Saltspring Island revisited...

Last year around this time of year I made a pilgrimage of sorts to

Saltspring Island, the pioneer home of my Great Grandparents, The Cairns.

You can read about those adventures here.

Tom and I took a mini two day holiday there

a few days ago and found it as beautiful as ever.

The summer tourists have gone home now so the ferry ride

over from Victoria was quiet...

As we came into Fulford Harbour, you could see the maples already turning gold...

We booked a sweet little cabin called Spindrift on Welbury Point.

They are one of many holiday spots that take dogs. I think a lot of  people want

to travel with their pets and the owners of these places are listening to what the people are asking for.

 No phone, no t.v, no wifi...

 Fully equipped kitchen, books and CBC radio...

What more do you need?

First order of the day was a walk out to the point...

 Lovely trails through Arbutus and Douglas fir down to the water...

Two little sandy beaches, excellent for swimming in the warmer weather, I'm sure...

But some will swim at any time of the year!...

After our walk we decided to do a bit of touring around and ended up in one of the

Islands oldest cemeteries which has many of the first Japanese inhabitants buried there...

 I love these places...the history mixed with the mystery of those who've gone on long ago...

Next we went on to a place that Irma and I found last year on our pilgrimage.

This is a place I could spend hours taking pictures.

They are old dairy barns, falling to ruin but trying to be saved by the locals...

The area has been turned into a provincial park called Burgoyne Bay and when

budget allows, these barns will hopefully be preserved to help keep

the story of the pioneers alive and known to future generations...

 I believe I'll do a separate post just on the close ups I took of hinges and weathered

wood, otherwise this post will be VERY long winded with photos.

In the meantime, lets walk down to the bay...

 As we walk, I'm gladly haunted by the clip clop of dairy herds who used these roads.

Of now silenced flocks of chickens in the yard...

Up into the fields where cattle grazed out lazy, summer days on the island...

We'd been exploring and walking most of the day...time to bring some food back to the cabin and

plan our wanderings for the next day.

Stay tuned!



the miniscule and lovely...

I wanted to share with you this little beauty I found on my studio screen door...

It was about an inch long and I was so intrigued by it's wing pattern.

They almost looked filigree, as if they had been put together with tiny twigs.

The Latin name for it is Dragida Procinta or as us commoners

would call it, an olive green cutworm moth.

I found a picture of it's chrysalis. I know I've found these in the soil before and

always wondered what they would become...

They seem to be quite common from the east to the west but I don't think I've ever

really seen the moth this close...it was it's little face that caught my breath as well...

Sort of a mix of a wolf, owl and moth...

How fantastic is that?

For something so small, that lives for such a short time, it's immense beauty...

 ...once again I am mesmerized by the incredibility of the world of small.

 



the magic of morning mist...

Once upon a very early autumn morning...

...there used to be a golf course...

...but the money ran out, the developers failed...

...the town council and the people spoke...

...and the place became a park...a haven for the birds...

...songs in the rushes...

...and for Griffin and I to silently play witness to the magic...

 



Song for Friday...finally!

We are finally getting some much needed rain after 4 months of 

gorgeous summer and golden autumn.

Although most of us embraced this long stretch of warmth,

there are those of us, like myself, who have been trying

to do a sort of rain dance. 

For our well to rise once more and our pond to fill again.

But more importantly we are thinking of the trees, the flora, and 

at this time of year, the salmon.

They need this rain to fill the rivers, to help them on their

journey upstream, for their main purpose in life.

After hatching in the rivers of their beginnings,

they swim out to the sea, spending four years, growing strong and mature,

only to come back to carry on the line and then their lives are complete.

I have been thinking so much of this song by Neil Young.

I have printed the words because it's so poignant regarding these

fish. They have "the will to love".

The will to live.

As I sit here with turkey soup stewing on the stove top,

the skies grey once again, I pray for torrents of water to 

come down, not too fast but enough for the salmon.

Have a beautiful weekend all.

"Will To Love"

It has often been my dream
To live with one
who wasn't there
Like an ocean fish
who swam upstream
Through nets,
by hooks, and hungry bears.

When the water grew less deep
My fins were aching
from the strain
I'm swimming in my sleep
I know I can't go back again.

Got the will to love,
the will to love.
I'll never lose it,
never lose the will to love,
Never lose the will.
It's like
something from up above.

I can be like
a fire in the night
Always warm
and giving off light
But there comes a time
when I shine too bright
Oh, I'm just a fire in the night.

And now my fins are in the air
And my belly's
scraping on the rocks
I still think
someone really cares
And I'll keep swimming
till I stop.

Got the will to love,
the will to love.
I'll never lose it,
never lose the will to love,
Never lose the will.
It's like
something from up above.

I'm like a singer on the stage
With the golden lights
and liquid rage
Down from the mountains
to the sea
Cool running love
keeps cleansing me.

It keeps my gills
from getting dry
But it distorts things
in my eyes
Sometimes I see
what really isn't there
Like my true lover, and I care.

Got the will to love,
the will to love.
I'll never lose it,
never lose the will to love,
Never lose the will.
It's like
something from up above.

Sometimes I ramble on and on
And I repeat myself
till all my friends are gone
And get lost in snow
and drown in rain
And never feel the same again.

I remember the ocean
from where I came
Just one of millions all the same
But somewhere
someone calls my name
I'm a harpoon dodger,
and I can't, won't be tamed.

Got the will to love,
the will to love.
I'll never lose it,

never lose the will to love,
Never lose the will.
It's like
something from up above.

Baby, if I see boredom
in your eyes
I'll know my river has run dry
But I won't turn back
with that lonely tide
I bought that ticket
and I'll take that ride.

If we meet along the way
Please sway beside me,
let us sway together
Our tails together
and our fins and mind
We'll leave this water
and let our scales shine
In the sun above

and the sky below
So all the water
and earth will know

It has often been my dream
To live with one
who wasn't there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z4KdVwCvmI

Wordless Wednesday...good morning



Where it came from...where it's going

A few days ago I was inspired to start a project by a few things.

First off it was fellow blogger Aputsiaq (all things Nordic!) and her post about Nils, here.

He was a bit of a bad lad but ended up on a great adventure on this...

The new roving I found last week from Knotty by Nature has been revealing

many new ideas...like whispers from between the fibres.

My third inspiration was this brand new boy...

So, here, a little something for him to gaze up at and dream up his own adventures...

Sometimes the inspiration just seems to flow from one thing to the next.

Easy peasy, lemon sqeezy!

 



Song for Friday...being thankful

This weekend is Thanksgiving and although sometimes

these 'holidays' are contrived out of a marketing perspective,

it still is a reminder of all things great and small.

The bounty of the food that we worked hard to grow all summer.

The family who is here to share in these glorious days of autumn.

The freedom and peace we are lucky enough to have in this country.

And for a beautiful new life who our niece and her partner have brought into the world...

So happy to be here...now...in this place and time...

Born at the right time.

Have a most lovely Canadian Thanksgiving and

a great weekend all!

(welcome to the world little one!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCTtsNS_xXU