Nothing Like the Warmth of an Oven to Take the Chill Out of a Cold April Day

Everald arrived with the correct part, and faster than I could say, "Is my oven working?" He had snapped the connector into the new control panel and voila - my Mr. FancyPants Oven instantly came back from the dead. As you would expect, it was a weekend of serious animal protein - Roast Chicken, Ham and Roast Pork. Am reserving carbohydrate baking frenzy for Thursday - Kevin's birthday - where I'll make either the dreaded every-pot-in-the-kitchen burnt sugar cake; or perhaps the old birthday standby - chocolate buttermilk cake with seven minute frosting.

As cold as it is - and trust me, it still is very cold - -4C last night, and again on the weekend they were talking about windchill in the -12C range, the garden is progressing right on schedule. I really thought that things were slower. However, looking at my photos for 2007/2008, I was quite surprised to see that the gardens' progress is about the same this year, as it was for the last two. And, it would seem that my garden maid clock is also well fixed to the waxing and waning of the moon - the photos showed my gardens looking just as leaf-littered as it does now. Perhaps I should have asked Everald for a new chip for my personal memory panel and a new battery to help with all the spring chores ahead.

Only little bits could be accomplished in the garden - so it was off to my mother ship - the Royal Botanical Gardens for a hike. And, unlike past hikes where only a few other brave souls were out and about, the trails were full of families enjoying the newly re-opened trails. Here are some of the sights:

One of the few woodies in full bud:

In a few weeks the green will outpace the brown leaves:

My Where's Waldo shot - now I understand the colouring of Canada Geese:

Happy ducks:

You can't see it, but the water in the streams are really moving very quickly.

If you squint, put your thumbs on your eyeballs and shake your head 5 times you can almost see some green in the reeds here:

One of the many geese who were less than pleased to see so many visitors:

Tonnes of red-winged blackbirds:

Kevin getting a goose-escort:

Very tame little birds:

First the moss, then the flowers....

And back inside to warm up at the main building at the RBG:

All winter I thought this was a sad looking greeny plant. Quite sweet when it starts to bloom:

Edward Scissorhands:

And back outside to the children's area:

Repairs made to the little shade garden - hooray - it's been years coming:

Another great day at the gardens.