Happy Easter!!

 Happy Easter everyone! Hope it's a "hoppy" time for you.

We like to have an Easter bouquet with flowering branches where we can hang the Easter decor.

There are Ukrainian painted easter eggs... Austrian painted easter eggs and little Hungarian painted wooden eggs!

And, the little Easter bunnies on a bench... so cute!

Hope there's lots of chocolate and treats in your day!

On the Hunt for Stinging Nettles & Daffodils!

 Hullo! Yep, today is another hike as part of my virtual Pacific Crest Trail adventure. Being a multi-tasker... I like to tack on a mission as part of each hike. Today... it is Mission Nettles and Mission Daffodils!

Let's go!

Errrr... now this is weird... we hiked along the path, along the creek, under the highway and... there is another bridge here!

What is this??? OMG...

They are laying the new water main line (like a mega line) and... it is going right PAST our nettle spot!

This is not good. Not good at all.

I'm kind of scared to see what our patch looks like... gulp.

There used to be a little trail that we would follow through the bush but...

I think it's all... gone... part of this gravel stuff now.

Let's trudge along the gravel (so boring)... but as long as the gravel stays straight like that... our nettle patch is off to the right and...

You have got to be kidding me. They made a big parking spot off the gravel... right smack dab...

In the Decimated Heart of the Nettle Patch (dramatic... yes...)

Oh there are a few stragglers around the edge but...

This... this was Nettle Land... and it is gone.

We did a sweep along the edges and... there are a few patches... And they are almost ready to pick. Will have to come back with our picking gear (double gloves...)

What do we do with nettles? Oh... you blanche them (that puts done to the stinging bit) and then we freeze them and eat them like spinach (like in spinach pie)... But fear not... we have a back-up patch elsewhere... but that is for another day.

The skunk cabbage are out... they are so pretty... and so stinky. It is sometimes known as Bearweed because bears are one of the few animals that will eat the buds and leaves.

But NOT this bear. Hmph. I draw the line there...

Alright... Mission Nettles was a fail but... now it's Mission Daffodils!

We'll just have to dodge this flooded bit...

And scramble up and around...

Oh, cute purple flowers!

But no daffodils yet (they grow wild here you know)... and this little bear needs some for the Bearbnb!

And... errrr... that pile of dirt is moving....

It's NOT dirt... it's an old stump that is literally heaving (that's a British word that Beanie Mouse likes to use when the train is busy)... with ants!

I am not sure what they are doing but they have black bodies and red heads which... to my little bear mind sounds dangerous. Or they might just be Thatching Ants...

Mama was trying to convince me to rest my foot close to them and...

I thought about it for a second and then...

No way!!! I do NOT need ants in my pants!

Cute little crocus out here in the wild...

It's so pretty up here although I did flush some ducks out of the flooded field...

Alright... onwards... through the woods, across the road, down the trail and...

Finally!!!! Daffodils!!!

Yes, there was a more direct route but where's the adventure in that! Wouldn't have seen the purple flower or the crocus or the ants! Plus... I got more kilometres towards the virtual PCT!

Excellent... fresh daffodils for the Bearbnb...

Sandy the Bearbnb Cleaner

 Hello! It's me! Today was a turnover day for my Bearbnb which means... laundry... a LOT of laundry!

We work the washing machine hard and... as you may have noticed... I need to supervise my cleaning team beary carefully.

Today we are also washing throw blankets. They are beary snuggly and fluffy and great to curl up in while watching TV. Right now... my favourite show is the Bridgertons! But... waiting for Season 3 (May and June) is torture...

One thing this little bear has learned as a Bearbnb host is... oxi-clean is your friend... OMG... for stain removal... for whitening and brightening... best stuff ever. And no... this is not a paid advertisement. Seriously, this stuff has saved soooo many towels and sets of sheets!

Right... here's some of the first load, the coloured stuff... this will get hung up on the drying rack. Colours don't like to be run through the dryer tooooo much.

Which means we can start the next load for towels...

Seee... drying rack... so much better for the environment but it does take longer.

Alrightee!!! While the laundry is going... we will start making the beds with the spare sets of sheets.

Yep, this little bear recommends having 3 sets of sheets for each bed... one in the laundry, one on the go and one as a back-up. Hard-won experience speaking here!

 Next time... how this little bear rolls fancy towels!

Another Hike and a Mystery Ship

Hullo! I am doing another hike today as part of the Virtual Pacific Crest Trail... today we are going down to the river estuary to see what we can see...

The bushes are putting out leaf buds! (This was February 9...) It seems a tad early...

Do you see that white thing right above my head... it is a big ship... beary strange... 

It's not a ferry... and it's not a cruise ship... let's zoom in...

Huh... beary strange! We did a quick internet search and...

It is a Floatel (floating hotel) for workers who will be working in Squamish on the woodfibre LNG plant.

The ship is called the MV Isabelle and used to house refugees in Estonia before it got bought by a Vancouver company. It's going to be hanging out here for a few months before heading over to Squamish. Interseting. Wonder if they will do tours...

It's beary pretty down here at the estuary and the tide is in so the river is high.

One of my friend asked what the "Hike" button means... it was part of a three-set of pins that I got for Christmas... part of a geocaching set! The full set is: Hide, Seek, Play... I can't wear them all at once or I will tip over!

More leaf buds!

We are along the edge of an old railway embankment here and the black stuff behind me is coal detritus...

It's kind of neat here because...

There is a carving on the rock over there!

Oooh... and over there... on the log...

Is a great blue heron! Or Great Blue Heron... if you are into capitalization.

This looks like it might be a good swimming spot... 

We came here once... further down towards the mouth of the river in the summer... for the Summer Stuffie Olympics and... the tide was out and the river was low and it was a weed fest... but this spot looks nice.

I poked around the old ruins here for a bit... they always look so intriquing.

With stairs to nowhere...

This, I think, is some old grating that used to cover a crawl space window/opening...

Windows to nowhere too...

And yes... we are beary green for early February (when these pics were taken)...

We had all that snow but it's all melted and the trails are a bit murky.

With big puddles to navigate...

But this little bear is beary careful not to fall into the murkiness!

We also found this sad dumping ground. A bunch of old mattress springs and general garbage. So sad that people do this...

Even sadder was this dilapidated stuffie! Rest In Peace little guy...

Don't dump in the woods!!!! 

It is beary pretty here... and a nice place to catch the sunrise.

The marsh is also beary full of water, which is nice to see. Lots of ducks and other waterfowl.

Now... if I was hiking the "real" Pacific Crest Trail... I would be looking for a place to pitch my tent and...

I think this place would be prefect! It has a fire pit and an ocean view! Need to get myself a tent...