Blogging

Shortly after I came out to British Columbia in early 2006 I had a case of severely high blood pressure. It wouldn't have been fair to an employer for me to work for them until I got my health situation sorted out. I was on medications to lower the blood pressure and it took until early 2007 to find the cause. I finally went to a naturopath who found that a microscopic parasite was the cause for all this.

While getting my health in order, I took up blogging to share my photography. This way I wasn't wasting time and others got to enjoy the photos, not just me and those close to me.

In May of this year I had a mini-stroke cause again by severely high blood pressure. I may end up gong to the naturopath again since the specialist and other MDs can't seem to find the cause. This has only been a problem out here. Before that in Ontario, the blood pressure was only marginally high, not severely high like in BC.

Knowledge is good because being forewarned is forearmed!

All that said, enjoy this blog and all the photos I share with you.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Wide-leafed or Giant Bellflower

Back east in southwestern Ontario I had a home with a garden I maintained since the late 1960s. The home used to belong to my parents. I grew bellflowers in the garden in the back since the 1970s. These were the Wide-leafed or Giant Bellflower (Campanula latifolia) that spread easily around the yard. In fact, I found them growing in the cedar hedge row! I used to allow the seed heads to dry (brown) and then collect the seed in large mason jars. When they were young plants, it was easy enough to transplant them but once established, it was better not since they had long whitish taproots! They're easy enough to start from seed anyway. That's how I got my planting started back in the 1970s. The image above is from Wikipedia but I plan to check my own photos for some and post the best ones here. I grew other alpines, not just Campanulas! Note: This bellflower is native to central and southern Europe and is found as far east as Russia. There are 500 species of Campanula in the world. This is but one of them! - V

Saturday, June 11, 2011

the bumblebee

Late yesterday afternoon (Friday) I spent a little time at Queens Park near home to photograph some bumblebee activity there. The species seen is the Yellow-faced Bumblebee (Bombus vosnesenskii) which is native the the west coast of North America from California to British Columbia. As a note of interest, there are 50 species of bumblebees native to North America. This is but one of them! The bee is taking nectar from the flowers of an Allium, a member of the onion family. Enjoy!!!- V

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Davie Village Community Garden

A visit to Vancouver today gave me enough time to visit the Davie Village Community Garden. This is an assortment of photos I took while there. These include shots of foxgloves and poppies in bloom, a bumblesbee, a butterfly (cabbage butterfly, I believe). Enjoy!!! - V

Monday, June 6, 2011

peacocks

Sunday I went for a walk to nearby Queens Park just south of my place. There's children's zoo with all sorts of birds and animals. I managed to get a couple of decent shots of a peacock (male), front and back. There are two adult males and one juvenile male but the accommodations for the birds is not enough for the number. The peacocks need more space. Enjoy the images just the same! I'll have more photos at a later date. The female, by the way, is called a peahen! - V