Blackberry Season!

 Hullo!!! It was blackberry season in early-mid August!! And we went blackberry picking... several times.

Well... this little bear technically "supervised" blackberry picking because: (a) blackberry juice and bear fur do NOT mix and (b) blackberry canes are prickly!!

Ooohhh... look at them all!!!

So big... so ripe... (this was the first crop)... so juicy!!

We were out in the early morning and started picking and...

Within 20 minutes... our 2 litre bucket was full! Enough for what we have planned.

We are going to make blackberry liqueur... or blackberry cordial if you prefer (did that just rhyme?)... We are going to make 2 batches...

First you need a ridiculous amount of sugar (3 cups)...

Then you need 3 cups (750 ml) of good Canadian (*cough*) vodka.... We read labels you know...

You pour the vodka on top of the sugar, add a cup of water... We use 2 litre jars...

Then you add 3 cups of blackberries and pray the whole thing doesn't overflow (it did not)...

Then you set it in a dark place and turn it once or twice a day so that the sugar dissolves... See... it's already changing colour!!!

Stay tuned for updates..

Wandering Below the Cleveland Dam (Part 2)

 Alright... we are at the Cleveland Dam and... almost down to the level of the river (which means we've come down 300 feet!

They have some big old fir trees here!

Isn't it magnificent?

Beary impressive!

And down near the river, we came across some beary finely layered clay...

Which is glacio-lacustrine clay from the Ice Age time... laid down in glacial lakes... nifty.

We are down at a view point in the canyon and... this plague said that there is a door below the dam... say what?

Over there? Way over there???

Oh, we need a slightly different angle... 

OMG!! There IS a door there! Well... a gate... let me see what we can get a pic of... it's just above the centre of my hat...

There!!! Do  you see it?? OMG! It's like the Gates to Mordor in the Lord of the Rings! What the heck?? 

Well.. apparently it leads to a tunnel system that was used during dam construction. There used to be a wooden staircase that led up to the gate... And it is used by workers to visually inspect the dam from below.

See... that's it on the botom right... cool!

Alright... and now where to... what is that down there?

A fish hatchery is down there??!! That's definitely on our list!

And yes, a lot of people go fishing here... it's a great salmon river!

This is the bridge over the river and...

See... no fishing above this bridge.

But we are not fishing... but we are going to look at the fish!

TO BE CONTINUED

Goats on the Roof!

 Hullo! I am in Coombs at Goats on the Roof!

We stopped here for lunch but... I don't see any goats...

Maybe they are having lunch? Our lunch was yummy... a falafel wrap!

And now we wait patiently with the camera at the ready and...

There!!! A goat!! On the roof!!

After lunch, we wandered by the pastry counter... 

They have some delicious offerings like bear claws (yum!) and macarons (macroons?).

But we didn't get anything...

I know... scandalous, right?

Then we had a look through their housewares section...

As Beanie Mouse would say... this place is heaving with people!

Do we need a Goats on the Roof sticker??

Or a sign??

How about some salmon??? No??? What is the world coming to!

Editor's Note... there was ice cream but it had to be eaten fast in order to avoid a meltdown...

And then... we came here! To our favourite lake... Cameron Lake... this was back in July before that Wesley Ridge wildfire started...

This is the best lake... the water is a nice temp... it's sandy out there (hah!) and it's sooooo clear!!!!

Plus there are cool things to take photos of... like this big old cedar rootwad.

And what is this???

Maybe... a canoe being carved???

That's our best guess... and we didn't stay long at the lake cause Rose wasn't here... but... she did come later in the summer...

FYI... we had sooooo many adventures that we are over-run with potential blog posts... hence posting a July adventure in September! It's not due to sekrebeary delays (at least not this time...).