All things bright and beautiful!

Elle and Fairy roses from the rose garden; Gerberas from an appreciative staff member; a sunny yellow face from the front garden~ all thumbnails are clickable for larger photos








On Thursday, Tour de Rock visited our school for the seventh year in a row, just before heading on the next leg of their journey south. Here are some of them getting ready to ride into our gym to a throng of awaiting children to cheer them on.

The Canadian Cancer Society Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock raises money for pediatric cancer research and programs for children with a history of cancer. The 24 member Tour de Rock cycles from one end of Vancouver Island to the other, over 15 days, covering 1,000 kilometres. There is a youtube video of Tour de Rock if you are interested.


As you may know by now, on Fridays, a few friends/colleagues and I spend some time relaxing after the work week. After having worked indoors when the weather has been so beautiful outdoors, it is heavenly to sit on the deck and enjoy the surroundings.

I have been waiting for one of the red darters to land like the ones I saw last fall, and on Friday I was very fortunate!

I first spotted what I think is a caterpillar known as Yellow Bear, (Virginian Tiger Moth)--Arctiinae/Arctiini/Spilosoma virginica or Hairy, for short.

Yellow Bear caterpillars are densely coated with yellow or orange (occasionally even red or black) hairs and grow to approx 2 inches. Feeds on many plants including birch, maple, cabbage and corn and found throughout.

When Hairy (Caterpillar) met Sally (Red Darter) ~

Sally noticed Hairy's golden hair glistening in the sunlight ~




Hairy, who'd always had a thing for red heads, noticed Sally's wings and her slender body sparkling in the sunlight ...






Sally waited for Hairy to come and meet her ~







Sally waited ...

and waited

and waited some more...

Finally, she thought, "What the heck!" and flew to meet him ...

However, when Sally arrived, not appearing too eager, Hairy paid no mind. Sally was downcast!





How was she to know that Hairy was thinking, "It is so nice when you can sit with someone and not have to talk."



Leaving you with a sunset on the other side of the mountain ~

Happy Birthday, Flighty - Whoops!

Now you know why Frog Newton turned up when he did! Just to wish you Happy Birthday on September 25! Turn on your sound, and don't forget to check out the 'click here' as well! ;)

I will be busy for the next couple of days, so I thought I'd better send greetings before rather than after!

Hope you have a great day, Flighty, and all the best for a wonderful year ahead.



Well, I just realized it's not your birthday at all...where is my brain hiding??? You're a Scorpio and your birthday is in October! I wonder whose birthday it really is? Perhaps, Frog Newton's! I have no idea ~ I'm quite embarrassed. However I really love the frogs singing Happy Birthday, so here you go, Flighty have a lovely unbirthday and forgive me for my mistook! LOL

A Whale of a Post!

I do believe this is my 200th post, so in honour of this, I'd like to post some photos taken by some friends who were out canoeing and kayaking in the local waters a week ago. There were 6 friends (3 couples) out on the waters when they spied a pod of Killer Whales or Orcas. The bull whale came between their boats as if to check them out, while the rest of the pod swam around them. The sun began to set adding shades of splendour to this awesome experience!






I have been so busy since school started up again, that I've hardly had time to think, never mind blog or respond! I even missed Frog Newton's return, however we all know why he turned up at this time, don't we?

Last Long Weekend of Summer

This last long weekend of summer is called "Labour Day" weekend, and school for students starts tomorrow bright and early!

Talking about labour, I have been working very hard and long since I got back to work a couple of weeks ago. I worked from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Friday in order to get everything ready for tomorrow. More student registrations coming in, and phone calls requesting records for those who had moved away...makes it difficult to keep the enrolment list up-to-date!

On Saturday, I drove north to a city to purchase some school supplies and other items. The change in the weather is obvious from these photos.








Sunday, I had to get the pears canned as they were ripe and ready! First, I picked a large bowl full of grapes so I could use the grape juice in the canning process.




Juice:

Finished product:

Today, I was invited to my friend's farm, and when I came back home (with a bag of fresh produce!) I began baking muffins and tartlets for the staff meeting tomorrow morning. I also have some fruit I'm preparing for a platter... and hopefully that will get us all off to a good start for the school year! Then I'll have to transport all the supplies and goodies in my car in the morning!

Labour Day Weekend, indeed! I need a holiday ;)

Humming Along!

Yesterday afternoon, when I looked out of the kitchen window, I was happy to see this sight ~



Earlier in the summer, I placed two pots of salvia on the edge of the deck to attract hummingbirds, but I'd never actually seen either of them being 'used'. Trying to take decent photos of these speedy little birds is difficult ~ so I thought...video...

It's a little shaky because I was so excited and I wasn't using a tripod, but I hope you enjoy the little hummer flitting in and out of the salvia ~ as viewed through my kitchen window.