Patio reflections...

 

Today I was working on the finishing touches to the patio in front of our house. It involved several walks through the cedar grove behind the house to my workshop, and back. Each time I walk through those trees I feel loved. I breathe the air and savour its sweetness and coolness. And I reflect on how fortunate I am to live in a place where my environment offers me these feelings. I think about those who endure the mean streets of cities. I think about those who live in paradise but don’t recognize it. I think about the choices each of us make and how we rationalize them. I see now that there is no sanity without an ongoing, harmonious relationship with nature. For all the brilliance of intellect displayed so dramatically and abundantly around this world of ours, to me it all looks suspect unless rooted in a deep, constant, breathing, oneness with the plants and animals and insects and rocks. And soil.

Who do we think we are that we can imagine a life without living close to the soil?  We have been living in an ego-bubble. It just burstJ

Namaste

Andy:)

Patio started!

 After waiting a month, the patio pavers finally arrived today. (The manufacturer apparently has 8 molds and I needed 200 pavers). Anyway setting them in place is going well and I hope to be done in a couple more days.






 The new woodshed extension is now comp-lete and I added a divider to make a section on the left for kindling. Our tenant in the trailer, Dale, likes chopping wood so he's been splitting and stacking to fill the new section.






This guy has been hanging around with his lady friend for a few days. My eco-friendly, super-quiet, no-cost grass trimmers:)

June 16th - wasps, lizards and lumber

 A coat of cedar-tone finish works wonders for the deck. Here you see the work in progress with the steps done and the top deck not yet done. The end result is a big improvement.









Last night I became a mass murderer and blasted this nest with an insecticide foam. This morning the occupants were no more and I safely removed the nest.










I'm extending the woodshed and today got a good start on the frame. The floor is made from recycled shipping pallet lumber. The rest is local cedar.








 I watched while a blackbird chewed a piece off the tail of this little lizard. When the bird flew off I went outside and checked on the victim. He was lying upside down looking pretty dead, but when I flipped him over, he woke up and scurried under a leafy plant for cover. Once his tail grows back he'll be as good as new and much more careful around blackbirds.

A Walk In The Park

 Honeysuckle has to be the sweetest fragrance on Earth! We are blessed to have this lovely bush on our place. And the bees love it!









K'was park swamp is a magical place, especially at dusk when the beavers like to put in an appearance. Tonight I played my flute for them until the reflections demanded my photographic attention...


















This daisy forgot to close at the end of a sunny day. Just having too much fun...