So we have another week under our collective belts, bringing a fair amount of activity in my life, generally of the "more of the same" sort, with a few seasonal variations. As I mentioned in last week's post, daughter Jen was visiting here from her home near Nelson BC, and I had my local grandson Mark with me during the days while he was on Easter break, so the three of us did a number of photo outings on the few days that weren't too darn cold and wildly windy. Jen, Mark and I headed to the east river bank one day to see if we could spot any returning pelicans, but there were none in evidence, although the following day there was a report in the local paper of one having been spotted, so we weren't too far off in our timing. I'll wait a week or so for a few more to filter in, then will start my annual quest for good pelican shots. Not sure why I want these photos or what I will do with them, but many of my photo quests aren't particularly rational.
Wednesday evening saw the annual outing of the local birders (of whom my husband Jim is one) to a gull viewing site, conveniently located near the city dump for an easy commute for the birds as they go back and forth from the river to their dump foraging grounds. Always makes me a little uneasy that the main city dump is located very close to the river from which we get our drinking water, and upstream from the water intake for the city, but that's how it's always been and so far we have survived. Still, it doesn't seem like a sensible arrangement.
Jim had a "lifer" as the birders say (a term that refers to a bird that is new to the "life list" of bird species seen by the individual birder) in the form of a Lesser Black-Backed Gull. Despite being "lesser", this gull was certainly substantially bigger than the other more common ones we observed. Apparently there is a "Great" Black -Backed Gull in the Regina area a few hours south of here, and since Jim is heading there soon on other business he is hoping to be able to add a sighting of that one to his personal list as well.
Friday saw us off to the Pike Lake area about a half-hour out of the city to make a visit to Solar Gardens and Living Art Company which I had been aware of but had never actually visited. They specialize in succulent plants of all sorts (to the tune of many hundreds of varieties, some quite rare and exotic) which we were expecting to view, however we were quite unprepared for the extensive array of other interesting things at Solar Gardens, of which the succulent plant greenhouses were only the beginning. The operation out there is still a work in progress, but the owners (Roger Valliere and his partner Chris) have done a huge amount of work and created a wonderful site full of interesting plants, art, and amenities of various sorts. Click on their business name above to check out their website, which will detail what they offer much better than I can enumerate here. Roger very kindly took time out of his always (I suspect) busy day to give us a detailed tour of the greenhouses, Chris's clay studio, the wood-fired oven, and the grounds in general. All in all, a very satisfactory outing for all concerned, including Mark who was impressed with the set-up, and enjoyed throwing the tennis ball and various doggy toys for Dylan, the very large and handsome young Great Dane, one of two dogs in residence.
First shot today is from the riverbank shoot, showing some of the many incoming Canada Geese circling over the university fields by the riverbank. Shot two was taken just a few moments later, as we worked our way back along the walking trail toward our parked vehicle. Jen and Mark have taken a moment to read a plaque erected by a river viewpoint. Arrow, who comes as part of the package with Mark, is waiting patiently for the walk to resume. You can see a couple of the city's numerous bridges in the background. Shots like this always un-nerve me when I view them as they generally seem rather off-kilter, but in truth the riverbank is quite a bit higher on the east side than it is on the west side, so the bridges really do slant, and it's not my photography (although I am capable of taking slanting photos on perfectly level areas every now and then if I'm not paying attention).
Shot three is a gull shot--not actually from the "gull evening" when the light had pretty well gone by the time the photo op came along, but one I got en route to Solar Gardens as the gull area in question was right on our path to Pike Lake anyway. We took bread to throw for them and draw them in, which works very well. I still need to make at least one more trip in really good light. Bound to happen sooner or later. It seems to me we've had a lot more cloud and overcast days in the last while than is usual and it's starting to get a little discouraging.
Shot four shows Jen and Roger discussing plants in one of the greenhouses, while Mark is more interested in the dogs, and Dylan is keeping an eye on me to make sure I don't get into trouble.
Shot five is a tight crop of Cala, the Komondor. She doesn't sport the traditional coat of Rasta-like dreadlocks that this breed can exhibit when in full coat. We actually thought she might be a Poodle/Great Pyrenees when we first saw her, until Roger set us straight on that.
The only other item of note to report on is that I made a start to my bicycling year today, since the streets are now snow and ice free. Neither ice nor snow nor forty below deter some of the local bicyclers who can be seen wheeling around the city year-round, but I'm not one of those hardy (or is that foolhardy?) types and I restrict my two-wheeled activities to the more traditional seasons for this activity.
It's always a good week for me when I can find new and interesting places locally, and meet a few new dogs with good visuals, so I can count myself well pleased on that front.
