And the Winner is...

We have no idea who won, I'm sure it's online somewhere...

Spectator Sport

We took two vantage points during the races, the Black Bean coffee house and of course, Gramma's pub. This has been a week of heavy drinking and we did not let something as significant as a big canoe race get in the way of alcohol.

 

Outrigger Races

So, we ended the week with the Outrigger Races here in Gibsons, Exciting stuff (if you were in a canoe) however, not really a spectator sport, they started, went missing around Keats Island, then came back two or three hours later. Gripping...

Benjamin : July 1st, 1994 - August 14th, 2012

Yesterday was such a sad day, Ben had been declining for quite some time and we wished that he was immortal, but he wasn't. There were so many health issues for the little lad, too many, so we made the decision for him. This big house is so quiet now without the Ben and his cheeky brother Bill yet we will always remember all those times with the little rascals and their happy noise.

Bill and Ben the flowerpot Kittens.

Happy Trails.

Bear Aware

A couple of shots from Wednesday morning, another bear (might be the same one) on Bruce's piece of land over the road and then down the road outside Shane's house.

Lightshow

Big thunderbangers tonight and an amazing lightshow.

Friends

The neighbours have been talking about a cat who has made friends with a local young deer, we saw it firsthand tonight (in between bear sightings), the first picture was the little cat, collar and bell, sniffing or nipping at the deer's heels.

and the second, well, amazing stuff.

The deer was still in our back yard later when the bear came back.

Nature Day

A walk down Reed Road today and Karen pointed out a young coyote, then on our evening walk, walking back up North Fletcher, we actually bumped into a large bear coming out of a driveway, he backed up and we backed up (and I forgot I had my camera) but managed to get a couple of pictures of his back end.

and another:

Later on this evening we saw him again at our house, Karen watched him walk past the car and down to the creek. Exciting stuff.

The old Codger

I may look miserable, but secretly I'm tormented by bliss.

Howe Sound

The sign says, no swimming, no diving, and hey, rules, what the hell are rules?

Looks like these guys missed the ferry.

Trigger

Of course, our ancient horseless carriage waited patiently to take us for an afternoon coffee and muffin down at the Black Bean.

Water Babies

Today was far too good to ignore, a jaunt down to one of the local beaches and a swim in the Pacific. The water was actually quite warm, relatively speaking that is, and there were lots of happy people down at Hopkins Landing.

Fairmont

The month of June went by pretty quickly, after a great visit by "the mother" we ended with a trip to the airport and the Fairmont for some delicious grub and a relaxing hour or so, then "Little Pat" flew back to the old world for a well deserved rest.

One thing for sure...

...is that Pat loves her beer.

Evil Utility Companies

June was the month of saying goodbye to one evil utility company (Coast Cable) and saying hello to another (Shaw Direct) so we put a post up in the back yard (with help from mother) and the nice man put a dish on it. Actually, we didn't get rid of Coast Cable completely as we kept internet with them, so what we have is an extra bill every month.

Tinier

They say if you follow them to the end of their rainbow they will give you a pot of gold.

Gospel Rock, June 2012

Tiny

This guy was about 8mm long, smallest grasshopper I've ever seen.

Esplanade

Down on a walk we spotted this Eagle (it was actually on the wall of a shop in Gibsons) but coincidently, down at Ocean Beach Esplanade we saw a full adult trolling around the beach, annoying the crows. (No, I'm not talking about the mother-in-law). Later on in July, on a trip out to Plumper Cove in an OC-6 we saw a mating pair flying close to the water, fifteen feet from our canoe.

Her Outdoors

The mother, mother-in-law, monster-in-law arrived by the big white bird and we picked her up from the airport, took her (she insisted) to the nearest bar for a beer (Steamworks) and then home for a cuppa. The next day, the first walk (Reed Road Right) was a wet one, but brollies are essential on the We(s)t Coast.

Blog at a Standstill

Two months have gone by very fast and this blog has been at a complete standstill, although photographs have been heading towards the hard drive. The pair of us were complaining that we had no summer, no summer and then it arrived and we went outwards. Then mother arrived and beer was drunk (evidence of that coming up) and then it was suddenly July and now suddenly August. So without further procrastination...