Scavenger Photo Hunt for August

Fortunately, August has been very pleasant weather-wise, making up for a slow start ... consisting of a very wet spring which continued into July. Nonetheless, August is now over ~ students go back to school here after the long Labour Day weekend on Tuesday, Sept. 6. I'm hoping that September will hold some lovely sunny autumny days.

This month's photos have been fun to find ~ here's the summary followed by a larger photo of each, which should also enlarge with a click.

The Fountain photo was taken in Beacon Hill Park in Victoria when I visited for my niece's wedding.

Out of my collection of Boat photos taken in August, I chose one I took a couple of days ago at a marina.

I chose a photo of Mt. Baker for the Mountain category. This was taken from the shore of a resort on a visit to Victoria where the clear blue sky lent itself to the occasion.

At 10,781 feet (3,286 m), Mt. Baker is the third-highest mountain in Washington State and the fifth-highest in the Cascade Range,... Located in the Mount Baker Wilderness, it is visible from much of Greater Victoria, Greater Vancouver, and, to the south, from Seattle (and on clear days Tacoma) in Washington.

My immediate thought for the Street Food category was something bought at the market or fair, however the other evening I heard a special musical sound that meant only one thing and I rushed out of the house to see this disappearing down the street... Wait....

Perfect weather for Picnics, and I spotted a colourful display of appropriate accoutrements. I could see the family enjoying water sports when I took this photo.

This sunshiny bouquet purchased by the maid with the flaxen hair caught my eye at a recent Saturday Market.

I took the liberty of combining two photos for the Festival category. The fairy leading the horse and its riders was in a rural festive parade and I waved my magic wand to transport them into an old growth forest...

I had to quickly whip up a loaf in order to have a photo for the Bread category...I've cut the first slice ~ could you pass the butter and marmalade, please? ;)

One definition of Bizarre would be something that would stop me in my tracks...in order to take another look. This row of choirboys with plants growing out of the top of their heads was one such mind boggling sight. This is only half of them...

another double take was this ...

Fabric category - my niece's wedding dress ~

For Sport, I chose a skateboard and BMX park where energy seems to be non-stop...

The old growth forests seem to fit the Ancient category best. (This was the same forest where I transplanted the Fairy and horse in a photo above). You can get some idea of how large the tree trunk is when you compare it to the size of a human hand (on the left of the trunk).

So that's it for August, and gives you some idea of how I have spent the month.  Wishing you all a splendid September.

I have linked to Kathy's Scavenger Hunt list if you wish to see other submissions.  Kathy is still on holiday in France (after a rather stressful start) so I will publish the September Scavenger hunt list when it becomes available.

Edited to add September's list:

back to school
the football/soccer season
what's in your bag?
relaxation
harvest
a pile of things
your desk/workspace
a public telephone box
something taller than you
apples
a road sign
a view from above

Cherry Tree Part 2

So carrying right along as if I haven't missed a day (or 12) ...

In the dark of night, when the glass sliding door is open and I am only separated from the outside deck by the screen door, I hear rustling and chattering in the cherry tree. I am in the middle of an exciting part in a novel...as my heart beats faster, I turn to glance towards the darkness.

Quietly, I put down my ebook and pick up my camera, turn out the reading light, and tiptoe through the dark towards the sliding door. I gently slide the screen door open, turn on the outside light and point and shoot!

Bandido and his pilfering gang are back at work!

Cherries hanging in couplets take on the appearance of eerie iridescent eyes glaring through the night.

My imagination shivers.

I turn off the outside light, 

close the screen and glass doors, 

and return to the safety of my novel.

Cherry Tree Part 1

As I have mentioned previously, the cherries did not ripen at the usual time this summer. July 1 is a date I look forward to as it's usually the start of cherry picking time. However, the following video was taken July 9, 2011 and obviously the cherries were nowhere near ripe! However, Robins have to get on with it ... and here is a little photo/video to share some sweet sights as I looked up into the cherry tree from the sun deck.

This summer cherries ripened late,

so little robin perched in wait.

At last his mother came in sight

to offer him a fruity bite ... 

or two.

Happy Birthday Daffy

Adding to Flighty's and Nikki's birthday wishes, I send mine as well :)

Happy Birthday Daffy!

What goes up...

Click photos to enlarge.

To add to the kite photos from my previous post:

These Canada Geese stayed up (at least while I was watching):

There is a certain gongish sound that means only one thing ~ so out the front door with my camera to spy not one but two Red-shafted Flickers sending messages not only throughout the neighbourhood but into my living room!




I had found an orange and brown feather in the back garden, and wondered if it belonged to a Nortnern Flicker...and once I spotted this beautiful plumage, I knew I was correct:

Yesterday I attended, for the 15th year straight, an annual summer gathering - and each year I take desserts (perhaps that's why I'm invited back ;)). This year I didn't take any photos though! I made a lemon cheesecake, a chocolate cake, a strawberry rhubarb streusal, and meringues. Who had time to take photos with all that to bake and carry ;)

Last August I had a new deck built, and I have been waiting all summer for a day to give it a coat of oil.  I had oiled the boards originally before they were attached last summer.  With such a wet spring, and the first part of July continuing with unsettled rainy weather, followed by debris on the deck... of cherries and small branches being knocked off the tree by birds and raccoons, it seemed the day would never come. However, today was perfect for the job with no rain for the past few days and none expected! So out with the lambswool applicator ...

Before I forget, when out on a recent walk in a conservation area, I saw this little bird which has been identified as a Juvenile Barn Swallow ~

Finishing off with a closeup of clouds from a recent resplendent sunset from Harzel's viewpoint and a view of a sunset sky from my back deck (imagine that the jet streak is a shooting star...and make a wish):

Let's go fly a kite...

Following on from my July Photo Scavenger Hunt, I thought I'd share more of the kite flying day at a nearby beach in the form of photos/video ... turn on volume as there is musical accompaniment. Also there is a full screen option on the movie, little rectangle icon with arrow on the bottom right.

Guess who with July's Scavenger Hunt Photos!

Please do not faint from shock at my reappearance!  Let's just say I've travelled far and wide in search of the elusive July choices.  Without further ado, here is the summary grouping:

Number one was "Red, white and blue" ~ throughout the month of July I shot various red, white and blue combinations, but the one I chose was a line up seadoos ready for any takers. Were these close to home? Oh, no they weren't!

It all began one rainy day in the middle of July when I was tired of the unseasonable weather. My son was off work for a 4 day weekend and the conversation went something like this:

Me: How adventurous are you feeling?
Son: Why?
Me: I wondered if you'd like to take off somewhere to find the sun.
Son: Where?
Me: Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Son: HaHa
Me: Actually, I'm serious ...
Son: That's miles away...
Me: I know... :)

So we packed up the car and left a few hours later, catching a ferry at 8:15 p.m., driving over the Canada/US border about 11 p.m and stopped for the night (1 a.m.) in Marysville, Washington close to Hwy US 2. The next day we drove all across Washington State, stopping for a couple of hours in Leavenworth,  and then carrying on until crossing the border into Idaho!

The next day in Coeur d'Alene, the sun was indeed shining and hence, this lovely photo of the Seadoos, taken as we walked along the floating boardwalk.

Number 2 - Flip-flops

These flip-flops were a large 'wall hanging' in a local restaurant, and seemed to fit the bill!

Number 3 - Ice cream

I chose this photo of an ice cream cone I was eating while lounging on the back deck ~ the cone is on the left...cherry tree on the right.

Number 4 - Strawberries

This is one of the strawberries that was growing in my garden:

Number 5 - A flag

Since July 1 was Canada Day, I chose a Canadian flag that someone had attached to a stick on the beach.

Number 6 - Fields
So many fields, but I liked the look of this lush farm field ~

Number 7 - Celebration
Today, August 1, is BC Day but this photo was taken yesterday, July 31 when I was in Victoria ~ there was much celebration as cadets from various provinces paraded on the Parliament Building lawn, accompanied by marching bands and much joyous holiday spirit was abounding as we all shared in a beautiful summer evening. (Also out for dinner for my brother's retirement which was the main reason we were celebrating ;))

Number 8 - Sea shells
Of the myriad photos of sea shells I have taken, I chose this one. Each summer some of my relatives come to a seaside resort close by and when I was visiting them during the first week of July, the children showed me this 'butterfly tree' which was painstakingly made by placing seashells in a log that had been 'planted' in the sand. It was quite beautiful :)

Number 9 - Stars

I searched for a starfish for this category and found a gorgeous purple one while I was on a beach walk ~

Number 10 - Stripes

Well, our spontaneous trip to the States gave me ample opportunity to take a photo of the Stars and Stripes!

Number 11 - Kite

Oh my, not one kite found in my July collection, so off to the beach today to see what was up in the air! What a glorious day ~ a sunny seabreezy day - perfect kite flying weather. It was hard to choose from the many...

Number 12 - Happiness

I must say that the natural beauty of my surroundings brings me much happiness, especially a day like today, when the sky is blue, there is still a splash of snow on the mountains, and people are enjoying themselves at the beach. A wonderful feeling of freedom - can you see the kite?

As you can imagine, I have taken so many photos throughout July (would you believe over 1200!)  I have spotted three raccoons in the cherry tree at once.  The cherries this year, by the way, have been 'the pits'!  The cool wet spring and even many wet early summer days have confused the poor cherry tree.  The green hard cherries eventually turned red ... and split!  The animals and birds didn't seem to mind and continue to enjoy dropping exploding cherry bombs onto the deck.  Splat!

A deer has frequented the back yard, and has a little rest there some afternoons.

As I said, I have many summer photos and hopefully I'll feel like doing some blog entries ~ at least before August has run away with the rest of the summer!

Here is the August Scavenger Hunt list hosted by Kathy at Postcards from the P.P. 

a fountain
a boat
mountains
street food
a picnic
market day
a festival or funfair
bread
something bizarre
fabric
a sport
something ancient

I do apologize for not leaving comments on blogs during this last month, however I have been reading them and taking note of all goings on!