Over the past few months, I鈥檝e been surprised at the new businesses that have opened in my location. The pandemic has caused some closures, certainly, but obviously there are people who see these uncertain times as an opportunity.
Are they crazed risk-takers? Maybe not. Most Canadians won鈥檛 be travelling south or to tropical areas this winter. They may still need a break, a pleasant place to visit and perhaps stay for a week or two. And what part of sa国际传媒 has the mildest winters?
Anyway, that鈥檚 what I鈥檓 hearing: The winter may bring a busy 鈥渢ourist鈥� season, as people across the country seek a safe location for a winter holiday.
Fresh, unique businesses bring an uplifting optimism and energy to a community, especially in troubled times like these. The careful monitoring of safe distancing I see in stores is also encouraging.
Among the new enterprises are a men鈥檚 clothing store and a boutique shop specializing in locally made products made with sustainable materials. A popular caf茅 has been transformed by new owners into a bakery by day and a specialty restaurant in the evening.
A menu posted by the door was intriguing enough to draw me, with a friend, inside a restaurant for the first time in seven months. We chose a spot in a back room with three well-spaced tables.
It鈥檚 a small operation, run by a couple who offer unusually creative dishes based on locally grown and foraged vegetables and fruits, and local seafood. My friend had cod in a buttermilk sauce with baby spinach and purslane, and a zucchini and apple dish in a separate bowl.
I was delighted with a squash dish: curled ribbons of pickled, orange-fleshed winter squash served over cubes of cooked squash in a sweet red pepper sauce.
As one of the owners greeted and spoke with couples who came to occupy the other two tables, I noted that they were out of town visitors. The restaurant has aroused much interest. I鈥檒l be back from time to time as the weather changes, to see how these inventive chefs transform foods that we grow in our gardens into epicurean highlights in a meal.
Bulbs and more. I stroll through several of my local garden centres often at this time in the year, looking for hardy spring bulbs, winter container plants, and the odd perennial or small shrub for adding to the landscape.
On my latest visit to an outlet near my home, I picked up some stocky young pansy and viola transplants for the bowl-shaped planters on the patio. To fill two oval planters set in an old hammock strung between trees, I bought for each planter a colourful heuchera (coral bells) and a heather. Extra pansies and violas will fill in the rest of the space in those planters.
I鈥檒l make another trip back soon for dwarf irises, crocuses and miniature daffodils to set into the patio and hammock planters.
I also came across a shasta daisy (Leucanthemum superbum) with lemon yellow flowers, which I have planted in the garden. It鈥檚 called Real Sunbeam. I鈥檓 fond of the several, typically white-flowering shasta daisy clumps that have bloomed in my garden for years, and I鈥檝e long wanted to add a variety with yellow flowers. I鈥檇 noticed one called Banana Cream listed among the perennial plants in the T&T Seeds catalogue.
When I came to the bulb section, the first thing I noticed was the number of colourful packets marked 鈥淣EW.鈥� This garden centre had decided to bring in more than the usual number of the year鈥檚 bulb introductions. I swiftly selected some of them.
Among the Triumph tulips, which I like for their classic beauty and sturdiness, I chose a dramatic one called Slawa. It鈥檚 a stunner with burgundy petals so dark they are nearly black, edged in deep rose and bright coppery orange.
As a companion tulip to Slawa, I selected Apricona, another Triumph in soft rose pink with a slight hint of orange flaming.
New among the miniature daffodils is Arctic Bells, a 鈥渉oop petticoat鈥� type of narcissus with delicate, flaring blooms on 10-centimetre stems. Each bulb produces several flowers, which open pale cream and slowly, over several weeks, turn ivory.
I鈥檒l soon go back to that garden centre to choose a few more bulbs for a display of potted flowers on the patio in the spring.
