This COVID ride has been a long one and reminds us of an overseas trip across the vast Pacific Ocean. Every time the plane wiggled, the little boy behind us would ask his parents “Are we landing?”. Like the young lad, we are experiencing COVID with no sense of the duration time. We do get little hints about the ending, like the release of the vaccines but then the emergence of a new variant puts us back home. At this point, we still seem to be in the middle of a vast sea of unknowns, with no idea when we will be ‘landing’.
As some of you may know, we sold our RV as we decided that we didn’t want to spend another Canadian winter in a 3-season rig. We had spent one winter based in the RV, out of Victoria, but that time, we had the opportunity to travel to warm, interesting places. Not knowing how long we would be unable to see some warm places, we purchased a small home on the Saanich Peninsula, near Victoria and are quite happy in Hawthorne Village of ‘55 years and better’. (Hover over the photos to see a label )
Each evening, after dinner dishes, we try to play 3 games of cribbage. Jeannie was lucky enough to get a 29-point hand, the best hand possible.
Without global travel, we enjoyed some of our amazing attractions in Victoria. When the weather was amiable, we took the opportunity to do some birding, so some of Jim's excellent shots are below. (Click on the images for full frame)
The wildflowers were gorgeous during Spring 2021. The photos below were taken at Gore Park which is not far from our new place.
Sidney, BC is about a 7-minute drive away and a great little, walkable town with most amenities. Someone got creative in a breezeway near the hardware store with umbrellas, then sea jellies.
Jeannie opted to spend some of her COVID time with the Girl Guides, as a leader with a Guide unit. This year, in-person activities were much preferable to the Zoom meetings of the previous year. As one colleague put it back then - “it’s hard to know if you are connecting with all those little postage stamps on your screen”.
When we were able, we conducted a Camp Skills day for the girls to practice their fire lighting, compass skills and whittling, even if we couldn’t provide a tenting experience for them. There really is nothing like getting outside to do fun things together.
Jeannie was also asked to be the First Aider for a Ranger (older girls) day camp at Kingswood, a lovely Girl Guide property not far from our home. The girls decided to do some nature studies and take photos. Jeannie read up on mushrooms and opted to try making spore prints – success!! One of the girls creatively named them Fun-Guy – get it? - mushrooms are classified as Fungi. We also experimented with making ‘flaming pizzas’ using paraffin wax and burlap sacking – they worked too!! A yummy treat.
Sticking close to home was easy for us as we were able to spend time on our boat Bottom Scratcher in the Gulf Islands, near Victoria, taking our land-bound friends out for day trips. Our favourite spot is Portland (Princess Margaret) Island, only a 20-minute trip from the dock which offers a protected anchorage and some level hiking. Growing among the rocks we find cacti, which are usually found in the interior of BC, along with orchids & chocolate lilies found in the forest.
The Gulf Islands offer many different habitats to explore. A biology friend and fellow birder has been surveying the Cormorants (Double-crested, Pelagic and Brandt’s) at Mandarte Island, near Sidney Island, for many years. Recently, we have used Bottom Scratcher to do the surveys as it’s much more comfortable than her small Zodiac. This gave Jim the opportunity to take some photos of the nests so we could identify which type of bird, made which nests. We both learned a lot about cormorant nests and how to tell which birds made which nests.
August 7 was the anniversary of our wedding, 50 years ago (1971). It couldn’t really have been that long ago!! Jim’s sister and her friend arranged a little party for us to celebrate this milestone.
Next up? More adventures on Vancouver Island
Cheers,
Jim & Jeannie
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