Meeting at Minter

Canadian Adventure Day Three: Minter Gardens, two weddings, a B&B and a feast.

(You can read Lovella's take on the day here,
Julie's take here,
My initial post from when I was in Canada here
Becky hasn't posted anything about the day yet...maybe she has had laundry issues again.
Just kidding...more likely she is facing back to school teaching time crunch!
I do hope she will post her shots from the day sometimes in the near future.

One thing about visiting someplace new, everything looks picture worthy. I enjoyed riding along rubbernecking as Lovella drove me to Minter Gardens. Above: The road to the garden, lovely in itself.

Mighty friendly of them to hang not only the setting sun BC flag and the Maple Leaf, but the Stars and Stripes as well.
(Guess there really wasn't any room for the Texas flag....most Texans would wonder how that could possibly be, but I was OK with just having the US flag flying.)

A palm near the gate. I had never seen a palm with such gorgeous color shading!

Minter Gardens is a 32 acre garden in British Columbia, with eleven theme gardens. It is only about a 90 minute drive from Vancouver, so if you are in the area, and chose not to do all the Victoria gardens (what? are you crazy? DON'T miss the Victoria gardens!) then at least head over to Minter.

On second thought, do both the Victoria gardens and Minter.
Do ALL the Canadian gardens.
You won't be sorry.
Trust me!

Minter is a relatively new garden; it opened in 1980 yet incorporated so much mature natural botanical materials that it appears to be a much more established garden. It's claim to fame is it's tulip show, which I missed, but there apparently are spectacular plantings each season. Someday I would like to visit all the great North American gardens four times each, so I can see each of them in every season.

Becky from Random Pondering met us there. The three of us went to the restaurant and waited for Lovella's cousin Julie from Pearls in a Nutshell. She had gotten lost on the way to the garden so we were very relieved when she arrived and could settle in still in time for lunch.

Julie brought me a welcome to Canada gift of a candle, and topped the present with a rose from her own beautiful garden. I wish I could have seen all of her garden, as I really enjoy all her garden pictures on her blog.

Just moments into visiting the garden I knew this place was going to be special!

The weather looked threatening, but the temperature was mild and the rain held off as we hiked along the garden paths.

Four Bloggers!
Left to right: Lovella, Becky, me, and Julie.
Lovella is wearing a hat from my Houston Hat Net friend Marie.

Marie had decided to de-acquisition some of her hat collection, specifically hats that were too small for her to wear.

Lucky Lovella has a 21 inch head, which is a typical size for many vintage hats, so I brought a few choice hats from Marie along with me to give to Lovella.

The straw on that hat was simply divine!

Striped and speckled roses always catch my eye.

We all spent quite a bit of time photographing the roses in the rose garden.
Sadly we just can seem to capture the fragrance.
This one was lovely in every sense.

The cousins enjoyed posing together in the cute gazebo.

They are a little over ten years apart in age, and really didn't know each other very well until they both began to blog, even thought they lived near to each other.

What a treat to have family ties develop into friendship so much later in life.

You can see how delicate and special the straw hat was. The band is a pale blue that matched Lovella's outfit perfectly.

Marie: Your hat got to go to a good home! It's having a great life and having lots of fun!

I was interested in the interesting planting combinations along the pathways, and the imaginative way that the boxwood was pruned.

Who says freckles aren't pretty?

It was fun to watch as each of us had our camera at the ready, and often took the exact same pictures.
This bright eyed bunch had all of us snapping away.

I was noting ideas of plant combinations for flower beds. I don't think I would have thought of this one.

Lovella and I both were charmed by this dahlia.

I think it looks like it should be the flower in a clown's buttonhole. Adorable, yet funny too!

Heliotrope, dahlia, and marigold. What a great combination!

Marigolds, dusty miller and geranium. Another uncommon combination that just works great!

The dahlias were really strutting their stuff. This was one of the ones that actually hurt to look at; the points seemed to pulse as I studied it. What visual vibration!

Ordinarily I am not overly fond of cabbage moths, but this white on white bit of camouflage was rather charming.

More eye popping wow!
Try staring at this for a moment. Couldn't you just swear the petals are spinning?

Even snails look pretty in Minter Garden.

All the flowers photographed above were in this garden area.

There had been a very strong windstorm last year that knocked down quite a few trees in the garden. Here's a picture of one of the stumps.
They are using the stumps to create sculptures now.
A very clever way to make something good out of a bad situation.

Of course Mother Nature doesn't really need all that much help to turn a bad situation into good. This stump already had a new tree growing out of its top.

The tiny chapel was locked so I couldn't see inside, but it was fun to imagine a romantic proposal, followed by a surprise wedding with just the couple's dearest friends and relatives in attendance.
Imagine everyone gathered around as the couple would say vows inside, perhaps as rain drummed on the rooftop.
Sigh.
I just love small intimate weddings!

We had lots of laughs about Julie getting lost on her way to the gardens, especially since the garden is just minutes from her home. I can totally relate, I can get lost for an hour while heading somewhere only fifteen minutes away. Becky and Lovella challenged Julie and I to try to find our way through the hedge maze, and amazingly, Julie and I made it through in record time.

Now why can't that happen when we are trying to find someplace when it really matters?

The fence at the base of the tall trees in this picture is actually just water.

How cool is that? (Pun intended...)

Having columns with piping over head and the curtain of falling water served several purposes. It did cool the area, but the sound of the water also masked the road noises from the edge of the garden. Looking at my friends through the water curtains was so beautiful.
It was a very romantic feature in the garden.

Lovella heading down the path.

Yup, it's romantic alright. And as if on cue, along came a bridal party.
Bridesmaids in brown: I guess even in Canada brown is the "in" color for weddings!
(The last five wedding I have heard about or been to have had brown and one other color as the wedding colors. Wonder what ever happened to assorted pastels?)

A calendar worthy setting. My mind suggested "Living waters" as a title.

It did rain a little. Just enough to keep everything sparkling.

We kept walking through the garden and at the top of one path, there was the bride, standing alone, waiting to walk to her wedding.
She was wiping tears from her eyes, and I felt rather sorry for her, standing there all alone as the rest of the wedding party gathered further on around the bend of the path.
Becky and stopped and prayed for her and her marriage, wondering why she didn't have her father there to offer her his strength and protection.

(OK, and I also thought a hat would have been lovely instead of a veil in a garden...)

Becky and I had quite a discussion about this plant.
Was it two varieties of kind of plant, or one plant with various colors of leaves?

Garden sculpture made from plants. A topiary!

More garden sculpture. Lovella got a great series of Becky giving Mr. Gardener a seductive smooch, Julie engaging him in an eyebatting flirtation, and me giving him a hug. Maybe I'll snitch those from her and post those later....

This cottage was a bit of a mystery to me; it had no way to get inside.

Another mystery. I have never seen this kind of succulent before, it didn't seem real, but oh so interesting.

This plant solved Becky and my "random ponderings." The plant we were wondering about before actually does produce green leaves and purple leaves, and even a green AND purple leaf!

The japanese area of the garden had displays of Shanghai Penjing. Since that was something Bernie is interested in, I took the time to get a couple of shots of some of the displays. Essentially they are natural stones that are grouped to create a scene. Sometime plants are also used, but in this case, the rocks and sand gave the feeling of islands in the ocean.

I was missing Bernie as I looked at the bonsai. He has a pretty neat collection of bonsai that he is nurturing.

(Bernie has bonsai nicer than this...)

Eventually we had to leave the garden. It had been so much fun, and I got so many new gardening ideas.
I wasn't expecting a new idea from the parking lot though.
Yet there it was: How to decorate wedding cars Canadian style.

Usually cars in the USA are decorated with a washable paint, and streamers, and maybe some tin cans tied to the bumper. Lovella tells me that the plastic flowers are sold in Canada just for this purpose, and all newly married couples leave their wedding in cars decorated in this manner.

So much more classy than the painted slogans of our cars.
Although it is nice to have the couple's name and wedding date written on the rear window so you know what names to shout out to when you see the newlyweds passing by.

We had barely said our goodbyes to Julie and Becky, and had just begun to drive out of the parking lot when the rain just cut loose, big time.
Perfect timing!

The rain really was quite heavy, and the sky quite dark. The temperature was still very pleasant though.

Lovella next wanted to take me to see her friend's oh so elegant bed and breakfast.
Imagine our surprise when we drove up front and found this mob clustered about the front door.

Yes I do mean mob, as in mobster.
A pistol packing bride, and her revolver aimed right at us!
Yipes!
A mobster/ganstster wedding...who woulda thunk of such a thing happening in conservative old British Columbia?

Be sure to enlarge the picture below to see all the "heat" the girls are carrying.

(Imagine the bride's discussion with the florist: "I'd like my bouquet to have white and red roses, and a snub nosed pistol. So maybe gun metal gray ribbon accents would be good?")

Once we made it safely inside I met Lovella's friends and got to see a few of the fine counted cross stitch angels that the owner had created in her spare time, between her job as a nurse and owner of a B&B. Each room has one, and a few have two.
Maybe I should try a different kind of vitamin.
That girl is a powerhouse!

I think Bernie and I need to make a trip together to stay in this room. It overlooks a golf course.

A stay in the room with a clawfoot bath tub facing a fireplace next to a window overlooking the garden would be nice too...

After we looked around and took a guided tour by the innkeepers, we carefully eased our way out of the B&B, being careful not to stir up the wedding party...

I loved the groomsmen's fedoras, and pinstriped suits. Enough with the tuxedos already.

Actually, the wedding party was just there for a photography session on the gorgeous staircase inside the entryway.

I wonder what the actual wedding will be like. One of the guys was actually packing a gatlin gun.

I was a little surprised that the bride didn't take the trouble to find a pearl handled gun. Many elderly southern widows have pearl handled revolvers in their nightstands, so if they should need to fend off an intruder, they can do so while still being fashionably elegant.

If you haven't already figured out that Lovella is simply an amazing hostess, try thinking about this:
After our day at Minter Garden, and various look-see drive bys of assorted sons and brother's homes, we returned to our nest and Lovella dished up dinner for five.
Becky and Ray had been invited to join us for dinner that night.

Lovella had previously concocted an unbelievably delicious dish that took all day to make. I believe the recipe filled seven pages of instructions, so don't hold you breath waiting for her to post that one!
(Any chance of a link to the recipe, Lovella?)

(Note the chicken themed napkins! How cute!)
The meal was delicious, the salad was so good, and she let us guess what the secret ingredient was.
Papaya seeds, ground up and added to the dressing.
Again...who woulda thunk such a thing would be so delicious.

I hope she was smart enough to triple the recipe for the spagetti dish so she can have it again really soon.
The sauce was SO good, but cooking all day long?
It was one of those recipes that tastes better the next day anyway. She had cooked it up two weeks earlier and frozen it.
All she had to do after a day at the gardens was simply boil up the pasta and heat up the sauce, broil some garlic bread and toss the salad.

What a clever hostess is she!

Bloggers Out and About in BC

Continuing with Friday , the second day of my Canadian adventures...

Lovella and I headed over to another little township, a place named Clayburn.
The tiny township was established in 1905 by a family named McClure, and it became British Columbia's first "company" town. It's claim to fame was its brickmaking (burned clay: Clayburn, get it?) and neat 20th century brick worker's cottages such as this one still line Clayburn's main street:

Lovella and I drove over, parked, and started to walk through the residential area, enjoying the flowers along the way.

One garden had a sign out front that promised a hand made soap shop was open for business at the end of the side garden path.
Notice the little bricks inserted into the concrete pathway?
Those are historical Clayburn bricks...when the property owners had to dig up all the bricks to restore the property, they were required to reuse each of the bricks! Further in this post you will see how cleaning and relaying a few thousand bricks eventually lead to a brilliant idea.

It took a while to actually go into the shop; the garden surrounding the shop was just too amazing to breeze past. Happily the soap maker came out of her shop and was delighted to share about her garden, telling us names of plants and how they grew, and what she had learned along the way. What a treasure she was!

Tell the truth: Haven't you ever dreamed of having a perfect cottage garden with a shingled studio or shop settled in neatly, where you greeted shoppers with a smile and sold charming goods or services? It might be a tea room, or quilt shop, weaving studio...you know what your secret dream has you doing.
I really wish I had recorded the sounds, as in the background the birds were trilling, the water bubbling, the breezes were causing the flowers to gently sway with a soft rustle, lofting the fragrances from the blossoms to complete the sensory delight.

(I have to credit my husband here: He actually built me a shingle sided weaving studio in the middle of my San Diego garden. I have lived the dream of having a garden studio, albeit I never actually turned it into a shop. One day I will have to post some pictures about that memorable space. Thank you B. for making that dream a reality for me at one time.)

I could have happily stayed in the garden area for a week.

Window boxes, small bench...

A patio area, and bird feeders with chickadees flitting about.

Eventually we did go side the shop. Clayburn bricks, a perfect shape for soap!
The owner had eventually made the connection and had a mold made from her property bricks to use in her soap making.

Lovella took many gorgeous shots of the shop and its garden. Maybe if we all ask nicely, she will be willing to put up more of her pictures of our visits on her blog some day. If you ever are in the area, especially in summer, the Clayburn soap shop is a must see!

I was a doofus, and when I went to pull out my credit card at the shop, I couldn't find it in my purse. Since my passport was with my credit card, we curtailed our Clayburn explorations and high tailed it home, where I found my card in my other purse. Yes, I traveled with one large carry on zippered purse, one open sack purse, and one small strap across the body purse. Too many purses for sure, but each has its purpose while seated in tight quarters on a long flight.

As it was, Lovella was needing to begin getting ready to go to a wedding that evening. She had blogged about making this dress, and I couldn't resist offering her a selection of hats to compliment her outfit. Of course she was welcomed to decline all offers....but in the end she did choose one hat to wear for the evening.

"Barbie-Lovella" tried on a cocktail hat that I had made awhile ago. (above)

Then a slightly larger more casual sinamay cocktail hat that I made in a class. (A Kate Pernia design named Inga.)

Fellow blogger Becky from Random Pondering dropped by mid-style show and gave a vintage hat a try on. Lovella was sorely tempted to wear the white lace covered straw with large black bow, black velvet edging and large flower, but in the end, she went with this hat:

A 1940's vintage hat upon which I had replaced a tattered rose with two large prarie point style ribbon leaves, a single large mother of pearl button and a vintage 1920's cloche hat pin (the pointy item behind the button.) The organdy band is original. The shallow crown is held on the hat with velvet covered wire which gently clamps to the sides of the head , somewhat like a hair band.

While Lovella and Terry finished gussying up, Becky and I got comfortable in Lovella's living room. I chose that moment to give Becky a gift.

This might seem like an odd gift, but one of the more comic part of my relationship with Becky. It has to do with one of her blog posts where she bemoaned the fact that she was so far behind on laundry that her husband and three sons were out of underwear, which was why she was unable to keep up with blogging in a timely fashion.

With visions of piles of stinky boy panties festooned about her house, I commented that most children who are capable of using a television set, DVD player or computer are also (usually) capable of using a washing machine and drier without too big of intellectual strain. My own admittedly brillinat children had mastered the art of dumping clothes, pouring detergent, twisting dials and slamming a lid shut by age 10.

Becky, it seems, does not trust her guys with this task, and is very protective of her new washing machine.

As we say in Texas: "'To each their own,' said the lady as she kissed the cow."

When I knew I was heading to BC, I did a search on ebay for items related to the area. Up popped this flyer from 1890, (it is an original!) and I bought it from a pensioner in Australia. I suspect the town in the flyer is either UK or Australian, but how funny is it that it would be the ONLY item with the town's name on it. It just seemed like the perfect thing to give to Becky.

She tells me it now has a place of honor beside her revered washing machine.

With the Mr. and Mrs. dressed and ready to go, we went into the front yard for a picture taking session. Naturally Otis assumed he would be welcomed into the picture as well.

Terry didn't agree....

Take number two.
The happy couple heading out for an evening wedding and a little dancing to boot.

Otis actually deserves his own picture anyway.

Becky then whisked me and my suitcase full of thirty hats over to her house. A quick picture from their balcony overlooking one corner of her garden.

I did not see a single pair of skivvies anywhere in the house, so apparently Becky had successfully managed once again to wash the underwear output of her four men before I arrived.
Gorgeous piano music was filling the house when I arrived; at first I thought it was a CD playing, but no, it was one of the boys. Amazingly talented!

Becky's husband Ray was manning the stove, and the aroma of Italian food had my mouth watering immediately.
How I missed taking a picture of that I can not say. You will just have to use your imagination: think of a gourmet magazine layout, and you will be close.

After dinner Becky was invited to try on all my hats. She wears all styles equally well!

Ray watched, and provided cultural and cinematic referencing for each style.

This above is a close up of the hat Lovella was tempted to wear to the wedding, before settling on the black hat.

Becky and I attempted to load my pictures into Blogger so I could access them, and I got to visit her computer/sewing room while we did that. She works as a home economics teacher between her stints at the washer, and we found lots to talk about.
(Becky, if my son played the piano like your son, I would have cheerfully done his laundry too!)

Later Lovella and Terry dropped by to pick me up, and the five of us enjoyed a glass of wine and a nice visit before returning back to my home away from home.

(A dahlia in front of Becky's house. Yes, it was, as we say around my house, "As big as my head!")