Winter Cometh

And so it did, with a vengeance. At least, in the eyes of a person who had lived their entire 46 years in the rain forests of British Columbia. Some years we don't get any measurable snowfall--much to the surprise of most folks around here. I do get the sneaking suspicion that: a. many folks are not sure where B.C. is, and b. think all of Canada lies under a snowcap for the winter! Well, I am here to say that I have never experienced cold like this before. I am used to rain all year long and GREEN all year long--this winter (though I hear it was a mild one) was an experience.

My point in this post (and I do have one), is that no gardening took place this winter but Scott and I bought out the stores with our purchases of gardening equipment and tools on sale! We also used this time to load up on rocks for our landscaping (or stones, whatever one calls those grey hard things that weigh from 1-10kg). We found some wonderful caches of fossilized rocks! Back home in B.C. one does not find fossils on a regular basis--Indian arrowheads? yes, but I had never seen a real life fossil until Scott introduced me to Wild Cat Creek. I was completely entranced and we filled up the Barbie truck over and over with beautiful rocks (btw, the "Barbie Truck" is a term coined by my cousin to describe Scott's bright yellow Subaru Baja--and it stuck).

Come late winter (o.k. January) I started to watch for my mailbox garden. Alas, no sights to see--well, except for the diagonal trench some loser (she shall remain nameless for the sake of diplomacy) had dug with the wheels of their truck as they took a big shortcut into our driveway. At the time I was devastated! My only mark on my new home had been disfigured by the Big Bad Wolf! But, I got over it and once the spring came and all the neighbours' bulbs were blooming and mine were still in the ground and I waited and I waited........ Voila! the daffodils and tulips erupted in a show of colour! I prayed to the bulb-god in thanks--though I wasn't sure if she had anything at all to do with it.