Friday, June 22, 2012

let's go for a walk-about - lots of things to see! oh...and a redneck pea/bean trellis!

let's just get the obligatory sky pic for Helga done and over with, eh? bahahahahahha! here ya go, Helga!


oh it's a beautiful day at the Manor - we have been out working and enjoying all of the beauty on our land - let's go for a walk!

beautiful little snapdragon for your viewing pleasure...your welcome!


 look at all of the beautiful little flowers growing on the road to the river!


daisies are my favourite flower in the world - i just love them! jambaloney used to send me roses and daisies at my work-place. because it was a secure building, the flowers would be delivered to the front desk. the security guard would call my boss to say that i had a delivery. then my boss would screech across the whole floor - "kymberz got more flowers! what else is new!!!" - it was such fun and all of my co-workers enjoyed sharing my flowers. now i just get to see them daily, growing in their natural environment - *sigh*.


a close-up - how incredibly gorgeous. and i get to see this every day?!?!?!?! i try to be as grateful as i can be. and thank the Lord that we are truly here....home....forever.


some more interesting little flowers to share.

 

check out the wild strawberries - they are so sweet and juicy! and tiny! little tiny-tines! and they grow all over our land! they are just ripening now so we eat them as we find them. in the next few days we will have to start collecting them in buckets and freezing them to enjoy over the winter. i love wild food!!!!


here's some just waiting to be eaten...tomorrow!


look at all of the beautiful buttercups growing on our road! there is nothing prettier than bunches of buttercups! did you ever pick a buttercup and hold it under your friend's chin to see if they liked butter? we did that when i was a child! come here, Helga - i need to see if you like buttercups!


how about these fields of wild raspberry?!?!?!? they are just ready to flower. woohoo for us - more wild, delicious, nutrient-filled food!


we have pretty grasses growing all over our land. Beth - pay attention to the rest of the pictures. tell me if you see sweetgrass.


my goodness - look at the beautiful colour!

 

 and some baby trees growing as the older trees die - i love the cycle of life. Helga - get down from that tree!


i had to take another pic of the sky - the sky here mesmerizes me to the point of being unable to do anything except look at it - it makes me think of eternity and what that really means.


more wild raspberry - we are going to be eating so many berries this year that we will probably turn into berries - bahahahahah!


some beautiful, wild and native ferns - i love them!


wild and native irises...there's some pics coming of the actual flowers. gonna let these babies go to seed and then collect them to plant them all around our yard!

 

 more baby trees - if this is boring - i am sorry. but i love watching the cycle of life!


we call this guy the "king dew-bury" or dewberry if you prefer. he's covered in berries - yummeh!


another big, awesome patch of raspberry!


Beth - i am taking pics of all of the different grasses on our land - yell if you see sweetgrass. if we have it, i will send some seeds to you. if we don't have it on our land, we will try to find it in our area!


little, pretty pink flowers. you would think that i would go to google images to find out what all of this stuff is. i will, one day - when i'm not out taking pictures!

 

 blooooooo-bury! oh ya baby!


ferns and white, puffy flowers.


wild iris - so gorgeous!


a close-up...and a funny little bug.


more irises growing on the hill.


pitcher plants - very rare!!! and lovely! some are already going to seed - you know that i will be gathering those!

here's the flower of the plant.

 

 and here is the actual "pitchers" of the plant! cool eh?


more grasses growing down at the river.

and some more - so many different types!


my 2 favourite trees in the whole world! i love the one on the left because it's tilty. i love the one on the right because we use him to hang our towels off of when we are swimming - bahahahahah!


 our forest floor - i love the forest!



we have beautiful rocks all over our land!


a swampy area down at the river - it is full of frogs, spring peepers and all of their babies - i love this swamp!


here's some delicious, silty dirt that we'll be digging up to add to our tires, raised beds and huggie kulturs. yummy!


some interesting little "things" that grow everywhere - so tiny and cute!

more yummy, silty dirt!

 

and now we are back home....Helga is still playing in the river!

so after going out and enjoying our land and giving thanks and feeling grateful to be here....what did we do? we built the most awesome pea/bean trellis!!! have a look-see:




 that baby is wicked-awesome....and built with scrap metal that jambaloney got from other people's garbage and wood from our land!

next up - remember the fire hose that jambaloney got at the fire hall? check out what we did with it. yep - we cut it into strips - pretty impressive eh? bahahahahahhaha!


but here's the kicker! we used the fire hose as an anchor to be able to tie string up the trellis. when the peas and beans are big enough - we will train them to the strings! perfection!


we are having a gorgeous friday here at the Manor and i hope that you all are too! we have the first Framboise Community Summer Event happening tomorrow morning - it's the Framboise breakfast from 8-11. we'll be there at 7am setting up and getting everything ready, and then serving and clearing tables and washing dishes and whatnot. we love our community! the season of kitchen parties every weekend is about to commence - woohoo!

have a fantastic weekend and y'all come back you hear?!?!?!?

30 comments:

  1. Well its hard to identify sweetgrass since it just looks like fat tall regular grass. The easiest way to tell if it is sweetgrass is to break it in half and then smell. It should smell like really strong vanilla.

    Tries to hold back her green eyed monster over your land.
    Beth

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    1. Beth - we have been looking at images of sweetgrass on google and we can't tell if we have it or if it is around our community or whatnot - thanks for the tip on breaking it in half! if we find some - i promise to get you some seeds or would you prefer that i cut some of the actual grass and mail that to you?

      oh Beth - you will get your land...i just know it! we love and appreciate our land so much. and we waited for years to get it and then it came. yours will come! xoxox

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    2. seeds would be great. Grey Knight killed mine by letting the mower clippings get into my planter with it. Normal grass will take over and kill the sweetgrass. Thankfully I have a fair amount of dried sweetgrass still.

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    3. Beth - i will find you some seeds - i know that it grows all over our island as the Mi'kmaq use it for ceremonial purposes quite regularly. come heck or high water - i'll find you some!

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  2. What wonderful diversity your land has! It makes me happy that you appreciate it so much...enough not to bring in back hoes and tillers.

    We did the buttercup thing in our neighbourhood too. Would you believe one little girl didn't 'like' butter? lol

    Thanks for the virtual tour, Kymber. Everything edible is coming along nicely.

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    1. oh Sue - our land is full of all kinds of things! and we haven't even had a chance to explore all of it yet - maybe we'll do that when you and Renoman come to visit - we'll take you out into the woods and let you get eaten alive by black flies, deer flies, horse flies and mosquitoes - bahahahahahah!

      we had our friend Jimmy clear our land 3 yrs ago, and he also built us a road to the river because we plan, to someday, maybe, if we can afford it, build a house down there. for now, we don't need the road so are allowing whatever to grow on it - grow. if we ever need the road for trucks to bring supplies to build the house or whatnot - then we'll clear it. we like walking down to the river right now with all of the stuff growing - it's so beautiful!

      oh Sue - i think the buttercup thing might be an east coast thing - teeheehee! and i can't believe that you don't like butter - are you serious?!?!??!?!

      i am glad you enjoyed the virtual tour. i spend hours everyday outside enjoying all of this beauty....and if i don't share it i feel greedy. i think you know what i mean. xoxoxoxo

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    2. No, not me. I love butter! It was another little girl in our neighbourhood who didn't.

      Hope you get your dream house some day.

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  3. With your 18(o.k. if you insist 15) hours that can make for some long walks.

    No food pics. You must have worn yourself out. That or you pounced on some of those little frogs.

    It just turned normal hot around here, so I need to adjust.

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    1. Russell - to be honest - the sun comes up at 5:10am, but the light starts at 4am. the sun sets at 8:55pm - but there is still light in the sky at 10pm. so i guess you are correct - we do have light for 18hrs. you always gotta be right, eh buddy? bahahahahahhahah! sorry, couldn't help myself!

      food pics coming in the next post. we just ate a deeeelishous salad - all from our garden or growing wild and some backed potatoes with a ton of butter, a ton of bacon, a ton of sour cream and some wild chives - man was it good!

      buddy - how hot is normal hot....i am kinda afraid of the answer. cuz you get lots of humidity there too, right? bleck!

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  4. Today where I live it cooled down to 102 degrees. It was 110 degrees yesterday. A slight wind at 10 mph. About 10% humidity.low UV index for a change. Another day in paradise! the rat

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    1. oh rat, buddy - i don't know how you can handle that kind of heat - i think i would die!!! but i know that you love your desert - enjoy, buddy - cuz life really is paradise!!!

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  5. So many photos, you eat too many berries and you are going mad. Do you have any of that good grass??

    you should take some of the grass/flowers/berries/leaves and dehydrate them for that potpourri stuff, and sell it online to make some cash. use the brand name of jamber, kymaie, or manor memories. what do you think??

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    1. teeheehee - Rob, buddy - apparently the previous owner was growing some of the good grass - bahahahahaha! and buddy - that's an awesome idea - and maybe we will do something like that! thanks Rob!

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  6. Hey sis - Now that's a wonderful bunch of pics to stare at with utter amazement ! No wonder you're never inside to answer the phone - bahaha ! As Sue said - such diversity on your land. Daisies growing in the wild or otherwise, have always been on my top ten list - like # ONE too !! Synchronization sparks are flying again !

    The ferns appear to be ginormous - and there are so many of them. The tilty tree is where I'll be hanging out - hiding in the long grass - eating buckets of berries !

    Thanks hon -for sharing your wonderful piece of paradise ! Super duper great tour !!!!!!

    By the way Rob - you absolutely crack me up ! You should be a professional writer - you have a natural flair for the funny side.

    Email coming back hon - cause I got surprise news for you !
    Love you my dearest sister/ best friend / army buddy ! xoxoxo

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    1. hey back sis - did you call? i checked the phone and there is no message??? but ya - we pretty much spend our entire days and eves outside - we love being outside. plus this little crappy cottage is cramped and filthy - bahahahahah! i hate cleaning it because even when it's clean it looks crappy. wish i had you here for that!!!! and yep - we got a really weird synchronicity thing going - that's for sure!

      hon - you are welcome to hang out in whatever tree you want! i will bring you lemonade or cucumber water and snacks all day long - you just give me your order and i will deliver it!

      you are so welcome for the tour - you know that it was for you, eh?

      my buddy Rob is pretty awesome and pretty funny - and a smart *ss too - bahahahahah! oh and he loves the attention!

      oh sis/best friend/ army buddy - what is the surprise?!?!?!? i'll be stuck here at the computer for hours waiting for your email and i really need to go and shave my legs for the breakfast tomorrow - bahahahahahah! i love you, hon! xoxoxoxoxo

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    2. Hey sis - Go shave them legs, because I haven't written it yet. You can't go to the breakfast looking like a jungle creature !!! Oh - bahahaha !!! It's so hot here today, that I have to revive all the plants first.

      You'll have it tomorrow and more of the story too. I almost called today, but I figured you'd be outside, so I didn't. But I have a few gazillion other times.

      I didn't want to presume all of this was for me - but I did ! Thanks my luv .... enjoy the breakfast ! xoxoxo

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  7. I grew up in the country. Pigs and mule country, and I have NO idea what the plants are. How do you know so much??? And, do you ever run into a snake? The patch of scrub trees just brought back memories of water moccasins back home.

    As for the cycle of life? I love the beginning and middle and try to avoid the end as much as I can.

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    1. lotta joy - i have to be honest - i know a lot of the plants from growing up here and also - i have jambaloney! his grandmother taught him a ton of knowledge about wildlife, flora and fauna. he knows every single bird, every single butterfly, every single bug and a whole pile of plants from growing up with her teaching him on her farm. he also did 2yrs of a biology degree. so he really knows a lot and helps me with the stuff that i don't know.

      i asked jambaloney if we had water moccasins and he laughed cuz all we get here is 2ft little grass snakes - we have no poisonous snakes here...or poisonous anything for that matter.

      i think you and me are on the same page in regards to our cycles of life - bahahahahah!

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  8. Sweet Kymber,
    The sky pictures are beautiful as usual :-)
    I'm curious, do you have bear up there? With all of those wild berries,and fish, I would think you would have some visitors. We used to have bear visit our wild berries all the time. They sure know a good thing when they've found it LOL.... Will you be canning any of those wild berries this year? I can't get over how many versions of wild flowers and grass you have growing there on your property. You have yourself a little piece of heaven at the manor :-) It's beautiful to be able to watch new little trees start life, flowers bloom, water glisten and move, the different textures of dirt and sand. I see Jambaloney is being creative again with his new finds :-) That's a nice looking trellis you have there. It reminds me of the trellis I have to put up but still haven't. My green beans will be jumping up to Canada soon, I better get my (you know what) in gear and give them something to climb on.... Bahahahahahahah!!!! Have a great evening and give Jambaloney a hug.

    Your Friend, Sandy

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    1. hey sweet Sandy - i know that you always enjoy the sky pics, too! and yes - we have relatively-small black bears here on the island - they are native to the island. however, because the population here is so small, the bears tend to stay in the "deep woods", are shy and don't normally venture near human areas. we saw bear tracks down at the river the winter before last and were thrilled - because you just don't see the bears around here - they really keep to themselves. the tracks that we found showed that the bear had crossed the our land and then crossed the river. we have asked the old-timers around here if they have ever encountered a bear and except for a few stories of seeing tracks - no one has ever actually "seen" a bear.

      i will be canning up some of each kind of berry this year as jambaloney is big on jam - me, not so much. i prefer them frozen and then let them thaw and even though they are a little soggy - they are still fresh, wild berries and in the middle of january - i ain't too picky - bahahahah!

      yes - we feel that this little piece of land is Heaven...but then all Cape Bretoner's call our island "God's Country" - we're pretty full of ourselves, us Cape Bretoner's. the whole island is covered in a variety of different things - we have mountains (the Appalachian Mountain Range actually begins here!), valleys, lowlands, highlands, virgin forest, meadows - you can drive 20 minutes from here and the flora and fauna will be completely different.

      Sandy - you know jambaloney - he's always making use of other people's junk - bahahahahah! the trellis needs to be strong as we get very high winds here. your green beans will be very welcome in Canada if they make it that far before you trellis them - bahahahahah!!! get yer butt in gear, hon and trellis those beans!!!!

      jambaloney sends a hug right back...and always appreciates that you send them to him! xoxoxoxox

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  9. Thank you for such a lovely stroll through your property.You have such wonderful wild flowers and grasses growing-I am envious :)

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    1. Donna - you are so welcome and i am glad that you enjoyed it! i love all of the grasses and wild flowers and wish that all of my friends could come here and enjoy it too...but, if you all came up at the same time it would be considered an American invasion and could get ugly! so i try to share it through the pics - bahahahahahah! xox

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  10. Beautiful Kymber. I love your place. Very peaceful. Thank you for the tour.

    I wish I had done the same before my father had the property logged. So much of the native plants were destroyed like the wild ferns that grew on the woodland floor. So many people don't appreciate what God gave us in the proper manner. They are to busy exploiting. Sad. - Genevieve

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    1. Genevieve - thanks so much! i love going out and taking pics of everything. it all kind of mesmerizes me and none of it seems real! and give it a few years and trust me - some of the native plants will return. you are so right about not appreciating what the Lord gave us - i love our land and everything on it!!!!

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  11. Thanks for sharing all t he great pictures. #3 is what I dream my driveway will look like once we get a cabin somewhere. The simple "easy" life.

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    1. Max - no probs buddy - i am glad that you enjoyed them! you will have your driveway soon and it will look exactly like ours! you know the saying - anything that comes easy isn't worth it. it's hard work growing your own food, running around naked, swimming and suntanning....it's hard work but we love the "simple, easy life" -bahahahahah!

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  12. Ha ha your comment on my blog cracked me up and now I see it related to this post! My clear tubing is only 5mm wide!! :D

    We get wild strawberries in our garden here, it's a miracle they grew with the crap weather we are having!

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    1. Joey - i had no idea what you were using that tubing for - so as we had just finished building the pea/bean trellis i thought it might make you laugh! but hey - i'll do/say anything to get you to start growing some of your own food. i am glad that you get wild strawberries - they are soooo deelish!

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  13. Oh the vegetation! I am walking barefoot along side you(in my mind). Oh what an incredible corner of heaven you have! I love everything and smile because I love going to the mountains and gathering the teeny strawberries...this year with the fires we have not been allowed to venture up, so I will enjoy instead your strawberries.

    I pray you and Jambaloney are not going to turn into those berries...you know the dingle kind!! babhahahahahahahahaahha....couldn't help myself.

    As to the trellis-wowsie you guys are ahead of us on that one. I have decided my trellis is a bit inconspicuous after yours. I will upgrade next year...as I do have connections to the local fire department!

    (((hugs))) to my northern buddies oh boos...and please avoid the dingle(berries)

    Jennifer

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    1. oh Jen - i wish that you were here during our walk arounds - and i am normally in bare feet too! it's gorgeous to walk through all of the grasses and clover - such softness for your feet! and we do have an incredible corner of heaven and it's something that we always try to remember to be grateful for - we are trying to be the best stewards that we can be! i am sorry that you can't go and get the berries....will you be allowed to go up to the mountains soon?

      bahahahahahah! no worries, hon - we will stay away from all dingle-berries.

      ya the trellis is pretty ghetto and pretty huge but we had to be sure that it was big enough and heavy enough because of the winds we get here. and ya - use yer connections at the fire department - bahahahahah!

      lots of love to you and all of the DN crew! xoxoxoxox

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