In May 2011, after four years of life on McNutt's Island, we moved to Montreal. This blog remains, though, as a (sort of) daily record of our time on the island, and a winding path for anyone who would like to meander about among its magical places. For additional perspectives and insights I recommend Greg's book, Island Year: Finding Nova Scotia (2010), and my Bowl of Light (2012). I'll continue to post once in a while. If you do want to read this blog, one option would be to begin at the beginning of it (which is, as we all know, in blog-world, at the end), and read forward, concluding with the most recent entry. It's a journal, really, so it does makes more sense if you read it that way. But, you know, read it any way you like.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Fun with flowers, weeds and other treasures

One of my favourite things in the world to do is arrange flowers. I love to go out and look for stuff to use, then bring it in and think about the possibilities.
Yesterday I wanted to have flowers in the house for Canada Day. I started by cutting a bunch of ox-eye daisies, which are all around the island right now, in lavish clumps like ready-made bouquets.
And I have fallen in love with the island's weeds. There are several grasses that have such beautiful structure and subtle colour that I am completely smitten. So I started with daisies and weeds.
Then I cut a few of the blue flag iris that grows along the shore. It is a little past its prime but the colour is still fantastic. I added a small yellow flower that looks like dandelion but isn't, purslane, forget-me-not, and yarrow. All of these are abundant on the island.
I added sage blossoms. And stems of marjoram, a perennial I started last year which is now several clumps. A volunteer wild mustard has taken up residence in the side garden, having heard on the wind that I was making a wildflower garden there. So I used some of that.

Some wildflowers and my collection of sea urchin skeletons. The sea urchins are courtesy of the sushi-loving gulls, who suck out their innards and then negligently drop the containers wherever they happen to be. You can find them most easily at the lighthouse. I have discovered that it can be as satisfying to collect sea urchins as to collect antiques or shoes, and so much less expensive. It's all in the thrill of searching.
Here are some other treasures I have collected recently: a snake skin, the shell of a moon snail, and the pale blue egg of a Great Blue Heron.

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