Pub Crawl

Standing on the pier, we had to take this art shot of the pair of our shadows on the water. It was at this point, staring at the water that we knew we would have to quickly progress up Sunshine Coast highway to our wildlife destination, the Grasshopper!

Madeira Park

A trip up the coast to Madeira Park (and the Grasshopper Pub of course) was on the cards for a beautiful spring day. It was still slightly on the cold side but blue skies, sunshine and activity around the marina gives the pair of us the impression that winter may in fact be over.

Trapped

There is so much light now, over twelve hours a day, looks like we will have to start that gardening thing again (Karen has already started) although I still find myself fused to the couch, unable to escape the incredible gravity of sponge, wood and fabric....

Not a Sandwich

Apologies, but I appear to put a photo like this up every year, here are the North Shore Mountains in their glory today from Marine Drive, I was going to take a picture of our sandwiches at the Black Bean Coffee shop, but instead I decided that the view out of the window was a better one.

Friendly Follower

As we walked down towards Marine Drive, a friendly follower tagged along, carefully dodging oncoming traffic, wary of the roads, a seasoned traveller if ever we saw one.

Spring!

The flowers have been around for a few weeks already yet the weather has not been "Springish" at all. That changed today on our extended walk, blue skies, sunshine and the bees were out, doing whatever they do.

Morning

It is March Break, Morning and the sky is blue, light, fluffy clouds and as everyone is away or with the kids, we have no paddle today.

The light filtering through in Karen's room called out for a photoshop moment, so here it is.

It must be Thursday...

Oh Hail the Spring

The start of spring and the weather is so bad at the moment that we had a hailstorm this morning (they had snow in Sechelt on Sunday morning). I rushed out to take a picture of the phenomenon and, as Karen predicted, it stopped immediately.

The Acura is nine years old tomorrow, fifty-one kilometers short of fifty-six thousand.

Happily, it's still water (and hail) proof...

Top of the Hill

The school at the top of School Road, the twenty-one percent hill in Gibsons (I believe they would call that a "one in five" hill back in the UK) - as you can tell, I took the camera on walkabout today.

Benjamin

Ben has adjusted to being the most important member of the household and is now running the show. There was a week or so after his brother, Bill, went missing that he seemed confused about all of it and had lost his appetite.

Who knows what goes on inside an animals head in those circumstances, seventeen years with a little brother and then suddenly, all alone at night.

The task at hand is to keep him happy as he approaches his nineteenth year, find out what he really wants to eat and of course, remind him every day that he is the king.

Standing Room only.

Canada is a big country, but for the obvious reason of greed, houses are being built on smaller lots and so, to maximize living space, they build them with an extra floor. The traditional single family dwelling here in Gibsons is being replaced by the likes of what you see here on Gibsons Way, exotically named "Islandview Lanes" which currently have a view of the Islands. That is true at the moment, but will change when someone builds higher on the next lot down.

Build Them High

The townhouses down at the main road junction with Crucil are moving towards completion, not quite typical of construction around here although some features are common, wooden siding, pointy roof etc. These townhouses start at around three-hundred and sixty-six thousand Canadian dollars and yes, there are eight of them on the lot.

Homecoming, a welcome at the Marina

This guy, on the Gibsons sign, was huge, probably a two or three year old, moulting adolescent feathers, we banged our paddles and as the eagle flew away, we could see it's white tail. In a few months time it will be a majestic adult. There is no scale to judge it by, yet a crow was on the other end of the sign and was about one sixth of the size.

Howe Sound, Just before Spring

I'm never on these, stuck at the back, steering the bloody boat (I actually don't do anything, just put my feet up and let the girls drag me all over Howe Sound).

Friday OC-4

There is hope of spring, today, a great hour long paddle over to Soames Point, a break in the drizzle, low cloud but a calm journey out, a few wildlife moments and hopefully, we are back in business.