After I moved into this apartment I decided that the grey wall-to-wall carpeting needed something extra; specifically, a dash of colour. So I ordered an 3′ x 5′ area rug that I thought would coordinate with the window pelmets (or valances) and really tie the room together as the famous designer, The Big Lebowski, once […]
This week’s hike with the Harbour City Newcomers was at Walley Creek Trail. It was a short but sweet walk, at first along a trail lined with aspen trees that were leaning in to reach for light. Then we enjoyed a surprise side-trek to an opening in the forest where trees had been harvested in […]
Tomorrow will be the start of Advent in the Western Christian tradition. That means you can start taking the chocolates out of the Advent calendar, and you can begin putting up Christmas decorations. Some of us use a different tradition and start putting up decorations as soon as Hallowe’en is over, which explains why some […]
I have been intrigued to watch some of the yachts in the marina being prepared for winter. They are wrapped up like the most difficult to wrap Christmas gifts. That reminded me of the year my parents bought me a hula hoop, but that is another story. There is something very sweet about swaddling a […]
You know how it is when you try to do the right thing but it turns out to be the wrong thing? Well, maybe you don’t. You probably always do the right thing. But anyway, that’s what happened to me. Doing the wrong thing unintentionally, that is. Here’s what happened. In my apartment are a […]
We took the long way home from our hike on Monday to drop by Yellow Point Lodge. It is in a perfect location to enjoy the ocean views from an isolated location within a forest. We did not visit the lodge itself, but we did enjoy the view.
This is for everyone who has experienced brain fog with Covid-19. Eventually, the fog lifts.
Roberts Memorial Provincial Park is in Yellow Point, British Columbia. It is a lovely short hike through ancient trees and abundant ferns to the coast where there is a view of Ruxton Island and Valdes Island. We also saw a sea lion and a loon that were happily ignoring each other and us.
It just occurred to me that I like having lots of different things on the go at the same time. Sometimes I can do something like crocheting or writing for an hour, and sometimes I can do it for four hours. At the same time, though, in between times I have other activities that keep […]
My recent move has been a joy. Really. I love everything about my new place. As time goes by, though, I have come across a couple of peas under the mattresses. The first was the difficulty I had in receiving deliveries, but that is now resolved as effectively as possible. Not perfectly, but live-with-able. The […]
The weather forecast is for snow tonight, so before the leaves are all blown away or covered up, here are today’s colours. *Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost Nature’s first green is gold,Her hardest hue to hold.Her early leaf’s a flower;But only so an hour.Then leaf subsides to leaf.So Eden sank to grief,So dawn […]
Yesterday afternoon, after the heavy rainfall and before the strong winds came through, there was mist.
When I looked outside this morning, I noticed something out of the ordinary. There was a grey (or gray) boat in the marina. The fact that this stood out as unusual caused me to wonder why most yachts are white. It had not occurred to me before, but virtually all the vessels that are docked […]
Today I went with two newcomer friends to this wonderful park. It has the best of everything; beach, ocean waves, enormous old-growth trees, bright ferns, geese, ducks, and even a seal sighting. The trails are very accessible with wide flat paths and there are several lookout spots with information on the land, sea, and wildlife. […]
Originally posted on Notes from the U.K.:
If you’re even vaguely awake (or as our former and once again active home secretary would say, if you’re a Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokeanista), then you’ll know that Covid has some new variants, and that they have good publicity agents. So how much sleep exactly should you lose?…
Tonight I succeeded it making the best french fries I have ever made. To be fair, I have to qualify that by adding that they were prepared and frozen originally by Western Family, the store brand at my local grocery store. I must also explain my claim to french frying brilliance by adding that I […]
Here are some of the many shorebirds that I see when I walk along the harbourfront in Nanaimo. In these photos are gulls, crows, and some birds that I think may be either plovers or killdeers. I will appreciate identification from any birders who see this. They are always a delight to watch and surprisingly […]
All along the beach at Nanaimo are the broken shells of shellfish. The gulls and other shorebirds have figured out that the rocks are a great place to smash open these little calcium carbonate structures in order to feed on the inhabitants If you have seen The Lion King, you know all about the circle […]
After I read about a magnificent sculpture of a humpback whale made of driftwood, I was inspired to go out and take a few pictures of driftwood on the beach near me. There is a surprisingly wide variety of types of wood and textures, and some pieces look as though they have lived a very […]
Snowbird of Paradise 