Friday, July 09, 2010

Okay! Okay! I get it!


Sometimes it feels as though the world is trying to tell me something. I shot the photo above while I sat at a red light yesterday. Well, I had errands to run, so I kept going anyway, finished my errands, then went home to cook a bit of salmon on the barbecue and serve it with new potatoes and peas. After supper, Robin wanted to go out for a ride, just to feel a breeze on his face -- so off we went, through Cedar, into Yellowpoint, and around a circle that brought us back to the Crow & Gate
for a quick pint before heading home. There was one point at which I had to brake because I couldn't see anything except the sun. I half expected to hear a voice saying "Sandra, go into the light."  If there had been anything on the road right there, I would surely have hit it. I was glad to pull into the parking lot at the Crow & Gate.
Even in the pub, the sun was right there at eye level, reflecting on this painting beside the bar.

 We bought our beer and took it out into the garden. Do you remember how I talked about English country pubs and how lovely it was to be able to sit in a beautiful garden and enjoy a quiet beer? The Crow & Gate has brought that tradition to Cedar, just south of Nanaimo. Since the last time I was there, they have expanded their garden They've even added a palm tree and a banana tree - with a label in front of it for the benefit of those customers who've never seen a banana tree before. I ended up abandoning my beer (and Robin) in order to wander around the garden, camera in hand. Robin didn't mind. He had his pint and a beautiful view.

I saw three women taking photos at one part of the garden, so I wandered over to see what all the fuss was about. It turned out that there were two hummingbirds engaged in a bit of a fracas in the middle of a flower bed.

I did manage to photograph one of the birds. I hope you can find him (just to the left of the main group of flowers).

After that I just walked around, admiring the display, thankful that somebody takes the time to build such a beautiful garden for me to enjoy.


When I got back to our table, Robin nodded toward the edge of the garden, where we saw Trevor and Jane, the proprietors of our local, the Fox & Hounds. It turned out that they live in Cedar, and the Crow & Gate is their local!

I suggested to Robin that we just camp out in Cedar for the night, but since we didn't have The Turtle (which  is in the shop, by the way, having some work done in preparation for our trip to Ontario) we decided to head for home. I'm glad we took our drive, though. The farmland was lovely in this sudden, exuberant summer we're having, and the fragrance of fresh-mown hay was everywhere.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

What a lovely outing--& hummingbirds most definitely get into fracases!

Julie said...

Thanks for sharing such a beautiful day with us. I need to get out more, because I haven't seen flowers like that... ever, I think. Or at least in a very long time. :)

Linda Hoye said...

Looks like a lovely day!

Mary@GigglesandGuns said...

Thanks for the short trip. I enjoyed it as always. You blog is like tiny vacations from my day.

Giggles and Guns

RLM Cooper said...

Sandra, when are you leaving for Ontario? We are removing the shades from our RV (filthy with 8 years of dust before we ever bought it - and SO not easily cleanable) and replacing them with curtains. I made one side of one pair yesterday. At this rate, I'll be done around Christmas!

Cheryl Cato said...

Superb! You know that ("no matter where you go, there you are") is sort of my motto. One might as well like oneself because we get to spend a lot of time with her/him.

The garden is beautiful. What a lovely afternoon outing. Those hummingbirds are so territorial! They get into a fracas at my house over the feeders.

Hope your Sunday was as lovely as your Saturday!

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