Suddenly we are faced with cleaning up after the festivities. What a melancholy time this is – all the fun and games over for another year, but what nice memories (I hope).
My family gave me a wonderful birthday party, and no, I’m not telling you, or anyone else, my age, but my birthday is shared by someone very special (and I don’t mean you, Don, although you are very nice, and we do share the same birthday, but this man is someone so remarkable he has been remembered and loved for more than 2,000 years).
Since I now live in a condominium, I couldn’t have a living Christmas tree, so I made do with a 10-inch ceramic tree sitting on the window sill. Not quite the same as our former trees, which were live Christmas trees now growing handsomely on Melissa Street, and probably 40 feet tall. Don’t let me get started on living trees – I’m still brokenhearted that those lovely trees across the street went under the axe last week.
Weren’t Sidney’s street decorations lovely this year (as usual)? One of my daughters drove us through the dark streets in the surrounding area to see all the beautifully decorated houses, trees and fences. People go to a lot of trouble to beautify their homes and to make the holiday sparkle, and they were successful. It was a lovely drive. Now I hope people will leave at least some of the Christmas lights on for a while longer. January is so bleak, and they are so cheerful. However there is the matter of Hydro to be considered, although I’m told that the new LED lights are supposed to use practically no power at all. Now that’s a happy thought.
On a recent morning, one of my daughters left for her home in the Kamloops area, to be replaced this afternoon by another daughter who will be living with me for some time, while she gets her life together. It’s hard to keep up with the sheets.
A couple of days ago, while tenderly hilling up a still blooming geranium, I unearthed a crocus bulb with roots and a green shoot almost an inch long. Lovely sign of an advancing spring. Mind you we haven’t really had any winter yet, but there it was, a token of things to come.
I’m sure you’ll have noticed how expensive vegetables have become. Brussels sprouts are one example. In Vancouver they were more than $2 a pound. I used to buy a whole stem of sprouts at a farm on Island View Road for $1, keep its cut end in a bucket outside holding several inches of water, and eat delicious fresh sprouts for nearly a month.
You can still find fresh veggies at local farms and they do taste so good. At times like this I really miss my vegetable garden, where there would be carrots, turnips, beets, parsnips (Himself’s favourite) and possibly some shallots still available.
The winter squash would all be inside in a warm cupboard, just waiting their turn to grace the dinner table.
John A. brought me several handsome winter squash (a couple of butternut and two acorn), one of which has been baked with lashings of butter and eaten with considerable relish. Thank you to the As.
Helen Lang has been the Peninsula News Review’s garden columnist for more than 30 years.