Wildflowers

Yesterday, after lunch, we went out to West Coast Tires to get our new tires for the Dodge Lodge.  It was going to take 45 minutes to have the tires put on the van, so I brought along my camera, of course.  The time seemed to fly by and the tires were on the van in no time, it seemed.  The above photo is the ferns and yellow, dandilion like flowers, nature's arrangement.

I don't know what this one is but it looks like a miniature foxglove.

A pretty, delicate little flower.  This one would be welcome in my garden anytime.

Miner's lettuce.  Something I thought grew best in shade, but it was on the mountain side and exposed to full sunshine.

Saxifragia and rock moss.  The saxifragia grows in my front garden and looks great under the dark foliage of the smoke bush.

More Saxifragia, ferns, moss, a big leaf maple, a slender elegant evergreen, grasses, and a part of the road.

I was trying to get a shot of the western bleeding heart that was in bloom, but tiny.  The wind was blowing, so the plants are out of focus.  But look to the top right.  OMG is that a snake?  I asked Pat, if he thought it was a snake or an old bungy cord.  He said it is definitely a snake.  While shooting, I never noticed the snake.  But there it is!
West Coast Tires is in a little cleared area, just off Sooke Road.  They were flooded out  and have since rebuilt their shop.  The area I was shooting in was newly exposed rocks from the excavations.  It is rich in all kinds of local plants.  There were wild strawberries, the western bleeding heart, the miner's lettuce and so many interesting things, once I took the time to look at it. 
We now have our new tires, newly done brakes, thanks to Ray, and we should be ready for our next road trip in the Dodge Lodge, towing the new old Model T, to Pincher Creek, Alta,

Veggie Patch and stuff

Another look at the vegetable patch and little rockery. I will get a few tomatoes to put in and then hope all the seeds grow. Will keep it watered and mulched.
This is the showy lewisia in full bloom. You can see a few of the smaller lewisias. The blue is the self seeding columbine. I have put down a layer of pea gravel to finish this little rockery. I might need more as most of these plants do not like to water logged.
The lilac is in bloom. I have some in the house and they smell heavenly. I liked this photo for the whimsical view of Mrs. P.'s garden trowel against her shed wall. My lilac is just at the edge between our vegtable gardens. Not a great idea to have trees by the vegetable garden, but I have them all around my veggie patch, except the little rockery side.
My seahorse sits among the ferns next to the steps that go up to the deck. Its a handy place to keep my trowel and few small garden tools.
The tulips along by the garage. The dutch irises are starting to bloom. The Gentian with its big blue trumpet blooms is finishing up. I really should do a macro of that flower this year, even though I have lots of them. You can see the buds of the Oriental Poppies. The bright gold at the top is a pleasant surprise. This must be the sun shining through behind the garage along the old cement path that curves around behind the garage.

Yesterday our new sofa bed arrived and so I spent some of the day rearranging the library room. I did a bit more today and got a couple more pictures hung. I made a rhubarb and strawberry pie yesterday and it turned out pretty good. I had it in my biggest pie plate but it still boiled over into the oven, so I did an oven cleaning. It really was time I cleaned the oven, anyway. It, too, is so much nicer when cleaned up.

We have had a couple of perfect gardening days and I have been stuck in the house most of the time doing laundry, meals, cleaning, etc. Well, tomorrow I should be able to get out and make some more progress on picking the violets out of the Japanese garden moss and dry stream.