Footprints at low tide

The day started off slightly overcast and breezy, but before long turned into a beautiful blue-sky spring day. I went to town to purchase many fruits and vegetables to create some platters for work ~ I've decided to do them myself rather than order them ready-made. More on that later, once they're done.

On the way home, I stopped to take a photo of the 'host of golden daffodils' in the downtown area.




I drove by the beach, and it seemed to be the lowest tide ever ~ sand seemingly stretching for miles. I parked my car, changed into my beach shoes, and off I went! I walked barefoot on the sand for the first time this year :)



I spotted numerous Bonaparte Gulls which are quite dignified with their black heads perched jauntily on their white and grey bodies!







Here's a proud fellow with a packaged lunch!



The tide was so low, that there was an abundance of clam necks or siphons, sticking out of the sand.This shows the distribution of the littleneck clams, which is what I'm assuming these are.

There were also large holes (1 1/2" in diameter) in the sand, one of which "geysered" at me as I walked by, which made me leap and squeak!



There were live sand dollar ~ the dead ones get bleached by the sun and are white.




Various types of seaweed were visible ~ crab-like claws on this one ;)



Of course, I mustn't forgot the butterflies






There's always one in the crowd! This fellow was making a bit of a ruckus for some reason, and I said to him, "All that noise is not really necessary on such a lovely day!" Luckily there was no one around to hear me, as I realized I'd said it out loud!



On returning home, I weeded in the rose garden, and took some photos of a few flowers in the rest of the garden.

My favorite shot ~ forget-me-nots ~




One of my wallflowers is finally blooming ~ I love the fragrance! I also found my first strawberry blossom in a window box, and some grape hyacinth with a background of cherry blossom.










It was a thoroughly enjoyable day, topped off by the smell of the BBQ cooking away as my son surprised me with "Supper's ready!"

Eagle Cam

Here is a link to a live eagle cam situated on the southern part of Vancouver Island. Three eaglets have hatched and the photos of the adults feeding them are amazing. Make sure your sound is on!

Spring Sonnet for L and J

That was a little sonnet I wrote for Liv and her beau, after I walked home from work past all the beautiful blossoming trees ~ which of course, brought young love to mind ;)

Some other photos I took on my walk home:










I also spotted some Pieris japonica that Nikki was blogging about :)


and from my garden, my camellia is blooming ~ it has grown so tall this year ~



A wind picked up later on, just before sunset, and the clouds looked like a storm was brewing, however it didn't amount to much ~








No cherry blossom photo in the sun yet, but at least it is blossoming ~



A golden touch on the Pink Dogwood branches in the front as the sun set ~

Weekend Update

Well, that was an interesting weekend! On Saturday I noticed there was some lint build-up on the floor at the back of my clothes dryer. I donned my knee pads, and descended into the crawl space, with a light to make sure that the ducting was in place. All appeared OK. Back up I came, then I gently eased the dryer away from the wall and realized that the connection needed to be more secure. I googled for more information ~ and then off to the hardware store. The first store didn’t have what I was looking for, so on to the next, where I had more success, including being introduced to “foil tape”, which is the proper duct tape for this type of job. Home I came, to attempt to connect the dryer to the exhaust ducting through the hole in the floor. However when I was fiddling around with the original 90 degree elbow, the thing broke apart, which is where the problem may have been! Stores were closed by this time, so on Sunday, back to the hardware store for a new elbow, and two clamps. After much fiddling about with my arms squished behind the dryer, trying to insert the various parts and screw the clamps in place, I managed to complete the project. I don’t know how many hours I spent at this, but if I was paying myself, I’d be rich! No photos, because I was too busy concentrating on what I was doing!

On my way to the first hardware store, I took a couple of photos of the daffodils near the beach.






Today, on my way back from the hardware store, I took a moment to drop into the woodland garden where they had a plant sale and bought two more roses…they’re not very big, but hopefully will come to like my small ‘rose garden’. One is Aloha and the other is Chrysler Imperial. No photos, of these either, because I was in a hurry!

However I did notice a bright skunk cabbage on my walk through the woodland garden to the nursery where the plant sale was being held. Here’s an article about skunk cabbage that I found extremely interesting ~ the author thinks a better name would be ‘swamp lantern’ ~ which I think suits it much better!



Guess what? The cherry tree is starting to blossom ~ although it wasn’t a sunny day, it was pleasantly warm, which seemed to spur it on!



While I was checking out the tree, I noticed that there was a party going on in one of the hummingbird spouts (the little cage had fallen off). I’m not that keen on looking at bugs up close, especially when it’s bedtime, but thought it was a good shot of them.



Sweet dreams ;)

Sunshine on flowers

Here are a couple of photos taken on Tuesday late afternoon ~

Garden tour (mine ;)

I thought I'd better post this slideshow of my little 'garden tour' quickly to hide the photo of poor little gremlin rabbit cake!

There were quite a few signs of spring around the place ...

Soggy Sunday, Sunny Monday

I said I wouldn’t be posting a picture of the bunny cake, however yesterday morning I heard my son chuckling downstairs. When I asked him what he found so amusing, he said…”This cake ~ It’s kind of cute, in a messed up sort of way.”
Here it is, ready to be transported:



Unfortunately, after a couple of spring days, Sunday was a blustery rainy day! On the trip south, the roads were busy and very wet! However, it was great to spend the day with my sons who always enjoy each other’s company. My brother also came by and was pleased to see there was some bunny cake and eggs left for him, too. Most of the time was spent indoors because of the weather, but just after turkey dinner, the sun came out, although it was still windy. I took the opportunity to go to the park to check on the flowers. The blossom trees were gorgeous, and many line the streets. The blustery weather had sent the petals flying, coating some cars which then appeared as if they were decorated for a wedding, with confetti strewn all around.



Because it was so late in the day, there was very little light filtering through the trees, however I did find a bright patch of tulips.





Can you say a bundled up person on the shore? Still very windy!



We decided to head home about 10 p.m. instead of staying overnight and got home just after midnight. It was a star-lit drive, and the roads were nearly clear of traffic.

Monday has dawned bright and clear, so I’m looking forward to spending a day at home before heading back to work tomorrow.