A Wander around Milner Gardens

 Hullo!! Today we are going to a place that has been on our bucket list for a while... Milner Gardens!

First we start with a forest walk...

Which is beary nice. They have even laid wood chips down on the path.

It's a bit of a cloudy day, but that's OK, because the woods always smell better on a cloudy or rainy day!

We are here!

Oooh fancy! Milner Gardens belonged to the... Milner family and they donated it to VIU (I think) to become a teaching garden.

This used to be their swimming pool! And now it's an aquatic garden. Beary nice.

There are a lot of trees here which makes for a nice setting for...

 .... rhododendrons!!! 

They are in fully bloom and so pretty!!!

This Douglas Fir is a beary large tree.

Like... beary large... you don't get a good sense of it from photos!

They even have a labyrinth although we did not walk it because we other places to go!

These are Dutch Irises... we have some in our garden now, and they are beary lovely.

There's a nice view of the ocean from here. We didn't see any whales but you never know...

There's the main house!

It must have been something to live here back then.

We want tea... We want tea... We want tea... We want tea!!!

And look at that... we are getting tea!!! They used to have Afternoon Tea here but it got too complicated for them... so they just serve tea, scones and soup...

And the tea pots even have tea cosies!!

This one is a fruity tea...

First up... soup and a bit of foccacia bread!

And now... the scone... it looks beary yummy... and it is warm...

But the question is the cream... what's the verdict? Is it "real" clotted cream??

We've been to places where they serve you whipping cream instead of clotted cream!!! 

But this stuff is the real deal... maybe not from Devonshire but... it'll do!!

That's an azalea bush... possibly even more pretty than the rhodos!

Although it's kind of a toss-up sometimes...

Well, that was an excellent adventure!!! And the scone was scrumptious!

Handy Sandy and the Shed Roof...

 Alright... it's looking pretty good so far... I think...

Oh, hullo!!! I have been helping with the replacement of the shed roof!! The old metal panels were really beat up and had so many screw holes, it was like swiss cheese... so we go the old panels off, put down new underlay, and then bear-handled the new panels up into place...

Now, let's get the new panels fastened into place... up the ladder we go...

Oooh... I almost forgot!! We got a Bee Barn!!! For mason bees!

And look!! Some of the tubes are clogged with mud... that means that there are little bee pupae in there, ready to hatch next spring. Cool!!

Of course, mason bees don't make honey but... they are super-pollinators...

Alright... back to the roof...

And I'm up!!

Right then... what next... well, we have the fancy grommet screws to use...

The panels were only 12 feet long and our roof needed 12'8", so we had to get some extra bits to cover the overlap.

Ready to fasten!!

And of course the driver's battery died... and then the spare battery died so we need to wait for them to charge...

A perfect time for some liquid refreshment...

And we're back!!

And that didn't take long at all... It always goes quicker when you have fully charged battery packs... speaking of which, this little bear's battery is running low...

Oooh... a treat!!? For moi??

I kind of think my sekrebeary is trying to improve her score for the end-of-the-year sekrebeary evaluation...

Is it a bribe? Mmmm... I don't think so...

It is a delicious pain-au-chocolat though!!!

Yum!!! 

A Day at the Beach

 Hullo! Today we are going on adventure... all of us!!!

First... we stopped in Qualicum Beach and... went to the beach!

Now, if you remember... Cocoa and Navy had quite an experience last year when Navy took Cocoa out on his "boat" (a generous use of that "word") and a storm swept them far away and well... it wasn't pretty...

So... Navy... no plans for any boating activities today, right? We are all staying on terra firma?

Oh, absolutely!!! And... I brought a life preserver in case anyone gets swept out to sea...

Umm... Sandy... I don't know about this expedition... that life preserver won't fit any of us... let alone you!!!

Right then... we are duly warned... stay away from the tides and don't get swept out to sea!

 

There are some nice flowers here...

And a wave tail!!!

The tide is quite far out and you could walk for miles here.

But we are just having a little poke around... to see what we can see...

We found a tiny little crab (deceased)...

And an upside down sand dollar (possibly still alive...)

We flipped it over... so it was right-side up.

Hope it makes it!

This is a dead sand dollar... 

And we found a much bigger crab (also deceased)...

This one was quite large!! Wouldn't want to meet a life one... those pinchers could take off a stuffie's ear if we weren't careful!

Well, that was fun!! But we aren't done yet... we have another adventure nearby... stay tuned!