Looping the Lynn Fantastic

On Friday we bid farewell to the grandparents at Vancouver airport, but not before we had welcomed another visitor to our home city; my brother, en route back to Ontario from Shanghai where he had been for a business trip.  Family get togethers are infrequent these days, with two of us living on opposite sides of Canada, so this was rather special, albeit a snatched hour in a crowded airport.  

My brother can be relied upon to be up for a good walk, and we have been missing out on a proper bit of clambering over rocks and roots recently as we have been going on 'toddler friendly walks', but Boo was amenable to going in the backpack this time, so we set out on the 'Lynn Loop'.  Conditions being just right (soggy after relentless rain in recent days), I found plenty of fungi along the way to marvel at, and once again felt vastly grateful for the opportunity we've had to live in such a beautiful part of the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All bundled up for the beach

We have been enjoying the Autumnal colours around us, and bundled ourselves up for the visit to the beach, which Boo loves at any time of the year, though it did appear she was the only one stopping to play in the sand this time!

 

 

 

Hope you are enjoying a spot of nature in your life!

Lighting the Night... and the Freeway

Sorry to have been away for a whole week... there's been a whole lot going on here.  Grandaddy and Granny Hugger have been visiting from England, Dadda Boo has unfortunately been poorly, and yours truly has been focused upon a task, namely the attainment of a Canadian driving licence.  I've had an anxiety problem with driving for some years and coming to Canada where things are a whole lot different out there (no clutches though - should be a cinch hey?) and I had to take a dreaded 'test' to get a BC licence, has added to the issue.  Oh, and the screaming toddler in the back hasn't helped either.  After going into panics whenever I got behind the wheel for the first 18 months of residence in Canada, I decided enough was enough and I had to do it properly and get professional lessons.  Six lessons and a series of morning outings with Grandaddy Hugger later, I took my road test this morning and passed with little problem.  It has actually been a great blessing for me to 'relearn' the art of driving, now I know I will build my confidence and enjoy the freedom of getting about by car.   

Saturday night was our second time round to participate in 'Light the Night', a fundraising walk for the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada.  We did it for the first time last year after a close friend of mine lost her battle with Leukaemia in August 2008, at the age of 36.  Participants of the walk carry illuminated balloons on a walk along the seawall of Vancouver's Stanley Park as the sun sets.  Last year it was beautiful, the colours of the sunset over the sea were glorious, and we watched seals coming up and dipping down not far from the shore.  This year, the rainy city gave us all its got, as a torrential downpour drenched us to the core and we waded through the cascading torrents of water making their way off the seawall.  But we soldiered on and completed the walk, with a singing Boo in her plastic cocooned chariot.  I whipped out the camera in the rain a couple of times so I could have something to document our walk.

We've also had an outing to the UBC Museum of Anthropology, which I love for the contents and also the architecture by famed Vancouver architect Arthur Erickson.  It appeared he hadn't quite managed to ensure his building was watertight however (not a great idea in this city!), judging by the carefully placed series of grey plastic bins to catch the drips!  

 

And today, after the anxiety of the test had started to subside, we had a walk lakeside in Deer Lake Park, Burnaby.

So now, with my licence in hand, who knows where I can go?!

  

Giving Thanks

Today we are 'doing' Canadian Thanksgiving for the first time.  Last year Dadda Boo went to work, but this year he has taken the holiday, and my parents are visiting so it truly is time to give thanks for us all being together.  What a great holiday, time to celebrate the seasonal change, the harvest and family without all the commercial overkill of Christmas.  

Joining the masses of other families reaping the bounty of the season, yesterday we visited a pumpkin patch and apple orchard.  Not having done this before, we were quite unprepared for the scale of the pumpkin harvest.  The deliberations over the choosing of the most attractive specimens for the 'jack o lanterns' for the forthcoming Halloween shenanigans seems to be part and parcel of the family outing, and there were a number of different selections made before all were satisfied.  

 

What could be more seasonal than some shiny conkers atop a pumpkin?

Does no-one play 'conkers' in Canada?  Or collect them even?  Whenever we come across a Horse Chestnut tree, the ground around is thick with them, and we go home with pockets bulging.

 

 

Onto the apple orchard, and we select the finest Jonagold apples from the heavily laden boughs. In no time at all our 25lb bag is bulging, and we sample their juicy freshness. Absolutely scrumptious.  

Here's to pumpkin pie and all manner of appley goodness.

Happy Thanksgiving!
 

 

Clippety Clop

It's all gone a bit equine round these parts.  I've just completed this soft horse toy for Boo, made from an old jumper of Dadda Boo's.  

Then yesterday we were browsing through the book sale of used books at the library, where we sometimes pick up some interesting vintage childrens' books, and came across this little gem.

In 'Flip', a young foal is desperate to jump over the brook like his Mum.  He sleeps and dreams that he has sprouted wings and flies high over the brook and above the farm.  When he awakes, at first he doesn't realise that the wings are not real, and he jumps over the brook for the first time.  

 

Believe you can do it and so it shall come to pass.  Tonight I intend to dream that I have passed my driving test.  Neigh!    

Happy as a Boo in muck

Well, we haven't seen much in the way of fungi yet, but the sun is back (and that's perhaps why) and it's 'outside play' for us, aka gardening for mama.  We are enjoying the rich colours that are emerging in the foliage around us, and laying the ground work for some planting in the coming weeks.  It's so exciting to come to this point, after weeks of clearing, cutting and digging (thanks Dadda Boo!)  

We have two of these large flowering shrubs (Spiraea?), which had heads of tiny pink flowers when we moved in, now with the foliage darkening to purple, they are looking lovely.

We have a number of azalea bushes, but this one is the favourite right now, with its reddening leaves.

More of the Spiraea (at least that's what I think it is, based upon the 'Tree and Shrub Expert'!)

English Ivy round the side of the house, which seems to be weathering well having been cut back mercilessly in August as it was growing rampantly.

Boo prepares a wooden window box for planting, whilst on the look-out for creepy crawlies and wriggly worms, the latter of which I am ashamed to say she has a proclivity for squeezing to death.  Wood lice and caterpillars also often suffer the same fate in her hands.  I try to stop her but she's quick I tell you.

 
There's nowt so happy as a Boo in muck.

The empty window box becomes a boat for Black Bear to voyage across the garden ocean.

Looks cute doesn't he?  Well his excrement isn't, and that's what we are having the pleasure of clearing up on a regular basis from our lawn. Boo's beach ball has also been savaged, though she quite liked the idea of the raccoon posse playing football on the grass whilst we sleep.  Boo now has a new song, 'Goodbye raccoon, shoo shoo shoo, goodbye raccoon, we don't want your poo'.  Boo's fascination with animal excrement continues unabated, especially after we saw a huge pile of 'bear poo' in the park!

Much to look forward to, as the garden and the studio start to take shape in the coming weeks.  

Fabulous fall fungi

Ok, I'm rather cheating here, these pictures were actually taken last year, but the rain has been falling heavily all day here in North Vancouver, and we need reasons to be thankful for this time of year.  Well, I can tell you that the climate here sure gets things growing, especially those things that love the insistent dampness of our autumn months, think moss, think fungi.  I have always found fungi fascinating, and one of the pleasures of the rainy season here is coming across many weird and wonderful fungal growths on walks.  We'll save our walks until the heavy rain has abated, but we know that the conditions are right and we'll soon see little shrooms springing up all over the place.  

See you soon little guys!