In Halifax

 

Hello from the East Coast.

   I flew to Halifax March 26 to be with Mom following Dad's passing last month.  It is good to be home, though we all wish it was under happier circumstances. 

   Staying at a hotel, flying, and going through airports in the time of Covid was an interesting experience. I'd never used so much hand sanitizer or done so much hand-washing in a 24-hour period in my life.  Mom and I started our 14-day quarantine period as soon as I arrived at her apartment.  The time passed quickly.   Easter Sunday (Day 10 of quarantine) was quiet and cozy.  We woke up to freezing rain that had been coming down for hours. Everything outside was covered with a thin layer of ice. 

   Mom's friends in the building have been wonderfully supportive.  During our quarantine, they left cards, wine (Mom forgot to buy some for herself before our lockdown), Easter chocolates, encouraging notes, and grocery staples outside our door.  Some also left empty boxes for us to use for sorting and packing some of Dad’s things. I’m so grateful they were here for Mom until I could get home from BC.

   When things settle down and we're not so focused on tending to the necessary tasks that follow a loved-one's death, it will be nice to take some time to really reminisce.  This time of year has makes me think of my family's farm.  When I was little, we lived on a small acreage in Scotch Village, NS.  My parents had horses (draft horses, a quarter horse, and a pony), chickens, a duck or two, sheep (for a brief time), and a large garden there.  In the garden, I remember Dad showing me dry peas and how to plant them. I also have a vivid memory of sitting cross-legged on the warm soil beside the row of tomato plants, hidden by them, munching on a delicious, ripe tomato like I might an apple.  It was salty and warm from the sun. It was a beautiful, hot day and Mom was working further along in the garden.  It's one of my favourite, and earliest, memories.

   I find myself antsy, not having a patch of dirt of my own in which to grow things here.  I keep feeling like I'm forgetting to do something important.  There are a few community gardens in the city.  It would have been tricky enough to snag a plot to rent before Covid.  Now, it is virtually impossible, with the gardening craze having been in high gear for the last 18 months.  I contacted 4 gardens.  The reply from the first garden was a hard, “No”. Apparently, two of their plots were just freed up for people who had been on the waitlist since 2018.  I am now able to walk to that community garden in five minutes flat, so we’ll see what’s growing there soon.  Replies from two other gardens were a polite, “None available, but we’ll put you on the already very long wait-list”.  The 4^th garden, very small but reasonably close to the apartment, I'm still waiting to hear back from the person/group organizing that one.  One becomes reminded very quickly how precious land - even a patch of dirt - is in a city.

   I started having gardening pangs around April 5^th.   “Curly” parsley seeds were the first things I planted indoors (April 12) under the small round light that Mom used to use for her violet plant.  It gives off a lot of heat.  The seeds were old, but the package was sealed.  We’ll see if they germinate.

   On the 16th, I started seeds in water-jug greenhouses. Mom’s apartment faces north, unfortunately, but one of her neighbours kindly offered to let me grow some things on her balcony this summer.  I believe her balcony has a south-east exposure.  The varieties planted are:

Pansies – “Swiss Giant”

Pansies – “Springtime Cassis”

Kale – “Dwarf Siberian”

Kale – “Scotch Blue Curly”

Chinese Cabbage - “Hilton”

Swiss Chard – “Five Colour Silverbeet” 

 

Parsley seeds started...

 

Water-jug greenhouses

   This will be an experiment, and my fingers are crossed that I can manage to at least grow some flowers and greens.  With a small head of lettuce selling for $5 in the stores right now, anything one can grow would help save on the grocery bill as well as being good for the soul.  If all goes well, I'll try growing cucumbers, string beans, and maybe carrots and beets as well.  If I get crazy, I might even buy a tomato transplant somewhere.  After years of growing them myself, that feels like cheating!

   Back in northern BC, R. is looking after the tomato and pepper seedlings.  There is a lot that is demanding his time this year, so I don’t know how much he will be able to do in the garden.  Whatever he plants, hopefully he will take pictures so they can be included on the blog.

   This morning is a cool, drizzly one, 2 degrees C. It has rained lightly much of the weekend. I was awakened by the sound of an industrious woodpecker who was pecking away somewhere on the street over. We hear him often and wonder what he is working on! 

   I put the water jug greenhouses back on the balcony this morning, and left a few peanuts for the blue jays who like to visit early in the day. 

 

Peanuts for breakfast

Posing

   Occasionally, a crow will invite himself to breakfast and take a peanut or two. One we call, “Peg” has been showing up now and then for the last few years.  He only has one leg but seems to be doing fine.  No doubt he has friends (or guardians?) in the South End’s crow world.  We also see chickadees and sparrows, and hear birds whose songs I don’t recognize.  I had a moment of excitement when I spotted what I thought was a squirrel scurrying from the building, across the grass, to the nearby fence the other morning.  I haven't seen a squirrel in ages.  When I caught sight of the little guy's tail, however, it was immediately clear this wasn't a squirrel.  It was a rat.  LOL!  I hadn't seen one of those in ages, either!  You can't live in a port city without crossing paths with a rat now and then.  This guy's appearance was a welcome bit of comic relief.