This is a new planting plan for the original garden bed in the front yard. The bed was created by the previous owners and was filled with great plants. The right half was planted with bearded iris that had stopped flowering and needed to be divided. Given that it meant tearing up the bed I decided that I needed a design.

My first step was to measure the area to create its outline on a drawing. I was surprised by how symmetrical the bed is. The previous owners did an excellent job in its construction. Two years ago I removed some non-performing shrubs on the left side and planted two David Austin own root cuttings that I had made. As this bed is prime rose territory and I continue to propagate my favourite roses, I decided to fill this bed with roses, shown as large white circles above.

I then plotted one foot circles around the roses to mark the spaces for perennial plants. Using the palette of plants I already have I used colours to indicate which plant goes where. The planting is very symmetrical with lots of repetition. Creating the drawing was the easy part.

As August is the recommended time for dividing iris, I dove in even though this is the wrong time to move anything else. I only dug where necessary and tried my best to salvage everything. I ended up with a large number of surplus irises and spread them around the other front beds.

We continue to have hot, dry weather and I am chomping at the bit to continue the replanting, but I know better and impatiently wait for rain. We are flying to Ottawa on October 4 to visit my sister, and to Mexico October 12 for five months. With so much to do in the garden I am feeling the pressure already.

I am spending most of my free time in the garden this year as I purposely do not have any other projects on the go. While this makes me very sensitive to the weather, it also focuses my thoughts on the garden: the good, the bad, and the problems.

I have been gardening here in Garden Bay for seven years now, and the yard has been transformed. I started by adding shrubs for structure and solving the deer problem with fencing. Then I started my rose collection which stands at 48 varieties and 60-odd bushes. I then greatly expanded the perennial beds in the front garden. Today there is a solid design and the whole yard is garden.

Now I am propagating my favourite roses instead of buying new ones. I have a handful of problem rose bushes that *maybe* would be better on their own-roots. Before I “shovel prune ” a rose I ‘d like to give it a second chance. I have learned what gives me the most joy in a rose and replacing non-performing roses will probably start this fall.

After seven years I’ve had to learn how to prune shrubs as I prefer a light touch and many have grown to become problems. I’ve got books and the Internet, but trial and error is how I’ve learned the most. And yes, I ‘ve killed a shrub or two along the way. I did a lot of pruning this year and now have a clearer annual pruning plan.

A great example of evolution is the wisteria that came with the house. I enjoyed cultivating the plant on a trellis. The light touch soon got me in trouble and I had to learn how to prune and train the beast properly. This year I realized that for my garden the wisteria was too much work with insufficient reward and was in the way of my real interest of growing roses. I recently removed the wisteria and have no regrets.

Another example is a row of three lilacs that I planted at the side of the house for structure. I chose lilacs for their fragrance and memories of growing up. As the rose collection expanded I planted roses in between the lilacs. Now the lilacs are large, shading the roses, and occupying prime rose territory. I have decided that shovel pruning those lilacs is best. I do have two other smaller lilacs in the garden anyway.

Our annual summer drought started late this year and we are in the middle of a heat wave. There is lots of colour in the garden but most of the roses are resting. The climbing roses that I planted for the pergola are putting out strong new canes 🙂 There’s not a lot to do in the garden in the summer but watch and enjoy, and add to my TODO list for the fall.

It finally stopped raining and the temperatures are rising. The front garden above is full and peaceful.

The rear garden is a busy place with raised vegetable beds surrounded by very many rose bushes that are doing better than ever.

Aimeé is busy with her vegetables, work, and english course. I have a simple routine that I try to enjoy as I am surrounded by natural beauty.

Our current weather situation is getting to us, but this too shall pass.

We have been home a month now and have settled in to our routine here. The weather has been, and continues to be, very mixed and cooler than normal. One learns to appreciate a sunny day even if the temperature does not go above 10C. Any day without rain is at least tolerable, and I remind myself that back in Guanajuato it is too hot for my comfort.

The cost of living here has been shocking. For example, filling up the propane tanks cost 25% more. Putting gas in the car hurts enough to change our habits. We go to the local grocery store half as often and the bill is more than twice what we used to spend. We are lucky to be able to afford our lifestyle.

My first priority was cleaning up the garden after a hard winter. It took me two weeks to get it done. The early spring garden is mostly in the mind. Perennial plants begin to grow and the landscape is dotted with colour from spring bulbs. Must plant more next fall!

Aimeé has returned to work at John Henry´s Resort. She was not going to work this year but the financial demands of family projects in Mexico changed her mind. Low wages in Canada go a long way in Guanajuato.

With Aimeé working and while waiting for better weather, I started the project of painting the third bedroom, our TV room. I don´t enjoy the work but do appreciate the results. It is the smallest bedroom, hence an easy project, and there is no hurry.

On Monday October 4 my phone failed to start properly. Restarting several times did not solve the problem. I spent the rest of the day looking for information and a solution, but to no avail. The following morning I ordered a new phone from Amazon to arrive no later than the 14th. We leave Garden Bay on the 15th so just in time.

While waiting for the new phone to arrive, and having time on my hands, I started googling for a solution. This lead me to search for firmware and the tools necessary for reloading the phone. There was no harm in trying as the phone was dead. It’s all a blur now but I spent lots of time trying and failing. Finally, I tossed the phone into the recycling box.

The new phone arrived on October 8 and I excitedly turned it on and set it up. All was well and I was happy until I tried the software update function, which stated that “Your current software version isn’t supported. Visit a service center”! Wait a minute, that’s no good.

First I chatted with Amazon technical support. The person had broken english and (I think) he said that the software was up to date and that the phone behaviour was normal. Then I tried chatting with Samsung technical support who suggested doing a factory reset, actually a good idea, but that did not resolve the problem. Then I called the Samsung service centre in Vancouver and was told that they could not help because the phone was a US model. So much for a warranty. This left me no option but to try and update the firmware myself.

I can’t remember exactly when or why, but I retrieved the old phone from the recycling box, turned it on, and to my great surprise it started updating itself and now it works! I think something was wrong with an OTA software update when all this started and a week or so later the problem was resolved. Anyway, now I have a phone to use with my Mexican SIM card and I’ll leave the new phone in Canada.

Having a backup phone gave me the confidence to try to update the firmware on the new phone, although the fear of breaking it was ever present. There is a world-wide community of people sharing experiences, advice, and tools etc. for the wannabe android hacker. What makes this risky and difficult are all the different versions of the software bits and pieces. It was a frustrating cycle of research-try-fail-repeat before it all came together today.

With all the right pieces and versions, I was able to reload the phone firmware. The phone started normally with the new version and I tried the regular software update, and that worked. Not only do I have a supported software version, the phone was been updated to Android 11 (it came with 9). Aimeé thought I was going crazy, but now we can both relax.

We leave Garden Bay for Vancouver in two days, where we will spend two nights before flying to Mexico at 11:30pm on Sunday October 17. The Cervantino Festival started today and many of the events are viewable online. The weather forecast is looking fine.

While the official position of the Canadian government is “Avoid non-essential travel outside Canada until further notice” and “It is up to you to decide what non-essential travel means”, Aimeé advised me that travelling to Mexico in October was essential for her. I had been waiting for the government’s “all clear” and vaccine passport but October is coming fast.

So I booked our flights to Guanajuato yesterday. We leave YVR on Sunday October 17 at 23:05. It felt strange making the commitment to leave our paradise in Garden Bay. But winter is coming and now I have a long list of TODOs in preparation for leaving. Fortunately I competed Phase 3 of the crawlspace project. It was a long haul but it kept me busy. I have a Phase 4 in mind but it might have to wait for next year.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic is not over, we are betting on Moderna to keep us safe.

Aimeé found herself a summer job working at John Henry’s Resort & Marina, which is located just down the hill in Garden Bay. Coming back is no problem with her ebike. It’s a full time position in housekeeping until the end of September, which is perfect as we plan to head back to Mexico in October. Hopefully it will be a great experience for her and it surely will help her english.

It struck me all of the events of the past five years that enabled this day: emigrating to Canada, studying english, learning to ride her ebike, and building the confidence to walk into the business to ask about employment. Congratulations Aimeé!

Today I received five bare root rose plants. You can see they are eager to grow. With great pleasure I planted them right away, one at the base of each post of my new rope swag pergola that I built this spring.

The idea for this came from watching Gardener’s World and it solves a design problem in the front garden, i.e., how to add vertical interest. The roses that I purchase are all large climbers that will be trained up the posts and along the ropes.

• Fourth of July
• New Dawn
• City of York
• Souvenir de Malmaison
• White Dawn

We are having summer-like weather and the garden is what keeps us busy.

It snowed, not a lot but enough to keep us off the road for a couple of days. They don’t plow the streets and there are lots of hills around here. Tried to go grocery shopping yesterday but the traction on my car just wasn’t up to the task. Fortunately it is warming up today, the snow is melting, and we managed to go to town.