Edwardian Dinner Party

What a wonderful evening we had attending an Edwardian dinner party last night in a beautiful garden setting. The event took place at Calgary's Heritage Park at the Prince House exhibit. Guests enjoyed canapés and sparkling wine, while playing a little croquet with music from a harpist in the background.

 

Dinner was set-up on the lawn of the Prince House and was hosted by the Selkirk Grille which is one of the restaurants located  at Heritage Park. Many of the ingredients used to prepare the meal were grown right in the park. It was a delicious meal!

 

 

The highlight was a surprise unrestricted tour of the grand Prince House where we went behind the scenes in areas typically closed for public viewing. Lastly, we were shocked and delighted to win the prize for best-dressed!

 

 

~ We're already looking forward to next year! ~

 

Not My Garden

A walk through the neighborhood of Inglewood here in Calgary last weekend led us to the Dean House Restaurant and their spectacular gardens. Admittedly, it left me absolutely green with garden envy! I found myself thinking: "Why doesn't our garden look like this?" "I need to work harder!" Here's to more fertilizer and a little patience... While some new perennials fill-out more next summer, I'll look forward to a slightly more spectacular garden at our house.

 

I've just added some Holly Hocks to our garden this year for some height and interest. In keeping with the title of this post; alas, these are not mine. We parked across the street from these beauties growing behind someone else's house. One of the Holly Hocks I selected from the garden centre is a blend of different colors. I'm really hoping to see some brilliant pink blooms emerge eventually!

 

~  Whether it's your own, someone else's, or a public garden, ~

make sure you take the time to enjoy and appreciate it - it's hard work!

 

Morning Garden Moments

 

I so enjoy checking-up on the back garden with an espresso in-hand on a quiet weekend morning. The dappled sun inserts bright pockets of uplifting light throughout the garden...

 

A relaxing reading corner and bench on the deck catches all of the morning sun. Such a perfect spot to start the day.

Another project completed by our outstanding contractor, Iron Owl. Justin and his team were able to squeeze us into the schedule and hammered out this beautiful Roman Euro stone path in just two days! Thank you again, Iron Owl! It is such a relief to see this area that was formerly dead grass (we tried and tried) turned into some thing attractive and useful. There is more room on the driveway now, and the path leads straight to the garden gate. We love it!

 

 

~ Remember to enjoy those summer moments - it never lasts for long! ~

 

 

Winter Beasts

There are two beasts in my life right now. One is our 'monster' deck - which has been with us since we bought this house. The other beast is this frigidly cold looooooooooong winter-spring. This year, it seems Old Man Winter has decided to become a permanent resident. He is an unwelcome visitor.

This spring or summer (when the snow finally melts) the monster deck shall be tamed. Work was estimated to begin in April (ahem) The deck, you see, is far too large. I often compare it to  a vessel from a cruise line docked beside our house. The deck will be removed and replaced by a slightly smaller version.  We are reducing the depth by almost 4 ft so it won't protrude towards the street so much. Between this adjustment and some privacy glass, sitting on the deck will be a far more private experience.

 

Usually by April, the deck is clear of snow. A few snow showers usually happen, but it's welcome moisture. My annuals and some select perennials are stored in the garage by now; while we till soil and tidy-up garden borders. By the end of April, I typically have all of my containers planted and simply cover them at night until end of May or early June. At 3000 ft above sea level the nights can still be quite cold.

But alas, this year is different. The golf courses are behind opening, the ski hills are closing as their seasonal staff have taken other jobs, or are returning home to Europe or Australia.

I have NEVER EVER experienced a winter here that has been so cold for so long and with this much snow accumulation. I believe we broke a record at one point, and then broke our own record. Hooray?

 

~ Wherever you are, be it warm or cold; take care of you and yours tonight, ~

and look forward to the good things to come..

 

 

New Year Refresh



(A pretty view of the Rocky Mountains from the Glenmore Reservoir in Calgary, AB)



We've had a warm and refreshing chinook wind here over the past few days. These mild temperatures always get me inspired for a brisk walk and doing more activities. It also seems to have inspired my desire to completely redecorate. So, before I got totally caught-up in that notion, I took action and honed in on some small scale changes.
 

First, I ordered new covers for our air return vents on the main floor. A small detail but a significant change. I ordered the new covers through Majestic Vent Covers in California. The ordering process online was so easy and they have many beautiful styles. I selected the 'Ribbon Grille' style in silver. Through the ordering and shipping process, Donna in their sales department was especially helpful!

 

The second improvement currently underway is the reframing of two pieces of art. This painting that was a gift to Andrew's father, is long overdue a proper frame. With the help of an expert at Michael's I chose a double mat with color and an interesting larger metallic wood frame. I can't wait to share the result with you.

I'm also having this oil painting reframed for the second time. I'm a little bored of its subdued transitional look and decided to go in an entirely new direction. I think the larger new frame and border will compliment the colors and make the piece more significant.

Are you making any changes to your home for the New Year? New paint? a rug perhaps? Or an new furniture arrangement? Have fun and enjoy it!

 

Wishing You a Merry Christmas!

The Prince House - Heritage Park, Calgary

We finally finished all of our errands and last minute shopping early this morning. What a relief! I'm definitely ready for a glass of something sparkling, and I don't mean water!

 ~Wishing you and yours a safe, healthy and blessed Christmas! ~

 

Fall Harvest

Yesterday was all about culinary indulgence. I kicked off the day with Executive Chef, Judy Wood, of 'Meez' and some others from the Meez gang at the by-invitation opening of Craft Beer Market at their new Southcentre location. They were featuring their brunch menu, so we each chose different dishes and passed them around the table (with Caesars and ciders in hand!). I think the 'chicken and waffles', and the 'avocado eggs benedict' were the favorites. Thank you, Craft!!

 

Next on the agenda was to help my mom remerchandise the harvest table at the Meez store in Willow Park Village. The ladies had already pulled all of their fall décor from storage. I had so much fun turning the table into a fall theme and playing around with different arrangements of items. In the end, they were very happy with the result. 

 

 

Have you been to Meez? The quality of their food is unsurpassed; it contains no preservatives and is prepared by professionals in their incredible off-site  commercial kitchen. The store is also brimming with gourmet treats and indulgences for entertaining. Give yourself a break and order their chef-prepared 'heat and serve' Thanksgiving dinner this year.

~ What are you planning for Thanksgiving? It's only two weeks away! ~

Summer's End



With leaves already starting to turn to deep yellows and shades of amber, paired with some cooler mornings, it's apparent that summer is coming to an end. It has been a long, hot, dry, crispy, smoky (forest fires) summer. I admit, I'm very much looking forward to cooler temperatures and some precipitation.

 

This guy will need to get used to going without his summer romps in the garden !

 

With all of the problems we've had with the William Baffin climbing rose being skeletonized by insects, we made the decision to move him into this corner. I did some research on insects and surrounded the rose with cat mint and sage. Some birch branches were also added to attract helpful insects. The final touch is this charming insect hut for garden friends to thrive.

So far, these changes have had a tremendous difference. Here's hoping that next year, the rose will be back to its former glory.

To welcome in the new season, I've switched our summer front door décor to something more late-summery, early-fall.  Are you ready for the new season ahead?

 

~~~

 



Summer Gardening

 

 

It has been a difficult season for gardening this year. Our William Baffin climbing rose from 2014 is just not making it and has all but died. We added a second substantial bush of the same type but it has been ravaged by sawflies.  This type of rose was almost growing out of control at our last home, so, we're a little frustrated. Meanwhile, we have a zone 8 white rose from the grocery store (meant to be indoor decoration) that is thriving after we planted him in our west facing garden. I am determined to make it survive the winter!

 

Otherwise, our Virginia creeper has also been ravaged by sawflies, my containers are doing OK, but not great, and I can't figure out why, and one of my newly-planted clematis died after it climbed half-way up the trellis. I suppose there have been a few successes though;  our shade garden (pictured above) is filling-in nicely once again, and my first year 'Cheyenne Spirit' cone flower is finally happy and growing beautifully after relocating it a couple of times.

 

With several 50ft trees on our property, it may be difficult to believe we have planted two more trees. The trees are smaller decorative columnar 'Gladiator' crab apples that have gorgeous crimson flowers in springtime. We had a space along our east fence that had been overtaken by (the neighbor's) raspberries and looked somewhat barren and  lacked privacy. After removing the raspberry patch (if you know raspberries, you know they never really leave) and some grass, we added the two trees along with creepers and shrubs. The trees et al should grow in nicely and the trees will grow to be approx. 4-5ft wide and about 15ft tall.

 

Here is a 'before and after' of that area:

 

 

 ~  How's your garden growing this year? I hope you've had more success than I have! ~