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.
 

​Well life is certainly crazy at the moment and who knows for how long.  In a future that seems to be measured in hourly increments, this COVID19 virus is causing the world to slow down, halt, and regroup.

Perhaps it's not all bad, as it gives us time to think and reflect in the garden.  While my passion is to travel and I love to discover new places, gardens and learn the history, it's making me think about here and now and what we can do while in self-isolation.

Now self-isolation means different things to different people. For me right now, it's the start of spring and a magical time in the garden and starting to think about the this year's garden. Designing a garden takes time and starting now is a great time of year for that (of course, we are still here, and happy to help you with all your design needs).

I love the daffodils and all the blossoms, but I'm definitely waiting for the magnolia to bloom, that has a special place in my mind.  Gardens, springtime, and blooms have a way of unconsciously helping us to mark time and events.  Our gardens can be a place where all the craziness in the world melts away and the beauty new life and a hopeful future can be embraced.

So we embrace the garden for a peaceful isolation while waiting for the world to come back to normal when the waiting will be over.
 

​We want to thank everyone that helped and also stopped to talk to us at the Home Show.
 
It's the second year we have attended the Victoria Home Show and once again we had a fun time talking to a number of home owners who want to develop their landscaping and achieve a balance in their life. 
 
Landstory is embracing not only the outside but is also now diversifying into custom architectural cabins for alternative living with our sister company Cabin One.  http://www.mycabin.one/
 
In one interesting opportunity, James has taken the traditional A frame house and created a twist on the design, not only for the exterior but also for the interior.  
 
He has also produced a prototype model for a house on a hillside where the bedrocks are the features, not the obstacles. 
 
Models are a pure form of design process that enable one to physically and tangibly understand the design.  Models can be like a simple "sketch", or a refined, finished representation.  They can provide unambiguous information on massing, volume, shape and character of a concept.  However, models can take a lot of time and materials cost can be high.
 
These days, with modeling software, hand made models are few and far between.  What James has learned over the years, the best designs are sketched by hand, and modeled by hand-made concepts.  This opens up a completely different part of the mind and one is using more of the five senses to create something.  Software is great for step two, inputting the design.  Great design starts with the human mind and spirit, software is a secondary tool that is great for drawing production and distribution.  We prefer to use all your tools wisely and in the right order.  
 
 Both of these models were on display at the Victoria home show and created a lot of interest.

​New York is always a great place to visit and explore some of the newer sights and buildings.  February is probably not the best time, with morning temperatures at a crisp -7 and doing walking tours of Chinatown and some more obscure places.  You really need those gloves and hats, along with good walking boots. 
 
I really love to walk  the famous Central Park, that was designed by one of my favourite landscape architects, Frederick Law Olmsted, who had such vision way back in the 1850's.
 
Then one of the newer gardens in New York is the High Line Garden that Is built on an historic elevated rail line on the East Side, also known as the Hudson Yard.  Walk through the gardens, and you will embrace that this garden has an industrial feel with the rail lines still there and intertwined in the path and garden.  
 
February is not a best time to appreciate the vegetation of plants or the trees as they are all in a dormant state, but you can enjoy the sun and the view of the Hudson River, then there is also the amazing looking structure, The Vessel that also complements the area around the High Line Garden on the East side of the city.
 
The Vessel is an extraordinary centerpiece of Hudson Yards with its spiral staircase, a soaring new landmark meant to be climbed. This interactive artwork was imagined by Thomas Heatherwick and his Studio as a focal point where people can enjoy new perspectives of the city and one another from different heights, angles and vantage points.

​Kakadu national park is Australia's largest national park and its located in the Northern Territory of Australia and is an isolated part of the world.  It's located in the tropics, between 12° and 14° south of the Equator. The climate is monsoonal, characterized by two main seasons: the dry season and the wet season. The "build up" describes the transition between the dry and the wet. 
 
It's been on my bucket list for years and takes some effort getting to Kakadu.  First you have to get to Darwin, which in its self can be challenging and then it's a good three hour drive with speed limits of 130 kilometres on the road.  We were told it's just a guideline, but you do need to keep an eye on the road for the abundant wildlife.   
 
So travelling to Australia's Northern Territory,  in the month of January seems like a good idea, when Canada is below 0c temperatures,  Darwin and Kakadu are in the opposite spectrum.
 
Hence once you get to Kakadu it's the isolation, the wildness and the size of the place that impresses you and of course the heat.  With temperatures well over 30 degrees most days it can be challenging to adjust. Our weather was 36 everyday.   Even the over night temperatures are in the high 20 degrees.
 
But when  you are in Kakadu you must visit the waterways, the local boat tours are the most breathtaking.  I have seen the Florida Everglades and they are nice. But the Kakadu rivers and wet lands are spectacular.  Of course the crocodiles are the top of the food chain and must  be respected by all.  The bird life and the local fish and turtles are fabulous to watch searching for food.
 
There is the contrast with the local aboriginal people that seem to spend their day searching for shady trees and then the tourists lounging by the pools or just in the air conditioned accommodation.  
 
I loved our visit to this place and admire how the ecosystem has adapted over the centuries.  The national park is protecting the plants and the wildlife, while trying to remove some of the non indigenous animals like water buffalo sand feral cats just to name a few.
 
Well done for keeping this huge area as pristine as it is and attracting people from all over the world, who just want to enjoy the natural beauty of the land.