Time on the Ocean

Some good friends of mine invited me to go out on the ocean with them in their new boat on Sunday. And of course I took a camera! You never know when there might be a photo op! This is the boat in which we travelled.



And this is the friend who owns the boat.



I was intrigued with the rock formations we saw on the back side of Haddington Island. The colours are amazing!





And finally, I couldn't resist this beautiful cluster of Foxglove flowers!

Feels Like Summer

It's been a while since I've posted here and today is finally the day. The weather has been so beautiful and warm the last few days that it feels like summer is finally here. I couldn't resist taking my little dog out for a nice walk to enjoy the weather.

I don't know the name of these blooms but they seem to grow wild all over here.



This is half of a staircase that runs from my street, down the hill to Beach Street. I usually try to go down it but not up it.



These are Rhododendrons which also grow wild; not just here but all over British Columbia. I've seen bushes covered in blooms that were eight feet high.



I sat for a bit on a bench near the water and just looked out over the ocean to the islands. It's just so peaceful.



Here comes the ferry!



We have a very busy working harbour. Besides all of the boats on their way to Alaska, we have lots of fishing boats here too.

What a Beautiful Sunset!

Haven't seen a sunset like this one in ages! It appeared and disappeared in about a five minute period. I'm lucky to have caught it in a photo. Must be the time of year.

Rainbow Day

The weather today was really quite strange. Felt cold enough for snow and it couldn't decide between sunshine, rain and hail. We had it all. Late afternoon it was raining and the sun was shining. And of course there was a rainbow. If you look closely, you'll see that it's a double. How beautiful is that?

Light Study

Again, the weather out there is amazing. It's quite stormy but the sun is breaking through and there is almost a rainbow now. When I looked out the window, the thing that really got my attention was the quality of the light out there. Right here almost at my feet was the bright emerald green of the grass that is thriving in our early 'spring'. Above the grass the red tinged branches of the bare and leafless canes of the wild blackberry bushes. The sun coming from behind me, over the rooftops is just barely beginning to light the canes. Another step upward toward the skyline and there is the frothing foam of the whitecaps as the wind pushes the waves into the shoreline. The sea is reflecting the deep grey of the passing clouds. The lowest of the clouds are shaded darker because you can almost see the mountains in the distance through them. From there, the sky shades through a grey scale with light spots and darker spots and some that are almost pure white. The sky is bright and ever changing.

The eagles have been here since early morning when I awakened to a pair screaming a conversation from the top of the tree right here. As I'm taking the photos of the study of light, I realize that something is crossing my lens. I take the photo anyway and as I pull the camera from my face, realize it's an eagle flying by just over my lawn. Almost, I could reach out and touch it.

Naturally, The Stormy Weather

Beautiful Stormy Weather

These first three photos are of my view. It was such a beautiful blusterly day.







This last photo was taken through my kitchen window. When I look at it, I can feel the window rattling in the wind and hear the pelting of the rain, slashing against the glass. It's those raindrops that are highlighted in the photo.

Overnight Snowfall

It doesn't often snow here, but it did all night, overnight.

This first photo looks out towards Alert Bay and you can see the ferry in the distance.



This is a view of the snow in my front yard. It's deep for us.



Looking toward the inner harbour with the school bus ferry heading out.



This photo looks out toward Sointula and if you look closely, there is an eagle on the top of the tallest tree in the foreground.

Shells from the Beach

When I make a trip to the beach, I can't resist picking up shells and rocks and beach glass. These are a few of them.

ATC's (Artist Trading Cards)

I didn't really have anywhere to put these. I almost need to start another blog...though I'd rather avoid it. Following are photos of my first attempt at ATC. This is definitely a work in progress. I had fun doing them and learned a lot from them. The five cards represent about four hours work. I did them more or less assembly line style as I was trying to create a series. The last two represent more experimental techniques. I'm not thrilled with them, but they are a good start.

Gorgeous Winter Day

What a beautiful day it was today! It's hard to believe that it's winter though in the first photos below you can see the snow on the tops of the mountains on the mainland. In the second, I wanted to show how lush and green the grass is even though it's Canada and the end of January. No igloos here! Oh, and of course, don't miss the requisite eagle in the tree top.

Wild Birds

It's been an amazing day watching the "eagle tree" in front of my place. There is an eagle who has spent most of the day there and then as twilight fell, I looked out to see a blue heron on the tree top. I'm told that this is very unusual as eagles prey on heron so they avoid their territory.



I wish it were a better photo of the eagle.


Don't forget you can click the photo to see a larger version.

Frosty Morning

Took my little dog for a walk along the beach this morning and we had to be very careful as there was frost overnight and the streets were still a bit slippery. It may have been slick, but it was beautiful. So, here are a few shots where you can see the frost on the leaves. No snow though!



The Canada geese were having a morning swim in the harbour.

Home a Week

I've been home again for a week. Tomorrow is the day so soon I'll be getting back to normal and taking some photos again. It's been beautiful here. Weather and the view.

Full Moon Rising

There it was. The full moon rising over the city...over the mountains. Notice all of the cranes in the foreground of the first photo. Vancouver is getting ready for the 2010 Olympics.

Morning Fog in Vancouver

I was up early this morning and looking out of my hotel room window. The sun rising between the buildings through the fog caught my eye. If you click on the image and view the larger version you can see the shape of the fog swirling. Beautiful.

Ocean Going Traffic

It's been a cloudy rainy day again. Not heavy rain and not constant, but enough to keep me indoors.

Click on the first photo to see an eagle hanging out on the tree top on the right.


The ferry heading out.


A tug, pulling out a log boom. Click on the photo to get a larger view.


Here's the whole boom heading off to market.

November Roses

The climate here is very mild. Our summers aren't extremely warm (usually around 70F) and our winters are mild too (usually around 40F). These roses are still blooming just outside my door. Notice the buds behind the blossom in the second photo. More roses yet to come.

Short Days

It's that time of year. The days are short. It's not light until about 8am and it's dark by about 5:30pm. And we aren't yet to the shortest day of the year so light will continue to be limited for a while yet. On top of short daylight hours, it's been just raining, raining, raining. And who wants to be out with a camera in the rain? Not me and not my pooch.

We've also been having horrific wind storms...which mean power outages. This week we've suffered a power outage and been cut off from the world by a slide that blocked the highway and took three days to open a lane and I hear that today...five or six days since the slide they are still working at the slide site and there are delays in traffic.

I'm working away on things beady so some kind of creative things are happening. I must get out with the camera soon, even if just to record some of the bare trees.