If they could talk...

Spent the day poking around my favourite little

thrift store town, Sidney, B.C.

But before I started 'the hunt' I noticed the tides were

finally low and so I went down to the shore to have a look.

Not much of a beach but sometimes you can find a few

interesting bits and pieces from a fire

in the early 1900's...

I did find one rare piece of red glass...

...the bits of green seemed to be calling my name too and 

a bit of printing on a worn piece of pottery...

I am a sucker for an old suitcase and couldn't resist this 

cute little leather one with a sweet interior...

Whenever I find one I always want to know...

"Where have you been?" 

"Which exotic ports did you see?"

"Did you travel from far away on a train? plane? horseback?"

Who's initials are engraved on some suitcases?

There's also the little metal tag with the number 1819 on it which

I doubt is a date...do you know?

Like I said, I have a small collection of vintage cases that

I use for storage or taking goods to shows.

 

They are sturdy things, for sure, stackable and can take a licking...

The other great find was this whimsical cheese holder and knife!

 It's pewter with the name Metzke printed on it and I researched 

it to find out it was made in Tallahassee, Florida in the mid '70's.

So the hunt was successful! 

Morning walk...

Yesterday morning we had a reprieve from the soggy skies and, dare

I say it, the sun even tried to come out!

Griffin and I took a walk on the Government Wharf to take advantage

of this and the extra low tides because...well...

you never know what you're going to find.

Down the steep staircase...

The water was very calm...

Not like the day before where we had extreme wind and rain.

The wharf was pretty quiet at this time of day.

Just me and Griff and the Buffleheads...

I love that name!

Looks like these mails are in high demand...go get em girls!

The fishing boats were gearing up to go out on the sea for another long trip...

I was thinking of the 5 fishermen that were lost at sea a week ago off the East Coast

and how this industry is such a fragile and dangerous life.

Griff and I went down under the pier next to see if we could find any treasures...

Sometimes you see things like this after a big storm...

 A big chunk of someones dock...garden netting anyone?

Free for the taking if it's washed up on the shore!

Ahh, the lovely bones of the alder trees...

Today we didn't find much except for this old bucket...

...and a worn but pretty, old button...

All in all though, a relaxing walk to start the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eyes wide open...

I'm always on the look out on my walks with Griffin, for what, I'm never quite sure.

Last week was full of pleasant surprises several days in a row.

One day I found this beautiful brown velvet fungus on the forest floor...

 They're quite tough to pull off a tree so either someone pulled it off or it was

knocked off somehow.

 It's hard to see how soft the dark side is the photo but I thought

I might take a lino cutter to it and carve out a design into the velvety surface...

Later that same day on my afternoon walk I found this...

Yes that would be a wild rabbit tail.

I've found several of these throughout the years and I'm never quite sure

what to think. There is no sign of blood or a struggle.

It's just as if it's fallen off for no reason.

To my knowledge, bunnies don't shed their tails.

Any ideas?

A few days later I went down to the beach and it was such a beautiful

spring day that I ended up walking for a few hours, scouring

the shore like a proper mud lark looking for treasures.

About 10 minutes into my walk I found this...

An expertly carved arrow head.

Worn from the decades of wind and water and rocky shore.

I've found several on this beach in the past and

it's such a thrill. The light was just right and

there it was, just sitting there on top of the stones.

The beach was a popular spot for the natives to make these

long ago. There's always evidence of the flakes (bits of stone chipped away in the making

of arrow heads) and once in a while, the storms and the tides toss up one

of these beauties that was lost by who knows who many years ago.

Down into the mudflats, below the site of the old cannery, I found this...

After much research, I found this image on the web...

The same font of this company who was only in business from 1912 - 1915

so that was a pretty cool find.

Oh and an old marble and a piece of old glass...

Just some of those things that I wish could whisper their tales

to me if I put my ear close enough.