Slacker!!

Yes, I know...I've been clearly absent form this blog of mine.

Seems like these days of a busy life I can't seem to put in the time to 

write, edit photos and post. 

Actually to put it more honestly, it's not that I can't, it's more 

like I'm just not there in that head space right now.

We are in the process of moving after 17 years here on the farm...more on that later...

and it's an all consuming task.

One other reason for my tardiness at blogs doors is that my main camera lens

seems to have crapped out on me and I have not had the time to tinker with it

or take it to have it repaired.

I am relying on my zoom lens or my phone camera for now which is somewhat limited.

But even though I seem to be in a 'moving state of mind'  I am still taking photos.

Anyway a little montage of my favourites as of late.

Hope you are all well and happy and healthy and enjoying the bliss of summer days!

 The waters off of our shores are a gorgeous shade of azure blue due to a 

rare phytoplankton bloom which surrounds itself with microscopic bits of limestone...

 For these usually dark Pacific waters, seeing this colour around here reminds me of Nicaragua...

Walks on Island view beach with my dad one morning revealed this lovely driftwood structure...

...always the walker...

These cliffs have been known to uncover ancient mammoth teeth...

The full moon amongst the trees is something I never tire of...

Georgia!!!

The dreamer in me sends myself into the clouds...

...wishing to land on all that puffiness...

...to look down at the earth through different eyes...

This little fox sparrow by the lake one morning sending out his song...

Tiny summer mushrooms introduce themselves in the middle of the pathway...

Spotting wee spotted fawns around the place...

I am forever trying to capture the small but mighty hummingbirds...ready for take off!!...

Zooming in to the agapanthus...

...a few quick sips of nectar...

Making lavender tea for a hair rinse...after steeping for a few hours the flowers are pale...

...and the liquid a gorgeous shade of purple!!

I showed my mom a few needle felting techniques and she's a real natural! 

Here's a few of her pieces...

A little buzziness to sign off!

 

Ciao for now!

The sweetest gift....

I was outside on this glorious spring day catching up on some weeding, 

listening to the radio on my phone

when I spotted this little Orange crowned warbler sitting in a plum

tree by the pond. He sat there for quite awhile so I approached with

slow movement and he just sat there...

He allowed me so close, within inches for several minutes...

I'm not sure why he was so unafraid...

I was even able to stroke his tiny olive back.

Georgia (my cat) was luckily unaware of this little visit as she plopped down at my feet.

The tiny bird had an eye on her though

A magic moment between myself and nature

What a precious gift I was given today!

A girl and her volcano...

Since the weather has been cool and rainy with skies full of pewter coloured clouds most of the day,

I thought I would take you on a visit to somewhere hot and steamy...

don't get ahead of me...it's all legal and age appropriate!

Lets go!

A 20 minute drive from Granada lies the market town of Masaya.

Another 10 minutes through this beautiful landscape...

...iguanas and all...

...and we are in the Masaya Volcano National Park.

Nicaragua is a land full of lakes and volcanoes, some of those lakes being

ancient craters, now full of the most lovely water for swimming.

The road travels through olive coloured cloaked hills, laced with the black fabric of dried lava...

You are reminded of what a fragile environment you stand in...

In fact at the time I'm writing this the park is closed due to recent volcanic activity 

and has been since the middle of February.

I can't begin to describe the feeling of standing at the edge of a bottomless

pit of rumbling fire, rocks, ash and one thousand degree molten lava...

The Spanish who came here in the 16th century baptized the volcano 

"La Boca del Inferno"

or

"The Mouth of Hell"

They planted a cross on the lip of the crater to exercise the devil.

The power of the vapours is felt immediately in your lungs ... 

...visitors sputter and cough as they take in the true nature of this beast...

In fact if you have any issues with your respiratory system, it's recommended that

you do not make this trip.

But like so many powerful, destructive forces of nature, it is beautiful...

...both rough and peaceful.

You see those small black specs in the mist?

Those are turkey vultures floating on the warm thermal currents.

How they can spend so much time there without it affecting them is a miracle.

In fact there's a species of parakeets who make their home on the inside of the crater,

living unaffected by the toxic gases.

It is a hot, hostile, volatile world...

Precious and spectacular...

...part of the fabric of the millenia of time that shapes this place...

...in the present as much as it has in the past and will do well into the future.

In the distance another volcano mirrors this one, just as capable of changing it's face...

...and the face of the land...

Just in case...there's always a reminder...

By the way, if you are in Granda, Nicaragua, you should hook up with Pablo Lorenzen S.

who is the manager of WTN Travel Day Tours.

He was super friendly and accommodating to us and we feel lucky to have got to know him.

Here is his website WTN Travel Day Tours

Good bye to a blog friend...

Today I heard the sad news that a friend in the blog community has passed away.

Nancy from  http://highplainsfootprints.blogspot.ca/ lost a battle with cancer yesterday.

It is strange how I never met Nancy in person but felt I knew a little bit about her and the things that gave her joy...knitting (she was an amazing one at that!), nature, sunsets, 

riding in the mountains, her family. 

At one time she spent a week in Port Angeles and I could almost wave to her from across the ocean on Vancouver Island!

 I feel like the blogging community has made the world a smaller and more friendly place where kindred spirits can find one another and share their lives even though we have never met face to face. Nancy always had such kind compliments and comments on my blog.

A friend of hers took the time to go through Nancy's comments to find those who

followed her and to let us know about Nancy's illness and subsequent passing.

I want to thank this person for being so kind in her actions.

Sometimes I will see a blogger who hasn't posted in a long time

and I wonder what happened...in this case it was not the answer I had hoped for.

I know that Nancy posted photos of the mountains and sunsets in Wyoming 

where she lived and 

so these photos from my world are for Nancy...rest in peace.