It's Victoria Day, a holiday Monday capping off what has traditionally been the three-day stretch of gardens, bbq's, beer, and fireworks as the folks in these parts celebrate not so much the late great grand queen, as the first long weekend of the summer season. In any other year that I've known, this is the weekend that garden centres, hardware stores, and gas companies get really excited about as winter-weary Ontarians dig out the planting gear and drive to the garden centre to buy bedding plants; haul out the lawnmower and drive to the hardware store to get parts to make it work; and/or drive up to the cottage then drive to the hardware store and garden centre to get parts and plants. Oh, and beer. There's got to be beer.
Not so this year. The siege of CoVID-19 continues and though the hardware stores and garden centres are now open, there are restrictions and in my case apprehension about rushing out there to shop. Cottage country holds the same apprehension as local authorities struggle to find a middle ground between health risk and economic ruin. It's a tough call for all of us everywhere.
Grand displays of fireworks have been snuffed out by regulation and today's all-day rain. I know our dog will be most happy about that. She gets terribly upset with all the snap, crackle and boom. But I love fireworks and always have. Ah well, another time.
All is not lost. Saturday we were treated to amazing warmth and sunshine - just the ticket to get me up and out of the despair of virtual meetings and digital overload and into the world right outside my door. I washed the front windows removing winter's grime and improving the view immensely. I turned over two garden plots and cleaned out the rest.
I lectured the bunny about not eating the freshest tulip blooms nor the tender just-greening Sweet William.
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| Naughty Bunny! |
I cheered on the visiting duck whom I have named Daffodil. She's been dropping by daily for over a week now to waddle and dabble underneath my birdfeeders and drink from the birdbath.
I scrubbed down the bbq, checked the gas cylinder and jets, then cleaned and seasoned the cast iron grills.
Bring on the burgers and the beer!
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| with a side of zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms & cheese |
I'm quite content to rest today, savouring the joys of being well, well-worked, and well-fed by gardens, a bbq and some beer. Three out of four traditions for this weekend makes it a solid 75% success. SCORE! The last word on this Victoria Day Weekend the 2020 Edition appropriately goes to the grand lady herself, Queen Victoria:
"We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat.
They do not exist."
©2020 April Hoeller
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