Settling in

One of the first things I wanted to do on arrival in Saltspring was to get some flowers into my planter boxes at the front of the house. In the old days, I had lots of flowers around, but in the last few years, they have dwindled to the few hardy perennials that have withstood severe neglect. The plain dark colour of our house cries out for bright flowers, and I wanted something that would survive in high heat with little water. So: geraniums. Here is a photo of them, along with a few photos from our first days of settling in on Saltspring:

It's a silly time to plant new flowers, but I needed colour at the front of the house on Saltspring. Here are my purchases, all ready to be installed.

All planted, watered, fertilized and trimmed back! There are lots of buds to come out in the next few weeks.

John's recycling efforts. He got these chairs from his departing tenant Tracy, painted them blue to match the house doors, and brought them up on the deck for the first time this summer. All we're missing is a table -- they look kind of lonely sitting in a circle. Notice the bathing apparatus and towels behind, hanging to dry.

John surveys his handiwork, along with an umbrella to provide some shade over the chair-circle.

Water shoes and towels drying on deck rails. We need the shoes to get over the rocks on the beach. Very ouchy without them!

View from the deck over the back yard Monday evening. The lawn is very brown, but amazingly, the trees are still alive.