The Anchor Weekly – The Chestermere Lake News

I have two adolescent boys. Along with an undying love for sports, a burning passion for music, and quite the bent on becoming the funniest guy in the room, these boys love to fish. And by love to fish I really mean that they are obsessed. It doesn’t matter the time of year, where we are, or how long we are going to be there: if there is a patch of open water with a chance of fish below, the sky of possibility is opened and conversation turns to fish species, lures, reels, rods, and ultimately the best way to [...]

January is often known as the month of ridiculously cold weather, cars that refuse to start, and boredom bordering on depression. Short daylight hours seem to exacerbate any inane thoughts we’ve had for the day, and the prevailing wind just keeps blowing that irritating viral cough around the family, with everyone in the house sounding like rusty chainsaws in their sleep. Well take heart, January is also a month for anticipating warm weather to come, leafing through gardening catalogues, scouring landscaping websites, and starting garden seeds indoors! What to Seed Jan 15-31 When discussing the calendar year in horticultural circles, [...]

As I went out the door on my way to work this morning, I caught a glimpse of a cedar waxwing in a mountain ash tree by my driveway. Success! After setting food out for these elusive beauties for the past month and a half, finally I saw one in my yard! Bird watching – the term really drums up all sorts of images. On the one hand, it sounds so passive, and evokes comical thoughts of octogenarians executing bad park jobs along busy thoroughfares, armed with canteens, uncomfortable camp seats, and a penchant for sleeping while “watching.” On the [...]

At the end of the holiday season each year, when we take down our Christmas tree, I am always shocked at how barren the living room looks. The large punch of green that the Christmas tree provides really warms up the interior, and I can’t help but feel that we have lost too much ambience as a result of removing it. Well, this year I have decided to take the bull by the horns and update the interior landscaping in my home! My List of Things to do Clean – Taking down decorations and the Christmas tree often means moving [...]

In the last article, we examined frankincense and the interesting cultural, biological, and historical associations with this product. This week we look at myrrh, another sap compound whose usage dates back to 5000 years ago. Like frankincense, myrrh is a plant derivative. Heralding from the thorny, shrub-like trees commiphora abyssinica, commiphora myrrha, and commiphora giliadensis, myrrh has traditionally been harvested from the abundant stands of these plants located in Northern Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Eastern Mediterranean. The oleoresin (read: part essential oil, part resin) is produced by allowing the tree to bleed through cuts made to its bark. [...]

Frankincense and Myrrh – part 1 of 2 Following Christian tradition, the three wise men brought baby Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh; specifically, gold for a king, frankincense for God, and myrrh to embalm Jesus after death. While gold is pretty self-explanatory, have you ever wondered what frankincense and myrrh actually are? The answer is that they are both sap compounds derived from trees! A look at both of these products is interesting and culturally relevant to not only all of the three current, major monotheistic religions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam), but also to the ancient, pagan civilizations [...]

Snowy fields and Christmas carols abound at this time of year. What better way to bring the festive spirit indoors than to adorn your home with a fresh-cut Christmas tree? Forget the nay-sayers and Ebenezer Scrooges out there; fresh-cut trees are gorgeous and can be very easy care. Enjoying a meaning-filled history, Christmas trees were first conjured by a monk from Devonshire in the 7th century, who held that the practice of bringing a freshly-cut evergreen indoors intimated ever-lasting life, holy beauty, and joy. Although less religious in nature, this tradition of having a fresh cut evergreen Christmas tree indoors [...]

In the last three articles, we explored a few of the high performing, easy-to-grow indoor plants for our Northern homes. Tropical, succulent, and cactus plants are all wonderful additions to your indoor space; offering beautiful foliage, shape, and texture, these plants can be mainstays in your interior decorating for years to come. But what if you already have green plants in your home and are looking for some pizzazz for a dining room table, or a quaint burst of fragrance for a your bathroom vanity, or need a show-stopping house warming gift for a friend? The answer is flowering houseplants. [...]

“Cactus” – the word drums up all sorts of images. The romantic will envision scenes of towering saguaros in the Texan landscape, barrel cacti in terra cotta pots lining the stairs of Moroccan villas, and flowering cacti tucked into the windowsill planters of university professors in the Ivy leagues. The satirical will envision crusty old in-laws in loveless marriages, uncomfortable seats for political leaders, and Road Runner cartoons where the coyote just can’t get ahead. For the indoor plant enthusiast, the word “cactus” and it’s over-arching name “succulent” evoke yet other images of low maintenance, long-lived, functional, and beautiful houseplants. [...]

Last week, we talked about what a houseplant actually is – namely a plant that natively grows outdoors in warmer climates and which we import to our indoors. Care for these plants is dependent upon the area from which they herald: houseplants from arid regions should be kept on the drier side, and plants from tropical regions should be watered more often and require a higher relative air humidity. This week, we explore some of the excellent tropical varieties that can be grown with relative ease in our Northern homes. Philodendron The name itself tells an interesting story: coming from [...]