A Morphine Hit For Bees?

     I have a lot of poppies in my vegetable garden.  They come  up every year, and I never weed them out, because I enjoy all of the color they add.  

    Yesterday, I was out there picking peas and I couldn’t help but be aware of all of the bees that were busily buzzing around on the poppy flowers.  There was one particular poppy that was sporting numerous bees, seeking nectar.  There were five different bees who seemed frantically  busy on this one flower.  Since poppies are the source of morphine, I wondered if this one particular flower were giving the bees an extra “buzz” from the drug.  The bees sure seemed especially attracted to it.

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

A Visit To BC's Ancient Forest Provincial Park

     Ever since we moved to the Robson Valley, I have been attracted to its rapidly disappearing old cedar forests.  These old cedar forest are a rare ecological habitat, known as a Inland Temperate Rain Forest.  Happily one such area has been preserved and has become the Ancient Forest Provincial Park, which is located about an hours drive west of McBride.  It is a special place that love to experience and I got another chance to do so when my brother and his family up here for a visit.

    A sign beside one of those old cedars said that the tree was one thousand years old when Leif Erickson stumbled upon North America.

    While those gigantic, moss-covered cedars are the main attraction in the park, I have also loved seeing the plants that thrive in the dark, moist ground, beneath the ancient cedars.  Below are a couple of photos I took of those plants.  

    Immediately below is a fern tucked in between the roots of one giant trees.  Below that is a Skunk Cabbage, a broad-leaved plant that grows only in the wettest and darkest areas of the Ancient Forest.

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

BC Summer's Triple Whammy

     We are currently experiencing three negative events that sometimes occur during in summer.  Unfortunately at present, they are all happening at the same time:   Our sky is filled with smoke from distant forest fires, we are experiencing unusually hot (for us) temperatures (32°C, 90°F), and our  mosquito population has exploded, making any leisurely pursuit outside, unpleasant.  The photos show what the sun looks like through the smoke-laden evening sky.

    Fortunately, there is a predicted end to our hot temperatures, as a cooler, more normal, showery front is scheduled to move in this weekend.  However there is no way of knowing how long the forest fire smoke and the irritating mosquitoes will remain.  

   The smoky summer skies are something that began occurring ten or so years ago.  It was our very wet and showery spring that gave us the mosquitoes, but at least that moisture lessened our chances of getting a forest fire locally.

    I no longer look forward to summer the way I optimistically used to do, in the past.

You can view my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Back To Blogging Again

     After a short hiatus in blogging, while hosting my brother and his family who were visiting us from Dallas, my wife, Kona, and I are getting back to our slow, mundane, lifestyle again.  We had an enjoyable visit and were able to catch up with what was happening in their lives.  While we had seen my brother last year when all of my siblings visited the Robson Valley, we hadn’t seen his wife or two sons for years.  In fact, the two boys were just kids last time we saw them, and now they are both in university.

    During their visit, we took them to a few of the unique local Robson Valley sites.  One evening we made the forty-five minute drive to the scenic Tete Jaune Lodge, to belly up and gorge ourselves at their tasty buffet, situated right beside the Fraser River.  This time, the dinner was an unique experience because there was a heavy downpour of rain and thunder storm going on.  

    We ate under the large protective tent roof, watching the flowing river as the lighting flashed and thunder rumbled.  It all made for a very memorable dining experience, but the wild weather didn’t prevent us from stuffing ourselves with the delicious food.

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

No Blog For Five Days

     Whenever I don’t blog for a few days, people always send me emails asking if I am alright.  My brother’s family has just arrived up here for a visit, so I don’t think I will be able to do my blog for a while.  I thought I would just get out in front of my probable absence and warn you that the blogs won’t be be there for probably five days.

    You can take a short break too.

See my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

My Pollinator-Friendly Lawn

     I live in a rural area and I have never been a fan of mono-cultured lawns, so if I see patches of  wildflowers coming up in my lawn, I mow around them so they can bloom, providing nectar for the bees, and giving the pollenated plants a chance to reseed, so they come up again next year.  For all of those uniform, mono-cultured lawn purists, my lawn looks chaotic and unkept, but I would rather have a lawn that provides food for pollinators and have a wide diversity of plants, than have a monotonous, carpet-looking lawn around my house.

    Once the blooms start to brown, wither, die, and no longer provide nectar for the pollinators, I mow over them.   Yesterday as I was mowing I was going to mow over one of the flowered sections in my lawn, but then I saw some bees still working some of the flowers, so I mowed around the patch again.

    Although chaotic looking, I think my lawn is a lot more interesting to look at, than those mono-cultured ones.  My lawn offers a variety of shaped foliage, different hues of greens, plus a variety of colored flowers, and it makes me feel good whenever I see the bees out there buzzing around and getting the nectar they need to survive.

    Below are some photos of some of the patches of wildflowers that I mow around in my front yard.

    Take a look at my paintings:  davidmarchant2.ca

Robin Egg Blue

     For weeks now, I have been seeing a robin fly off from under the carport whenever I walk out of the carport door.  Robins have often build their nests up in the carport rafters, and again this year the are using the location.

    A few days ago as I was walking past the end of the carport, I noticed the end of a robin’s egg laying on the ground, so I assume that one of their eggs had successfully hatched. 

    Robin eggs are sure a memorable soft shade of blue.  

Take a look at my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca