Cozy Spots: my Gazebo

Happy Friday!

No word yet from our Tabitha, which I take as a good sign that she is having an over the top crlebration!

I have spent hours every day working in my garden and there is still more to be weeded.  Every once in a while I am surprised by something I find along the way - a flower I'd forgotten I'd planted, a frog no bigger than the nail on my ring finger - and it is quite wonderful.

Given the viciousness of the bugs where we live, screened rooms are a must.  I spend a lot of time in my gazebo, and have been known to nap there...

it is getting a new roof and coat of paint this summer...

Barry has been under the weather and he has been taking a nap each day at lunch time.  Naps are an invigorating thing, and I wish I took more of them; I might be able to stay awake past 10:00 p.m.

The key to a cozy space is comfy chairs and places to put a drink.  And you need something to look at - I like to look at my gardens, the pool and the hummers.  Most of all - you need comfortable spaces for reading.  Because there is nothing so fine as reading outdoors with a tall glass of ice tea or lemonade.

The view from the chaise lounge 10 days ago.  Now it is all lush and green and weeded!

When it is nice, I eat lunch out here...

And speaking of reading, I have started Hillary Clinton's new book, Hard Choices.  It is a bit of a brick, it being her presidential bid manifesto and all, but I am enjoying it, especially the policy discussion.

I am also reading Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories, which is quite good.

and continue to read Gregg Braden's The Turning Point.

Am I the only person who reads 3 or 4 books at a time?  I like to mix up fiction and nonfiction and I am also usually read a book on writing to help me with my craft.

We have a nice weekend planned.  Having dinner and good times at friends' camp tomorrow evening and then of course there is Father's Day to be celebrated and the finale of Game of Thrones, which I am all a-quiver about.

How about you?  Any big plans?  I hope you have a lovely weekend!  Stay Safe out there!

xoxo wendy

Happy 50th, Miss Bourbon and Pearls

Well, it couldn't come fast enough for me.  It was getting lonely in my 50s, so I am very glad indeed to welcome a new star to the 50s constellation: our own Tabitha!


And since she so ably (accompanied by the equally able Sir BP) made me a panto for my birthday back in January, it was time to repay in kind. (p.s. you can see that video on the sidebar)

However, the MacKnights have many puppets at their disposal and decided to make it a bit of a show.  The only one missing from this was dear son, who was actually working and had an excuse.  We'll get him next time...

And so, I offer you:

A WMM Production

Written and Produced by Wendy McLeod MacKnight

with perhaps a bit too much direction by same-said auteur

Filmed exclusively in New Brunswick sans film tax credits

in accordance with all copyrights, etc, etc, legalese, so we don't get sued

in partnership with BDM Inc. 

and 

The SWM Corporation

wholly owned subsidiaries of Vandelay Industries

(and you want to be my latex salesman...)

and in hopeful consideration for a BAFTA 

(or maybe just a cup of coffee)

TABITHA: THE MOVIE

or

THE COLONIES STRIKE BACK

(No Dogs or Puppets were harmed during the making of this film, 

though Barry did have a bad cough and we ripped the tags right off the blighters...)

You do know what this means, right?  She's created thespian-wannabe-monsters!

Okay, maybe just ONE thespian-wannabe monster...

And is it just me or did Charles Dickens and Dorothy Parker seem drunk?  Just sayin'...

Happy belated day!

xoxo wendy

Happy Birthday Dani!

Well can you believe that our beloved Dani is another year older?

well I don't think she really ages, but a birthday is a good thing...

Some of our Dani favourites:

A hungover Dani, which I imagine is a rarity indeed...

A fashionista Dani!

She wears clothes better than the model and even has the perfect poses:

Don't show this picture to Scout

A glass a day keeps the doctor away!

Yup - she is all-around smashing!  Happy Birthday Dani - love you!

And that is not all of the birthday shenanigans.  Our own Tabs had a birthday this past Sunday, but we are celebrating tomorrow.  Pop in tomorrow, for a little something-something...

xoxo wendy

Some beautiful things....

"Pretty? Oh, pretty doesn't seem the right word to use. Nor beautiful, either. They don't go far enough. Oh, it was wonderful--wonderful. It's the first thing I ever saw that couldn't be improved upon by imagination. It just satisfies me here"--she put one hand on her breast--"it made a queer funny ache and yet it was a pleasant ache. Did you ever have an ache like that, Mr. Cuthbert?"
"Well now, I just can't recollect that I ever had."
"I have it lots of time--whenever I see anything royally beautiful. But they shouldn't call that lovely place the Avenue. There is no meaning in a name like that. They should call it--let me see--the White Way of Delight. Isn't that a nice imaginative name? When I don't like the name of a place or a person I always imagine a new one and always think of them so.

-Anne of Green Gables

There is always another day and another week in this life it seems, and after the heaviness of last week it is nice to take a moment and remember that.

The tree above belongs to my next door neighbours and I took this picture last Weds. night.  If you know of something more beautiful than an apple tree in bloom, well I'd like to see it.  Their blooms are so fleeting, and all the more delightful for it.  I wanted to go and lay right under that tree, but then wondered if they'd think me odd.  Well yes, probably they would, but the evening light kissing those snowy blossoms brought out the Anne in me...

In my own front yard, I have a flowering crab that did not seem to want to be outdone by the big fellow next door:

I have been so busy, I have been neglecting the weeding terribly and paying the price now, as I must soak myself in Off! if I want to venture out into my mosquitoe/black fly infested garden right now.

All that rain has made a perfect breeding ground for the buggers - they were biting me through my clothes as I weeded the potager and the hosta beds yesterdays!

The work that awaits.

It is all very well to have a large garden until weeding time.  And as I am the only weeder, it is slow going. By the time I get it fully weeded, I begin again.  That is the nature of a garden however, and if you look at it as work, well, you are in for a long summer...

Something that was weeded....

Another thing that was not.  "They" say that a mixture of vinegar and dish washing liquid will kill weeds and I guess that is so, though I find I still need to pull them up anyway, so might as well do it once, as they keep coming back despite the vinegar/dishwasher assaults!

The apple trees are now spent, replaced this week by the lilacs and the lily of the valley.

One of my garden friends is Charlie Chipmunk.  The two holes below are the entrances and exits to his hole.  I wonder architecturally about having them placed side-by-side and am hoping that Heidi will weigh in on the merits of this...

And I was industrious yesterday, finally repainting my little bistro set.  You can't tell so much from this picture, but they are well and properly a Monet Garden Green..

Barry - doesn't this make you want to build me a pond?

ignore the weeds underneath, please and thank you!

Isn't that a peaceful view?  "They" say that time spent outdoors looking at nature is good for our mental and physical well-being.  I believe it.My only wish is that the bugs weren't out there with me these days..

I really need a pond you know.....

I hope you have a lovely day!  Anything exciting on your agenda this week?

Have a wonderful day and stay safe out there!  And I mean that!

“I couldn't live where there were no trees--something vital in me would starve.” 

 ― L.M. Montgomery, Anne's House Of Dreams

The Thin Blue Line

New Brunswick is a small place.


There are only a little more than 700,000 of us.

We don't all know each other (yet), but the degrees that separate us here are very small.  In fact, I would say that only one person ever separates  each one of us from the other.

So when we were suddenly thrust into the international limelight because someone murdered not only three of our own but three of our finest, three who were trying to protect us, it was hard on us all.

And as Moncton went into lock down, so, too, did the rest of New Brunswick.  We all have family and friends in Moncton.  Many of us knew police officers called to help find the individual, whose name I'll never speak.  It was a tense 30 hours.

And it struck close to home here, with Barry being a retired police chief and his brother Bob being an active member of the RCMP.

I'd like to share a lovely email that Bob sent to his local newspaper, thanking the people of his community, located three hours away from Moncton, for their support:

On behalf of Sgt. Ross Davis, myself and the RCMP members we supervise, I wanted to thank everyone, throughout Charlotte and York Counties, for the comments and gestures of kindness and support that have been expressed and demonstrated since the tragic events in Moncton. 

While no specific gesture will ever be considered more special than another, I do want to let the unidentified lady who laid the three white roses at the base of the St. Stephen detachment half-masted flag that those roses have been placed in a vase at the front counter of the office and will be maintained and if necessary replaced, until the three deceased RCMP members are laid to rest.

This incident should clearly demonstrate to all of us that we are all quite simply and proudly, Canadians first!! 

If you were wondering who we, the RCMP are, we are you...

Sgt. Bob MacKnight

St Stephen RCMP Detachment

Last night, there was a vigil in Moncton.  It was time to thank our first responders and begin to mourn the dead.

Last night, New Brunswickers across the province kept their porch light on in solidarity with the people of Moncton.

And we have come a little closer together.  This is New Brunswick after all, where the typical story is how bad the potholes are in the road.

This is not THAT place.

Except now it feels like that place.

And that is a hard and bitter pill to swallow.

The Thin Blue Line

There is a line the color of the sky 
on a clear afternoon There is a line 
the hue of the ocean on a bright sunny day 
There is a line the purest shade of a newborn's eyes 
awakening for the first time There is a line 
that protects us from harm in all we do 
whether day or night There is a line 
no one can penetrate no one can alleviate 
There is a line made of those who choose 
to follow a calling many do not hear and still more do not comprehend 
They choose to walk the path of fear, hate, and mistrust 
taken by so few but marked by so many 
And when one leaves this line they leave a legacy 
but the line does not break for the remaining must still protect 
There may be emptiness a loss, or sadness 
but never a hole not in this line 
This line that holds the ghosts of the souls who have gone 
and the souls of the ghosts who will be The Thin Blue Line 

- Author Unknown 

Some thoughts on Courage

Supposing that I should have the courage

Supposing that I should have the courage 

To let a red sword of virtue 

Plunge into my heart, 

Letting to the weeds of the ground 

My sinful blood, 

What can you offer me? 

A gardened castle? 

A flowery kingdom? 

What? A hope? 

Then hence with your red sword of virtue.

-Stephen Crane

I have been thinking a lot about courage this week.

How odd that the 25th anniversary of the Tienanmen Square Massacre should occur on the same week as the 70th anniversary of D Day.  We do love to mark historical events, don't we?

I think of this young man, unknown, perhaps long dead, who dared believe that his State would not turn on him, would listen to its people, would try and understand that things must change.  Standing alone, representing millions.

I think of these young men, sick with fear and sea, fighting on behalf of others as well.  Citizen soldiers who heard the clarion call of 'doing the right thing" for their fellow human.

Forty-five years separates these men, but they are equals.

I have often thought of June 6th, 1944.  Would I have had the courage to do what these men did?

And at 26 I was a student still and Barry and I were riveted to our chairs, watching TV endlessly, hoping against hope that the government would not crack down on the students, or at the very least, the military would not agree to kill its own people.  

I remember when that young man went forward.  We gasped and waited and feared for the worse. Even more - we felt hope and inspiration.

But I tell you this with my whole heart: I see that man in front of that row of tanks that is ready to squash him like a bug, I see those men jumping off the bag of that transport, staring ahead into the chaos and tragedy that they see ahead, and I am proud.

Despite our often best efforts to prove otherwise, we are not dumb beasts.

Despite our protected worlds, we see acts of heroism and kindness and continue to be moved.

And I am reminded again of the awesome gift of living in a democracy.  Especially in an election year where I live, which provides an opportunity every four years to stand up and have your voice counted.  But more and more, I see the need to occupy that space of reason and discourse on a regular basis.  Democracy does not work without the everyman and everywoman chipping in their two cents as well.  

It is hard to speak up.  It is hard to act on the courage of our convictions.  It can feel uncomfortable and even in a free society, we fear reprisals of one sort or another.  But stand up we must.

And there is no blog post that cannot benefit from ending with one of our greatest heroes:

So today is a blessing, a benediction for better days ahead.  We can be bowed, but we can keep trying.  We can be courageous, in our ways, in our own lives, too.

xoxo wendy

Sunday, Glorious Sunday - and the coral is gone....

What a glorious Sunday!

A quick post, as I am off to the garden center to buy some more geraniums for potting, along with a few other goodies...

It is a wonderful thing when the earth springs to life where one is.

I ooh and aah daily over the little things, like my forget-me-nots, which I think have the most homey of names:

Whenever you aren't sure what colours go together, it is always a good idea to take a look at what Mother Nature has up her sleeve...

And speaking of colour, the coral is gone, replaced by Benjamin Moore's Salisbury Green, which is a lovely shade.  It echoes my bluey-1940s-bottle-green in the kitchen:

And will be equally at home when you look into the dining room when it's painted the pale blue as there are definite blue undertones.  My friend Tammy picked out the colours and she is a genius!

You will note the trim isn't back up yet - hence no baseboard or crown molding - but I couldn't wait to share photos.

I am feeling some big-time love for the room now.  While I loved the dark maroon, it had been on the walls for over a decade...

The colour makes my great-grandmother's paintings pop...

And the bleeding hearts seem perfectly content...

And continuing in my peace theme of Friday, here's a photo of one of my friends, that I hope will make you smile on this lovely Sunday...

And if you want to read a novel that will make you think, pick up W. Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge and then head over to Dani's book club, where we discussed the book in detail yesterday, and where the best thing is that Dani keeps the conversation up and going for those who come later to the party.  Thanks Dani!

I hope you all have the loveliest of days.  Stay safe out there!

xoxo wendy