From My Garden Today

Across the marsh

What all this rain has produced

From My Garden

A tulip from my garden today

Beresford Beach Today

It's a windy day on Beresford Beach. Lots of drift wood has washed up on shore again. I could see the white caps from our back deck so I drove down to take a closer look. It was too windy to walk...

From Our Garden This Morning

The sun is finally shining here in Beresford this morning and the temperature is in the double digits so we headed outside with our coffee.


It was so nice to sit and enjoy the birds singing in the trees and at our feeders.

Sparrow
American Gold Finch (male) Red Wing Black bird (male)


My daffodils have been in bloom since April but some of my tulips are finally open.

The female American Gold Finches were busy on the sock feeder and the bird bath.

And while I enjoy more of my garden today, Paul is off for his first game of golf at the Bathurst Gowan Brae course today. I hope he doesn't come home with too much sand on his shoes!

Where is Spring?

Our weather is still wet and rather cool for this time of year. My gardens are still far from being in bloom so I went into my photo collection to look for photos from previous years, taken at this time. I needed to see a little colour in my garden, rather than all those little green leaves poking up through the ground.

Mr Sunshine please........

The History of Mother's Day

I was thinking about Mother's Day which is this Sunday, 8 May, 2011 and wondered where the holiday originated so I went on the Internet to do a little research. I found a sad, but interesting story.

The concept dates back to the 1600's in England but the modern version of Mother's Day took form in the early 20th century, thanks to Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis and her daughter Anna. When Ann envisioned Mother's Day it was more about community service. It wasn't about thanking your mother for all she did.

Ann Marie died on the second Sunday in May of 1905. After she passed away, her daughter Anna made it her mission to make Mother's Day a holiday - not only to honour her mother, but all mothers.

On the second Sunday in May of 1907, Anna held a small memorial service for her mother in Grafton, VA. The mourners present received a white carnation, which had been Anne Marie's favourite flower. Anna organized another service a year later, and this service is generally accepted as the first official Mother's Day event.

The full story, which is quite interesting, can be found at this link.

The story explained the tradition of wearing a white carnation if your Mom has passed away, but I was not able to find out where the tradition originated of wearing a red carnation if your Mom is living. It may be that white symbolises peace and red symbolises life and love.

When I was about five years old, I took part in a Mother's Day Sunday School programme at my church. I had to learn a little verse and wear a red carnation for my Mom. I still remember the verse, as does my Mom:

"For the dearest Mother in the Nation

Today I'm wearing my Carnation"

This is my Mom and I will be calling her this Sunday to wish her a Happy Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day to Moms everywhere

Lobster Season in New Brunswick

Last week Paul and I spent the afternoon on one of our favourite beaches enjoying the sound of the waves and looking for treasures.


The first of May is the opening of the lobster fishing season in northern New Brunswick. At the wharf at Stonehaven there were lots of lobster pots, both the new style (wire) and the old style (wooden).

We chatted with a couple of the local fishermen who are still fishing, even though they are well over the age of 70. They say there is no experience like being on the water at sunrise.


The fishing boats were all tied up at the wharf awaiting the first day of lobster fishing.


Well, the first catch of the season was successful and our table is set for a feast. We like a simple menu of potato salad, fresh bread, wine, beer and of course - big, juicy lobsters.


I can't think of anything that tastes as yummy as the first lobsters of the season. What a great meal it was...