Quiet times

Feels very strange to be at home during the week and not really on vacation. Learning to take time to "smell the roses" and be in the moment.  Enjoying the garden as every day brings new blossoms. Poppies, Siberian iris, bridal wreath spirea and of course the miracle of the wisteria. My daily inspection of the back forty brought to light the attack on the leeks. We think the rabbits who have been munching on the clover found a way into the vegetable garden. The electric fence has been turned back on! 

Garden glory

The wisteria is wonderful and the poppies are beginning to pop! Painting baseboards is almost fun in the beautiful weather. 

Doors Open Scarborough

Travel to new lands is not always necessary for discovery. A tour of Fools Paradise, the former Scarborough home of the artist Doris McCarthy, showed us the peaceful haven she created overlooking Lake Ontario. Then a trip to the  Scarborough historical museum where young people of very diverse cultures enthusiastically described the life of the early settlers. 

Home is good

Settling back in to life at home has been a higher priority than writing over the past few days. Have thoroughly enjoyed my home cooked food of shrimp gumbo and a roast chicken dinner (my favourite). The rhubarb freshly picked from our garden made a delicious crisp. The aroma of good food and the fragrances of lilacs and lily of the valley is so renewing. The spring rains and cool temperatures are helping the seedlings in the garden grow.  I inspect the progress at least twice a day.

Booked the next trip which is a week in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia at the end of June. The ocean beckons to me! I want to look out to sea feeling the salty breezes on my cheeks. 

Great excitement. The wisteria planted about 5 years ago has bloomed for the first time!!!! Patience was needed. Not my greatest strength. 

Spring at home

I am so happy that I did not miss the glory of spring in my garden at home. The crabapple blossoms are full and lush and the jack in the pulpit in the woodland garden returned looking jaunty beside the trilliums and forget me nots. RBC has worked hard at tilling the soil in the vegetable garden and most  of the planting is done. Today we added okra, Indian eggplant, snow peas, bok choi and parsnips. Now we wait for nature. 

Back to Canada

The European journey is almost over for this time. Left for Frankfurt early on Thursday morning with one last look at historic Dubrovnik from a hill top. Holed up in an airport hotel waiting for my Canada flight watching the Eurovision Song Contest (it has been going on since 1956!)  on television. Can't really understand the German commentary but the music is universal though I thought heavy metal was passé. There is a fellow playing lead guitar with fireworks shooting out of the neck....lots of evening gowns and other elaborate costumes. 

Dubrovnik to Korcula Island

Day trip to Korcula Island, a place that claims to be the birthplace of Marco Polo. Idyllic town  surrounded by azure blue seas. I could gaze at the water endlessly with the sea breezes brushing my cheeks. We travelled back to Dubrovnik through  limestone hills covered with grapevines used to produce the delicious wine we sampled at a couple of small wineries. Our guide provided great comic relief! I yearn to come back to this area again to cruise the coastline stopping at different islands to relax in town squares and on patios. 

Sunny Dubrovnik

Glorious blue skies without a cloud in sight. Maybe I won't have to wear my trusty Marks Work Wearhouse raincoat again! Toured the historic old town (every city seems to have one) with its combination of wide streets and narrow alleyways with laundry drying in the sea breezes decorating the windows at all levels. More terrible destruction as a result of the 1991 war and once again incredible dedication of many to the reconstruction. The tragic effects of war are all around with the emotions still evident. Lunch on a patio with the requisite afternoon Ozujsko  beer, crisp,bitter and refreshing.  

Bosnia to Croatia: Mostar to Dubrovnik

On the move again from Bosnia back to Croatia. Drove through the lush mountains to the town of Mostar. A real  jewel that was almost destroyed during the recent war but the inhabitants with some help from UNESCO have done an amazing job of reconstruction. We saw a traditional Turkish style house and had traditional  lunch   of stuffed peppers and vine leaves with balaclava dripping with sugar syrup to finish off. 

Bosnia:Sarajevo

Rainy morning for our walking tour of the old town part of Sarajevo. Very interesting place with a tumultuous recent history of terrible conflict. It is hard to imagine the 3 years of fighting on these historic streets. For so many years Sarajevo served as an example of how different  religious and ethnic groups could live  together peacefully. There has been major restoration of much of the city but the evidence of war remains in the bullet holes in buildings. Also had a very eerie feeling passing the corner where the assassination of ArchDuke  Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie triggered the start of WW1 and the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. 

The Turkish influence is very much seen in the architecture and in the Bosnian coffee enjoyed in the old market. 

Split, Croatia to Sarajevo, Bosnia

Amazing morning in Split touring a palace basement that was built in Roman times. Their building techniques  were the model for all that has followed. Our guide made the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity comprehensible. The bus to Sarajevo travelled through hills and snow capped mountains. We stopped at a mountain barbecue joint that was roasting lamb on a spit. We were too full to partake after our lunch but the aroma was very inviting. 

Croatia: Split

Drove from Zadar to Split along the stunning Adriatic coast. The heat was more intense as the day wore on. Can we really complain now after all the cold! Stopped in a couple of villages with medieval central areas. Amazing how long the buildings have been standing.