Next stop; old memories displaced!

Coombs, Vancouver Island, billy goat on a environmentally tuned roof.

Yes, these goats really do live on the roof. I had to climb the steps of a nearby church to be almost level with the rooftop to get these shots.

I wanted a full range shot of the market but my camera was not co-operating and so alas I have no view from the road showing the market which is underneath the goats, which is alright with me as my past memories of Coombs are wonderful.

Years ago when the grass was greener I remember my older sister taking me and little bro to Coombs for an adventure to see the goats and of course to get a humungous ice cream cone. Of course thats a highlight not soon forgotten, so when my son was little his dad and I would once in a while cruise out to see the goats on the roof and buy ice cream cones. It was a quaint little marketplace then. Over time it had filled with artisans who produced wonderful handcrafted articles, which for me made for a wonderful jaunt on a sunny summers day where one could buy free range eggs and farm produce, and chat with artisans while they worked, it was a wonderful destination. Sadly time alters all things and commercialism tends to broom in and sweep out the hand-crafters. Four years ago we stopped in Coombs and though the goats were still on the roof the market had expand and many little commercial shops had set up replacing the hand-crafters with tourist trade imported junk. Though a few artisans could be found amidst them, it was quite a disappointment.

Four years pass, step into 2010. The market is now highly commercialized to the point that everywhere I look is imports from China.  I have a strong belief in supporting local artists so we wandered into a few artisan shops but they have lost the quaint appeal as they tended to be a mix of imports and local work. So sadly in this over-expaned market it was difficult to find local works amongst the overpriced commercial imports. From the church steps looking in one direction are goats, the opposite view are huge chinese lions.

This dragon pot seemed to be standard fare for the market now along with a big  Chinese imports warehouse that I didn't enter. Pleasant memories of ice-cream and goats on a quaint thatched roof market are replaced by greed of make-a-fast-buck commercialism. Alas, time does not stay still.

May your day be filled with Love and kindness, a smile travels a long ways.

Vancouver Island Wildlife Recovery

This fella was singing while we picked blueberries in Surrey BC with my brother. Wish I had the room to do canning while traveling as we paid about $3.00 for a pailful, whereas the stores in Edmonton were selling a mere handful for that price. It was wonderful to toss plenty into blueberry pancakes, mmmmm-good. We prepare all our food ourselves from scratch, no mixes for us, just good ole-fashioned healthy take time to relax and prepare wholesome food.

Next stop Naniamo area on Vancouver Island

A white raven in rehab at the North Island Wildlife Recovery Center on Vancouver island.
My wonderful niece gave us a grand tour as she has been there a few times previously, thank you Ashley. I was wanting so much to see a white raven though it was sad that the only one we saw was behind bars, I presume due an injury. I could not get a clear decent shot, so thank goodness  Gerald got good footage on his mini-cam, which I will use when it comes time to do the painting that has been gestating for about a year now.

Hey let me out, I want to fly!

Turtle, turtles, we love turtles, ya, ya ya!

There is a pathway around the grounds that take you on a mini-tour past Australian black swans, turkeys and a rooster to this sweet little pond full of turles.

We got to attend a talk on Barred Owls at the centre.

They had some good displays of bird and animal skulls and birds nests but my 50D camera was still acting up  since it got out of rehab so I ended up with a lot of crappy-no-focus images, grrr!

As of this point the camera is back once again for repair. Maybe I should have stuck with a Rebel as my old original one is still going strong. Or as my cuz says "should have gone Nikon"

Look at me, I can fly free!

An artsy-fartsy shot of a weathered carving.

this may be my favourite shot of the day, reminds of an Emily Carr image.

20 minute lake

In Manning Park is a pretty little pond called twenty minute lake. I presume that normally it may take that amount of time to walk around it as it is quite small, though I believe it took us about an hour due stopping for photo-opps. I love the seasonal colors of Creation that we get to experience. Kanata is a beautiful an gorgeous county that is quickly being eaten away by corporate gluttonous greed. I pray that my grandchildren's generation will be far more sensible with the land and air than those presently in power.  

Reflections of brilliance: lone loon.

This is the closest I have ever been to a loon. My excitement mounted as it swam towards us coming within 20 to 30 feet from the shore granting fabulous photo-opps. We were surprised to see a loon on such a small body of water and I wondered aloud why one lone loon was there. Sadly to say that further along the path Gerald found the loons mate, or what was left of it.

Beautiful little chestnut-backed chickadee. I was keeping an eye out for boreal chickadees when this fella briefly came into view.

It drizzled just so slightly, enough to keep mist on our faces and furnish droplets on sunshine color lilies.

I noticed tiny flowers that kept bowing their heads to the earth, and what do I sight, a big ole bumblebee.
Nature never ceases to amaze.

Maning Park, BC

Here is the wonderful stream that flowed by our camp. With the coffee perking and the enticing chirp of wee birds I set about to catch a few images; though due subdued morning light conditions it took me a bit to figure out what setting to use, but I managed to capture a few wonderful moments.

Chipmunk was busy scurrying about paying no heed to me and my camera tinkering.

A morning mist rainbow slide right down the mountainside as the sun forced the fog down into the earth. It only lasted moments but was spectacular.

A wonderful morning pose.

A beautiful bug, I love the colors.

the journey continues

 

Full res crop of the previously posted humming bird

Smoke Haze from the wildfires in BC add an interesting thickness to the Okanogan atmosphere.

Passing through the Okanogan we stopped to admire the colorful beauty of a male Krestel.

Gray on gray as the light diminishes to dusk.

Pulling into a campsite at Manning Park at aprox 8pm we made a late supper in the mountain twilight. Then after a stroll around the park in the dark of the mountains shadows we retired to our couch-cushion make-shift bed and were pleasantly lulled to deep sleep by the gurgling murmuring flow of the river.

Ahh, what a beautiful serene memory.

Creston Birds

 Creston area was abundant with songbirds feasting on saskatoons at the beginning of august and at the end of august the marshes were filled with migrating ducks, geese and heron gaining energy for the imminent migration south. Here are a few more birds from Aug 7th. 

Western Tanager, female.

Young Robin starting to gain its red-breast feathers.

Crazy-bird-lady posing with a pair-of-dice.

No clue as to identity, though I figure its a warbler as it was quite small.

My first photo of a humming bird, this is the best shot cropped so you can see it, the rest were a blur.

Anyone care to attempt an identity for me on theses last 2 birds?

Gray Catbird, a young one who has not attained the darker cap yet. I was thrilled to hear the mew of the cat-bird throughout our journey.

First camground

After firstly visiting our grandchild for a couple of days we decided to travel south to Hwy #3 rather than Hwy #1 as 250 wildfires inundated the interior of BC with thick smoke. We encountered one bad section where smoke hampered clear breathing, though thankfully we passed through it in about an hours drive. Many areas held smoke haze but for the better part we had a clear breathing journey west to the coast.

Smoke Haze from wildfires.

The first night we camped in Creston  BC at a wonderful little campground filled with the chatter of various birds that were gorging on dehydrating saskatoon berries. Of course while Gerald set up camp I attempted to capture a few birds. Though the evening shots are not clear I had a second chance in the morning while coffee was perking. There is nothing quite as refreshing as campfire perked coffee, though due fire-bans we had to use the propane cookstove rather than a pit-fire.

Early bird enjoying the morning sun under a banner of saskatoons.

Not only were saskatoons abundant, so were the mosquitoes. We spent half the night swatting bugs till we super-duct-taped the screen around the mini-van window. Seems those hungry suckers could smell blood and managed to find small crevasses to crawl through. Duct-tape, never leave home without it!

Small ground forager. This bird was fun to watch as it scurried bobbing up and down amongst a heap of cut grasses and twigs. 

Even the Robins were enjoying the dry berries.

As bright and cheery as the rising sun a Western Tanager blessed me with its presence, which made my day even better.

Western Tanager, male.

And of course I cannot forget the resident rodent which was also scurrying around the grass-clipping heap, not sure what he was looking for but he also seemed to relish the saskatoons.

Have a greatly filled with sunshine and love. Hugs!