McGowan Falls and Other Treasures

Yesterday we drove down to the tiny hamlet of Varney to meet my sister and her husband at Pebbles, a popular restaurant in the area, about an hour away.  It's a large buffet style place, and can seat a lot of people, in three different rooms that all feel a reasonable size.  It's built out of the old Cardinal Motel, a place my family stayed at once when I was about 14.  This was a belated birthday visit for us two guys.

There was a picnic area and playspace right beside the parking.  Someone had obviously spent some seriosu time building these very creative swings and slides!

McGowan Falls is right on the edge of Durham, the town about 5 minutes north of Varney and right on our way home.  It reminded me of the visits to waterfalls I used to make, carrying my larger Nikon camera and tripod, trying to get shots of the water falling in different parts of the view.  This time the warning signs were new, and quite direct.  (I don't want to be threatened with drowning!).

The signs were certainly large and visible!  Makes me wonder if there hadn't been a drowning.  There is a large millpond behind the dam.

We drove on halfway home before we did some ditch diving as we drove through a swamp.  This patch of Trillium was enough for Mrs. F.G. to pull over and stop.

There were also hundreds of Coltsfoot, now gone to see and looking quite fuzzy and hard to photograph.

My favourite find in the ditch was this large White Trillium hiding behind some grass blades.

Too many photographs already, but here's a final ditch find, a healthy big clump of Marsh Marigold with their bright yellow blooms.

 

Report from the Garden

It's about time I shared what our garden is looking like.  We've had some cooler than normal wet, rainy weather, so things seem slow, but June 1st is the normal date for planting tender things like tomatoes, so we're not too far behind yet.  And we're on the verge of a big burst of colour as the big Peonies come into bloom, adding their pinks and reds to a very green world.

This is the part of the back yard I see out my window, looking pretty much like summer.

This is the yard a few days ago, saturated with 36 hours of rain and looking greener than ever.  Our pink Bleeding Heart is at the bottom of the photo.

Here it is, right out my window, a beautiful plant if there ever was one

Beautiful Forget-me-Knots have started spreading through the garden.  They self seed prolifically, and fit right in to our 'chaos' garden.

Our numerous Hosta soikes are growing fast - this photo is a week or so old.  They come up as tight spikes, but expand into large leaves soon after.

It's the big Peonies that are soon going to add colour.  The red colour behind the Peony buds is a small Japanese maple.

And these colourful Pansies mysteriously moved fron the front porch to the back yard when Mrs. F.G. redid the arrangement out front.  This raised bed is destined for tomatoes and peppers I think.

Redbud and Serviceberry

The most unique small tree we have is a Redbud, and down the street is a house with a large Serviceberry.  Both of these are native trees, though the Redbud would not be here if it were not planted.  It's an understory tree we saw blooming throughout the Great Smokies, and the Serviceberry is seen along the edges of fields around here.  Both of them are currently in bloom.

Here's our Redbud in full bloom, and right outside my bedroom window.

It amazes me how the blooms erupt right along the stems and branches, and the pink colour is incredible!

The blooms are so crowded that getting a picture of individual blooms is tough!

A few doors down the street is this beautiful Serviceberry, not often used as an ornamental.

The small tree is just covered with frothy white flowers.

Both of these are well worth planting just for their beauty!

It's Apple Blossom Time!

The area around Meaford is one of Canada's prime apple growing regions, so it's not surprising that we watch for the apple blossoms each spring.  And in the fall we buy our apples from local farm stores.  Coming home from Owen Sound the other day we could see one of the big orchards off in the distance, so Mrs. F.G. turned down to go and look.

These are older orchards, with the larger individual apple trees that were popular in the past.  Most new orchard plantings today are of the high density variety.

The big old trees take a lot of pruning to stay in shape and provide a good crop.

The blossoms were just smothering these trees!

It's hard to get good close-ups when you're zooming and trying to hold your phone still from 50 feet away!

These trees don't look to be in quite as good shape.

But they were still covered in blooms.  Looks like a good crop this year.

Apples grow well here because the waters of Georgian Bay moderate the temperatures and help avoid late spring frosts.  The slopes leading up to the ancient Algonquin shoreline provide good air drainage, also moderating late spring frosts.  And the soils are suitable for apples.

The Marsh

Leaving those Tulip fields last week, we drove back through Shallow Lake.  Mrs. F.G. just couldn't help herself; we turned off to drive up through the marsh.  We both always enjoy this road, driving slowly and watching for birds.

This is the big marsh at Shallow Lake.  We've usually spotted a swan, some ducks or an egret as we drive by.

There are some great patterns among the reeds and lilypads.

I could take photos all day long.

Then we spotted it, a hawk sitting on a log.

We were quite excited.  I zoomed in and caught it, a log lying at right angles to the longer one!  Not the first wooden bird we've seen!

We carried on, slowly, hoping for a duck or two, but no luck.

Finally as the forest got drier, Mrs. F.G. got out of the car, walked into the woods a few feet and got a nice picture of White Trillium, our find for this drive.

William, 1977-2015

William and his 'Fire Boss'/

Morning Dew

Mrs. F.G. grabbed my camera one recent morning, and returned with a bunch of wonderful pictures of the dew on a variety of leaves.  It doesn't need much explanation, so just enjoy!   

Did you enjoy that?