Our Easter Bunny

Last night I got a call from my brother saying asking if I wanted a bunny. I mean it is not unusual to see bunnies in my parents neighbourhood since they live so close to UVic (which is a breeding ground for rabbits). Ian said he saw a tiny tiny baby bunny being attacked by a cat and had rescued it but was being stalked by the cat so he didn't want to release it. I quickly ran out there to help him and ended up bringing the bunny home.
We talked about keeping it and raising it as an outdoor bunny. He was just so small and so cute I didn't want to give it up. But after doing some research online to see what I should do for him, we realized that he was so small that he probably wasn't ready to be without his mother. We dropped him off at the animal hospital where they said because he was a cotton tail he would be taken to a group called Wild Arc to be rehabilitated and released into the wild. Although this was the best option I couldn't help feeling disappointed that I couldn't keep him (on the way to the hospital we decided to name him Walter the bunny). I'm going to call Wild Arc and make sure he is OK next week. I guess he was our own special Easter bunny.
If you have found a orphaned or injured wild animal on Vancouver Island, please contact Wild Arc (or if you would like to donated to this very good cause visit) http://www.wildarc.com/.

Flowers Flowers Flowers

Growing flowers in your own yard is not only aesthetically pleasing but it is also environmentally friendly. I, like many of you, enjoy bring color into my home through a nice vase of flowers. It always brightens my day when I see a nice bouquet of daffodils sitting on my dresser. However, store bought flowers are often very bad for the environment. Cut flowers are often treated with many kinds of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides that are known to cause health problems. Additional, many flowers that provide the diversity at floral shops are imported which contributes to the carbon dioxide problem. So the most eco-friendly choice (and not to mention easier on the bank account) is to grow your own flowers.
Although it wasn't very nice weather today my mom, my boy and I planted our flower garden in the front yard. We have a selection of iris, blue bells, heather, roses, lilies, and lilac. I can't wait for them to bloom. We will be planting some seed flowers in the bed in May and then adding some bulbs in the fall. We also seeded the rest of the yard for some grass and along the way discovered some tulips hiding under a bush, which I am thrilled about. We could never grow tulips at my parents house because the deer destroyed them, which made me so sad because tulips have to be one of my favorite flowers. Luckily there are no deer here! I finished my flower gardening by planting some sweet peas in the backyard. We will be bringing some more flowers for the front yard but we won't be planting much more until the exterior of the house is painted (yes! more painting!).
We also decided that we are going to try to make the most of the soil in the backyard and not do raised beds. We are going to use the clay soil we currently have by adding sand and doing a lot of stirring. Hopefully our crops will take and we won't get any flooding (the other day when we had some rain the back part of the yard flooded so much so that we had ducks enjoying the "pond"). I am completely consumed by this gardening thing. I have never done so much gardening before but I love it! I can't wait to reap the rewards.

Saving Luna

This is a beautiful documentary film about an orphaned killer whale who longed to be friends with his human neighbors. Luna got separated from his pod and made his home in Nootka Sound (located on the northern point of Vancouver Island). I found this film to be incredibly touching and incredibly frustrating. This film documents the many different responses of residents, first nations and government to the presences of Luna.


It is a touching film about this lonely whale (that really could be any one of us) that showcases some stunning west coast landscapes and I highly recommend it to anyone. Even if you don't like documentaries this film is too beautiful to miss and you might be surprised by how easily you can relate to this film. To watch a trailer and see some more gorgeous photos of Luna visit http://www.mountainsidefilms.com/savingluna/.

"A life does not have to be human to be great"

Finally SPRING!

We had the most beautiful spring day today. It would appear that spring has arrived on the west coast. It was so warm and sunny, I literally had to peel off layers as the day went on. The picture above is my backyard today, note the blue sky and the nicely mowed lawn.
So since today was my day off at work, I went to the nursery and got everything I needed to do some more gardening. I am so proud, everything looks great.

There are the flowers I planted yesterday, I love the colors and those sit just in front of our patio set. I love pansies. When I was a little girl (maybe 6 or 7) my mothers friend, who is a gardening pro, taught me about flowers. She showed me that all pansies have faces, snap dragons actually snap and fox gloves can be worn on your fingers. She made gardens seem so magically.

Here are some more flowers I planted just today and a pot of strawberries. These ones are living beside the garage. It is one of the sunniest places in the yard. I'm hoping these strawberries do a lot better then last years.

These are brussel sprouts. I wasn't really planning on planting these but they were on sale at the nursery so I had to give it a try. Right now they are in the greenhouse since the yard garden isn't quite ready but I'm move them out there when it is time.

Some herbs! From left to right: in the pot we have mint, then lavender, rosemary, and then oregano. In another container I also planted some thyme.

Here we have spinach and lettuce that I started from seed in the greenhouse. I can't wait until I can eat them. The lettuce is doing really really well, so hopefully it should produce some lush and large leaves.

Here is one of our pear trees. It is just about to blossom. All the trees are budding and they should bloom soon. I'm quite relieved to see them budding, we pruned them a lot this year. The only one that I think won't produce this year would be the grapes.
It was the perfect west coast spring day and I'm so pleased that the garden ball is rolling. I also rearranged the patio so I think we will have a BBQ tonight and enjoy every last minute of the sunlight.

A Good Start

Today was the first day of real garden work. We bought plants and are now ready to put them in the ground. I've already got spinach and lettuce coming up in the green house. Tomorrow I will be adding an herb garden in the green house. I mostly planted flowers today. I planted pansies in a box, and I have everything ready for the 3 rose bushes, 2 raspberry bushes, 2 heather plants and 1 rhubarb we bought. We have a bit more work to do on the beds for the vegetables. We haven't decided if we are going to fix the yard as it is for vegetables or if we are going to build boxes. Here's the plan so far (everything will be organic of course).

Herbs
- Oregano
- Mint
- Basil
- Rosemary
- Chives
- Sage
- Thyme

Fruit
- Raspberries
-Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Blackberries (not that we want them but there are some at the back of the yard so I'll eat the berries)
- Apples
- Pears
- Grapes
- Plums
- Rhubarb

Vegetables
- Peas
- Green beans
- Carrots
- Squash
- Lettuce
- Spinach
- Zucchini
- Sweet peppers
- Pumpkin
- Potatoes (I've read that you can grows these in old garbage cans so we are going to give it a go)
- Onions
- Garlic (I'm on the fence about this one, we will see)
- Tomatoes

Other
- Chillies
- Nasturtium
- Sunflowers
- Chamomile
- Lavender
- Sweet peas

It might seem like a lot but next year will be a smaller batch. It's sort of a test to see what grows best in this soil. It has quite a bit of sand and clay so we aren't sure what plants will take to it. I would be thrilled if we could be almost self-sufficient here. We have a ton of space for a garden and we are going to plant flowers for cutting in the front (the roses, heather, and a lot of bulbs). We already have a great compost bin going (thank you Baby for all that hard work) and I'm looking forward to installing rain barrels and a nice long clothes line. We are also putting up a home for the birds and for the mason bees. So hopefully we will have a wonderfully productive yard by next year!
On a final note, we mowed the lawn today for the first time since we moved in. I must say, it looks SO good. It's not such a jungle out there. Oh, I am so excited for this yard!

Cute Bag and Doll Giveaway

The Big Piece of Cake is giving away this adorable bag. You can visit their blog here. The bag is hand embroidered with a bluebird in a redbud tree, the bag measures 11 3/4 inches wide, 11 inches deep, and has a 17 inch strap. It's made from canvas and is lined with lime green linen.

AND

One of my favorite Etsy sellers is having a giveaway. She is giving away an adorable felt doll. You can visit her blog here.

Recipe: Monkey Munch

This is one of my favorite recipes and I thought with Easter approaching it might be time for some goodies. This is not healthy by any means but it is snackable and just so good. It is also good for adults and children alike. I do my best to use organic ingredients (I do everything except for the Crispix) with this recipe. It calls for Crispix but you can use most cereals. I've heard of people using shredded wheat or corn puffs but Crispix is my personal favorite. For an additional variation, try almond butter instead of the peanut butter it calls for.

Ingredients:
9 cups Crispix/Chex
1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter/margarine
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 powdered sugar

Instructions:
Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside. In a saucepan, heat chocolate chips, peanut butter and margarine over low heat, stirring frequently, until melted. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal until evenly coated. Pour into a 2-gallon resealable plastic bag. Add powdered sugar, shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in a resealable container for up to 2 weeks.