Enjoying a summer garden

Every winter I start planning a fantasy garden. Arbors with hanging roses, lush plantings of colourful perrenials, potted herbs and tomatoes. Of course, all this would happen immediately. Materializing from thin air and fertile soil. Every year I realize a beautiful garden takes years to produce, hours of tending and weeding. And Peter and I would have to do it.



In our home, we inherited a unkempt garden from the previous owners. The back garden did have a few beautiful mature shrubs and a decent lawn, but we surely had our work cut out for us. Four years since, and so far, we have added a flower bed, a couple of new trees and a couple of shrubs, and so many perrenials. Our battle against weeds is eternal. There are bellflowers and thistles in the rose bed. Can't see the roses hardly at all. Ants run amok.



I can see the future. Digging up the substantial rose bed to remove the invasive bell flowers, dandelions, thistles, and daisies. Fighting back the ants who have dug well under the patio, flower beds, and driveway. The garden is magazine perfect (I hear Peter groaning) and we are relaxing on a circular brick patio, surrounded by blooming plants, overhung with weeping willow branches. The birds are chirping.



In the meantime, we have to find the beauty amongst the chaos. This summer I am weighed down with fibromyagia fatigue, so Peter has to shoulder the burden of the garden's upkeep. A big job. Time consuming and physical. So I have to see past any shortcomings and find the jewels we have planted. Best way to achieve this? Avoid the bigger picture. Look for the small beauties and tiny successes. Realize that it doesn't have to be absolutley ideal to be idyllic.

Having moved to southern Alberta almost four years ago, settling into my new home and new province, I enjoy exploring with my family and capturing alberta's beauty.

I have lived in northern Quebec-Sept-Iles, a rugged but beautiful location with extreme temperatures; in St. John's, Newfoundland, another naturally beautiful geography, with warm people and rich culture; big city Canada in Toronto, full of activity and excitement; Thompson, and Brochet, in northern Manitoba where winter was long, and we were isolated most of the year; in Brownwood, Texas, where we were aliens, but basked in the heat and novelty, and finally in Lethbridge, Alberta. After varied experiences, it is second nature to adapt to new people, new homes, customs, climates and routines.

Alberta is a great place to spend time taking photographs. Mostly, there are fantastic opportunites to do daytripping to many of the parks, mountains, and prairie areas. There is so much beauty here.

Above and below are photos I've taken in Lethbridge, of a downtown park, known as Galt Gardens. Just the perfect amount of snowfall, and the sun coming through the branches makes for a magical image. It reminds me of Narnia.