Blast from the past

  I was thinking about my massive pumpkin plants this year. 

 

Banana for size! 

🍌  for scale! It's growing like stink. July 31st vs, Aug. 3, and then Aug. 5th. 

 

Blast from the past

I remember planting pumpkins in the late 70s when we lived in Toronto. It was wild. We went to the cottage for a couple of weeks, came back and the lawn was covered in pumpkin plants. They grew right across the back yard. I began thinking about that yard. I couldn't get to my other veggies at the back of the yard. 

This was our first family house↓ in Toronto, with my first husband. We lived in the basement of a triplex for the first few years. Then bought our teeny house. Caitlin was born in 1979 while we lived in Toronto. I'm trying to remember, but I think we paid about $80,000 for it. It's a bit fuzzy in my brain! We sold it, then bought another for $130,000 in Ottawa my when my first husband was transferred there in 1981. 

I vividly recall that we shared a wall, as the neighbours were doing renovations at the time, and I could hear them talking sometimes. The property is 18' wide x 144'.

Our first home, 1978,
the left side of the semi-detached,
172 Coleman Ave., Toronto 

This was all lawn. Between our back yards was a chain link fence. Our dog used to hop the fence to visit Uncle Janet and Doug who lived next door, in the white house. He was tied up, and that didn't go well one day. Yes, Caitlin called her Uncle Janet! Caitlin didn't have an aunt, and thought everyone was an Uncle!

How cute was that?!

My parents visited and helped my first husband replace the galvanized steel plumbing with copper pipes, and redo all the old knob and tube wiring. Those were the days! 

Uncle Janet's house next door (172A) sold for $750,000 in 2019. 

Lot Dimensions: 18.00 x 144.00'.

Left side of the semi-detached was ours,
the other (white) is 172A

I love Toronto homes, with lane access. The lane beside our house demarcated the city of Toronto from East York.

This is from another house listing just across the street. (#113 Coleman Ave.) It sold for $1million in 2019. This is the size of the yard. If you look online you can see the fabulous renovations they did to this place. They added a third storey, and made it quite open. 

I posted it here to show you what they did, just for fun.

The lot dimensions are 18 x 144'. Standard for the street.

The garden is out of control!

I am 5'4" (was? I know we shrink as we age), so you can see how tall these are!

Do you like Tiger Lilies? Normally, I put up a few stakes with string to hold them back. Ain't gonna happen this year.

The plants are eye level to me. Their pollen is quite something. It is blood red. 

The pumpkin, or maybe it is squash. Anyone recognize it? I planted both here and I'm that kind of gardener. The banana is for scale!

The woodland sunflowers have to be 6' tall. They are native.

And my precious second lily plant is in bloom.

I ordered myself a new sprinkler. I am tired of losing plants to dry spells! It saves me standing there, and gives it a good, long soak, for which I've little patience. Cinnamon helped. I mixed up the settings for the trip pin. I had to change out of soaking wet jammies. 

August is normally dry. I hate seeing the crackly plants as they wilt. This makes me happy. I haven't bought a sprinkler since we moved here (2010) so I feel justified! 

 

The Tiger Lilies host lots of critters. I photographed a Bumble Bee, and a Katydid. Also, hummingbirds like it.

 

😷 COVID UPDATE – Tuesday/Wednesday, July 30/31

Thanks for your support during our health issues. I hope none of you get this. We are slowly getting better, but giving ourselves permission to be couch potatoes. It is difficult, as you know. Today I shall venture down to the trailcams. That is my goal. The doctor said he couldn't do anything for me, so I'm treating symptoms. Otrivin at bedtime, saline nasal spray for sinusitis, Ventolin puffer, Subicort puffer, cough drops, orange juice. I slept from 12:30 until 5:45. This is good.

The coughing during the day is like a bad cold I used to have in the old days. Colds such as I haven't had a serious one since I retired (2006). I have a bit of a voice back, but it is clearly an Alto voice. Kinda weird. 

The best thing is to clear my lungs to avoid pneumonia, but sleep is such a blessing, dontcha know.