We visited a favourite winery for lunch.
It has fantastic views of Okanagan Lake from its perch high above on the western side …
… and an excellent restaurant with, of course, excellent wine.
It was so good in fact that we had to do some walking afterwards – with lots of extra water – to make sure we were safe to drive home!
Happy Thursday.
All photos taken on April 11, 2025. We opted for a bit of a changeup today. Obligations kept us close to home until 10 AM, but once we were done our …
Peaceful Gardens
A beautiful visit to the University of Victoria’s Finnerty Gardens from Allan at 10PLUSYEARSIN. Please click the link above to see the rest of his gorgeous pictures.
I recently had an interesting conversation with one of the groundskeepers at the nearby Japanese garden about the fish in the pond there and learned a lot about the differences between koi and carp.
Koi are a domesticated, ornamental variety of carp that are the result of centuries of selective breeding for lighter colours such as orange, white, yellow and the mottled types as well. The behaviour of koi is also different; they are much less aggressive than carp.
Carp are a dull greyish brown and sometimes difficult to spot in the water; of course that is one of their natural defences, something that koi no longer have.
The fish in the Japanese garden pond are a mix of koi and carp; people have apparently been randomly dropping carp there after they become too big for their home fish tanks. In the pond they have been growing and multiplying rapidly because they’re eating everything in sight.
In the photo above, you can see quite a number of dark coloured carp; the groundskeeper says there are about 30 of them.
At the moment plans are in place to remove the carp from the pond in the autumn when their activity slows down; the koi will once again have their pond to themselves.
During the next winter the groundskeepers will also be on the lookout for otters. Last winter one started living in the garden and helping himself to the koi; apparently about half of them were consumed before the otter was trapped and moved to another location. That otter must have thought he was in paradise!
Happy Thursday.
(The answer will be at the end of the post.) I saw this cute little robin-like bird while out walking.
Very unafraid, he or she let me get within about a metre (3 ft) which I needed to do since I only had my cell for photos.
The size, wing-configuration and body shape all shouted that this bird is a type of thrush – so are North American robins – but when I saw it walking, the gait was definitely different. Robins will do a combination of hopping and walking, while this bird was a very confident walker with rather largish feet for its size, I thought.
I also had the sense that given the colouration, this little one might be a female or a juvenile from this summer.
Once I got back home and was able to do an online search, I learned that this is either a female or juvenile yellow-headed blackbird which means that it’s a passerine, not a thrush. They live among the bulrushes – which explains the feet as they need strong ones to grab those grasses as they perch, especially if it’s windy – near water and I discovered this little one on a railing above Okanagan Lake.
As you can see, in addition to the yellow heads, the males also have white wing flashes. These birds like to migrate to Mexico for the winter, but in some places they remain all year. The Okanagan Valley is apparently one of those places.
Happy Wednesday.
Revelstoke is a small city in the valley between British Columbia’s Selkirk and Monashee Mountain ranges.
It’s known for its challenging, vertical drop black diamond skiing in winter, but we were enjoying its summer hiking trails instead.
Happy Tuesday.
When I first took this guy’s picture, I thought he had hurt his wing. It looked like he had maybe torn the top of his wing where it folds against his…
Great Blue Heron
A beautiful heron picture from Anneli at Words from Anneli. Please click the link above to see more of her lovely wildlife photos.
Osoyoos is a community at the southern end of the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, and is directly next to the border with the United States. It’s only 60 km (37 miles) south of us from Penticton. We recently visited and took some photos of it from Anarchist Mountain, which at 1491 metres (4892 ft) above sea level provides some excellent views.
Osoyoos is at the northernmost tip of the Sonoran Desert and can be extremely hot during the summer; it’s quite arid year-round. It’s known for its fruit orchards and the dry conditions also produce some stellar red wines. It’s a great place for outdoorsy summer holidays with lots of boating, swimming, camping and hiking and is definitely worth a visit if you like those activities – with maybe a nice glass of wine in the evenings!
Happy Sunday.
We had a heavy rainfall overnight – something that’s welcomed since we still have drought conditions – and the next morning the weather had left a beautiful flat calm as well as clearing views of Skaha Lake.
I love the gentle ripples that entirely covered the lake’s surface.
Happy Thursday.
We have just completed 24 hours of slow, gentle rain, truly a gift for this parched, hot area. Fear of massive fires such as we had last summer were always with us, but we’ve been getting enough rain to keep the orange monster at bay, thankfully.
There are still signs of dryness but the soil has lots of moisture now …
… and the ponds are full.
Happy Sunday.
These trees are about 120 years old and continuing to do well, but you do have to stretch a bit to see their tops …
… look up, waaay up …
… and then from a distance …
… tree art (with a beloved friend in the foreground).
Happy Saturday.
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