Northlands

I am loving the Canadian land - around Terracotta the land is so rich and fertile, with its verdant summer growth and the variety of greens is amazing - delicate and coarse, light and dark, muted and bright. The farms are so neat and ordered whilst the natural vegetation can be very untidy (which I like).

I

I see many natural plants that are known as herbs and exotic species in Australia - Northern American native herbaceous perennial plants like Goldenrod (Solidago), wild Tansy and wild mint (it was maybe wild Penny Royal) - Goldenrod can be used as a natural dye for yellow colour.... this plant was in my mother's garden when I was a child.

Further north the land is different - The Canadian Sheild (Laurentian Plateau) is Precambrian igneous rock that covers north from the Great Lakes to the Arctic Ocean, covering over half of Canada It is a area of strength and beauty with echoes of First Nation peoples - . along the Highway 400 there are Innukshuks on top of the rock structures on the sides and middle of the road where the road has been carved/blasted through the huge heavy rock outcrops... this was very exciting to see.

Here is a small Innukshuk made at the Cottage at Lake Larimer

Lake Lorimer, near Parry Sound, was a beautiful quiet and magical place. It is privately owned by a friend of Hugh and was owned by the family for generations.

The Cottage at Lake Lorimer

Early in the morning David and I canoed around part of the lake, watching the Beavers, Loons and other wildlife doing their thing, and we observed more closely the plantli. Later while walking we saw squirrels and chipmunks running around and eating things.