Posts Tagged ‘roadside’
wildflowers in the ditches
The season certainly flies by! This week I am noticing the flowers in the ditches. Daisies, bedstraw, vipers bugloss, sweet clover, yarrow and so on. Today I am curious about a white flower occurring in soft low mounds along the highway. Bladderwort campion or maidenstears.
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Bladderwort campion, Silene vulgaris, is a kind of faerie-tale flower, because of its bladders, small enough to be used by the faerie-folk to transport their drink. The alternate name ‘maidenstears,’ is also fanciful. The flowers are white, sticking above the top of a red-veined bladder. Reminds me of newly-bought vegetables poking above a grocery store paper bag.
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The bladder is made of fused sepals. The flower has five petals, each deeply divided into two lobes. Bladderwort campion is common, found in ditches, meadows and other waste places.
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Scanning the ditches for new plants is a habit I developed in my early days as a botanist. Even now I keep a list, in my head, of the plants I see as we drive along any road. A pleasant pass time for summer!
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All my best,
Jane
garden escapes: balm-of-Gilead
My mom used to take me for a walk around the garden when I visited. One of her favorite trees was the balm-of-Gilead. Her original tree had escaped into other places along the driveway and she loved its tenacity. She always pulled a leaf from a low branch and crushed it to bring forth the smell … slightly medicinal, aromatic and balsamic. I also love the colour, green with a tinge of orange bronze.
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The balm-of-Gilead (Populus × jackii or P.× gileadensis), is the hybrid between balsam poplar and eastern cottonwood. This hybrid is sometimes planted as a shade tree, and sometimes escapes from cultivation.
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As we drive the roads of abandoned houses and community, I often see balm-of-Gilead before I see any other garden escapes.
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In 1898, Beaufort, Carleton County, was a community with 1 post office and a population of 100. Today, there is only one, modern house in the community. But remnants of old gardens still remain. We saw many garden plants, both persisting and escaping: monkshood, dropwort, orange day-lily and butter-and-eggs. There were also apple trees and a poplar I identified as balm-of-Gilead.
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Today Beaufort is a long, lonely road with only traces of the former community.
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I took a slip of Mom’s balm-of-Gilead and planted it at our cabin property. It is taking its time, growing a little more each year. I think, when I am gone, perhaps this tree will have grown and be sending out descendants of its own.
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This work was made possible by a Creations Grant from artsnb!
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Take care, stay safe.
Don’t get Covid-tired.
Be tenacious like the balm-of-Gilead.
Jane
cornfields and Canada Geese
I have been away for a while. Off to a driving vacation in Ontario, Canada. We saw the last of summer in the cornfields of Southern Ontario.
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Canada Geese were everywhere. They are considered a nuisance by farmers and almost everyone else. But we enjoyed spotting the flocks in the fields and the ‘V’s in the sky. And once, we waited as a group of geese crossed the road in front of us.
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I will have more about our trip in the next few days, as I check out my photos and process the memories!
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Copyright 2017 Jane Tims
a moment of beautiful: wild roses
the place: beside the road into our cabin
the beautiful: pink roses in bloom (and the dark pink rosebuds)
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Notice a little spider found his way into the photo (about 12 o’clock on a petal).
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
an intelligent world of blue
Yesterday, we went on a drive along the Saint John River from Oromocto to Jemseg. We hoped to see some birds or other wild life. But we didn’t even see a crow!!!!
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However we did see the world painted in a sweet-toned shade of blue … the ice on the river, the long shadows on the meadows and the sky. I was reminded of Douglas Adams and his tribute to hooloovoo ‘blue’.
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A Hooloovoo is a super-intelligent shade of the color blue.
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
harvesting colour … colour of the harvest
On our weekend drive from Canterbury to McAdam, I saw another aspect of the ‘harvesting colour’ theme. Anywhere you travel in New Brunswick, you usually come across wood harvesting activity and Highway 630 was no exception. About half way along, a turn in the road brought us to a large forest harvest.
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forest harvesting operation
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The wood from the cut was stacked into gigantic walls.
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wall of cut wood
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The clearcut laid the land quite bare. It will be many years before this area returns to the hardwood habitat typical of the area, if at all.
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spruce and fir
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The wood from the cutting had been piled according to species. The colours of the cut wood were quite distinctive. The largest colour contrast was between the pale almost white, ash …
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ash
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ash
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and the very orange wood of the spruce and fir …
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spruce and fir
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I have no particular point to make, except to honour the very individual characteristics of these trees.
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
fencing us in (day 19 and 20)
When I first moved to New Brunswick, rail fences could be seen almost everywhere in rural areas. The design was simple – stacks of very long cedar logs in a zigzag without posts at the junction. The logs were piled from 3 to 4 high and were very weathered. These fences used cedar in the construction because of its natural ability to withstand rot.
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As the years go by, these fences have gradually disappeared from the landscape. Part of this is because the fences eventually deteriorate. Also, people salvage the rails for landscaping and other projects.
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distance travelled (map from Google Earth)
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8-19 February 25, 2014 30 minutes (Petit-Rocher-Nord to Petit-Rocher)
8-20 February 27, 2014 30 minutes (Petit-Rocher to Petit-Rocher-Sud)
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Although I haven’t seen the zigzag style of rail fence on my virtual bike trip along the northern New Brunswick coast, I have seen other rail fence designs. These fences are also built of cedar, but the rails are supported at the junctions by short lengths of cedar …
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rail fence near Nash Creek (image from Street View)
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or on a sort of ladder, consisting of two posts and cross-members …
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rail fence near Pointe Verte (image from Street View)
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When I was younger, sitting on a fence like any of these was on my list of favorite things to do. Today, our property is fenced with a zigzag style cedar rail fence, built by my husband who is proud to say not a nail is used in the construction …
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zigzag rail fence round our property
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I wonder if there are nails used in this rail fence …
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March 5, 2014 ‘rail fence’ Jane Tims
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
rural relics (day 10 to 12)
On my virtual bike trip along the north coast of New Brunswick, I am seeing many aspects of rural New Brunswick that are almost relics in our modern world.
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distance travelled (map from Google Earth)
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8-11 January 31, 2014 45 minutes 3.0 km (Eel River Bar to Charlo)
8-12 January 28, 2014 30 minutes 7.0 km (Charlo to Blackland)
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relic:
- object that is interesting because of its age or association
- surviving custom, belief or object from a past age
(Oxford dictionary)
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One of these relics is the rural mailbox. Amid controversy, the single mailbox at the end of a driveway is gradually being replaced, so there are very few end-of-drive mailboxes along the route I am travelling.
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We had a mailbox for many years and it was always fun going to the end of the drive to get our mail. Once when I was at my grandfather’s farm for a vacation, my Aunt Anna sent me a parcel so I would have the fun of getting a box in the mail. I remember well reaching up to get the parcel and I remember what was inside – a snow globe!
getting a parcel at my grandfather’s mailbox
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About ten years ago, we were shifted to a community mail box. We have a key and an assigned box. It is still fun to get the mail, but less convenient …
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mailboxes near New Mills (image from Street View)
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Another relic of a more self-sufficient way of life is the remnant apple orchard. In some cases, the apples are still used by thrifty families, but often the fallen fruit is left for the deer …
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orchard near Blackland (image from Street View)
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I also see derelict barns and sheds along the road, abandoned as people give up farming and a more rural way of life …
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February 11. 2014 ‘old shed near Charlo’ Jane Tims
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Do you encounter remnant bits of our past in your travels? Do they bring back memories?
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
the colour of October #2 (Tansy yellow)
So many colours! The orange of the big pumpkin on our doorstep. The reds and yellows of the Red Maple leaves in piles under our feet. The bright white of the moon this month. The golden colour of the needles of the Tamarack now falling with every breath of wind.
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The colour that has inspired me this week is the yellow of Tansy (Tansy vulgare L.) still bright along the road in Fredericton. The flowers are like brilliant yellow buttons.
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I couldn’t duplicate the colour with the yellows in my watercolour palette, but after layers of alternating yellow and white, I have realised how wonderful the yellows of nature really are!
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October 27, 2013 ‘Tansy’ Jane Tims
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In a month’s time, the bright yellow heads of the Tansy will be black!
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Copyright 2013 Jane Tims
featuring a 1941 International truck
I have had a few poems accepted for publication recently. These include ‘abandoned resort hotel, Devil’s Head’; ‘Berries in Cellophane’; and ‘1941 International K-4’. They appear in Issue 10 (Spring, 2013) of The Lion’s Head Magazine (online). You can have a look at these three poems at http://lionsheadpress.blogspot.ca/
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‘Berries in Cellophane’ is from my manuscript on growing and gathering local foods.
The poems ‘abandoned resort hotel, Devil’s Head’ and ‘ ‘1941 International K-4’ are both part of a series, not yet completed, on abandonment. This series began my interest in abandoned churches, and lead to the novel I am now working on – ‘Saving the Landing Church’.
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The poem ‘1941 International K-4’ was inspired by an old International truck, seen in a wood lot in southern New Brunswick in the fall of 2011. It was set up on steel drums and looked like it was no longer used. Rusted and out-of-commission, she was still elegant to behold. The poem came easily, written in the ‘voice’ of the truck, recalling its various adventures.
Have a look at the poem in Lion’s Head Magazine and let me know what you think.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2013
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