lindaskelton

Gleanings from an elusive summer so far…

Posted on July 29, 2019 by lindaskelton

Summer as I think of it–hot with sunny skies–has been extremely spotty in its appearances this year which makes looking back on June and July’s gleanings somewhat deceptive. In this mountain valley summer is unpredictable and moments must be intentionally captured. It seems we’ve done that!

With the stormy cold have come rainbows aplenty, even double ones. And there have been flowers, outside and in (while the freezing nights abated). There have been grandkid outings, and a few bike rides, and hikes and lots of opportunity to stay indoors and get some creative tasks done, for which there can be no big reveal yet, as the wedding hasn’t arrived quite yet!

So yes, I guess summer has come….

From small beginnings, pesto too comes… Two harvests, going on three, make pesto for months to come when the sun no longer shines in my window…

Yay!!! for formal gardens…

and wild ones…

for butterflies and granddaughter’s awe…

for hikes shared..

and rainbows that give solace after rain….

Yay!!! for bumblebee bottoms…

and the wild world they inhabit!

for picturesque vistas and the crazy pedalling home to beat the coming storm…

And for a wee harvest of edible wildness!

This has been our June and July.

But summer is in full force today so let me not linger here looking back!

Blessings on your days!

–Linda

“I will keep watch for You, my strength, because God is my stronghold. My faithful God will come to meet me…” Ps.59:9,10a

May-be summer’s coming

Posted on May 30, 2019 by lindaskelton

While watching for signs of spring I’ve potted herbs on my windowsill…

I snipped a sprig of budding larch to put at the sink for an ever present reminder that spring is upon us.

A bright host of Playmobil people came to visit from a Banff Rummage Sale…

And the moment that flowers appeared at the Garden Center, I bought them! –though they had to hunker down inside for days and weeks while nighttime temps continued to dip to nearly freezing and daytime temps resembled late fall more than late spring!

Mother’s Day intervened, and painting helped

And I discovered that ‘living lettuce’ from the grocery store can be eaten and then the rootball planted! And voila two weeks later–more lettuce to eat! My own literal kitchen garden!

And just this weekend the weather began to turn and I had a happy ramble up Tunnel Mountain in Banff for further proof that summer may be coming.

The timing couldn’t have been better. As I started up the trail a small group of people were huddled looking into the trees.

There we spied a mother elk having just given birth to a wobbly-legged little one. He was just getting to his feet as I headed by. An hour later when I returned down the mountain he was toddling about in a little sunlit space on the side of the mountain, getting a feel for his legs! Too precious!

The mountain-top was lovely. Flowers underway. Even a belated Prairie Crocus ( :

I am breathing easier now. Spring has hatched.

The Cascade Gardens are still mostly rock and fountain, but one of these days there will be flowers as if they had never disappeared…

And my own flowers have now spent their first night camping out alone and have lived to tell the story…

———And that has been our month of May!

I will leave you with our latest rendition of Granola Bars. Around here we’ve been scaling back on ultra sweets like the regular batches of Chocolate Chip Cookies and Brownies that used to be a staple. We are experimenting with getting happy energy instead from homemade granola bars, which have been surprisingly easy to concoct!