by Marja-Leena My son-in-law took pity on me for the loss of my photos, which I had written about in my previous post, so he generously offered to share this beautiful moody time-lapse video he made of the shifting mists over the lake last November. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Thanks, Jonathan!
P.S. View the video fullscreen by pressing the button with 4 arrows on the right side of video player. Then press Esc on your keyboard to exit fullscreen mode.
by Marja-Leena 
All has been quiet on this blog while we were away visiting family and friends in Victoria. We had a late mini-Christmas with our daughter’s family. We caught up with their happy fat chickens and growing kittens which were keeping them close to home. One day we took the granddaughters to Miniature World which we all enjoyed very much and wondered why we had never visited it before in the many trips over many decades that we’ve made to Victoria, even when our own children were young. The grandgirls took numerous photos, as I did (but lost mine, more on that later).
We also had a nice visit with our dear friends. While the guys were out for a cycle tour, Elaine and I enjoyed a truly stunning exhibition of wildlife photography at the Royal BC Museum. No photos allowed here.
Our trip home on the evening ferry was accompanied by frequent toots of the foghorn, ever increasing as we neared the mainland. We could have used that foghorn on our foggy drive home. It was a good trip but it’s always great to be home again.
Regarding photos… I took many around our family’s home, of the lovely low fog movements over the lake, interesting details in the garden, the chickens, and many many at Miniature World. My little old camera was often acting a bit wonky. Once home I was unable to download them using two different cardreaders. There also seemed to be issues with the photo program so I tried another computer. In the end after all the fiddling I lost the photos, probably by removing the reader improperly! That’s a first. My computer and software are ageing, updates are leaving it behind, sigh. We have some work to do there. Naturally I’m disappointed at the loss of photo material ideal for the blog. So, since I do like to illustrate my posts, I’ve chosen the above image from the archives.
by Marja-Leena Here’s a bit of fun and truly delighful art work for those of us in need of a light-hearted break in the midst of decorating, letter writing, poring over recipes and food shopping lists:
A Moose in a Maple Tree – The All Canadian 12 Days of Christmas
The song is written by Troy Townsin, illustrated by Jennifer Harrington and performed by Canadian Ska legend Chris Murray. More here.
by Marja-Leena 
The Snow Queen came for a visit yesterday evening and overnight, accompanied by Wind.
How bright was the night, keeping me awake watching tossing snow-heavy tree branches and flying snow devils.
Not much of the five centimeters or so melted in today’s sunshine.
Tonight is very cold and clear. Winter is here.
by Marja-Leena 
on our recent visit to our daughter’s family on the Island
we were introduced to their chickens, incubated, hatched and now almost fully grown
daughter designed and built the chicken coop
with much advice on construction design and predator proofing from her father
they are different varieties, each has a name and responds to calls and hugs like any pets
always on the move, they are colourful, inquisitive, smart and friendly
they love their free ranging time under supervision by the granddaughters
watch out for hovering hawks, sneaky minks and hungry raccoons!
soon there will be eggs….
if interested, you might like to visit our daughter’s blog to learn more about their adventures in raising these delightful feathered creatures
by Marja-Leena 
over ten days ago we took a ferry trip over to Vancouver Island to visit family
the weather was glorious with brilliant sunshine
here we are just ready to leave Tswawassen on mainland BC
we were lucky to get front row seats on the enclosed sundeck
staying there for the whole journey across the Salish Sea
feeling like we were on a cruise
approaching the narrow windy Active Passage between many islands
no oncoming ferry passing us this time
leaving the Passage as we get ever closer to Swartz Bay
mesmerized by billions of sparkling diamonds and blue sky
many smaller boats on the waters delighting in the last days of summer
sealife jumping about… orcas? dolphins?…too far for photos
Now that fall is here along with much-needed rains (er, maybe too much the next few days!) keeping me indoors, I am finally sorting through the trip photos. I hope to post more of them soon.
Happy fall days ahead (or spring down-under), dear readers.
by Marja-Leena the strange and beautiful lichen on walls and rocks in our daughter’s garden:
another of the wondrous seeds featured in the last post:
by Marja-Leena 
Last weekend I had a chance to brush up my rusted skills in macro photography with interesting subjects in our daughter’s garden up in the North Thompson River valley. A touch of a breeze seemed to often come at just ‘that’ moment so only a few photos worked out well. I should have packed along the tripod.
by Marja-Leena 
We have been away for several days in the interior of BC, enjoying long scenic drives to the Kamloops area, twice to Vernon, then down to Skaha Lake in the Okanagan before heading back home. We spent time with daughter and son-in-law. We twice visited a friend from long ago school days who is very ill and now being taken care of by his daughter. We were hosted by good friends whom we’ve not seen in 12 years. A weekend of much laughter, great food, and sadness too – isn’t that life?
The photos above are of a fallen robin’s nest my daughter found in her garden as she showed me around. I was excited to have the opportunity to take some photos of it, some in very bright sunshine, some in shade. There are numerous grasshoppers (pests really!) in her garden this year, and this little guy jumped in for a portrait, not moving even when I came very near with the camera. More photos to come…
