Our favourite time of year: October..
Thank you to Anne, Marlene and Claus, the photographers who contributed some of the beautiful photos.
And while we especially love autumn at October Sunrise, all four seasons bring amazing natural beauty and lovely views.
A note on the water garden:
September 2020, the end of the first pandemic summer: With our kids all grown up, we realized how little we had actually swum in our pool that year. It had been looking pristine all summer - all the while, just like every year towards the end of pool season, we were dealing with a daily occurrence of traumatized (or worse) frogs and dragonflies in the skimmer basket. We sat back and wondered if there was a better way, more suited to our country setting, and to the way we live.
Enter the crazy idea of transforming it into a water garden. With the help of valuable input from qualified people and extra muscle from friends to lift the heavy pond liner in place, we wasted no time and got to work. Before the end of October (and after a few curveballs), we had energy-efficient bubble pumps bubbling and water flowing.
A busy spring of planting the water garden in 2021 rewarded us with an exciting array of water lily blooms, pond plants and aquatic life. A few fish have been added since, and seem to be thriving.
Sorry to those of you who used to enjoy a swim in the pool! More than ever though, our backyard is a fantastic spot to lounge, sunbathe and relax, well beyond the short months of the Canadian pool season. Another significant benefit: It provides us with a beautiful view all year round, and much increased activity of birds visiting our gardens. Bye bye chemicals, plastic tarps and waste, hello naturalized water feature. It is still maturing, and we learn as we go along.. a fun adventure in itself.
September 2020, the end of the first pandemic summer: With our kids all grown up, we realized how little we had actually swum in our pool that year. It had been looking pristine all summer - all the while, just like every year towards the end of pool season, we were dealing with a daily occurrence of traumatized (or worse) frogs and dragonflies in the skimmer basket. We sat back and wondered if there was a better way, more suited to our country setting, and to the way we live.
Enter the crazy idea of transforming it into a water garden. With the help of valuable input from qualified people and extra muscle from friends to lift the heavy pond liner in place, we wasted no time and got to work. Before the end of October (and after a few curveballs), we had energy-efficient bubble pumps bubbling and water flowing.
A busy spring of planting the water garden in 2021 rewarded us with an exciting array of water lily blooms, pond plants and aquatic life. A few fish have been added since, and seem to be thriving.
Sorry to those of you who used to enjoy a swim in the pool! More than ever though, our backyard is a fantastic spot to lounge, sunbathe and relax, well beyond the short months of the Canadian pool season. Another significant benefit: It provides us with a beautiful view all year round, and much increased activity of birds visiting our gardens. Bye bye chemicals, plastic tarps and waste, hello naturalized water feature. It is still maturing, and we learn as we go along.. a fun adventure in itself.
Podolski and Bernstein, pictured above, are pleased that thus far, no scary guests have showed up to dine,
such as the guy below, who - apparently - finds plenty of fish just down the road, by the 12th Line bridge:
such as the guy below, who - apparently - finds plenty of fish just down the road, by the 12th Line bridge:
Much to the relief of the October Sunrise frog population also. So far, so good.
See you on the 12th Line in East Garafraxa - at October Sunrise Farmhouse B&B.