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Saturday, July 4, 2020

Life in the Garden

Our life pretty much revolves around the house and yard these days, with the daily neighborhood walk and an occasional trip to the store.  I keep telling myself how lucky we are that we have a sturdy, comfortable home and a roomy lot on the edge of the woods.  If we have to stay home and play it safe, this is not so bad.  There are days I don't feel so positive... and then I look at this face:




LuLu made a point of bringing this pot to me just in case I needed it.  She was so happy and proud.




She's my pretty girl.




Just walking around the yard taking pictures of this and that... these Oxalis along the path are such a delicate pink:
 



Pots of color on the south deck:




Wally and LuLu -- my two sweetest sweeties:




Just a snapshot of the day's activities... Rich was trimming some tree branches, Wally is coming to see what Mom's up to:

 


Another variety of Oxalis with daylily and Lady's Mantle:




The preceding photos represent a beautiful day in the garden.  The next day was ferociously windy, as is often the case here, so close to the bay.  Our little sanctuary has its own microclimate which is more sheltered, but the wind in the trees overhead is a branch-cracking horror.  The picture below is a sad sight, indeed:




I never expected to lose the tree that provided such pretty dappled shade over a good part of the garden.  All the plantings were structured according to that dappled shade.  I do love the sunshine, but the loss is huge.  A tree service will remove it on July 17 and the area will heal and start over.  Isn't that the way of things?  Take good care of yourselves.


18 comments:

  1. Your garden is beautiful and so are your fur babies! I hope the loss of the tree won't cause the loss of the plants that need the shade.

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  2. I do love exploring your lovely garden, seeing some new leaf color, or a seasonal bloom. It looks like a professional designed your home. Of course, your helper is more than precious, isn't she? It always makes me smile when our fur children could not be prouder (or happier) with their accomplishments. Leslie, I'm so sad about your tree, especially since the plantings were situated "just so" around the filtered shade. Losing a tree is like losing an old friend. They gave their lives to bring beauty and shelter to everything and everyone around. Will you be able to salvage any of the wood? I'm sorry for your "garden's" loss, but I know, too, your heart feels the loss as well. Wishing you a wonderful 4th in memory of all the hard sacrifice and work that individuals from the 1600s onward did to create a democracy -- and even for the indigenous people's who helped preserve not only the land, but our country as well. love, de

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  3. Wpw! So sorry about the loss of your tree. I can understand. A few years ago I had to have our big oak tree in the front yard taken down. He had been struck by lightning a few years before that and had gotten a fungus in it. It had been growing since at least when the house was built in 1958. I have a red oak growing now, but it's still young. Love seeing all your landscape and, of course, the kids roaming around. Have a safe and Happy 4th of July.

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  4. You are blessed to have such a lovely place to be, Greg and I tell ourselves that everyday. Gorgeous pictures of both the garden and the beautiful pups!! I can feel your pain as we had a beautiful flowering pear tree that blew down several years ago, a pretty shade garden that had to be totally dug up and redone. This year we lost our dogwood that was just outside our dining room slider that housed many shade hostas underneath and a few bird feeders that gave the cats a lot of entertainment watching, I am still mourning the loss!
    Thank you for sharing such a beautiful part of your world!

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  5. What a great way to start my Saturday morning with a cup of coffee (that is after my laundry, house cleaning and groceries are done)and visiting your beautiful sanctuary and the 'goldens'. I'm so envious of your gardens Leslie, such deep greens and full of colour, but with the heat we get here I don't think a lot would survive other than some hardy plants like hostas, butterfly bushes and a few others. My hydrangeas just can't take this heat, I water them in the morning and after dinner. We are in the middle of a huge heat wave, it's been feeling like 40C (104F)since thursday and will continue until at least next weekend with temps reaching (109F). Lulu just makes me smile, she sure pulls at the ole' heart strings doesn't she? Such a wonderful helper as is Wally. Oh, I'm so sorry for the loss of your beautiful tree, and all the shade that many plants so rely on,I hope they will survive. Thank you Leslie for sharing these photo's today, always love seeing them! Have a wonderful 4th of July, keep well! Hugs,

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  6. Gorgeous little corner of this world, Leslie, it's easy to just get lost in this pictures.
    How sad you lost that beautiful tree, I hope the rest of the plants will be able to adapt loosing that glorious shade.
    Love seeing your furry companions enjoying the beautiful scenery.
    As always, thank you for sharing your garden and your goldens with us.
    Sending hugs and love.
    Stay healthy and safe.
    XO
    Maria.

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  7. Love seeing the photos of your beautiful garden and your gorgeous fur babies. I'm so very sorry that you lost such a beautiful big tree. I hope your plants will survive without the dappled shade it gave. Oxalis is a noxious weed here and takes over all the gardens. Very hard to get rid of although I like the flowers. Take care and keep safe. Jeanette, New Zealand.

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  8. I so enjoyed my walk in your garden!!! I do not know a thing about plants so it fascinates me. Your fur babies are they brother and sister? They are so very beautiful. That is so sad about the tree and so glad no one got hurt when it came done - looks like a pretty big tree!!!! We do have to count our blessings at times to cheer ourselves up. Big hugs

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  9. Always love a stroll through your garden, you have such beautiful plantings. Wally and Lulu are such cuties, those faces they made just make your heart melt :) So sorry you had a good shade tree go down like that, are you thinking of planting another in its place?
    I have days that I am doing pretty good, like everything is normal and then there are those days that things just seem to go wrong and not really big things, but enough little things that all pile up and just get me down. I hope you stay well through all of this.

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  10. Thanks for the walk through your delightful garden and my Monte would love to play there too and rip up all the plants and be a pest....no he is pretty good.. He would have chewed that pot to bits in 5 minutes though.xx

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  11. what a beautiful space, but sorry about the loss of that tree. as always the dogs steal the show!!

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  12. I'm always so happy to see photos of your two furry friends and some of the photos look like they are actually smiling! The loss of a tree is always huge. I have a blue spruce that is going on 30 and beginning to see the end in sight. I know the time is coming but I keep praying I have it another year or so.

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  13. I always enjoy your gardens and goldens photos! The beauty of it all takes my breath away! So sad about that regal looking tree. I can't imaging how much that hurt. Wally and Lulu make up for that though. Hugs my friend.

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  14. Beautiful!!! Blooms and pups!

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  15. wonderful photos Leslie, your garden is looking amazing and I never tire of seeing Wally or Lulu :)

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  16. Your garden is fantastic Leslie! You and Rich must spend a lot of time taking care of it, but so worth the effort. I love all the colour you have in your posts and garden. So happy to look out and see flowers blooming. Sorry about your tree ... this is sad. Your photos of Wally and Lulu make me happy too! xx

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  17. Thanks so much for sharing such great pictures! I'm finally trying to get caught up with visits to blogs! I always enjoy seeing your pictures. Lulu looks so sweet! Do you bring your oxalis inside for the winter? I have two large ones in pots inside and would love to plant them outside but with our winters I don't know if they would survive. Yes, it is always sad to use a tree. In the past few years we have lost 12 trees due to the ice and storms. I hope they take the stump as no one here will. Our privacy in the back is not so private anymore!

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  18. Oh that is a big tree to lose in the wind and expensive to have removed I know. Glad you will have a possible new place to replant something new or different. Are they going to remove the stump completely or just to the ground? She is very pretty and just makes me want to hug her. Wally too of course. ;-) I have days like you mentioned and then I just remind myself of the good also. We might not have the woods but we do have a the house and much more to remind me that we are very blessed. Hoping this week is wonderful for you girlie!

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