Thankful {things I love} Thursday ...

this beautiful, spring day

has me thinking about making some garden changes 

I love  decorating our outdoor space as much as I do indoors. Our garden swing needs some new cushions, the deck a new rug & the flower beds,  new plants ...

our arbour of almost 25 years has seen better days, and needs to be replaced also.

It is the spot where the Doves have nested year after year, so I hope they like change too.

after long winter's like the one we just had, it's inevitable that a few plants will not have wintered well

and I was so happy to see today, that the bleeding heart is a few inches above the ground and looking healthy

tiny buds are appearing all through the garden

 and our old lilac looks like she will not disappoint again this year.

Nature never rushes, and always takes her time ... she is a patient teacher, so we must be too.

I am always in awe how all these seemingly "delicate" plants  survive the cold nights, frosts, snow, sleet ... all the elements, and return strong and vital ~ what a wonderful life lesson ♥

archer has a "favourite" garden spot ...

he loves to sit in our old wooden wheel barrow and supervise :-)

at the moment, it's the only "seat" we have outside.

looking forward to the patio set being brought out of storage and set up again ...

love to sit outside early in the morning with my first cup of tea (and arch)

can you blame me?

Earth Day ♥ ...

 

 

 

 

 

~ some photos from our walk today ~ our little corner of the Earth~

♥

Happy Earth Day

Thankful {things I love} Thursday ...

we've been having gorgeous weather these past few days ...

and met lots of lovely friends on our walk

like the white-breasted nuthatch

who made us laugh pulling out leaves and debris from a tree stump

still patches of snow and ice in various spots ...

I loved seeing the mirrored image of this sweet, content couple

where the snow had melted ♥

the chipmunks were eager to see what I had for them

& look at how wonderfully camouflaged his tail is !

the high point of our walks is always the black capped chickadees

and they were EVERY WHERE

I took the opportunity to take a photo of his gorgeous plumage ♥

we waited our turn leaving the park

& followed the leader : - D

Texture Tuesday ...

stay little sparrow ♥

texture: kim klassen ~ stay

***

this week's theme : For the love of _________.

of course, it has to be

For the love of Sparrows.

***

Linking to Texture Tuesday today.

 

ranunculus & pansies ...

made our first trip to the nursery this weekend

to pick up a few flats of pansies ...

now, it feels like spring ♥

and of course, you never visit the nursery without finding a few other plants :-)

especially when you walk past the most gorgeous ranunculus

 

I found out the hard way in previous years that our garden bunnies love ranunculus as much as we do & will completely finish off all the petals ... so this year I will have to plant them in some out-of- bunny reach places

as soon as I see pansies I think Spring ...

and love that they are so frost hardy

and can be planted long before our usual may 24th weekend planting rule

but for the time being

I am enjoying them sitting on my kitchen table

basking in the sunshine

just like archer

just like sweet robin ♥

april ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

I always feel so fortunate that although I live in the city

I am surrounded by water & wildlife ♥

between the trumpet swans and sea gulls there are plenty of lovely white feathers to be found on our walks  & pretty twigs and grapevine branches, leaves that have been covered in snow for months and tiny little heart shaped stones & I love bringing home these found treasures and setting them up on my art table to draw.

~happy april~