A few images from, and words about, Fall on Pender; that is… since my return from Vietnam in late October.
It took awhile for me to recover from jet lag and get used to the temperature and time changes. Luckily about a week after my return we housesat at Sahali Serenity B&B for a few days. We took the dogs for walks, enjoyed the view and lounged in the hot tub.
Although it was a wet Fall on Pender Island there were some stellar days. I got a lot of work done on our newest shed and general yard cleaning. And we went for a walk almost everyday. One fine day we walked up to Roe Lake.
We walked all around the lake, checking out the beaver pond and the numerous funghi.
It was such a wet Fall there were numerous varieties of funghi sprouting up everywhere. Sue took the mushroom books out and tried to identify as many as possible.
Our main ferry, the Queen of Cumberland, was in for refit for a couple of months which meant we had the smaller Bowen Queen for trips to Vancouver Island. With the long lineups and waits to get on the ferry (and one wasn’t guaranteed to get on) we had little incentive to visit town. However, we did make a couple of trips. Both times to have the car serviced, but we did some visiting and shopping for goodies we can’t get on the Pender. We arrived early at the Otter Bay ferry terminal to ensure we got on the boat.
The first time we arrived too early – the terminal was still closed and but we were second in line. Getting off the rock is good though and we enjoyed visiting with my sister Ruth and seeing the sights on southern Vancouver Island.
We like to stop at Mitchell Farms on the way back to the ferry to pick up some local produce. As it was shortly after Halloween they still had lots of pumpkins in the wet fields.
Our second trip to town we had to leave the car at the shop for a couple of days which left us with lots of time to wander around Victoria. We stayed in a hotel close to downtown and walked, window shopping and enjoying the Christmas decorations.
While at the Inner Harbour, watching the sunset, we saw a magnificent rainbow, arching over the old town. We walked back up the streets for dinner, me taking photos as we went.
I wasn’t the only person taking photos of the rainbow. As we passed a Scots pub I stopped and photographed the staff and patrons who’d all stepped out for the phenomena.
We actually ended up having our dinner in the above Scots pub: nachos and a Guinness! Those Scots!
Later we went to the latest Harry Potter movie and then walked back to the hotel checking out Victoria’s Christmas decorations.
It wasn’t just wet weather on the coast this Fall. We also had a week of snow. Driving home after midnight on the first night it snowed it reminded me of my prairie winters: snow and blowing snow obscuring the road. Times like that I’m happy we opted for the 4-wheel drive. The next morning I stepped out early to photograph the scene around the house in the dawn light.
The snow stayed long enough that I created a snowwoman in our front yard.
But soon she started to melt…
and melted and melted until…
Meanwhile we were warm and cozy in our home watching the last of the cherry tomatoes ripen.
With Winter and the Christmas holidays fast approaching Sue got us started on a new fitness regime: hiking Mount Norman daily (well, Sue has being doing it daily; I’m more like every two days). The first day up turned out to be the a record-setting wet day. Water was running down the hill in, and out of, the ditches.
It is quite a climb to the top but always worth the view.
Eeveryday is different…
And I’ve started a new photo series: a moss covered tree just below the Mount Norman lookout:
Although I miss the warm SE Asian weather wintering at home on Pender Island can be magical.
But a trip to frozen Alberta for Christmas? Next up….
