Island time

We have just spent a wonderful weekend on one of the Gulf Islands, a group of islands between the mainland of British Columbia and Vancouver Island. Reached by boat or by ferry, my husband always says that as soon as he gets on the ferry he switches to island time.

Island time is less hurried, time to just enjoy the scenery, catch up on reading, take a nap, listen to the wind in the trees, the waves on the shore and the sounds of the birds.

Welcomed by the patina on this bell near the entrance.

In the morning I sat by the shore, enjoyed my cup of tea, and watched the sun play on the water.

At some distance a heron was preening and watching, but in no hurry.

The sun bathed the trees and the plants and chased away the dew. 

 

These birds were circling in the sky, it wasn't until later in the day that we identified them as vultures.

Salal berries and salal:

Globe shaped cobwebs catching the early light:

Later in the morning a doe and her fawns visited; they munched on the salal as we sat close by watching.

Other visitors dropped by.

 

A trip on the water gave us some great views of the shore and shore life.

A closer look at one of the vultures:

Kelp and tube worms:

Creatures hidden on the beach and in the forest:

Arbutus trees are found in a narrow band along the south coast and on the Gulf Islands. They thrive in the dry rocky soil and are seen on sun drenched rocky bluffs overlooking the ocean. 

The light slowly changes and then starts to fade on a perfect summer day.

Golden light accents the details.

And the light slowly slips below the horizon.

I hope you have managed to slip into "island time" with me. A favorite film "Enchanted April" mentions that time seems to "slipping sideways", yes, I think it does.

Thank you for dropping by for my Whimsy Wednesday, until next week.....

"OK" weekend - a bit of everything

We spent last weekend in south end of the Okanagan Valley, in south central British Columbia (many just refer to the valley as the "OK"). We went to the OK to attend a wine dinner at the Orofino Winery (in nearby Similkameen Valley) and to visit friends and a few wineries.

This post has three parts: first the dinner, followed by some flora and then fauna (aka critters) from the Similkameen and Okanagan Valleys.

As I mentioned in the introduction the dinner was at Orofino Winery near Caston in the Similkameen Valley. The Winery partnered again this year with Joy Road Caterers to offer a 1.6 mile dinner; almost all the ingredients were sourced from within 1.6 miles of the winery. We arrived for the dinner (on a shuttle bus), and were greeted by our hosts, John and Virginia, and offered a glass of one of their newest wine offerings Moscato Frizzante.

The table were setup on the patio right beside the winery and John had set up a windbreak with grape pallets and wine barrels to shelter us from any late evening breeze. There were blue skies, beautiful summer weather and wonderful aromas from the outdoor kitchen set up for the event.

As we enjoyed our frissante the appetizers were passed.

The crackers were made from milled locally grown rye.

Time to find our places and sit down for the dinner. In our places were menus, the tables were decorated with local flowers and the view was of the sun on the hillside. 

Here are a couple of reflections for you: the first is the hills reflected in one of the winery windows and the second  the patio setting for the dinner (this one is a bit of a stretch I admit).

And then a hush settled over the tables as the dinner was served.

Wouldn't be a winery without grapes and grapevines.

Some of the flowers, trees and plants

Buganvillia



Almond "fruit"



And here are the critters I promised. This one is looking for the rest of the flock, seems that the blog lady separated it from the rest.

Two pigmy goats, very cute and quite anxious to have their heads scratched, which is why the next couple of pictures are a bit too close up. These guys are fully grown but only about 18 inches tall. You will no doubt notice the rectangular pupils, a trait shared with sheep, and cows I think.

After much scratching they finally settled down for a portrait shot, a little later the brown one settled his chin on the white one and both dozed off.

The rest of the chickens.



Which came first?



A few birds collected at a feeder in the early morning much to the delight of our friends' cat, Zee.

House finch

Gold Finch

"Zee" enjoying the bird activity

Pine Siskin

A dove and a baby bird hanging around near the feeder, maybe they enjoyed watching the indoor cat.

So when I say an OK weekend I mean a weekend filled with friends, good food and wine, beautiful weather and interesting critters to watch.

When I took this it reminded me of something but for the life of me I can't remember what.

Loved the colours and patterns reflected in this tasting sample.



Something different this week. I finished this painting, intended for a card, it is a watercolour called "Age old question?": 

Thank you for stopping by, I appreciate your visit and I read and enjoy all your comments.

Happy Whimsy Wednesday, until next time ............