My kind of reality

Calm, beautiful, fresh and clean -- my garden on Friday afternoon was the exact opposite of the book manuscript I had just been proofreading. The golden leaves in the background are witch hazel; in front, the few remaining sweet peas are still putting out some scent.  

Scene of many a raucous bird fight over who gets to bathe, who gets to sip, the birdbath was quiet Friday afternoon. Heavy rain the night before left detritus in the water from the tree above.

Winter pansies. I like blue and white, so filled several containers this fall with  colour to see me through the winter.

I'm proofreading a book about how every business in the world must digitalize to survive -- a complicated and frightening affair -- so it was a relief this afternoon to step outside into the back garden. A heavy rainstorm last night had washed everything clean, and the sun was shining on the golden witch hazel and my last remnants of sweetpeas. The pale fuchsias were glowing, and the blue winter pansies will soon need a dose of fertilizer. Sometimes the garden is a raucous place, with the blue jays screeching, the squirrels running through the treetops and the robins fighting over the birdbaths, but today, all was calm. Even  Mr. Darcy was having a nice late-afternoon snooze in his well-padded cat basket on the back porch. It was a world away from the frenzy to turn everything we touch, hear, smell and see into the virtual reality that I had just been reading about. Businesses may have no choice but to go digital to survive, but we humans need other things.

The fuchsias got moved this spring, so didn't do much all summer. Now they seem quite happy and are putting on a show. 

You're right, the birdbath is tilted and the white Japanese anemones are leaning way over in the other direction, so everything looks off-kilter. This area of the back yard is to be reworked (and the birdbath straightened) after I get my book proofed, my essays written and my school books read. 

More pansies and violas in this planter in the front garden. Winter pansies are amazing -- a bit of snow stops them growing for awhile, but once they thaw out, they just keep going. 

The Korean dogwood in the front garden has red berries at this time of year. The birds seem to eat them, so they can be the site of a lot of activity sometimes. 

A closer look at the Korean dogwood berries -- they have little knobs on them that are quite interesting.

And, the little birdbath in the back. It was always tilted too, until my brother Brian generously spent some hours levelling it when he was here this summer. I'm loving having at least one level birdbath!

Mr. Darcy in his well-padded cat basket -- yes, there is a basket under the well-used fleecies. From a distance, the basket sometimes looks like it has ears when all you can see is the cat's head poking up.. 

These are two Portuguese laurels we planted last year. Our tree guy promises they grow like stink, and will soon be blocking out the big houses that have been built behind us. They put on a couple of feet this summer, so it looks like he's right. Once they're higher, we'll have the lower branches trimmed so we can  get into the garage again. 

This spring's primroses survived the summer, and are now trying to bloom again. They look a bit ragged, but with fertilizer, they may make another showing this winter.

And, a last look at the sweetpeas and witch hazel. Such a nice change from the computer.