I didn’t expect to have another Walkabout post so soon, but the other day, I was short on steps, so after work, I took a longer walk than usual. Up the far end of town, I discovered a very large pond.

The road that runs along the side of it is called Mill Pond road, so I’m guessing it’s an old Mill Pond!

I couldn’t get down the the edge of it. I didn’t see an easy path, and I wasn’t dressed for it anyway, but there was a large sign by the road giving details about all it’s denizens.

It was after dinner, and you could definitely hear some of those frogs! They were singing their hearts out!

The pond was almost completely surrounded by shrubs and trees, and many of them were blooming

Unsurprising, there were several lilacs, but there was also this shrub with pretty star flowers. Google is telling me it’s an Autumn Olive

This neat yellow one is a European Barberry. And the pink one is a type of Honeysuckle. Unlike the two I’ve shown in my garden, this one is not a vine. It’s a pretty dense shrug. And funnily enough, I have one in my yard. It’s between the driveway and the side porch, and I didn’t even know it bloomed until this year. I plan on moving it to the other side of the yard, but I’m going to wait until it’s done blooming.

I’m hoping to take another walk down there soon, and try to get to the pond’s edge… and maybe spy some of those turtles!

No… you didn’t read that title wrong. There’s no Tiny Needle Tuesday this week because I have not crossed a stitch!

I said I wasn’t going to buy any new plants for the gardens (because of all the seeds I’ve started), but we all know that was a lie…

This isn’t even all of them. Over the next couple of days, I’ll have posts of what they are all for. But some of the above was specifically for the fairy garden bits and pieces I showed you a short time ago.

A small village of gnomes has popped up on the front step…

The gnomes have taken up residence in this old washtub, amid Celosia “trees” and Creeping Thyme and Alyssum “shrubs”

As you can see, they appear quite happy in their new home

And over in the Woodland Garden, the Maple tree has a new resident.

Some Lobelia hedges line the path to this quaint little abode.

So far, it’s just this one wee gnome living there, but I heard there are some fairies set to move in later this week. I hope they don’t get too wild and disturb the neighbours.

It’s always nice to see your stitches being worn and enjoyed.

You will all know how thrilled I was to see this picture of Miss Wren of Facebook the other day.

She looks FABULOUS in her dress and shrug!

And I’m so happy to see it looks like she’ll be able to wear the shrug for quite a while. I was definitely winging it when I was upsizing it!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mom’s of all sorts out there!

I’m not able to see my Mom today. Last week the mechanic gave us the unfortunate news that Dory shouldn’t make any more long road trips, and I need to start looking for new wheels (an expense I’m NOT looking forward to).

Mom’s going to come out next week when I’m on vacation, so we will still celebrate – just a little later.

I do have a present for her (sorry, no spoilers), but since she’s not getting it today, I put together a little something else for her.

Growing up, there was almost ALWAYS music on in the house. And when we were teens, my brother started playing guitar. Mom was a big supporter and got into music in a big way. She went to several concerts with both of us, and we frequently shared CDs among the three of us. In fact, we still share new music we discover – albiet digitally now- and have even brought Dave into the music-share-athon.

So in her honour, I created a play list of Mom music. These are all songs that, when I hear them, I think of Mom. They aren’t necessarily her favourites (I tried to stick to one song per artist – for some of these, there are SEVERAL songs that make me think of her.

Now, if you’re inclined to check it out – be warned.. it’s a LONG list. There’s over four hours of music. And it’s a pretty wide range of styles and genres.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom! Keep rockin’!

P.S.! We’re also having a Mother’s Day Sale in the shop – 15% off everything until Monday!

The first week of May is always a season of anticipation… there’s just so much about to spring forth…

Lily-of-the-Valley. I brought these from the townhouse and they’ve done great here. When they are done blooming, I’ll be moving them all into the Woodland garden where they can really shine (right now they are hidden by day lilies)

Spanish Bells. These were a new addition to the Woodland Garden in Fall. I wasn’t sure how they’d fare, but I’ve got several clumps coming up. They were supposed to be a mix of pink, white, blue and purple, but it’s looking like they might all be purple.

Foxglove. The one plant that has absolutely THRIVED here. I have soooo many all through the gardens. It’s going to be an amazing year for foxgloves (plus I bought more seeds!!!)

Peonies. This one is Coral Sunset, but I have several plants coming up, including four which were planted last year. One called Raspberry Sunday (pink/yellow mix), and the other three are a surprise – they were in a mixed bag and could be pink, red or white!

Raspberries. The Raspberries have gone absolutely WILD this year. I’ve pulled up a pile of sprouts that have come up all over the place. It’s going to be a yearly job to keep the raspberries contained! But well worth it. I’ve got red everbearing (which give fruit in early summer and fall), and the golden ones, which are so delicious!

Columbine: You saw the red dwarf version last weekend. They are always the first to bloom, but it’s bigger cousins aren’t far behind. I’ve got six or seven clumps throughout the gardens. And I don’t know what colours all of them are – several were bought in fall and not in bloom! It’s going to be wonderful to learn what I got! Like a lottery you can’t lose!

Honeysuckle. I’ve got two honeysuckle vines – the common pink/gold combo is on the catio. This one is gold and orange, and it’s on the dress form in the front garden. I can’t wait to see it in full bloom.

Yellow False Indigo: I’m very excited about this one. I bought it the first year we were here, but the spot I put it in was too shady and it didn’t bloom. I moved it last year, and while it grew fine, it didn’t bloom. I’d actually thought I might have lost it this year, but all of a sudden it came up – and now it’s growing like crazy – and putting on flower buds!!! (It’s also a native plant, though I didn’t know that when I first bought it!)

All of this beauty is about to burst forth – the garden is going to look very different by this time next week!

Now that the weather is mostly warm, it’s not unusual to look out in the catio and see this…

Or this…

Or this…

And you might be wondering… where is his Lordship….

That spoiled boy spends most of the day in the people bed. He does go out in the catio first thing in the morning, and again after dinner (and stays out until I bring them in before bed). But I think with all that black floof, he just can’t handle the sun like the other three. That or he really is just too spoiled!

The second pink sock is progressing, though not as quickly as I’d like. I managed to get a little done at an appointment, then more while on a couple of work calls.

As such, I’ve just turned the heel and I’m working down the gusset. I’m on vacation in a little more than a week – and I’d love to have it off the needles by then so I can start something new! Maybe a pair of shorty socks for myself!

I’ve started walking again**. I’ve signed up for a walking app, and it’s challenging me to get in 7,500 steps a day. It’s going pretty well – but that’s partly because the weather has been fantastic for walking – not too hot, not too cold.

I try to get out on my lunch hour. I go to the post office, check the mail and then take the long way home (a different route every day).

And right now… it’s an amazing time to be out and about in town. Nothing really exciting is happening (it is a tiny town after all), but the town is absolutely crawling with flowering trees and bushes. The magnolias and forsythias are done, but there’s crabapples…

Eastern Redbud

I actually had to look this one up. I’ve heard of Eastern Redbud, of course, but I’d never seen the flowers up close! Like tiny little fairy shoes!

Here’s another I had to look up…

Apparently it’s a Quince! What’s neat about it is the flowers are mostly inside the bush.

Both the Redbud and Quince are in the small park by the post office.

But one thing Alvinston has a lot of are lilacs!!!

I’d say at least one in every five houses has a lilac bush. Right now, this town smells AMAZING!!! (and being an agricultural town, that’s saying something because it frequently smells like animal poo!). Wherever you walk, the soft lilac scent is just wafting on the breeze. And because this town hasn’t seen a lot of… updates… in probably the last couple decades or so, a lot of these lilacs are old. And that means HUGE!!!!

Easily 12-15 tall and just about as wide! They are just amazing. If I could change the name of the town, I would definitely call it Lilacville.

But one thing I did notice is that although there’s almost every shade of white and purple… there’s not one pink lilac in town.

That means my Tinkerbelle lilac is going to be quite the star when she finally pops open…

Which should be any day now!

** I don’t know if Walk-About Wednesday will become a regular thing again. While I’m getting out, there’s just not that much to document in this town. But I’ll give you a post whenever there’s anything interesting happening – I promise!

This weekend’s stitching helper was Relic

Several of us have noted that our sweet Relic is starting to show his age a little. We figure he’s about 10 years old now. (We’ve only had him since 2017, but we figure he was around 3 years old then). His FIV+ status means he might not make a super old cat, but he’s doing pretty good so far.

Under his supervision, I was able to finish the leaves on the right side.

There are some leaves on top, and a flower on the bottom to finish still – but this one is getting ever closer to that finish line!

Bit by bit, we are getting things done around the yard.

Last year. I bought a rain barrel on clearance, but we never got around to setting it up. But Dave decided to tackle it a couple weeks ago.

And it was pretty much full after just a couple of rainfalls! There’s no need to do any hand watering now (because of all the rain) but it will be nice to have when we get a dry spell. Just making the gardens a little more sustainable!

It took me a couple evenings after work (since the weather on the weekend hasn’t been cooperating) but I FINALLY got the new raised bed painted. And on Saturday I filled them with soil.

They look so much better painted green. Now I just need to get some mulch down on the pathways and it will be pretty much complete. We’ve still got a few weeks before I can plant much of the veg, though what I do have planted it doing well.

Spinach on the right, and wee lettuce sprouts on the right. I also have potatoes started, as well as the shallots. All of the above is new for me, so it will be fun to see how successful I am.

I realized I never showed you the porch boxes planted up for spring…

The theme was pink this year – Pink hyacinths, and pink tulips. Sadly, I didn’t get the hyacinths put in while in bud. They were in full bloom and they flopped terribly. A lesson for next year.

But that was weeks ago… this is how they looked now.

Definitely time for a refresh. I dug out all the bulbs (which will be planted in the other gardens), and filled them with some miniature roses and pansies.

I think this is going to be and amazing combination when it fills out more. And come fall, when I fill the boxes with mums, the mini roses can be planted in the garden.

Hanging above them I got a pair baskets just brimming with the prettiest shade of Calibrochoa

I will have to keep an eye on the predicted overnight temps, because it’s still a tad early for tender plants – but I can brings these in for the night if I need to.

There’s still lots to be done out there, but it feels good to have these few things accomplished.