Let your eyes roam over a beautiful landscape and you will discover nature’s artwork in a stunning mountain scenery, in a cascading waterfall, in the undulating waves of the ocean, or in the small world of flowers and insects visiting them. Today, my focus is on the driftwood sculptures shaped by the natural forces like wind, sun and frost. These photos were all taken on a recent excursion to ‘our’ island. Enjoy.
This is canoeing time. At our age especially when it is very hot we prefer our electric motor over the paddles. It also allows us to shoot images with greater precision concentrating on the beauties of nature all around us. At the Fauquier boat dock, we have the gulls relaxing on the log booms, one of our favourite themes. Past the island we visited last time, we navigated into the mouth of the Whatshan river. We needed to be careful, as the river banks are quite steep and there was no place to safely pull the canoe ashore. Lush vegetation greeted us, where ample moisture promoted plenty of growth. Surrounded by a carpet of daisies, a solitary mullein flower (Königskerze in German) attracted our attention. Finally, we arrived at the waterfall cascading into the bay of the Arrow Lake. The picture of the butterfly is a bonus taken in our garden. Enjoy.
After we came back from our mountain road trip to Mt. Scaia and a thorough review and culling of pictures on my photo card, I still had fifty photos left worthy of publication on my blog. I believe that you understand the pain from your own experiences how difficult it is to eliminate so many images in order not to overwhelm your followers. So I broke my five-picture rule and decided to publish seven. At 7000 ft altitude, we relished the clean mountain air, the alpine flowers and the busy bumblebees visiting them. Enjoy.
You will remember the video I presented on this blog that gave you some impressions of the simplicity of raised garden beds. At age 78 I strive to make things simpler, more efficient and ultimately more relaxing with gardening as one of the many areas of this lofty goal.
Weeding when needed at all has turned into a pleasurable activity. For the last four weeks or so my wife and I have been eating our own lettuce, beans, strawberries, with cucumbers and red beets recently added to the delicious mix of fruits and vegetables. As a bonus I added another photo of the various hops plants, which are beginning to develop those cones that are responsible for the fine refreshing taste of a homemade craft beer. Enjoy.
Across the Lake from Fauquier BC lies an island that used to be connected with the west side of the land south of the Needles ferry terminal. In the late 1960s BC Hydro built a dam near the American border to regulate the lake level and of course to generate power. As a result of this action many small communities were flooded and people were forced off their land. This is how this tiny island was created. I call this abandoned former farmstead our island, because very few people go there and we like to spend some time there all alone, explore its ancient apple orchards, relax and go swimming in the crystal-clear and refreshing waters in the heat of the summer. Recently I recorded such a canoe trip to this amazing little island on my movie camera. Enjoy.
The Alberta rose had her hay-day, the creeks are adopting a more tranquil tone, and the local golf course is busier than ever in spite of Covid-19. But Nature shows a more summer-like appearance now. The wild cherry trees are loaded, the Saskatoon berries are getting ripe and as reported last week my wife and I have been picking huckleberries, the wild relatives of the blueberry. Here is another set of recent photos I took when taking a leisurely walk with my wife along the edge of the local golf course. Enjoy.
The Peter and Gertrud Klopp Family 