Island Adventures

Hullo! Goodness... it's been a long time since I posted... sigh... you know the story... sekrebeary falling down on the job. I have been having adventures... so she gets high marks for that... just sad marks for the follow-through! Anyhow.. we went on an island adventure!

We are going over to Newcastle Island on the little bumble-boat...

That's the waiting area down there... but I don't see a boat... it must be coming.

Oh, I see it... way off in the distance...

Oooh... there was also this eagle hanging around waiting as well... don't think he's catching the boat though.

There it is!!

And here we are!! It's sooo nice over here. Lots of people bring their kids to spend the day.

As do the Canada Geese...

I think these goslings are getting swimming lessons...

 Alright, let's go!

Nice totem pole... the lower figure is a bear...

And this one has a beaver down below... see the big teeth and the tail?

Oooh... this tree has been cut down since we were here last - you can see the rot in part of it. Maybe it came down in a wind storm and they tidied it up?

The tide is going out so let's see what we can find...

There's a dead sand dollar...

And a golf ball...

Maybe it floated here from some golf course?

There's a live sand dollar...

And tracks from... sea gull?

It's so nice here... we also found an upside down starfish on the sand...

So we turned him right side up and put him in some water but... it was kind of shallow...

So we put him in some deeper water... that's better!

Those little crabs sure have good camouflage!

 And there's an oyster here too... well, lots of oysters... but we only took a photo of this one.

I think these hole-y sandstones are sooo cool! Apparently... they are created by salt weathering/erosion... huh... go figure.

And some of them make perfect hiding spots! Can you spot me?

This is a perfect place to play stuff hide 'n' seek!

Even some of the logs are full of holes... but those are from teredo worms I think.

So much for a little bear to explore along the shoreline!

Alright... let's mosey along the island and see what else we can find.

Nifty trees in weird shapes.

It's so peaceful here... and hardly any of those human folk around!

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day!!! Whew! What a party... I had some official duties today... you know... all those tourists wanting pictures with the Royal Canadian Mounted Bear. So what's a bear do at the end of a long day?

Ahhh... slip into something more comfortable and put my feet up... And Garçon!... I'll have a drink please... a Canada Day sized drink!

There we go... what's in the bubba mug? Not telling... gotta maintain the reputation of the RCMBears!

Mowing the Hay Field (a.k.a. Front Lawn)

Holy macaroni... the grass sure grows fast. This was back in April and... a bear could get lost in this!

It's definitely time for a mow... and I think I better supervise this...

And... we're off!!!

And done... more or less... it's a shaggy cut because the grass was so long and lush. But at least a bear can see a few feet in front of him!

Bees!

Guess what - we have Bee Stamps!!! Yes we dooooo!!! I think a couple of little bears named Jerry & Ben might be interested in this.

You what they say... where there's bees... there's honey somewhere!

There are two stamps....

The left one is the rusty-patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) - the first Endangered Bee species in Canada... huh... that is NOT good! The metallic green bee (Agapostemon virescens) is one of many sweat bee species that dig their nests in the ground. Hmmm... I wonder if that's where the honey is too?

Save the BEES!!! Without them... there would be no honey... and a bunch of other stuff!

Backyard BBQ

Hiya! Look at that bleeding heart - soooo beautiful... but... the real action is....

over here... yep... some super-yummy sausages roasting on the campfire...

I thought of inviting some friends but... sekrebeary issues meant that didn't happen. Ugh.

They look good, don't they?

And with potato salad too...

This is a bear's life!!!

Garden Update (out of date)

Er... hello... this post is a bit... ummm... delayed... These photos were taken in mid... *cough*Ap*hack*ril*wheeze*. Ah-hem... let's get on then, shall we?

Right, so we planted some kale... it's always good in smoothies.

There are some leeks left over from last year. We read that if you leave them in the ground, the bulbs multiply underground and you'll get young leeks next to them... so we are trying it.

We're also trying some kohlrabi this year... because it's supposed to be good in coleslaw... hoping it works OK.

And in this trench... are our baby potatoes...

It's hard to dig a trench in a raised bed but... we'll give it a shot. And along the bag of that bed are peas and sweet peas.

Ummm... yes... the grass is a bit long...

Note to self... do not leave pots on lawn too long...

Hey, tulips are coming! They look unhappy though - don't think they like their neighbours in this bed...

Trying to rat-proof the compost bins. Made a frame for the base with that super-duper rat-proof wire underneath. Silly rats.

And here we have spinach and mesclan...

Great in salads!

Our winter kale is still going strong (well... it was in mid...*cough*Ap*wheeze*ril*hack*...)

Rock garden is looking very good.

It's good to have lots of flowers for the bees you know.

Those pink things are primroses we got from an old abandoned property up the road (before the backhoes tore the place apart). They are WAY better than store-bought primroses. More flowers and more hardy too....

So pretty!

We have one Euphorbia plant - it has nice chartreuse-coloured flowers but... when they start to go to seed, we have to cut them off otherwise we'd have a million baby Euphorbias!

Love bleeding hearts!

Oh... and in the greenhouse we have some squash seeds incubating....