Harvest Season

It's a wonderful time of year!  The veggie harvest is beginning to come in fast, and we can pick up amazing fruit at the market.  And it's jam-making season as a result!

These are our own tomatoes, ready to just pop in your mouth or slice for a sandwich.

Five dozen heads of garlic, fresh from the farm.  It is now hanging in the garage to dry out, and will be given to others or ground into garlic powder.

Fresh peaches from the farm market in Thornbury, grown in Niagara.

And the result, 48 hour later, 12 jars of peach jam!

And a sunflower bouquet to add some seasonal colouir.

The Boat Lift

On the opposite side of the inner harbour from the sailing school is Richardson's Marine, a place where you can get your boat repaired and lifted out of the water for storage, and lifted back into the water in the spring.  I've always been intrigued with this big piece of machinery.

The other day, after checking out the sailboats, I turned to head home and realized they were bringing out a boat to be lifted back into the water.  Watch how it's done!

Here comes the sailboat, held aloft in the big boat lift.  I always cut off the top of the mast 'cause I'm aiming at the sailboat itself!

They have to make a careful three-point turn to drive out on the docks where they will lover the boat.

If you compare pictures you can se that they've now lowered the boat into the water.

And now they've lowered the straps further and the sailboat can start moving forward.

Then they lift the straps up out of the water until the next lift is needed.

One of the staff hops into the small sailboat, starts the motor and moves the boat to a dock where it will await the owner.  Task complete!

Sail Georgian Bay

I've been struggling to publish this post for nearly a week, wanting to include a short video.  No matter what I did I couldn't get it to work, so I've finally given up, spurred on by a reader who hadn't seen a post in so long they were worried about me!  I really wish you could see the video, but you can't so you'll have to use your imagination.

Here in Meaford we have an outstanding sailing school.  It caters to anyone from age 7 - 18, with adult lessons as well.  They have their own base down in the harbour, and I often go down there to watch the young sailors at this time of year.

This is their collection of sailboats, large enough to hold two youngsters but small enough to be sailed by one person.  They use the school building for winter storage, and they sail not only in the inner harbour, but our in the bay as well.  One thing they have to do is swamp their little boat and pull it upright again; remarkable to watch.

These three photos are a small portion of what I saw one day last week.  The student sailors were zipping back and forth and making sharp turns   They were obviously practicing their tacking and short sharp turns, so they wouldn't run into each other.  The video I wish you could see had about 6 boats zipping to the right and left, going surprisingly fast.  I never saw one collision!.

Some Different Flowers

Though you may get the impression we only grow Day Lilies, it's not true!  We grow lots of other flowers (and a lot of veggies), so here are a few of those other flowers.

This is a Globe Thistle in front of our Hydrangea.  It's not a true thistle, but it's somewhat prickly and the leaves certainly look like a thistle.

We also have a white version of this.

Mrs. F.G. went out early in the morning the other day, to catch the early rays of the sun on the flowers.  Here they're lighting up the deep pink of the Echinacea.

These ones are an even deeper pink.

and these ones are red, if a little bedraggled.

Hosta flowers.

The brilliant yellow and brown of these daisies.

 

Even the Petunias and Marigolds look good in the sun.

Day Lilies as August Begins

 Summer is passing far faster than it should, and our Day Lily season will soon be winding down, so let me share some of these beautiful flowers at the peak of the season.  Can't beat them for colour!

Hope you enjoyed these!

More About Town

Many of my rides downtown end at McGinty's, a coffee shop downtown where one of my favourite two baristas makes my favourite coffee for me.  It's the taste that counts, maple syrup instead of sugar.

I've no idea how they get the design on top.

I often stop and watch the small boats of the sailing school.  It's amazing how much these young sailors learn in a week!

Riding past the back of the Long Term Care Home I pass these glorious puffy Hydrangeas.

But along the other side of the home there are more weeds than anything.

I also pass a little library; we have one right on our own street too.

What a vibrant colour combination!

As I leave the walkway around the back of the Long Term Care Home I always notice the nice entrance.  This home has only been open two years, and I got a tour inside one day when I was passing.  It seemed very nice; certainly very new!  Since I expect I'll end up here eventually, at least for a short time, I keep an eye on the place!

About Town

As you know, I enjoy riding around town, though I don't go far.  But the other day I saw something interesting, and I thought I should get some photos for you other than those of our own garden, so here they are.

Right around the corner is a home with a thick band of Daisies in front.  I've never seen so many Daisies in one place!

And in many locations around town I see these gorgeous hanging baskets.  They are one thing the town does well.  This one was outside the arena.

And then I found a Yucca plant in full flower.  It was gorgeous.

I don't see these very often, so I took the chance to get a couple of close-ups.

I've always liked this mixture of yellow and pink blooms, Day Lilies and Echinacea, that I see outside one house.  I talked to the owner one day and learned that his wife had died, and the garden was her doing, but he was proiund of them and was trying to maintain them.

The yellow Day Lilies were striking themselves.