We've just returned from a lovely visit with our family. We attended Blair's Grade 12 grad, a Virden Homecoming, had 2 weeks at a cottage by the beach and were there for a family reunion too.
We have pictures of the family, Blair's grad, Simon & Julien learing to swim and ride bikes to share with you. Unfortunately, we missed the opportunity to get a picture of Sarah ready for her summer job at KFC. We can guarantee that she looked great!
Hope you enjoy!
Recently, Abe & I have been in the local paper. Last week as volunteer Park Wardens for Neck Point Park and then, this week, as members (no I'm not a director) of the Friends of Harewood Plains where we are trying to protect an area that contains 14 endangered species. One of these is the Lotus Pinnatus which is only found in one other area in Canada (100 plants). In the Harewood Plains we have apporximately 1500 plants, but the area which is full of wild flowers and plants is being chewed up by ATVs and off-road vehicles. So sad to see this happen to such an ecologically sensitive area!
This past week we have been out on two spring flower hikes. The abundance and variety of spring flowers never ceases to amaze! I'm posting a few of the many photos of flowers which I took on our walks, plus one of two cruise ships we saw in the Nanaimo harbour from the Harewood Meadows. If you want to have bigger photos, let me know.
Here are a few photos of our spring hiking. The first one is the female blooms on the Douglas Fir. Quite spectaccular! I saw them this spring while hiking on Quadra. It must have been just the right time; we haven't seen them before in any of our hiking!
Next is a shot of Mallard Ducks at Morrell Sanctuary one of our favorite spots to hike and walk. No doubt you recognize the two hikers in the next one, and finally a close up of a White Fawn Lily. There are many wild flowers in bloom on the hills at this time of year.
Abe & I have just returned from a visit back home to the prairies. The reason for our visit was Abe's mother's funeral. She passed away on the last Friday in January. I am including a couple of pictures of Abe's brother's and sister's taken at the funeral.
We also got a chance to have a visit with Karen and Mark's families. It was great seeing how each of the grandkids are growing up. Blair and Sarah seem like adults already - it is so hard to imagine how they have grown up so fast!
Simon is very curious about nature and science and loves to skate. He was also busy with a Harry Potter computer game. Julien is a very active little fellow - so very friendly. He hardly misses a beat when we speak English instead of French!
Here are the pictures from our Tuesday Hikers Christmas Party held earlier this week. Dispite the rain we had around 50 people out. We had a 3 hour hike/walk and ended up at a picnic shelter. A few of our hikers had stayed back to keep the fire going and our food looked after.
What a feast! (Sorry - somehow we omitted taking pictures of all the food.) We finished the party off with some carol singing and then loaded up groceries for the local food bank. It was a lot of fun! If you look hard you can see Abe in the background of the 4th carolling picture.
My Oncidium Orchid, Sweet Sugar is in full bloom, and I just had to share the blossoms. So here they are (all 18 of them) - enjoy!
Yesterday, December 12, the HEROS hiked up to Heart Lake - a 14.5 Km hike. We didn't go quite as fast as the regular group, but we made it! In the photos you see the group part way up the climb, the view of the lake at lunch time and the way back - a bit of snow still!
The scenery was spectacular! Holland Creek was a raging river and we were surrounded by the sounds of many tributaries and waterfalls. A great hike!
Yes, the snow is still with us! Here are the HERO Hikers out for a hike yesterday - having lunch in the snow. Photos L-R: Ellen sitting under big old cedar; Group sitting on log (Jo, Beth, Mollie & Don); Group with Bonnie (standing).
This past Saturday we hosted a "Christmas Dinner" for our weekend hiking buddies. What a surprise! They turned the event into a birthday party! Thanks guys!!!
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on This past week was Bonnie's 65th