Song for Friday...the good news for a change

Each and every one of these men is WANTED!

By their wives, mothers, sisters, fathers, brothers, children, cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and friends...

The media is hyped, the bandwagon is full...

But what a Good News story to follow.

I bet everyone wants to sing along with Sam and Dave!

Have a great weekend.

Hug your loved ones.

stuff...

I was going through some 'stuff' in the barn the other day...

You know...'stuff'.

The things you put away in boxes.

The things you don't really use but don't want to lose.

Some stuff has sentimentil attatchments that brings back chapters of your life...

Maybe an old lover, a place in your childhood, a book you just can't let go of.

How about those old LP's? 

Fleetwood Mac, Joni Mitchell, Boston...

Some stuff you put in boxes and later realize, it's time to let it go.

Maybe it's just extra stuff that you forgot to take to the Salvation Army.

These pictures are from a box of random stuff, but they mean the world to me...

You see, they were on our wedding cake 11 years ago, which my dear old friend, Sylvie made.

Not only that, but she and her kids at the time, hand painted each and every one of these happy, dancing people. They are only about an inch high and must have taken them hours...

I knew I had them somewhere and had put them away to keep.

I hadn't forgot about them, just knew they were somewhere with a bunch of other 'stuff'.

And then, there they were. In my hour of need.

I was feeling a bit low...down in the dumps...just one of those days I guess.

Sometimes going through 'stuff' can bring you down or take you to places you might not want to go...

But on this day, with this little tiny bag of dancers, it took me to a better level...

I felt like her...the one in the orange and green.

Good Stuff!

A good, old fashioned country sale...

Saturday and Sunday, my friend Irma hosted a combined vintage goods-studio sale at her place in Cobble Hill.

But first I had to drive Up the Malahat in the fog...

This was the view for most of my 45 minute trip.

It was the first time she's done this but may make it an annual gig...

The ducks were roaming but Benita was safe in her barnyard...although she did protest a bit about that...

There were baked goodies from Rhianna..

jam from Dee...

Lots of great treasures in the barn for sale...

The studio was full of beautiful things as well...

Jewelery by Jenny...

Lamps by Irma..

More lamps and paintings by Fiona...

 More objects of beauty, including a few of my needle felted creations..

The rains came in the afternoon but that made the ducks happy...

...time to catch up on the local gossip, with snoozing in between...

It was a good day for me to catch up as well, with friends I don't see enough of.

Taking flight...

The other day, Tom and I decided to go for a hike up in East Sooke Park.

There are many parts of this 3,512 acre park on the south eastern tip of Vancouver Island.

We started our trek at Aylard Farm.

Still a few traces of the people who once farmed here back in the early 1900's...

rose hips and galls brighten up the greenery...

The path leads from the fields to the start of our climb...

Don't let the sign fool you, it's much more than a 'hill'!

The first part of the walk is deep in the woods...

 I can't help myself for taking MORE pictures of mushrooms and fungi...

The knobby shelf ones...

The trumpet, orange ones...

The 'lean on me' buddy ones...

The hedgehog ones...

The heavily multiplying ones...

The one who fell in love with a feather...

And every so often, you run into one of these banana slugs, ready for it's close-up...

Then things start to lighten up...

The landscape becomes drier and more scrubby...

Still a few mushrooms even up here...

This is one of my favorite lichens...

Up close, it's like this tiny little ghostly forest...

Up higher, the lovely Arbutus trees become more abundant.

These trees with there pale olive brown skin, shed their bark instead of their leaves...

Many a painter has been inspired by such beauties...

And then, finally, after an hour and a bit, we reach the summit!!

The view is spectacular today, the clouds give everything texture and depth...

Looking across to Washington State; Port Angeles, Hurricane Ridge.

 But this is the reason we climbed this high...

Turkey Vultures.

Every year at the end of the summer, they gather in large groups, sometimes up to 400 and ride the thermal updrafts before they migrate south. Some as far as Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America.

These are strange, big birds with a wingspan of 6 feet. They only weigh about 3 pounds and are weak flyer's, therefore depending on the thermals to aid them in their travels.

(photos by Kaceelyn on flicker and Harry Fuller of towhee.net)

After spending some time watching these magnificent birds, it was time to head back down...

Into the woods...

And home to rest our weary bones...