I’ve been so indecisive when it comes to travel this year. So many places I’d love to go, but still quite a lot going on at home. I finally made the …
Jo’s Monday walk : Italica
I hope you enjoy this very interesting travel/history piece from Jo at Still Restlessjo. Please click the link above to enjoy a tour with Jo through the ancient Roman city of Italia.
All photos taken on October 18, 2024. We have many fond memories of Emerald Lake near Field B.C. We stayed in Emerald Lake Lodge three times, when …
A Real Gem of a Walk
Beautiful photos of one of our Rocky Mountain treasures, Emerald Lake, courtesy of Allan at Picture This. Please click the link above to see the entire set. Thanks for sharing your pictures of this gorgeous spot with us, Allan.
Since it’s not too far past Valentine’s Day and thoughts of love may still be lingering, I thought this little item might be of interest. The Wall of…
Wall Of Love
There’s a lot of love in this Wall of Love from Sue at Getting the Picture. To read the entire post, please click the link above.
It recently occurred to me that this blog has been running since October, 2012 – quite a long time. Although it’s not my blogversary, I feel like doing a photographic “looking back” series and posting some pictures that have been buried for a while. These are not necessarily great photos, they’re just photos that I like, that evoke strong feelings.
These pictures are from an early autumn holiday visit to the Okanagan Valley in 2012. We knew we loved it, but didn’t know then that we would eventually move here.
Good memories of a lovely holiday.
… photos, that is, from 2024.
Thanks for the memories, 2024. Happy 2025.
We are back home now after a lovely mini-break holiday in Victoria. On the way home we drove through the Cascade Mountains which encompass an incredibly large area from Kamloops in British Columbia all the way down the Pacific coast to northern California.
In Canada, there are a number of subranges of the Cascades, including those on the west side of our home in the Okanagan Valley, the Okanagan Range.
Although some snow had fallen, the trees and shrubs were covered in a layer of frost caused by the cloud and mist which treated us to some very beautiful seasonal scenes.
We arrived home to 5C (41F) and were happy to be back after our little break.
On our way back home from Victoria, we stopped in Richmond which is just south of Vancouver. M grew up there and we took a little tour around to his old teenage haunts.
The seafront has an eclectic mix of fishing vessels, sail boats, restaurants, coffee shops and townhomes.
After the wind storm that walloped Victoria and Vancouver had died off, the weather was gorgeous with a flat ocean calm and clear, sunny skies.
The weather was so good, in fact, that I spotted someone paddling an ocean kayak (the small red vessel toward the mid-right of the photo).
Sunny December days are a gift and we certainly enjoyed this one, especially after the weekend’s storm.
Happy Monday.
We awoke to a very windy day. The ocean was extremely churned up and lots of surf was being flung about.
With the gale gusting to about 80 km (50 mi) we definitely needed raincoats against the wind-whipped spray.
Although it was windy the temperature was about 9C (48F) and it wasn’t raining, so in a good windbreaker/raincoat, I was comfortable.
I found a group of periwinkle flowers growing in a rock garden next to the ocean, but despite being soaked by seawater they seemed completely unperturbed.
I very much enjoyed watching the surf and listening to its pounding roar – the heart of all life on earth.
Happy Sunday.
During the winter in particular, the city of Victoria experiences near rain forest conditions. As you can imagine, that means lots of green.
Because of all the moisture, the moss is particularly well developed.
It ranges from these little yellow bits …
… to these long, luxurious strands …
… and can even envelop whole tree limbs to such an extent that other plants decide to grow in the moss. The thick layer of moss on this tree branch is now providing a home to a fern family.
So not only is the grass still green and many of the plants and shrubs are still vibrant, there is the added and ubiquitous presence of moss and its lovely hue, a distinct counterpoint to the overcast and rain of the season.
Happy weekend.
We are taking a mini-break holiday to Victoria which is on Vancouver Island, an hour-and-half by ferry from Vancouver. We had the most beautiful day for the drive through the mountains and then for the ferry trip.
Happy Thursday.
In the Net! - Pictures and Stories of Life 