Lassie, Come Home

I took myself for a long walk around the old neighbourhood...a farewell tour.  I'm moving next month.  After nearly a quarter century in Toronto, I am moving back home, to Vancouver!  Of course, Toronto has never looked more beautiful than it did on this magnificent Autumn day. 

I stopped outside a church on Yonge Street, and photographed the beautiful, delicate colours of the garden.  Pink and mauve are not thought to be Autumn colours...and yet, here they are in all their glory...

The Chrysanthemums weren't the only colourful Fall plants in the garden.  Ornamental Cabbage and Kale were also putting on a show.  They look similar, however, the floral cabbage has smooth leaves, while the kale has frilly leaves (now you know).  

They look good enough to eat.  Just don't.  They're disappointingly bitter.  It's better to buy or grow the edible varieties of cabbage and kale, and leave the ornamental ones as a feast for the eyes.

Lavender is still growing in the late October garden.  It looks amazing standing tall alongside a blazing red shrub.  The shrub is called, Burning Bush.  The gardener who planted it in front of the church, must have had a chuckle.

On my way back, I passed a beautiful Sheltie, quietly waiting outside a grocery store near the busy intersection of Yonge and St. Clair.  I stopped in mid step, turned, and walked back to ask the woman holding his leash, if I could photograph him.

You can do that in Toronto...approach a stranger to ask a question, or in my case, a favour.  Toronto may be bitterly cold, but the people of this city are warm and friendly.  I'll miss them.

The call to Vancouver is strong...it's saying, "Lassie, come home!"

 

Alas, Lassie was a Collie, not a Sheltie.  This beautiful dog is smaller than a Collie, standing about 14 to 16 inches from shoulder to ground, and is, according to a friend who used to raise and show them, a fine Sheltie.  Collies are much bigger.  I took a little poetic license!  Even more so, when you consider that I am the lass, in Lassie come home!  

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Inc.

Love, Love, Love Lavender!

I know where there are lavender fields, kissed by the sun, and the salt air of the Salish Sea...where gentle breezes carry the sweet fragrance of lavender on the air.

Rise early, and catch the Horseshoe Bay ferry to Vancouver Island.  In dawn's early light, the mountains and sea are lavender blue.  Breathe deeply.  Relax, and enjoy the journey.

   

Travel South from Nanaimo's Departure Bay ferry terminal, to Vancouver Island's verdant Cowichan Valley. known as the "Provence of Canada".  There, you'll find Damali Lavender Farm and Winery in Cobble Hill.   

There are 25 different varieties of lavender grown on the farm.  It is a sensual pleasure to walk through the colourful fields.  The soft, soothing scent of lavender surrounds you, and there's a gentle humming of bees.  

  

Lavender grown on the farm is used in essential oils, soaps and lotions.  Lavender is often found in recipes from the Provence region of France, including Ratatouille, a rich tomato-based eggplant and zucchini casserole.  Island chefs use the farm's lavender in scones, lavender shortbread cookies, lavender lemon loaf, lavender lemon icecream, and lavender chocolate ganache.

Soon, the farm will produce its own lavender honey.  Bee hives were placed on the property just this year, and the honey had not yet been harvested, when my charming companion and I visited the farm.

There's a vineyard too, and a winery in what was once an old barn.  Damali Winery planted it's first vines more than a dozen years ago.  Then, in 2011, the winery produced its first wines.  The grapes they've planted are Cabernet Libre, Castel, Siegerrebe, and Pinot Noir.

They also grow blackberries, raspberries, black currants, and rhubarb - all of which are used to make the fruit wines which carry the Damali label.  I loved the Rhube Lavande, a light, and refreshing rhubarb wine, with a lemony tang, that is perfect on a hot, Summer day!  The lavender naturally  sweetens the rhubarb, and the rhubarb gives the wine a delicate coral pink colour. 

The farm has a licensed picnic area, and invites guests to BYOP (bring your own picnic).  Bon appetit!  The farm is in and of itself, a feast for the eyes! 

  

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

Lavender Honey

After Mama and Papa, my first word was probably miel, which is French for honey.  I have loved honey for as long as I can remember.  I still have a little comic book about bees and honey, published by a Canadian honey producer in the early '60s.

An early childhood memory is of the big jar of crystalized honey, which my Grandparents bought in British Columbia's Boundary-Similkameen region. The honey was placed high above the kitchen cupboards, beckoning to be used on morning toast. Like Winnie-the-Pooh, I could have stuck my whole head in a jar of the stuff! 

Bees will travel three kilometres (just under two miles) from the hive, sometimes further.  They pollinate many varieties of plants along the way.  It is impossible to control their flight path (I have an image of hundreds of little bee harnesses, getting tangled up as they buzz from field to field).  To produce single flower honeys, such as clover, strawberry or blueberry, farmers need to plant a single crop stretching about three kilometres in every direction, or, like the Beatles song says, Strawberry Fields forever!

Lavender Honey is one of the rarest of the world's varieties of honey.  If you are fortunate to live near a lavender farm with it's own bee hives, you may have tasted the lightly floral, lavender flavour of their honey.

An on-line American company sources its lavender honey from a "remote region" in Southern Spain. They describe it as being light in colour, with a "slightly purple hue".  Closer to home, the largest lavender farm in Ontario, Terre Bleu, in Milton, Ontario, produces lavender honey.  In addition to equestrian stables, the farm has its own apiary, or bee hives.  The Globe and Mail describes their lavender honey as, "gorgeous...the kind of honey that must be tasted straight up on a spoon first, then drizzled over top-notch ice cream".

You can make your own lavender flavoured honey.  While not true lavender honey, it will taste of lavender. You'll need a mild honey, such as clover (buckwheat is way too strong).  Use just under a cup of honey for a small bunch of fresh or dried lavender blossoms (about fifteen blossoms). Gently heat the honey in a saucepan, and add the lavender. Let it cool, and refrigerate it overnight. Then, reheat it over medium heat, and strain the blossoms through a sieve so that you are left with clear honey.  Et, voila!  

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.