Where's George?

Well, as much as we did have snow, you'll see that George won't be able to hide under a snowbank - there are none. George is my new friend from the appliance repair company who is going to fix my fancy ovens - between 12:00 and 2:00 - no doubt he'll be here just in time for a late lunch.

The sun is shining now, but this a.m., even with the snow I felt I'd be better off with a miner's helmet. I always find it amazing how almost overnight we can go from fall technicolour to black, white and beige. No wonder we all go mad with sparkly Christmas ornaments and carbohydrates.

Found this dear creature blooming today. I'd never seen a Hamamelis blooming here at this time of year. Not the most sensible of things to do when it's -13C with the windchill. I could have tapped the petals and they would have shattered.

Lots of birds flocked together in the bay. All of them seemed to have something to say.

Same spot, but yesterday at the same time. The smidgen of colour on the horizon - and of course the swans make all the difference.

And, back to my bugaboo of the moment. More burlapping - was there a sale? These yews are hardy to two Zones less than where they are growing. They are also very old and very green & they've never been burlapped. Are these maintenance companies making up things to do?

Here are the nice green yews....

And here's about 160 feet of fancy burlapping. Notice how nicely the wrought fence stands out.

Not as tidy, but certainly just as effective. Here's a pretty property on the lake. Notice how nicely the brown in the burlap coordinates with the stucco.

And, with this post I promise no more burlap photos. Instead, maybe I'll enclose a photo of George, should he ever arrive.

The Christmas Fairies are Having Their Fun

Well, if it's getting close to Christmas, it must be time for the fancy Dacor ovens to go on the fritz. Yes, for those following my misadventures for a while, you'll remember that last year, these ovens turned themselves on and cleaned themselves all on their own, frying the mother-board which took weeks to replace. This time, just the top oven has died - probably the marathon baking session with Norma yesterday - it's message is "U22 OVER TEMP". So now my oven is having its own little hot flashes? Fortunately the second oven is working just fine, and I've got a type of biscotti/cracker in the oven that was cut from a date/Brazil nut loaf I made yesterday. Almost went mad trying to get 80 slices out of a 9x5" loaf. Perhaps a first and last time for this recipe.

And it appears that Bart is possessed as well. When we took my mother-in-law out for dinner, he busied himself, letting himself out of his crate and then taking Kevin's size 15 shoes and organizing them in parallel fashion throughout the house - here's his work on the edge of the dining room. They are facing North East. Whatever could it mean?

The day is dull, so I'm reaching back to some photos from the end of November - one of those days of fog and frost. Look how Lake Ontario just melts into the horizon.

This lovely creature was visiting with the Canada Geese? Could this be a white Canada Goose?

We don't get a lot of photographic frost in this neck of the woods, so I was delighted to go outside to find that there was some photo-worthy ice. Here's a ground covering evergreen.

Some fuzzywuzzy geraniums.

Gallium odorata.

Can't remember.

Heuchera 'Palace Purple'.

I think the geranium look the best because they've got the little hairs on their leaves for Jack to paint on.

I'm thinking that is a Symphyandra - at least it was in the spot where I planted the Symphyandra.

More of the fuzzy geranium.

What a great colour of red - and so long lasting. This is a maroon berberis with a lime edge. Frankly I think Fall - and especially late fall is its best season.

Mahonia aquifolium that I grew from seed. It's going into the winter in great shape. With any luck I won't lose too many leaves over the winter.

Hopefully by my next post, all will be well: The snow will be falling gently; the ovens will be repaired; and I will have figured out what Bart was trying to tell me last week.

No. No. No.

No blogging in almost a month - and I start the festive season with my teeth on edge after being assaulted by such a jarring sight. My feistiness may have something to do with the fact I joined Weight Watchers at the peak of the Christian Women's Fat and Sugar Exchange - Christmas Baking. However, and in spite of the fact I want to put my face in the freezer with the short breads and open that lovely bottle of wine we've got on the rack with my teeth, I believe that this design and garden maintenance faux pas would have set me on edge on its own. Judge for yourself.....This is a lovely home. This is a lovely path - made up of healthy gorgeous evergreens. Evergreens are grown in this part of the world so that we have winter interest. Does this look interesting to you?

OK, let's just say that this was done out of kindness. It is getting colder, perhaps they are cold. So, why not get them a good wool coat, perhaps a comforter, maybe even one of those blankets with the arms in them - could this hedge look any worse? What's with the burlap? It isn't just that burlap is unattractive, it has absolutely no R value. If we don't wear it, why would we think our plants would be all warm and cozy if we made them a nice lumpy misshapen cover like this one? And, little rant coming to an end......no doubt this was done by a maintenance company - I know for a fact that no owner would have that much room in their garage to store it all.

Notice how it really doesn't improve no matter what angle the photo is taken from.However, I'm over it now. It was a glorious day today - all sunshine and sparkles.

As I was taking the photo of the burlap - a fox ran right in front of me. Obviously I needed a cookie, it occurred to me when he was almost out of sight that I should take his photo - Waldo is a little to the left of the signpost.

The little blur on the right is Bart having his morning run at the leash free park - will retake tomorrow so we can compare snow amounts.

It had been an amazing November - no real cold at all - it is unbelievable that the grass is still this green.

Last night's rain frozen on the Clematis seed head - thought they were water droplets, but found when I looked through the lens that they'd frozen solid - ice cubes for fairies.