Rocks, trees and water

We took a walk to Lookout Trail. 

Such a lovely view, and several ferries went by while we were up there gawping at the islands, clouds, trees, distant things, nearby things. My brother can see the ferries as they emerge from Active Pass, so we figured he is straight across from here. 

After some coming and going on the little roads, we found a way down to the water, passing this private lookout on the cliff as we made our way down the path. I wonder if this house is ever rentable in the summer!

We have overdosed on rocks, trees and water on this holiday. This is why we moved here from Toronto. 

Lovely lovely lovely. And even better when the sun comes out!

The sun came out

We had a great day Friday, looking at rocks and trees and water. Galiano is very long and thin, with one road going up one side of it. The narrow bottom end faces Active Pass and the ferries between Victoria and the mainland go by often.  

This is a good environment for arbutus trees. They are really beautiful.

And then there was dinner. The sun had come out and dried off the chairs on the deck; the barbecue was fired up and we relaxed outside till the sun started going down behind the rest of the island. 

 Today, Saturday, it's a bit drizzly again, but we carry on!

Best laid plans

Yesterday we packed up some stuff, rented a car, killed time with a friend before our ferry, and arrived on Galiano Island in the dark and the rain last night. It is forecast to continue gloomy for a few more days. 

Ferries to Gulf Islands are necessary and affordable (sorta) and daily (at least). But they are not always convenient and ready-when-you-are. Since we had to rent a car and drive an hour or more to the terminal, to get there about an hour before the ferry leaves, the morning boat was not going to work. Next ferry: 7:10 pm. 

We have a friend in White Rock who we don't see that often, but it is sort of on the way to the ferry, so we had a nice visit with her. There is an actual white rock in White Rock. (Yes, they now paint it. Debates about the original whiteness: was it in fact just covered in bird droppings?)

The internet here is a bit spotty. When we arrived last night, we first had trouble even finding the cottage, since one doesn't waste electricity on lighting up the number on the road. When we did get inside, there was not a handy fact sheet left by the landlord, but we did eventually find the router and decipher the password. Even now things are not super fast, but we are on an island surrounded by forest, so I guess we can accept that. 

The sun came up and we saw where we were. Not far from a little inlet.

There are boats. 

There are rocks. 

We explored the little village nearby and found a coffee shop, bakery and bookstore, so we are set. 

I hope to be able to update here regularly, but I don't have super high hopes for this internet connection. Fingers crossed. 

I finished something

Once upon a time I bought this yarn. I started to make gloves out of it, but soon realized that was foolish, since this stuff needs to drape and flow and show off its silkiness. 

I was reading the vintage knitting group on Ravelry at the time, and found a vintage blanket pattern that I tried to rework into a cowl. The vintage instructions were just written out, no graphs... and that was okay, but apparently I didn't make any notes or even make a mark to tell me what rows I'd knitted. So when I put it down for a few weeks or months, I had no idea where to start. Also, I had to count and pay attention and all that! 

When we went to Spain I needed something small, easy, fun, unthreatening! I just did a couple of rows of garter stitch and picked a simple eyelet pattern and carried on. 

We came back and I did another couple of rows of garter stitch and got a bit more adventurous, and when it was clear that the end was in sight and this would actually become a wearable thing, I got swirly and eye-catching. 

Now I just have to learn to take a decent picture of myself. 

The Before Pictures

I think I am already in trouble here. I got three little plants from a neighbour on our local Faceb00k group: two brussels sprouts and one broccoli. I'm sure I'll be able to tell them apart as they mature, but right now, I dunno.

I do remember having a brussels sprout tree in the front yard one year. It didn't get enough sun and we didn't get anything to eat from it, though it grew quite large, as I recall. 

We also once grew a sizeable cauliflower, which some caterpillars enjoyed quite thoroughly. Now, on a south-facing balcony in the sky, I am hopeful that we can actually grow actual vegetables. Check back later in the summer!

Going out for coffee, and actual knitting content

This is the view this morning from our fave coffee shop. 

Going out for coffee is not something that we did in our pre-retirement days. Even drinking coffee was not an everyday occurrence. 

We settled on our favourite local coffee shop pretty soon after arriving here, though, and probably go there a couple of times a week. I've tried a number of things, and really just prefer a medium roast drip coffee. So, very boring, I suppose. 

Yesterday I had no time for coffee, as I had to go volunteer at the VIFF centre, my new year-round volunteer gig. The great thing, blog-wise, is that I picked up my knitting bag that I had foolishly left there the previous time I was there, so can show you my latest work: 

It will be a long tube of silky, woolly, drapey loveliness, to keep my neck warm in the winter. Probably too warm, since the silk and wool together can be pretty toasty. 

I got this yarn last year at Fibres West and tried a couple of things with it... and then ignored it for some months! The bottom pattern is quite fancy and required too much attention, so the second pattern is very simple -- I took it to Spain and needed mindless knitting. Since then I have decided I can pay more attention to it, so the last pattern will look quite snazzy, although it's not as complicated as it looks. 

I'll be happy when this is done, even though I can't wear it till maybe November!

First stumble

Okay, I missed a day in my self-imposed every-day-blogging exercise. My bad. It's because we had an actual social engagement last night, I suppose.

This is the wall of the Sylvia Hotel, and old building near us. It's covered in ivy, which is nice and red in the fall and a little bit imposing in the summer, but look at these spring colours as the leaves are coming out now. 

I have to walk by it again today, as I escape from my corner of the city, around a fun run. My main street will be clogged with runners and to get where I am going, I will be forced to walk along the beach. (Which I often do, because it is both convenient and wonderful!)

When we were in England in May 2023 (which I don't think I blogged about!) we saw hundreds of grey stone walls with bright, fresh, green lichen, and I wanted yarn in those colours. I could visualize the cardigan I would make. I never found the yarn but now I am reminded, I will continue the search. Perhaps a bit of an orange in there as well. 

Tomorrow I may have actual knitting content. Not grey and green, but pretty nice. 

Friday

A sort of silly thing I do is follow #JacobinDay on Twitter. Or X as we are supposed to call it now. The French Revolution changed many things, including the calendar. The new calendar didn't last very long, but instead of boring old Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or days honouring those pesky saints in the church, each day was named for a seasonal thing. Roses, oaks, shovels, horses... everything you might need in 18th-century France had its day. 

Some people with time on their hands during the early days of the pandemic started putting pictures on Twitter each day. Somehow I fell in with them -- I don't try to find something every day, but it is fun to see what people can come up with. 

A few days ago, it was lilac day, and I was disappointed because I hadn't seen any lilacs around. 

Today I came across this bush, which was awkwardly located in relation to the sun, so my pictures are not as excellent as they could be, but I was pleased to find it. 

 

The second day

A lovely day today, bright sunshine, a bit of wind over the water. We took the little ferry across to Granville Island to the market. We got some skewered meat and some stinky cheese, and these perfect cherry tomatoes. The genetic engineering is mind-boggling. 

I wanted to show you some knitting but I left it behind where I was volunteering last night. I sure hope it is there on Sunday when I go back!

Trying something new

I am used, now, to putting a picture or two a day on Instagram. 

Sometimes, like last month when I was in Spain, I think of blogging it all, but then I am overwhelmed -- I took 1200 pictures in two weeks in Spain! I can't sort through all that and put up a neat blog post or two. 

What if I did a little post here every day? 

I have discovered (perhaps years late, who knows?) that one can drag and drop photos, instead of giving them a title, exporting them, pulling them from the exported photos list...

So that makes things easier and quicker for me. 

We could pretend it is Blogtober or NaBloPoMo, and I could try posting every day. 

This morning I took a walk in the park. 

Things are sprouting and blooming all over the place. 

The cherry trees have been quite magnificent this year, but many are already done. 

That is an Ojochin cherry, one of a tiny number in the city. 

I hope I will be back tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that. 

Though you might get tired of flowers in the park!