They warned us....

Environment Canada warned us that we would get a lot of rain as a result of the tropical storm - 50-100 mm to be exact. Well, my already suffering peas and zucchini found out the hard way.... they're drowning. I fear the worst.

I'll have to dry out the planter. It's likely the plants won't surprise, and if that's the case, I'm going to try again and plant leaf lettuce or spinach in the planter instead. Sigh.

I [heart] my grandma !

It's true! Graffiti spotted near Lower Water Street, Halifax.

Oaklawn Farm Zoo

Again, one of the perks of hanging out with a kid, is getting to do things I used to do myself as a kid but don't so much as an adult - like going to the zoo!

Did you know Nova Scotia has a zoo? And I'm not talking about the wildlife parks, like Shubie; I'm talking big cats, and primates and other exotic animals. The zoo is in the middle of nowhere - in the Annapolis Valley. It's Oaklawn Farm Zoo, and it's relatively new (est. 1984).

We saw Zebras and a Zebra colt (and a Zonkey)...

...the backside of a lazy Siberian Tiger...

...a Gibbon mother showing off her baby (see the bald head), only a few weeks old!...

And we saw Rutledge! ... Oaklawn boasts that Rutledge is the world's heaviest lion (a Guinness record), and I have no reason to disagree. We got a wonderful view of him about 20 ft away with nothing but a fence between us. It was spectacular.

One of the best things about Oaklawn are the admission prices! For 2 admissions - an adult and a child, it was less than 10.00! That's incredible. So accessible for families! This is something I'm constantly struck by here in NS - museums, galleries and the like are much cheaper here which makes it so much easier to expose kids to fun/cultural activities.

The sky's on fire!

I had the privilege of witnessing one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen during my vacation at the cottage. Naturally I grabbed my camera and tried to document it as best as I could . So now, as I post and try to decide which photos I like best, I realise it's impossible. I love them all! So here they are, every one of them, in order as I took them.

Leave a comment to let me know your favourite!

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Self-Portrait

Unplugging for a week

I'm heading to the cottage tomorrow for 7 days of glorious relaxation. No work. No computer. No internet access. No obligations. Only books and knitting and family and the lake to keep me occupied (and maybe a few movies). This will be the first time I've spent more than just a couple of days at the cottage since I was a child. A full week - what luxury!

(B)logging a complaint

About Halifax.InfoMonkey.net, and here's why:

Edward of InfoMonkey, commented on my last blog entry to let me know that he posted my blog entry on his website. Now, I can't really stop this. My blog is publicly available, it's not password protected and until now, I've not really made any attempt to indicate that the contents of my blog are my own (more on this later).

What really got my knickers in a knot, was that, according to his website, the blog entry was "submitted by Inspired By Hope" (that's me!). See for your self - look at the right of the screenshot. See it?! I'd like to make it known that I did NOT submit that entry. In fact what he did was basically lift the entry straight from my blog right into his website, without any form of permission, just a notice that this is what he did. The guy contacted me before (here) when he was trying to get InfoMonkey started - and I must admit, I didn't respond because I'm not interested in publicizing my blog. He also indicated that in order to submit a blog entry to his website you have to be logged into InfoMonkey. I haven't logged in, nor will I.

But here again, I can't really stop the sharing of my blog unless I password protect it (which at this point I'm not interested in doing). And nor do I really want to discourage the sharing - afterall, I follow several blogs with great interest, and hope this same is true with mine. But this is a relatively anonymous online journal-type of a blog. I'm not really interested increasing my site stats, or by getting more traffic. I post when I want about what I want and if anyone is interested - good! So feel free to link to my blog or share it or get RSS feeds, all that I ask is that you don't misrepresent me!

I have to give Edward credit though - I did ask for my blog entry to be removed and it was, almost immediately. Thanks Ed!

So in response, I've been checking out the Creative Commons. You can license your work through the CC to indicate what exactly people can do (or can't do) with your blog. Check out my front page to see the license I chose, and if you have a blog, consider getting your own.

Fog, Fog and More Fog

That's describes the weather we've been having for the past week. This doesn't bode well for Canada Day fireworks (which I'm told almost never happen on Canada Day in Halifax because of the weather). Sigh.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining about the weather. It's a delightful change from the hot, sticky, smoggy summers in Toronto, and when the fog rolls in (along the coast and where I work), you can smell the ocean. With that said, this weather is not helping my little patio garden. The lack of sun and the really damp days (sometimes rainy days) have made the soil in my planters soggy. We need a really good stretch of sunny days to dry them out a little and to encourage my veggies and flowers and herbs to grow and bloom and produce fruit!

I'm quite excited about my patio garden, actually. This year I'm trying to grow quite a bit:

PeasMy peas are disappointing me a little. Several plants have wilted and I know it's NOT because they've not been watered (if anything perhaps they've been overwatered!). I wonder if they are too crowded... though I planted them according to the package.

Zucchini
I planted about a dozen zucchini seeds (I used an old egg carton to start them), and only 3 sprouted. Of those three, all I have is one left. Let's hope it continues to grow!

Tomatoes (3 different kinds: Scotia, SweetMillions and Tiny Tims)
These were a gift from my grandmother, who even potted them for me! Thanks Gram! They're growing beautifully and it's looking like I'll have a repeat of last year's success (last year I had 6ft tall Tomato plants).

Scarlet Runner Beans
I'm growing the Scarlet Runners, not so much for the produce (I'm told you can eat the beans early on) as for the foliage. I thought it would be nice to have a vine to give my patio a bit more privacy and hide a pipe just outside my balcony.

Peppers
Why not try peppers, I said, I'm growing everything else! And the plant was only $3.99 at the Superstore. If I can get a couple peppers out of it, I'll at least have broken even. And even if I don't, it was worth a try.

Herbs Basil, Cilantro, Parsley, Chives, Rosemary, and a Curry plant (I always thought curry was a blend of spices. I'm not sure what I'll use it for but it smells just just like curry).
These are all growing like wildfire. Herbs must really like Fog. Tha'ts all I can say. I'm really surprised with my cilantro. Usually I kill it off right away, but it's actually thriving and growing tremendously. I have no idea what I did!

and of course flowers! Verbena and Petunias and a hanging basket of trailing flowers and a potato vine, and a yet-to-be-potted Black-Eyed Susan.
I went with a purple/pink theme this year for colour contrast with all the green. And also because I know a certain kid who really likes pink and purple. The hanging basket is a huge success.

The good thing about my garden, it seems, is that I don't have to worry about watering it. I can pretty much count on it raining at least once or twice a week here in Halifax. This will work nicely during my week-long vacation to the cottage....which is quickly approaching! I'm really looking forward to my vacation. This is actually the first time in many years that I'll get a full week at the cottage to relax, read, knit, canoe, and enjoy the peace and quiet.

Oh! which reminds me (speaking of knitting). I'll soon have a new Finished Object (FO) to post. I finally finished knitting and seaming Sunday night, and now just have to stitch the ribbon ties on (today's project). As it is a gift, I'll have to wait to post photos a little later until after it's been gifted.

That's all for now. Time to get back to the list of things I want to do today....including a lunch with a cousin/former colleague from Toronto.