Ralph Mills
A
The first asparagus spear of 2024! You have to wait for three years for the plants to become established, and since these were planted in 2021, we look forward to our first harvest!
01:50 AM - Mar 22, 2024
Avatar Avatar
0
0
2
Ralph Mills
A
The gnomes of Saanich. No.1
I look for and collect these fascinating and often wonderful garden displays wherever I wander. Here's one to begin an occasional series:
11:06 PM - Dec 29, 2023
Avatar
0
0
1
Ralph Mills
A
Couldn't find the cats' favourite litter today. Things could get a little messy!
10:10 PM - Dec 12, 2023
0
0
0
Ralph Mills
A
Once an archaeologist, always an archaeologist: had to upgrade the water supply pipe, and I wasn’t going to pay someone to dig a trench, so I dug it myself! Not up to my archaeological standards but not bad for an old codger. Found and wrestled with a boulder too. Sadly no artefacts…
02:38 PM - Dec 07, 2023
Avatar Avatar
0
0
2
Ralph Mills
A
Whilst removing Daphne (Spurge Laurel) from Mill Hill Regional Park the other day I took a moment or two to spot some tiny fungi in the midst of the moss jungles...
01:29 AM - Oct 27, 2023
0
0
0
Ralph Mills
A
Visited Victoria's lovely Abkhazi Gardens at the weekend. Great to see this small but rewarding garden at different times of year. Lichen and fungi too.
01:23 AM - Oct 27, 2023
Avatar
0
0
1
Ralph Mills
A
We were removing invasive blackberry from what is a well-used public park - lots of walkers, dogs and children at break time from the adjacent elementary school. The habitat is challenged! So it was good to come across a handsome toadstool surviving under the rampant and prickly blackberry bushes.
01:17 AM - Oct 27, 2023
Avatar Avatar
0
2
2
Ralph Mills
A
A new project but a familiar before and after scene: removing invasive Himalayan Blackberry from Rosedale Park, Saanich. A couple of hours' work and a rocky bluff appears! Very satisfying!
12:52 AM - Oct 27, 2023
0
0
0
Ralph Mills
A
thread 2 Threaded Spouts
I have spent today looking keenly at toilets. And taps (faucets), so many different taps. Not to mention bath tubs. I am more undecided than when I began. It was relatively easy to demolish the bathroom…creating a new one is far more complicated. Ho hum…
08:01 PM - Oct 14, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
1
9
Ralph Mills
A
thread 2 Threaded Spouts
I have just driven a rusty, clunky, manual transmission 1996 Ford pickup truck from Osoyoos to Esquimalt (504km) so that it can be used to transport filthy demolition crap to be recycled. Madness! Each gear change was a wrestling match, and involved expletives, but I managed not to stall it once!
09:08 PM - Oct 04, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
2
7
Ralph Mills
A
Not often that I get all four ladies in a row: (l-r) Luna (16), Lyra (5, Lexi's mum), Lexi (3) and Lily (Luna's half sister, 16).
11:53 PM - Sep 12, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
0
6
Ralph Mills
A
This is what excites an oboist! Many hours of music-making ahead: my latest order of my favourite reeds from Nick Winfield arrived from the UK today. I have been playing and enjoying his reeds for about 15 years now.
11:49 PM - Sep 12, 2023 (Edited)
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
0
8
Ralph Mills
A
I don’t know why I just remembered this, but, a very long time ago on the Isle of Man, I was introduced to a member of The Scaffold pop group. He bought my girlfriend and I champagne. I promptly tipped mine into my girlfriend’s lap. Our relationship didn’t last much longer…
11:41 PM - Jul 25, 2023
0
0
0
Ralph Mills
A
Just spent four days far outside the Internet. I read four books!
11:30 PM - Jul 25, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
0
3
Ralph Mills
A
These were some of my getting-up, sitting around, meditating, eating, thinking and generally relaxing views these last few days. Ralph River camp site, Vancouver Island
11:27 PM - Jul 25, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
0
3
Ralph Mills
A
Today I collected new spectacles (I now have a pair with daringly red frames). This gave me the excuse to take a day off from demolishing the basement and to spend the day weeding the garden. By mid afternoon I’ve pulled up three weeds. I have done lots of other garden stuff though, thankfully…
06:39 PM - Jul 18, 2023
0
0
0
Ralph Mills
A
Other renovation news: Buried beneath a thick layer of cellulose loft insulation above the main bedroom...a thin deposit of vermiculite. I had it tested, and yes, it contains asbestos. Bugger!
08:37 PM - Jul 06, 2023
Avatar Avatar
0
2
2
Ralph Mills
A
Renovation archaeology news: Took down a basement room ceiling and discovered a cache of annotated index cards, an unused receipt pad, cigarette papers and two empty condom packets - all early 1970s. No obvious reason for their collective presence. And how did they got there?
08:36 PM - Jul 06, 2023
Avatar
0
0
1
Ralph Mills
A
Showing off my gardening skill (actually all I’ve done is keep it alive and talked to it encouragingly)!
11:25 PM - Jul 01, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
0
3
Ralph Mills
A
Lexi gardening.
11:22 PM - Jul 01, 2023
Avatar Avatar
0
0
2
Ralph Mills
A
I've become the proud tenant of a half plot in Agnes Street Community Gardens, Saanich, BC. Here it is when I took it over (it's definitely somewhere in there), on day 1 and on day 2. Tomorrow I begin to plant and sow; a little late in the season but I'll definitely harvest something!
06:22 PM - May 29, 2023
0
0
0
Ralph Mills
A
Old, sun-kissed stones:
08:11 PM - May 21, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
0
4
Ralph Mills
A
A moment...
08:09 PM - May 21, 2023
Avatar Avatar
0
0
2
Ralph Mills
A
For me, there's something about old doors and windows...
08:08 PM - May 21, 2023
Avatar
0
0
1
Ralph Mills
A
My life is in ruins! I find it almost impossible to pass an abandoned structure without investigating. This ruined farmhouse is in Cyprus.
08:06 PM - May 21, 2023
Avatar
0
0
1
Ralph Mills
A
Today I ran my first parkrun since recovering from an injury and COVID. Not a bad time (27:14) for an old codger…
08:52 PM - May 20, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
0
7
Ralph Mills
A
thread 2 Threaded Spouts
Introducing my three baby oak trees (Quercus garryana): acorns planted in autumn 2021, they are now about 10cm tall. If all goes well, and later owners of the garden cooperate, they will outlive me and them! There is something special about starting something that may last for 500 years!
05:11 PM - May 14, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
1
4
Ralph Mills
A
First I strained a calf muscle, then contracted Covid. Hadn’t run since February. Yesterday I had to watch as everyone else ran the TC 10k (Victoria, BC). But today I gently ran 7k, twice around Cedar Hill golf course: my recovery has begun!
07:14 PM - May 01, 2023
Avatar Avatar
0
0
3
Ralph Mills
A
Emergency promotion (due to illness) to principal oboe in tomorrow’s performance of Mozart’s “Prague” symphony. I was already playing principal oboe in the first half of the concert; now I won’t be able to have a rest in the the second half! I get to play some nice bits though.
02:32 PM - Apr 22, 2023
Avatar Avatar Avatar
0
1
10
Ralph Mills
A
I’m now on the board of Saanich Heritage Foundation, a voluntary role that I hope will allow me to engage with and learn more about the past of where I live. Yesterday evening I attended my first (virtual) meeting; it was very positive. Looking forward to some interesting and fulfilling activities.
05:46 PM - Apr 12, 2023
Avatar Avatar
0
0
2
loading...
{{ notificationModalContent }} {{ promptModalMessage }}