by Marja-Leena We walked quite a lot around Old Montréal, the Latin Quarter, and some of the downtown. Thanks to Beth and J and their car tour we saw even more beyond. Here are only a few of our favourite photos of spots full of history in this lovely old city…
Previous posts about our trip to Montréal:
Back from Montréal
Montréal: roofs
Montréal: feasts
by Marja-Leena 
Here are some more sand patterns, taken in quite different light conditions compared to the previous set. All except the last two here were created by tidal action. The second to last shows some evidence of human mark making and the last may have been done by a small human and a dog.
by Marja-Leena 
As so many of us do on seashores everywhere, I like to pick up interesting shells and stones and take some home. This time, on our recent little vacation on the west coast, I discovered small stones that seemed more like weathered bone fragments. Our geologist friend agreed. Of what creatures, fish, whale, bird, I wondered?
Oddly synchronous was a fascinating novel I was reading during those days, an historical fiction called Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier:
In 1810, a sister and brother uncover the fossilized skull of an unknown animal in the cliffs on the south coast of England. With its long snout and prominent teeth, it might be a crocodile – except that it has a huge, bulbous eye.
Remarkable Creatures is the story of Mary Anning, who has a talent for finding fossils, and whose discovery of ancient marine reptiles such as that ichthyosaur shakes the scientific community and leads to new ways of thinking about the creation of the world.
Working in an arena dominated by middle-class men, however, Mary finds herself out of step with her working-class background. In danger of being an outcast in her community, she takes solace in an unlikely friendship with Elizabeth Philpot, a prickly London spinster with her own passion for fossils.
The strong bond between Mary and Elizabeth sees them through struggles with poverty, rivalry and ostracism, as well as the physical dangers of their chosen obsession. It reminds us that friendship can outlast storms and landslides, anger and and jealousy.
My findings were not fossils, of course, but I found the story resonated for me and was the perfect enjoyable read for this trip. I’m glad that I learned about this book from a review by Wandering Coyote. She also wrote about another novel about Anning, Curiosity by Joan Thomas, a Canadian author. I’d like to read it sometime later when Chevalier’s book fades in my mind.
Odd how these things happen together. A few days ago I read about this latter book in our local newspaper: What happens when two novelists have the same idea?
Such fascinating connections! And to think I’d never heard of Mary Anning before!
Added 22/11/2010 – more Mary Anning
by Marja-Leena 
And, of course, since I love rocks so very much, I had to capture these handsome ones on one of our favourite beaches during our recent west coast holiday.
by Marja-Leena 
Brilliant evening sunshine,
like nature’s studio lights,
highlighting kelp and seaweed
as sculpture in relief.
photos from our west coast retreat
by Marja-Leena 
Last week we took a few days’ escape to our favourite ‘treat and retreat’ on the west coast of Vancouver Island near the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. We always love the journey – the ferry trip there and back and the drive over the island’s mountains. Being spring this time, we particularly enjoyed all the native Pacific dogwood with their white blossoms contrasting with the dark evergreens and the fresh new lighter greens of the deciduous trees.
I recall the mind-blowing first impression on our very first visit in late October 1992, a few weeks after my father passed away. Since then it has been ‘our place’ for restoring body and spirit. I’m not sure how many times we’ve been there over the years, maybe a dozen or so and most frequently in the past few years, and always to the same rustic little cabins by the sea near Tofino. Once we took our youngest daughter, maybe about eight years old at the time during her spring break and once with our Danish friends.
This time our dearest friends who now live in Victoria met us there and stayed with us for the first three days. They have often hosted us at their little cabin on Hornby Island, another special place for us, so we were delighted to show them some of our favourite spots. The last time they were here was in 1970 and so much has changed, though not the majestic sea and the forests.
We had many walks along the many lovely sandy beaches of the area. The Wickaninnish Center on Long Beach was open (it’s usually closed in the winter when we most often visit) so we were able to enjoy the Interpretive Center which has excellent displays and films of the history of the First Nations culture of the area, then a special birthday lunch in our favourite restaurant in the same building overlooking the ocean. A tour around Tofino with some shopping at the excellent First Nations gift store, then coffee and baked treats at the local bakery-cafe was our small town fix one afternoon.
The weather was mixed and very changeable with some sunny periods, allowing us to enjoy lunch outside our cabin one day, with a cheeky seagull then a bold crow almost stealing my lunch.
One day was exceptionally windy, a delight for the many surfers in the area. We even hit a blinding sandstorm coming around a point – a first! Later that evening those powerful winds knocked out the power for several hours overnight. Thank goodness I always pack along candles and a flashlight, and more were provided by the management. Sometimes it felt like our little cabin was being pounded by something heavy and the rain thundered down loudly all night, keeping me awake. A most unusual storm for May we were told, more typical in winter but the strongest we’d experienced in our visits.
Our last day rewarded us with afternoon sunshine and a glorious sunset, something we’ve been blessed with at least once at every visit I think! We wished our friends had seen this.
I didn’t think I took as many photos as the last time but between us we still managed to rack up almost 300, so it’s taking time to sort and delete some of them. Here are a few, some are my husband’s. I’ll likely keep sharing more from time to time, especially the detail shots that I so love to take.
Long time readers may be familiar with some of the posts I’ve written of the earlier trips we’ve taken in the years since I started blogging: 2008, 2006, 2005 and 2004. As this has grown far too long already I won’t bore you with all the links to the many photos I have posted here and there in the archives.
by Marja-Leena 
back from a few days on the wild west coast…. more later!
by Marja-Leena 
Or, really, the trouble with growing some of your own vegetables….
Why did we, a month ago, book a short holiday for next week, at the busiest time of the gardening season? Spring had been so cool that my tomato, pepper and cucumber seeds in the solarium had a slow start but have taken off recently with more sunshine. The 8 cucumber and 36 root-bound tomato plants in small pots are now starting to flower. I don’t want to pot them up into larger pots for I don’t have any more room indoors. I should plant them outside, but the nights are still below 10C and there is a threat of rain on the weekend. What to do? I may have to move them downstairs to a cooler shadier area to tide them over until we get back. At least daughter is at home to water them.
Why 36 tomato plants, you ask? I think every seed germinated, and there were more that I already gave away. Last year at this time, we were in the UK and I had only a few tomato plants to come home to, and really missed them, so I kind of got carried away this year, I think. Our deck will be so crowded with vegetables in pots that there will be little room for humans. Such is the life of this artist when not in the studio in the summer.
