Tina & James Wedding plus HBH stories...

The wedding of Tina and James...

Saturday was warm and breezy and perfect for a ceremony beside the river. I set out white flowers in the house watering can on the front step to welcome the bridal party and guests, and did all those little errands necessary to make the details fall perfectly into place. The bridal party's friend, John, manned the gate to direct parking, and the groomsmen, resplendent in tux's, sunglasses and perfect smiles, mingled just as they should.

The wedding of James and Tina was simply beautiful, with the bride escorted by her father down the formal lawn to a white rose covered arbor looking over the riverbank. White chairs were set facing the river and the music carried over the gardens and onto the river. In fact, the folks across the river stopped everything to take it in as well.

Congratulations Tina and James! You are such a lovely couple.

Here are photos from the ceremony and the photo shoot afterward, some of which took place in the orchard.
Sandra























Bed & Breakfast House Stories
This is a most wonderful position to have; I meet people from all over the world (so far China, England, the U.S., all parts of Canada, and it's only been 1 month!) and share stories just as varied. But this story is from the very back yard of the Haig-Brown's themselves...

Today I escorted 3 people through the house. They had stopped by on Saturday, and after seeing the wedding under way, opted to return at a quieter time. And we are all glad for that.
Vi (I would guess in her 60's) related how she grew up next door to here, in a house her grandmother had owned since its beginning, and she told me of the last time she had visited here and had tea with Ann Haig-Brown on the then-grass terrace. Vi was 12 years old.
Then she pointed to the other woman in the trio (the third being Vi's husband, Benny) and explained this was her sister - whom she had just found 1 month ago!
Lorraine had been given for adoption at 4 months old, when Vi was only 4, barely remembering playing with her as a little baby.
Apparently, Vi had begun looking for her sister 10 years ago, and even been close several times without even knowing it. You see Lorraine was raised in Rossland (interior B.C.). Vi, while living in the lower mainland as an adult, had a very dear friend from Rossland. After the sisters rediscovered each other, Vi mentioned this fact to her dear friend and asked if she had known Lorraines' adoptive family. The friend replied that her younger sister was the one who had played with Lorraine as a child... and so it goes. That weird yet interesting phenomenon of 6 (or 3) degrees of separation... There were many other interesting little notations, too many to mention here, which seemed to have relationships between them and their families and friends, mostly dates of births / anniversaries / names / places / etc. Today, these three had huge smiles all the time they were here, and reminisced about the lives lived, and not lived, in the fields and river here. It was a lovely and loving sight.
Sandra

Lumbermen / Pond / Gates

An occasional sad point of any garden is the old, broken or rotten tree which must come down. Such is the case with several here on the property, namely the walnut, the sweet cherry, and the 2 willows at the bottom of the lawn. All were riddled with woodpecker holes and leaning, acting as safety hazards over many of the publics' heads. The city and the museum had arborists, etc., look them over quite some time ago and make those hard decisions.
The trees were carefully taken down a couple of weeks ago and since then, replanting is complete for the willows and the walnut.
The cherry wood has been sent to a mill as well as carvers, to become goods "from the Haig-Brown property". Pictured here are the men in rec't of some of the cherry, ready to go to the mill.

Readying the terrace today for tomorrow's wedding ceremony, I was happily interrupted by a group seeking a quick tour of the house and study, to which I obliged. Knowing I'd return shortly, I propped the hand-held water sprinkler over the koi pond, the water running wide open from the hose. The koi (or carp, or goldfish, depending on your point of view) love the fresh water falling like a rain shower, especially on a hot day as this; racing around and swimming into any currents created by the flow, they seem to drink it in, so to speak. Luckily, my tour was short, as the pond was soooo close to overflowing when I returned that I believe the fish were actually looking over the edge! But they were happy!

The beautiful corners of the yard have captivated me today, and I offer the results of what I saw here. One shot includes the lower corner gate to the orchard, alongside the river. The image includes 5 or 6 pictures, stitched together to give the whole view, and includes the yellow wisteria.
A couple of other images are those charming corners including gates, paths and more flowering trees.
Sandra

Spring leftovers -daff's, trilliums, apple blossoms

I'm putting up some images here that are leftovers from spring. That's when I'm fond of saying that folks can find me rolling around in the mud with camera in hand, to shoot the spring flowers (but that's on the hiking trails in these parts, as I look for the ever elusive 'pink fawn lily').
Not so muddy here, tho; these are shots of the Haig-Brown grounds. Looking through the gate to the glade, you can see a bit of the church through the trees (it's across the road) where at least one of the Haig-Brown children got married years ago. The other shots of daffodils are all within the glade, looking one way then the other.

The trilliums were so profuse in a plot alongside the koi pond, it was hard to decide which ones to shoot; they mesmerized me as they beckoned.

Also included is a photo of the perfumed apple blossoms which rested on the west side of the house, almost covering the kitchen window. Delicate in scent and fragile in strength, it's hard to believe those tiny freckled blossoms produce big, strong apples!

There's a shot of the gate to the river as well, surrounded by snowdrops. Odd angle to get a good shot of, as there are steps from the lawn down to the gate, which sits just atop the high-water mark. Perhaps that's where Rod & Ann decided to call the house "Above Tide"... the house is just far enough up river from the mouth to be "above the tide".

I'll bring more photos from nice weather days, as it rained during my photo op today, so I opted to not photo, and sowed carrots instead. 3 kinds, too.
Plus planted 32 of the teeny-tiniest little Jalapeno pepper plants in the greenhouse. My thumb is not green (just dirty!) so let's all send them lotsa lovin' - they may need the help! The 2 pickling-cucumber plants are a little heftier and I think they like their southwestern corner, plus that they're next to the tomatoes.

Interesting to watch the house across the river today, as a faller knocked down some trees. It seems obvious the homeowner wanted more light; while the house faces due south, it's almost surrounded by evergreen and maple forest. The very careful faller dropped the trees up-hill, away from the river, tho kinda close to the house! For those of you who worry about the trees coming down - it's OK. The Wet Coast grows them very fast. It's a jungle out there! Sandra

Wedding photo session, continued

Yesterday's lovely photo shoot was very sweet to see... a happy, smiling baby, a fairy-princess of a flower girl, gorgeous maidens attending the bride, and handsome men, who knew how to handle a baby!
The couple were breathtaking, as you can see here. Photographers had the situation in hand and made sure all opportunities were pounced upon - lots of hard work put in for the best shots - always on the lookout for that snuggled kiss between the new couple.
It was cool in the glade amid the alders and firs, and the bluebells and lily-of-the-valley kept the little bugs a secret - some of the wedding party managed to find them as they flew about in their disturbance.
A very busy flower girl was always ready for her closeup, running between attendants, adults, and papparazi, er, I mean photogs. Then, waking from a nap, the smallest member of the group was quickly given a fresh bottom by dad, then hugged all 'round, and smiled the whole time. He was very happy to be here!
On another note, the garden is coming along, thanks to Lesia and John. She's put in tomatoes and eggplant in the greenhouse, and potatoes (2 varieties), regular peas & sugar peas, beans, beets, swiss chard, and an oriental broccoli (?) in the garden. My turn to sow the carrots, find some lettuce and do some weeding! But hey, I've been watering...
Sandra

Wedding photo session

aahhhh, the bride was stunning, and the groom so proud... and all is right with the world.
The photo session was so beautiful, and I was honoured to be able to take a few photos as well. Here are a couple of the shots; I'll be back tomorrow with more.
Sandra

Warmth of Spring

Wonderful, warm weather! A beautiful day here has the Magnolia busting its little seams, pushing out every last flower on the tree, and littering the formal lawn with petals.
The rhodos are busy showing off, and very timely, too. A year ago a bride-to-be had planned on her photo shoot here tomorrow, so the flowers are just right.

As the breeze pushes around the deep green maple leaves (branches heavy with the new leaves and the last of those pendulous flower clusters) I'm reminded of climbing such a tree as a child. Ours was also 3 feet across at the base, with long branches like arms waiting to put on a sweater.
One of my favourite flowers here is the peony (oh, what am I saying; I love them all!). Before the bud blooms, there's a sliver of the petal which cracks open the green casing, and shows its colour in a fractional width. The one here is like the deepest red silk, with a hanging drip of dew.
The bluebells and narcissus have had their show, and currently limping through these warm days. Just like the daffs have, they're bidding adieu now, and starting to retire - though their perfume is still strong on the warm breeze.
The weekend promises to be busy with gardening; planting tomatoes and other Nightshade plants in the greenhouse, plus tilling the garden soil and seeding carrots, beans, peas, beets, and potato buds.
Great food for the summer.
Sandra

H-B House is open!

Haig-Brown House is open and running, at full tilt I might add.
My name is Sandra and I'm the 2009 Site Manager and your B&B Host at this incredibly beautiful heritage house.
My moving in (still a work in progress!) has been exciting, and, with the help of those of the Museum at Campbell River, a lot of fun.
Among the many joys here is the ever-changing garden. Ann Haig-Brown was an ardent gardener and created the formal lawn, lined with rhododendrons, the magnolia, and a variety of other trees and annuals.
I photographed many spring flowers and it looks like that fun little task will be ongoing.
Now, the peonies are popping open, the rhodos are festive in petticoat colours, the dogwood is blooming (though technically not a flower) and a number of other plants whose names I'm just learning about are budding and blooming.
Hopefully, my pictures do them justice, though there's no smellovision here, so you'll simply have to imagine the heady, aromatic scents which the air is full of here! Pure aromatherapy!
A deer got in the other evening by not only jumping a gate, but also breaking off one of the additional upright 'sticks' which have been attached to prevent just that! One determined deer...
Now, it's time to plant the vegetable garden, after re-wiring the rabbit fence around the perimeter. Looking forward to fresh garden veggies!