Penultimate Day

Heat Wave Looms

Thu Jun 24th

Pacific Banana Slug

It appears that as we prepare to head back to the city,  a heat-wave warning has been issued for the Pacific North-West through to next Tuesday.  Temperatures are forecast to reach between 29c - 37c according to this morning's news, depending on your location in BC.  Saturday, the day of our drive and ferry back to North Van and Sunday, being the hottest.  There will be no cooling Mixal Lake to dip into though there are creeks Jack can swim in North Van.

We rather hope the suite we go back to, which was cool in April being in the North facing lower-back part of the property will be as cool this visit!

On our walks around the local trails, we have been struck by the number of slugs.  Small black ones to the much larger Pacific Banana slugs.  The picture on the right was one of the biggest, as measured alongside my size 11 walking shoe.  

There are no hedgehogs in Canada, though there are porcupines, but they are largely herbivores.  Racoons, snakes, duck and geese will eat slugs.  They would have a feast around here!

Pre-departure duties were largely the order of the day.  Household garbage to the 'Landfill', (though it goes in a container for shipment to 'landfill' elsewhere), multiple bags to the recycling, where virtually everything gets recycled including food and packaging wrappings and food trays.  Then on to BC Liquor for a few bottles of wine for when my fishing pal and his wife came in for drinks later in the day.

Blackberry Blossom
Aside from slugs, blackberry plants seem to flourish everywhere and the amount of blossom suggests it going to be a good harvest for the bears and homemade jam makers.

Towards the end of the afternoon I wandered down to Mixal to see if I could get a picture of the Belted Kingfisher.  We'd seen half a dozen around the lake and there has been a family of four on and around the small island/islet with its solitary tree that marks the boundary of the scout camp.



With no success on the rocky point where I'd been fishing, I moved round to the pontoon and managed to get several shots of one sitting on the scout island tree.

Scout Camp Islet
Time for a quick dip before visitors arrived.  My fitness watch (Garmin Fenix 5x Plus) is great for running, walking and cycling.  In water it is useless and has so far tracked me doing 100m in 5 seconds on land and other equally odd records.

Today I wore it on my head, which is largely out of the water, strapped round my swimming goggles.  Result!  It is a wearable after all and nothing says you can't wear a wristwatch on your head!

We spent a pleasant couple of hours with our guests and learnt more of the area.  They too liked winter here when all the weekenders had gone and the estate was left the half a dozen full time residents.

Although our first impression was that Garden Bay way was quite remote.  As the weeks have gone by we've grown quite fond of the area, though would want to live somewhere with a view.
 





Belted Kingfisher
















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Frustrations of Canadian Immigration Services

Image
And other things  Sat June 1st The pause in blogs was due to Immigration Canada announcing at the beginning of May that a further draw would be made from the remaining pool of the 2020 Expressions of Interest (EOI) for Parent and Grandparent sponsored Permanent Residency.    Friday was the last day and again we did not get through.  The fifth year running.  I suspect that later in the year they will invite a new round of EOI's which probably means we will be a small fish back in a very large pool.  On the grand scale of all suffering and instability in the world, it is insignificant  (I keep telling myself),  but it is hugely, bloody frustrating.  Our tenure continues under the Super Visa scheme, which runs until our passports expire in 5 and 8 years time respectively. Other news ...  on Sunday 27th w e went to a wedding reception. It is the first time I have worn a jacket in over three years.  My boarding pass from our Air Can...
Read more

Cream Crackers & Stilton

Image
Blue Sky in Whistler!!!!! Fred on the Piste - not overly busy Before I get on to Whistler ........ In my early BBC career I spent a couple of years working at the BBC’s Television Centre (TVC), in west London.  This was long before the BBC flogged it and it was turned into an apartment hotel and restaurant complex, plus a few TV studios for the industry to use as a nod to its history.   Amongst other things I did a stint as a studio supervisor and worked on the Two Ronnies, Morecombe & Wise and Top of the Pops.  Anyone remember Pan's People? Phwoar! Interesting times. TV Centre was huge and had several thousand staff. The restaurant block, on three floors, included a waitress service restaurant on the '2nd floor' where stars were entertained by their producers over long lunches and the odd glass of wine.  This was the late 70’s before ‘hair shirts’ and the critical public attention the BBC gets today.   Occasionally, a couple of fellow wor...
Read more

Fall Leaves and Rainfall

Image
Jack Vs Car Sat November 9th Fall seems later this year and the deciduous leaves have been a lovely mix of golds and reds with the predominance of Maples in all of its varieties. After last week's storms, most of the leaves are now down along with quite a few trees.  Further up the Coast a tornado was reported taking out multiple trees that closed the main highway and took out power for local residents for around three days.    A local driver caught the trees coming down on video .  After two consecutive dry summers, 2024 has been wetter with no significant water restrictions on the Coast.  I assumed this was good news until reading an article in the UK press that suggested late autumns are just another sign of global warming. The storm left us without power for nearly 12 hours and a huge number of properties were similarly affected across southern and central BC.  Fortunately we had a good supply of candles and a gas lamp.  Some friends near the ...
Read more