The last time our family camped at Hayne’s Point, in Osoyoos, it was 1997, and a small hurricane swept through and overturned all the campsites. My friend was also there camping with her family. Do you remember it Cindy? I think the winds tore the roof off the high school gym. It was a unique and fun trip. When we returned home, I popped into the grocery store to grab some milk and it was there that I heard at the check out counter that Princess Diana had died.

I have packed up the majority of the vegie garden and the numbers are in. With over eighty pounds of tomatoes harvested, I canned 18 quarts, made a huge batch of pasta sauce for the freezer and we have dined on tomato salads for the last month. They are still coming but I have run out of canning steam and am freezing them whole now. They will get used in the minestrone soup recipe I got from my sister. In addition to the tomatoes we also harvested twenty pounds of pumpkin which will see us nicely through the winter with pies and muffins and soup.

My friend posted a picture of her passion flower this summer so I grabbed one on sale for five dollars. It seems happy already. There are a few flowers still brightening the garden scape.

Two weeks ago I was sitting alone in my greenhouse far away from the world at large, trying to save seeds from my yellow tree peony, humming an Ed Sheeran song, when I received a text from my dear friend who has lived in Chicago since the 70’s. She had heard from her neighbour about the death of the Queen and was good enough to think of me and share the news.

If somewhat depressing, an interesting conversation starter at a dinner party could be how you heard about all the “important” deaths/events ie. Churchill, JFK, Lennon, Space Challenger, 911, Diana. etc. I used the word important because I can’t think of a better one but you know what I mean.

For me now, with the death of the Queen, I will always remember the moment that I received that text from Barb as I sat on a summer’s day

in the greenhouse