On Hummingbird Gardens and Fledglings

 We've just celebrated our son's twelfth birthday. Our fledgling. Old enough to be independant and yet still begging to be fed every half hour or so. We had a BBQ in grandma and grandpa's garden while hummingbirds filled up on nectar from monarda, jasmine, clematis and fuschias.

 I am currently very sympathetic to the fledgling birds that one finds at this time of the year. They are so vulnerable, just like that awkward stage of the preteen. The neighbor's cat caught and munched on an adolescent sparrow in our back yard. I am currently feeding a fledgling pigeon under the porch. Pigemon is too big for the cat to take on, but he is still young enough to peep instead of coo. The other day I noticed a bumble bee flying into a hole under his water dish. Bird, bee and cat live happily together in the ecosystem of our back porch.

 I love watching my son and his peers engaging in critical dialogue, forming political oppinions and then being absolutely silly with one another. Goofballs.

(Have I mentioned how much I am enjoying astrantia this year? The perennials are long-blooming and seem to attract the interest of many insects.)

 Due to concerns about the recent revelations of the cost of sugar to the health of Canadian citizens this year you are getting a birthday salad in lieu of a cake.

But since the health benefits of chocolate, dairy and fresh raspberries outweigh the damage of sugar, we came up with a compromise of sorts. Happy birthday my fledgling, my love.

Birthday Raspberries

Eleven years ago today I was in Women and Children's Hospital giving birth to our son who surprised us by being one month premature. I was trapped in a hospital room for ten days and I was in love with the Tiny One, but I was scared. He was so vulnerable and mysterious and we were responsible for nurturing and protecting him. Now he's well on his way to becoming a premature teenager, stubborn, shy, and very much his own person.

We celebrated with pompadums and Spicy Pepper jam from Gypsy Jams. The boys had lime soda and we sipped La Vielle Ferme Rosé. Peter cooked the pink salmon I purchased at the Oak Street market and UBC Farm potatoes.

We had a salad of UBC greens and broad beans with a tarragon mustard vinaigrette, and flowers from the back yard.

The birthday boy requested a mango and chocolate ice cream cake, so I made the cake with mango gelato and whipped up a thick chocolate sauce to pour on top. The cake was garnished with raspberries Ules picked from the garden.

His friend made a lovely raspberry pie which we also served with chocolate sauce because at our house chocolate is always in season.

Of course he'd been waiting all day to open his presents, this one in particular.

We partied until midnight, with the boys snacking on their candy bags with selections from Grenadine and Co.

May all your birthdays be filled with fresh food and giggles.

What Blooms on your Birthday?

This is what is blooming on my birthday. What is in bloom on yours? These last two days have been warm enough for the honey bees to come out and forage in the hazel and willow catkins and the lawns strewn with crocuses. On Saturday I bought a lovely Viola odorata roseata at the Winter Farmer's market. I'd never seen a pink violet before. It's got three lovely pink blooms and they are on my windowsill looking out at a brilliant sunny day.


(This is a gall a wasp has made on a rose bush.)