​I love this time of year when we can start going outside and camping. Apart from sitting outside by a camp fire and enjoying the quiet and nature there are also things you discover.
 
It was in the evening we decided to take a walk around the camp ground and view the sunset. Sunsets over the ocean are always lovely with all the reflections and colours, but we also discovered there was a full strawberry moon that night.
 
How lucky are we to enjoy a full moon, but this was a super full moon with all the orange and pinks reflecting over the ocean and then catching in the trees with the midnight blues.
 
We can still enjoy the quiet, nature and friendship even during this year of changes.

In an era where most old things are ripped down and something bigger and better is replaced, Alan MacMinn is different.
 
Not everyone has the passion or the time or the resources to restore a historic house but Alan MacMinn is one of those rare people that can honour and respect the history.
 
Along with James who also shares the same passion for honouring history and working together with Alan they have created a new mix of modern and old.
 
https://www.sprucemagazine.ca/heritage-nouveau/

There is an optimism in the air and it might be the lovely sunny day or hoping the last of the winter snow Is behind us or maybe it’s just early spring!
 
I know the snowdrops have been flowering for quite a few weeks now, and I’m seeing signs of the first daffodil in the garden. I’m alway happy to see the yellow in the garden, it’s such an uplifting and illuminating colour that offers hope, happiness and fun, something we all need.
 
Remnants of our winter and snow storms are all around me here as I finish the cleaning up of the garden and cutting back my fern fronds, removing dead growth and prepping the garden for spring with mulch and wood chips. It’s also a good time to start our seedlings for the coming summer that is awaited with such anticipation of getting together with friends and family.
 

In many ways 2020 will always be remembered for the wrong reasons with the COVID-19 pandemic. But I was looking back at my pictures and notes for this year and I find that it was not all bad. Yes there was no travelling overseas or visiting family as we normally would, but there also much good that came from being close to home.
 
I find that I have been outside a lot more, even going camping twice, which in previous years has been non existent, I have to confess.
 
Of course we have all eaten too much, drunk too much and now have the challenge of losing those extra pounds (the COVID-19... lbs) plus now we have Christmas upon us.
 
Then of course our pets can always keep us entertained and grounded. I always love to take walks and rethink life and this years challenges.
 
Now we are having to rethink our Christmas traditions and this is going to be really different for me, not visiting family, but in some ways I’m looking forward to starting some new traditions. This might push me to something exciting.
 
And then the biggest item of good news in a what seems like a very long time, we have the vaccines to look forward to in 2021 and the hope that normal will return and the world will be a kinder place for everyone.

It’s hard to believe that it was in 2008 I finished my thesis on creating spaces for people recovering from addictions and in particular my study was on people with alcoholism.  When designing a garden, my focus is always on designing a space with harmony and balance.  Now that I have my own landscape design business I always think about harmony and balance and making the best use of my clients' space.

 During these years after my thesis, and now as a landscape designer and architect, what I have learned most, is to listen to the needs of the client.

One of the pleasures of designing a garden is visiting nurseries and sometimes I take my clients along so we can get the perfect tree or plants for their space.  

These nurseries are huge with multiple green houses and winding lanes, to me its reminds me of visiting a grown up candy store.  I love to see all the different plants.

 Landscape Designs take on many faces depending what the client desires, but always, designing any space with harmony and balance creates a life space with function.

After living in Victoria for nine years, I have to confess I have never visited Royal Roads University, Hatley Castle and the gardens.

Royal Roads comes with a long history deeply embedded in Victoria's beginnings as it was originally built by the influential and very colourful Dunsmuir family.  But despite all that, the castle still remains and the gardens are lovingly cared for by a large group of gardening staff headed by chief gardener Barrie Agar.

Ms Agar has worked at Royal Roads for twenty years, and as head gardener for fifteen.  She lovingly tries to keep what was original.  It was here that I met Barrie and it's only in talking to her that you truly understand the scope of the gardens and the workings of such a large estate, over five hundred acres of property.

How can you not be impressed by the Italian Garden with its clean lines, the meticulously manicured boxwood hedges and the flower display of vibrant colours that frame the castle in the background?

What I was most interested to find out is that most visitors to the castle rarely visit the gardens.  In my opinion the gardens are outstanding.  Yes, of course Victoria boasts the famous Butchart Gardens and there is no denying that they are spectacular, but in my opinion the Royal Roads gardens are equal in design and layout, the maturity of the plantings and the scale and variety of trees.

There is also a large pond area that is the central part of the Japanese Garden and this was original to the historic house.  The gardener lived in a little cottage right next to the Japanese Garden. Over the years the plants have matured and some of the rhododendrons are now twenty feet high and cascade into the pond.  There is also a restored pagoda and other original art pieces.

Royal Roads University is one of Victoria's hidden gems that is often overlooked, which is too bad.  You should allow a whole day to explore this unique garden and property.

With the arrival of our warmer months, we have been getting outside more and more.  We are still being constantly challenged by the new normal with the COVID pandemic, so we must adapt.
 
Spending more time getting out and about on the beaches is something that’s good for the soul and good for the imagination.  I was at a number of beaches these past few months and smiled when I saw peoples interpretations of art using just driftwood and other materials that wash up on the shore.  There are so many creative people just walking along the beach and then they get inspired.
 
One of our local beach artists is Paul Lewis (link below).  He created his art out of the driftwood at Esquimalt Lagoon.  What started out being a creative outlet has now become a must-see tourist attraction for locals and people further afield.  His art has inspired other people to be creative or to just get out and admire his astonishing beach art at the lagoon.
 
https://www.vicnews.com/news/thousands-support-driftwood-bird-sculptor-after-threats/
 
Creativity comes in all types and forms and I find it so inspiring to see the imagination at work even at the beach.

Three months in, and our lives are settling into what is, if not a new normal, an adjusted normal.

This COVID19 pandemic, is teaching us a lot of things, and a lot of what we are learning is how much we have always taken for granted.  Normal seems to be taking on a whole different meaning and while many of us have been happy to self isolate in our cooler weather, now that our summer has arrived I'm pleased the levels of isolation are easing.

Recently, I was lucky enough to go camping in the Cowichan Valley area and enjoy sitting by a camp fire.  With my trusted friends and my dog Skye, we could enjoy the simpler things in life.

I find that I'm eating more and certainly drinking a lot more, but I'm also spending much more time gardening, and I'm mindful that not everyone can enjoy the same freedoms we share here.


Gardens are a peaceful and can teach us a great deal towards understanding this time in our world. They offer us challenges and rewards and a place to talk to our neighbours from a safe distance while keeping the sense of community.
 
Now I’m embracing the garden, not just designing them and its challenges even though I would prefer to be travelling the world and exploring exotic cities and gardens and experiencing their cultures again.  Roll on the vaccine so we can return to normal and visit family again.

Another month rolls on by and we are navigate to a new normal and all of the challenges that come with life and the Corona Virus Pandemic.

At Landstory we are thankful for our clients and adapting to different procedures like doing Skype meetings or virtual meetings, but life does move on with these new challenges.
​
I feel a little disappointed for those families trying to celebrate Mother’s day in May as this was a really special time of the year for me.

I have been taking on new challenges in the kitchen again.  It seems so long ago that I was in Naples Italy when I ate the best pizza.  Naples was the birth place of pizza and what I remember was the simplicity of the pizza.  Now I have been trying to master the pizza dough for years, so with help from my American Test Kitchen cookbook, I took the leap of faith, made my own pizza dough using the special ‘00’ flour and embraced the simple topping style that I prefer.

Mastering a challenge comes with a great sense of satisfaction and achievement.  I often feel that when you design a client’s garden or outside space, but now I can add pizza to my list of accomplishments.  I can’t wait to have friends over to display my new culinary skills.

Maybe there is something to this self-isolation and having to adapt to the challenges that life throws at us.

​Most of the time writing a blog comes really easily to me as I love to travel and I draw inspiration from the places I visit.  But now in April after almost four weeks of self-isolation there is only work which we are fortunately to still have at Landstory, from which to draw our inspiration.

To say that 2020 is an unusual year is an understatement.  We are all having to adapt to a new normal with the Corona Virus and we are having to discover a number of compromises.  Also in 2020, it's a lot colder than usual here in Victoria and other parts of the country. In fact on April 4, we had another dusting of snow as a reminder of how cold it's been.  I know other parts of Canada are still in freezing temperates but here in Victoria we like to think of ourselves as special.

In this time of social distancing, I'm thinking back to February - which now seems to be a so much simpler time - when I visited New York and tried all these fabulous cheesecakes.  So with Easter, I thought I would try making a baked crustless cheesecake.  I have never made one before, but really how hard could it be? Not too many ingredients.

So I can proudly say that I did make my NYC style cheesecake.  It was good and the recipe I got off the web was simple to follow (link below). Now I just have to work out how to pass slices onto friends and family, in a safe way over Easter.

https://www.homemadefoodjunkie.com/crustless-new-york-cheesecake/
 
As social isolation continues, we still need to remain patient, kind and thankful to those working front time, though some days I feel this might not be achievable for everyone.