T'was a Lovely Saturday

At my house, the housekeeping has been taking a back seat to outdoor adventures and studio work. What can I say? Spring has sprung. There are gardens to be gawked at, assorted outdoor chores to take care of (how many times a day do you refill a hummingbird feeder? How about two hummingbird feeders?), and walks in the woods, up the mountain... Dust gathers in the house. But our clothes are clean...

Above: Finn the Guide, trying to find the way up the mountain

The vet has declared Finn fat. I'm free to write this on my blog, because Finn can't read and won't be offended if I say it here. What can I say? We got him just over a year ago and he's been well fed... and getting way too many treats, apparently. I'm not too slim myself, so the perfect cure seemed very clear: take a long walk. Take lots of long walks, actually.

On Saturday, we did just that. We walked up the mountain (about 3 km up) and I mean UP the mountain. Very steep terrain. Plus, we stayed off the logging roads, because they are full of nettles. It was hard work and I sweated. Finn looked longingly toward the lower slope. As in "Are we done? Can we go home now?"

Above: Finn-the-large-dog gives an idea of the size of that cedar stump, which was logged a long time ago...

Look at the tree stump above. Can you spot the plank hole below the cut? A plank was inserted into the tree, so the loggers could stand on it to saw the tree down. Here's a link to an image of loggers standing on planks, a long time ago.

Above: Newborn twin deer on the forest floor, a thing of wonder

Not very far into our upland trek, we crossed a flat area, deep in the forest, where these two babies were resting. They are blacktail deer. Newborn, tiny little things... Mom must not have been very far away, they had just been "washed up and licked". Finn spotted them, and pointed them out to me. I thought they were dead, because they weren't moving. But then, an ear moved a little, listening. Although they are only hours old, they instinctively stay still to avoid being spotted. Their mom hid them in an area that is protected from their main predator: eagles. We didn't bother them and walked on. We were on a mission: burning calories.

We continued on our trek up, then parked ourselves at the top and rested a while. Then back down the mountain, on the road this time (4 km), back to our vehicle. Saturday, we really deserved our dinner!

To crown it all, the sunset was beautiful.

Susie's Garden - A riot of colour

Susie was right: the tulips were at their peak. It was worth the trip! To do them justice, I got in close and personal. No wonder the Dutch have always valued them so highly (for a look at the history of Dutch tulip mania, click on this wiki article). After a very long and grey winter on the West Coast, all of us crave bright colours, glowing in the sunshine. Susie's Garden is a symphony of colour. Am I laying it on too thick for your taste? Too bad.

Without further ado, here is the evidence:

You didn't think they needed comments either, did you? And now, we move on from the world of strictly "beauty", to the practical world of eating. Here's a photo of what I call the promise of future good things:

Above: Beans, under cover... the promise of good things to come...

Above: A lovely lily - Susie called it a Fritillaria

After that colourful interlude, we drove on to East Point and walked along the paths and the cliffs, and had a nap in the sunshine. Couldn't get any better than that!

On the Way to Susie's Garden...

So, Susie invited me to check out her tulips the other day, because they were in their glory. It happened to be a sunny day, so I drove out to the other end of the island for a look-see and photo opportunity. I even hummed "Tiptoe through the tulips". Boy, that dates me!

On the way to Susie's garden, you have to drive carefully because you might encounter the Highway Patrol, also known as the Jones Lambs....

They're made a break for it! They got through the fence, and are checking out the world. There are no predators on the island, so they have no fear... And they are not afraid of humans. Below, here's their reaction to my stepping out of the car: they ran to me, "Do you have any goodies? Huh? Huh?"


How could you resist that face?

Once they realised I wasn't carrying any treats, they ignored me and continued on their merry way.

And I drove on, carefully, to Susie's garden...

Sunny afternoon by the water

Today, the weather was irresistible. We had to get out and we decided to enjoy that amazing sunshine and walk the Winter Cove loop, part of the Gulf Islands National Park.

Above: Winter Cove, the long view from behind the salt marsh

Parks Canada has been busy in the Winter Cove sector. Lots of machinery still around, they are not done yet. There will be new paths, new footbridges crossing the wet areas, and so on. My only regret is that they felt the need to block off the access to the waterside trail, for a good portion of the shoreline on the "sunny side". And we all know how important the sun is during the winter... Too bad.

Above: Fawn lilies (Erythronium oregonum), very graceful in the sun.

There are all sorts of treasures on the forest floor, or near the shoreline, at this time of year. Lots of wild flowers are showing up. The Fawn Lily is one of them, but when you look up, you can spot the salmonberry blossom, a lovely shot of hot pink in the sky.

Above: Salmonberry blossom (Rubus spectabilis), high above my head.

While we were following the path, we disturbed some birds that were fighting over something on the ground. Turns out it was a dead snake, and the raven got part of it. Overhead, an eagle patiently waited his turn at the carcass...

Above: One of the Winter Cove resident eagles... waiting for a snack.

And in the distance, we could hear the sea lions that are resting on the Belle Isle rocks. Quite the racket coming from those rocks. They must be getting ready to head North for the summer.

It was a lovely hour of walking, a very nice escape from the computer on a spring day.