Le Tissier Designs

Of Larks and Linnets and Flying Fingers

Tag: nature

  • Mother’s Day Walk in the Hailey Rhododendron Grove

    Mother’s Day Walk in the Hailey Rhododendron Grove

    We started today with a walk in one of my favourite places in Nanaimo, the Hailey Rhododendron Grove.

    We always try to get there around this time of year to get the best effect from these amazing trees. While there are some small rhododendrons, many of the plants here are very old, as the Grove was started back in 1960’s. Most of the trees and flowers tower over my head!

    The colour and aroma of the flowers are myriad. The shapes of both flowers and trunks are interesting. The trunks are very smooth and a little twisted. You can see how they grew extending out towards the sun as they went.

    Some of the flowers here are hybrids that may not be seen anywhere else. The range is remarkable. While The Grove shows best from Mid April to Mid May, some of the flowers start in late February and others show in June. You can see a carpet of glorious pink petals in one of the pictures I shot, even when the blooms are finished they leave a beautiful reminder! In amongst the Rhododendrons you will see companion plants, such as ferns, hostas, camellias, dogwoods and azaleas. Joy for the senses all around you!

    The park has many levels. There are stairs and pathways up, down, and around the trees. So many beautiful plants to admire.

    I hope that you enjoy the walk as much as I did! Click on the arrow to move the pictures along.

    The last few pictures are a meadow across from the Grove, next to Millstone River.

    Happy Mothers Day

    Lynette

  • Domestic Goddess

    Domestic Goddess

    I am not! Are you?

    I have a friend who will decide to be a domestic goddess for the weekend and knock off her housework all at once! I am not that person. But I envy her ability just to decide to “do It”!

    I – when I am feeling the urge – am a hit and miss type of house keeper. When the urge hits I will putter around and clean corners or objects very thoroughly. And then move onto the next thing that catches my eye. Seldom do I finish any one room all at once.

    The last year has been more miss than hit.

    But I am starting to actually feel like maybe I want to clean up and start fresh on some things. I got rid of the dead plants this morning… and bought some new ones. A beautiful white orchid and a small hydrangea. I will keep you posted on how well the orchid does – my history with them is very spotty!

    I like to buy flowering plants instead of bouquets. They last longer and may actually continue to grow. Though I haven’t been paying enough attention lately.

    It’s not that I don’t know how to clean house. I paid my way through a year of university cleaning professors homes. That included anything and everything. I polished brass and silver! Cleaned windows with newsprint and vinegar or with windex as directed. Washed floors and cleaned bathrooms! It really left me feeling like housekeeping is one of those unforgiving jobs. No matter how often or how well you clean the house, it never stops needing to be cleaned!

    Any tips or tricks to share? I am all ears.

    Tip #1 – I have been told by many that the trick is to never let it go too long between cleans. Then it is much easier. I get that, but I would rather KNIT! That is most likely the crux of my problem.

    Happy Easter from my about to be cleaned up Home! LOL!

    Lynette

    Happy Easter!
  • A New Year – New Resolve!? Maybe!

    A New Year – New Resolve!? Maybe!

    I Resolve that: 

    This is going to be the year of flowers. Floral motifs in my knitting – you bet! Flowers on my walls – always – courtesy of my mum! Flowers in the garden – we will see how green my thumb gets! 

    And flowers on my shelves!

    Pansies and Florals – Oh My!

    I am a collector – yarn (of course) – vintage knitting books – knitting books – yarn (did I mention yarn) and antiques.

    The antiques are mostly the small stuff. Silver things, porcelain posies, china and other small things.

    Many know about my small obsessions and every now and then I am asked if I would like some more items for my collection. Mostly my flower collection. It was their mothers or their grandmothers and really they have no use for, need of, or interest in them. And I get it, we all have our hobbies. And I on the other hand love all the things that mothers and grandmothers loved in their day. Especially the floral posies, in all my years of collecting I have not a single double, or repeat of a flower not even ones that are close. 

    Each pot is different, each flower is different. Certainly they are all the common flowers, roses, peonies, pansies, anemones, tulips or trilliums. But each one is hand made, hand coloured, and just like nature, each flower is totally unique from every other flower. Some flowers come with birds on stems, perching on a nest, or about to take flight. Some flowers come in silver vases – those are perhaps my favourites!

    I think that the fact that human hands formed each flower, placed each flower in the pot and a human mind chose the colours of glaze to finish each bloom, is what fascinates me about these china posies. Some of the older posies are true works of art, holding a moment in time as the breeze moves the flowers about.

    Posies are delicate, easily chipped along the edges of petal and leaf. Petals and leaves also break in half and are often poorly glued back together, again human hands trying to preserve something that they loved and valued. I find the love of flowers such a human thing, something that many of us share in so many ways.

    The posies I collect also go well with the many petit point bouquets that I have on my walls and shelves. All lovingly created by my Mother. She spent hours working on each piece. Somehow many of her floral pieces came my way.

    My Mothers work – she even refinished the frame to complement the work.

    I will most likely have to divest myself of some of the “things” I collect. We all usually have to “downsize” at some point in our lives. Until that time arrives, I will enjoy them, celebrate them and share that love!

    So do you collect? Have you got a stash of something special that means a lot to you? I would love to hear about it.

    Happy New Year, Happy Collecting, Happy Knitting

    Be well,

    Lynette