Pandemic Planting

I am about to make a statement that will be very unpopular.

I hate gardening. There, I said it.

Every year I see people painstakingly working in their gardens. They tend to shrubs, trees, blooms, and make the yard lovely. Some have extensive vegetable gardens. None of these activities have ever appealed to me. In fact, it's beyond the realm of my comprehension how digging, planting, weed pulling, and repeating those steps ad infinitum, or for a couple of months at least, is in any way enjoyable. It makes my knees and back ache just thinking about it.

Having said that, every spring, I shop for, and plant an array of flowers in our yard. I usually spend a small fortune and don't pay much attention to what I select from the local garden centre.  I just pick what I like.  It's  a one time annual deal, just like the flowers. Sometimes, I have a theme, like when Canada celebrated its 150th anniversary of confederation.  I planted red and white, adding a few small flags to the design. It looked pretty.

So this year,  I'm late. The weather has taken awhile to warm up but today, I acquired a solid collection of flowers.

I decided to make the activity a little more fun for myself. Prior to working, I created a short "Mosquito Lady" video to get in the mood. Then I got down and dirty...and I do mean dirty. I was covered head to toe by the time I was finished burying all the plants I had schlepped home. (Turn up volume to fully appreciate my silliness).

After a couple of hours, I  packed away the tools, saving them hopefully for next year. It was time to relax and enjoy my efforts.

Oh Buoy!

Sometimes, it can be the simple things that give us joy. An unusual activity which we haven't witnessed before can entertain and amuse us if we stop, take a moment and appreciate it.

I have been curious about how the boats got back into the water at the marina. When we took the dog for a walk several days ago, I noted that the boats were already aligned on the pier all the way to the lighthouse. In fact, they were set up two abreast and extremely close to one another. I must say that I'm now left wondering how that was done.

I guessed that this would be my last opportunity of the season to take a photo of the empty spits and the glassy mirror-like water before the area once again became rife with boat and summer tourist activity.

The morning of April 29th came. It was the day of the scheduled boat launch. As sure as the robins return in the springtime, the crane made its appearance.

One by one, it hoisted the boats into the air and placed them gingerly into the water. Now, the owners were left in charge of getting the motors started and returning their vessel to the appropriate "parking spot".

Finally, as the last boat was deposited into the water, many of the marina spits were occupied and the pier was empty once again.

As I walked in the opposite direction of the marina, I viewed the shore of the lake. The sand was piled high ready to be spread. The trailer park was still empty. I wondered when and how those enormous trailors return to the beach. Perhaps I'll be fortunate enough to be there when they do.

Rows and rows of huge trailers with foundations are parked here every summer. The sites are indicated with white posts and there are several more "streets" behind where I was standing for this photo. 

Let's Play a Guessing Game

As I was cleaning out my email today, I noticed that my inbox contained the Spring copy of the Hammacher Schlemmer catalogue.  On the cover was this nifty small, medium or large mystery object which had me very curious.

When I found out what it was, I laughed harder than when I saw Ellen Degeneres demonstrating the "As Seen on T.V." shake weight.

Look carefully and take a minute to guess....go on, don't be afraid, give it a shot and keep it clean. Be honest and remember that Hammacher Schlemmer sells unique gift items not inventions for the deviant. Feel free to comment on here or send me an email as to what you thought it was. After all, your ideas might be good for another blog.

 I will now confess that I thought it was some kind of exercise device. Hubby said it was clearly a branding iron to be used on a ranch. I think that if it had been to scale, I might have made a more informed guess.

The problem is that I am once again feeling my age. I am definitely "out of the loop" and thinking in terms of the wrong generation which is why I laughed so hard. I felt a bit of discomfort combined with embarassment at not knowing something so obvious in this current age of rapid moving technology.

So, what is it?  It's described on page 69 of the catalogue as a "Bluetooth Headset Camcorder". In other words, it hooks over your ear and the white part is a camera which records items wherever it is pointed. It then sends them to your iphone or smartphone where they can be instantly broadcast over facebook or youtube. So much for the camcorders, video cameras and movie cameras of the last century.

Sadly, privacy is rapidly becoming as extinct as the dinosaurs.

I have been cleaning up my email by unsubscribing to a lot of mailings. I was about to include Hammacher Schlemmer, but have now changed my mind. Their products are far too interesting not to mention "educational". Perhaps they'll help me to at least lurk at the outer edge of "the loop".