June in Merritt B.C.

Spring in Merritt...wonderful what all can go down here. There are sandbags on the river which may well flood again, a small tornado actually hit town a few days ago and damaged one property, and all around is that disgusting cottonwood fluff.
Even the birds are puzzled by all this new water everywhere.

In one of the lanes is a big cottonwood tree that drops pounds of this white stuff which gets dragged and blown all over the place. I'm glad I don't have allergies.

A new garden and fence in particular has kept me and my husband busy. The fence was in terrible shape- the person who built it didn't concrete the poles in, spaced all the boards an inch apart and used a lot of nails that were no bigger than hair pins! The fence was literally swaying in the breeze this spring but now it's finally finished on the south and west back side of the property.


Privacy is important and is security- the neighborhood may look peaceful but we have theft and vandalism issues as well as firebugs (although not recently) plus general mischief. We also have crazy people in the vicinity - they shout obscenities and threats at me when I pass by their house on my way home with the dog.

The garden has been producing vegetables for a few weeks now- radishes and Swiss chard right plus some herbs now...it will be a while yet before anything else comes up as this year I started the whole lot from seed. Ditto for the flower garden out front. Lots of home improvement projects going on and in the meanwhile I'm loosing weight, stopped biting my fingernails, learned how to use a power saw, and started a few wood-working projects.

Flowers...all planted from seed with a strong emphasis on getting some perennials in good locations although I don't expect to see flowers on them till next year...the trick is to spot what I planted amidst all the madness of annuals. Here are a few I eventually hope to have:

Bleeding Heart and Peony