where we are. It comes and it stays.

Today I’ll share a poem that I wrote years ago, published by Tower Poetry Society.

 

Frozen Beauty

maples wave skeleton arms, patterning a cold blue sky

exposing abandoned nests and fragile papery globes

work of birds and bees

 

silvery icicles and white patches weigh down

evergreen branches, they sag

like an old woman with a heavy load

 

paw prints parallel booted feet

imprinting, crunching the cold white blanket

over frozen soil and city concrete

 

gardens, a silhouette of frozen stalks, dried seedpods

waiting… at rest until spring

like hibernating bears

 

©Carolyn Wilker

 

Published by Tower Poetry Winter Edition 2004-2005 Vol. 53 No. 2

Kawartha Settlers’ Village

 

Search page given to our granddaughters on paying the entry fee

On one of our days away, we went with our host family to Kawartha Settlers’ Village that’s located just outside of Bobcaygeon.

According to the tour booklet for the village,

In 1990, the dream of establishing a museum to preserve history and the development of the area became a reality when a small group of people calling themselves the Kawartha Region Arts and Heritage Society convinced the village of Bobcaygeon to lease them the land to establish the Kawartha Settlers’ Village.

 

Follow along with me on our tour of some of the buildings. Here’s the map that’s in the program booklet. It’s an easy walk through for visitors of any age.

http://www.settlersvillage.org/tour-the-village

The receptionist at the main building gave each of our granddaughters a card showing pictures of things to look for in the village and a crayon to mark off items as they found them. It became a game for all of us to help them find the items.

Quilters meet regularly in the Wray House to learn their craft. There were many interesting quilts hanging in this home.

A rather colourful and picturesque quilt

 

A child’s room in another home

Our granddaughters interest was limited in some areas due to their ages of 6 and 8, although the adults could have spent more time. Another time perhaps. The girls did enjoy wandering through the village and checking off the items on their card. They awaited a prize at the end.

The firehall housed an old engine and hoses and hats. The building is a replica of the original Bobcaycaygeon Fire Company station.

The Fairbairn Church

a wooden offering plate

Inside the classroom, one modelling the dunce hat and one drawing on the chalkboard

What’s inside this desk?

Outside the trapper’s cabin

A warm rug inside.

If the printer needed a graphic for a newspaper or flyers, he’d have these images…

 

 

or even these images. Not simply drawings but carvings that someone had made.

 

And a bit of fun at the end of the Kawartha Settlers’ Village.

The girls showed their cards at the admission centre and got their little prize and could keep the cards to remember the visit.

If you’re in the area this summer, go to the village and take the self-guided tour. It was well worth the time and price of admission, which was quite reasonable.

The Heat Goes On

Today I posted over at The Word Guild blog as I usually do once a month. Here’s the opening of my post.

No, not the beat. It’s the heat. Not so long ago we waited for the heat to come. Now we’ve got it in spades. The ground is dry again, the grass is dead, but thank goodness for the rain we had that filled  our water barrels and soaked the ground. Our plants stood up taller and had a great growth spurt afterwards. it’s as though they were saying “thank you.”

 

 

This spring’s garden after the rain

 We could use another good rain shower for the crops and gardens. Then people wanting to picnic and have outdoor events might holler no. There’s no pleasing us humans. Some like it hot, some like it cold, some like it … in between.

We can be picky, or maybe it’s particular. Many times we just complain, but God is used to that. He’s heard it before. Centuries of it. One most notable being the philosopher in Ecclesiastes who felt nothing was right. People worked hard and got nothing for it.

 

granddaughter helping with gardening tasks, 2017

Read more here.